driftin' by
Contributor
Part 1
Hold on, It's a long one....
WOW! What an amazing week it was in Cozumel! My wife, 19-month old daughter and I just returned from a week at Fiesta Americana and diving with Blue Angel. In about a dozen trips to both Cozumel and the Mayan Riviera since 1999, with more than half taken before we were divers, this one was the absolute best. For a basis of reference, we've previously stayed at higher rated resorts including many different Iberostars, Kantenah Grand Palladium, Club Maeva, Gala and Allegro in Coz. We've finally found the perfect home away from home at Fiesta Americana. A strong desire to move away from the overly pretentious, mega resorts to the smaller, perhaps somewhat "funky" resorts has yielded greater enjoyment and less illness due to tourista. I know, I know already that the buffet chow lines at the AI's have a lot to do with that. Heck, I NEVER go to one at home so why on vacation especially with all the good eats in San Miguel you ask? Because, I'm lazy and we were traveling with our daughter. The AI paid off BIG TIME with this trip to Fiesta Americana. So good in fact that with strong intentions to eat out for dinner 4 or 5 times, we only made it to town once and it was for lunch. Anyway, on with the review....
Getting there:
Flight from Houston direct to Cozumel went off without a hitch aboard Continental. Through immigration and a green light at customs we were off to get our white van then whisked away to the resort.....
Staff/Clientele:
Besides the staff here, the second best aspect was the clientele. We met the most sincere, genuinely nice folks here that were both divers and non divers. Maybe it was because we were in the company of our precious daughter or perhaps it was just the kind of folks that gravitate to such an awesome resort. Either way, they were all just wonderful and a pleasure to get to know.
Room:
Our room on the 5th floor was very roomy with all the standard amenities including alarm clock, coffee maker, hair dryer, clothes iron and board, bath tub, small love seat, a table and chairs and color TV with the best selection of channels I've ever seen in Mexico. However we only put on Spanish speaking cartoons for our daughter to watch. Contrary to other reports regarding a noisy air conditioning unit we found ours to be very quiet and it worked extremely well. Sometimes too good, cooling the room to an uncomfortable level. Only thing missing was a refrigerator which we knew wouldn't be available in advance and ended up being an non-issue. King size bed was quite firm but it's what we've come to expect over the years in Mexico. There was plenty of storage for dive gear and clothes although the closet was rather small. The balcony had a large wooden table and 2 sling chairs which was nice to spread all our dive gear out on to day. We didn't experience any problems with water pressure, temperature or odor although it's was a bit yellowish when you first turned it on. Not a problem for us. If I had one complaint it was that the lighting in the closet/sink area was rather dim making it difficult to see into the safe which was located in the closet on the top shelf. The safe was electronic and of a generous size. There was an additional daily usage charge for it which was of no consequence at about $1 USD per day. Big whop.
Facilities:
Including our room the facilities were very clean and tidy. The pool was about the cleanest I've been in while vacationing to Mexico and cleaned every morning. Both pools were also perfect for our daughter with both having shallower portions that she could stand in. The main pool with the swim-up bar was great and Mario the bartender was happy and eager to server you. The man-made beach was cleaner than I've experienced also with far fewer cigarette butts and trash buried in the sand. The walk-in to the ocean was a bit traitorous if you were to attempt it bare footed. All in all, the "beach" was really nice and beyond our expectations with plenty of comfortable and clean loungers under palapas. On a few occasions, bartenders would bring us more drinks to the beach or pool area which also exceeded our expectations of this 3.5-star resort. Crossing the street from the resort to the beach area was of very little consequence/hassle with the addition of the new highway that runs behind the resort diverting traffic. Also, an enormous speed bump practically brings all motorists to a complete halt although it was funny watching fresh off the ship, pod-people attempt to slow their suicide cycles (mopeds) before going air born. In fact, it was like clock work... just about 2 hours after the cruise ship would steam to port, you could count on a steady stream of mopeds, jeeps and buggies all occupied by loud and obnoxious pod people determined to let every island vacationer know they've arrived.
Breakfast:
The food was among the best we've had staying at an AI resort. Although the selection was smaller than what we've experienced in the past, the quality and number of edible selections ranked supreme. We ate breakfast daily at the beach-side restaurant which consisted of the usual fare. For me, it was a bacon, onion, green pepper and cheese omelet with 2 chorizo tacos, 2 sausage links, 2 pancakes, a banana, cup of yogurt, glass of orange juice, cup of coffee and half a liter of water every morning. What can I say? I love breakfast and it was awesome here. The selection of cereals and fresh fruit was perfect for our daughter and she ate about a half a cantaloupe or honeydew every morning. The reports of flies at this resort are somewhat true. They were pretty bad the first couple days but disappeared for the remainder of the week. It was perhaps due to the heavy rains we had early on. I know for us in swampy Houston that when it's been dry for awhile, all the bugs try to come inside for food/water then when it rains they all retreat back outdoors. YMMV Anyway, for the most part, they would just hover above your table and swoop down for a nibble. I didn't see many on or around the food that was sitting on the buffet.
Lunch:
I seldom eat hamburgers and especially not in Mexico. When we arrived at the resort on our first day around noon, I saw several people with large tasty looking hamburgers on their plate so I decided what the heck. Wow they were good! I had a burger and fries everyday except on day 3. That was when we figured out we could order off a menu. I ordered a steak burrito which was very good but it couldn't hold a match to the burgers. Also, that was a magical day when we were greeted for lunch by Manuel who brought us a huge plate of guacamole, chips and pico de gallo. Just earlier that day, I commented to my wife that I hadn't seen guacamole and chips being served. Apparently they keep the really good stuff in the back and you have to ask for it however Manuel read my mind and served it without us asking!. Needless to say, he became our favorite server especially our daughter's since guacamole is her favorite thing to eat next to guava. Manuel was also very sweet and endearing to her. From that day on, we had the guacamole, chips and pico with lunch.
Dinner:
Dinner was good and they alternated between a buffet style restaurant and a traditional al a carte restaurant every-other-night. There seemed to be a theme to the buffet each night but it wasn't obvious until our last night which was "Mexican night". Each evening at the buffet there was a selection of beef, chicken, pork and fish.... all very tasty and palatable but nothing to write home about. The al a crate restaurant on the other hand was surprisingly quite good. The menu consisted of a variety of pasta dishes, seafood, various salads and soups, steaks and traditional Mexican fare. All could be ordered with your choice of appetizers. The first night I had Peruvian Ceviche and Rib Eye, second night I didn't get an appetizer and had Prawns in Caribbean sauce. The third night I had calamari and the Rib Eye again. The steaks were good and tasty but probably on par with a Ponderosa. The prawns were about as good as I've every had. The Ceviche was good but had a little too much squid for my liking and the calamari was good but a little overcooked. My wife enjoyed dishes such as seafood lasagna, seafood pasta and blue crab stew usually with some soup for an appetizer. She enjoyed all but didn't care for the lasagna as it too contained far too much squid as well. I'm guessing squid is much more economical than other types of seafood. Each night our daughter enjoyed about 2 pounds of fresh guacamole and bit off our plates.
Continued....
Hold on, It's a long one....
WOW! What an amazing week it was in Cozumel! My wife, 19-month old daughter and I just returned from a week at Fiesta Americana and diving with Blue Angel. In about a dozen trips to both Cozumel and the Mayan Riviera since 1999, with more than half taken before we were divers, this one was the absolute best. For a basis of reference, we've previously stayed at higher rated resorts including many different Iberostars, Kantenah Grand Palladium, Club Maeva, Gala and Allegro in Coz. We've finally found the perfect home away from home at Fiesta Americana. A strong desire to move away from the overly pretentious, mega resorts to the smaller, perhaps somewhat "funky" resorts has yielded greater enjoyment and less illness due to tourista. I know, I know already that the buffet chow lines at the AI's have a lot to do with that. Heck, I NEVER go to one at home so why on vacation especially with all the good eats in San Miguel you ask? Because, I'm lazy and we were traveling with our daughter. The AI paid off BIG TIME with this trip to Fiesta Americana. So good in fact that with strong intentions to eat out for dinner 4 or 5 times, we only made it to town once and it was for lunch. Anyway, on with the review....
Getting there:
Flight from Houston direct to Cozumel went off without a hitch aboard Continental. Through immigration and a green light at customs we were off to get our white van then whisked away to the resort.....
Staff/Clientele:
Besides the staff here, the second best aspect was the clientele. We met the most sincere, genuinely nice folks here that were both divers and non divers. Maybe it was because we were in the company of our precious daughter or perhaps it was just the kind of folks that gravitate to such an awesome resort. Either way, they were all just wonderful and a pleasure to get to know.
Room:
Our room on the 5th floor was very roomy with all the standard amenities including alarm clock, coffee maker, hair dryer, clothes iron and board, bath tub, small love seat, a table and chairs and color TV with the best selection of channels I've ever seen in Mexico. However we only put on Spanish speaking cartoons for our daughter to watch. Contrary to other reports regarding a noisy air conditioning unit we found ours to be very quiet and it worked extremely well. Sometimes too good, cooling the room to an uncomfortable level. Only thing missing was a refrigerator which we knew wouldn't be available in advance and ended up being an non-issue. King size bed was quite firm but it's what we've come to expect over the years in Mexico. There was plenty of storage for dive gear and clothes although the closet was rather small. The balcony had a large wooden table and 2 sling chairs which was nice to spread all our dive gear out on to day. We didn't experience any problems with water pressure, temperature or odor although it's was a bit yellowish when you first turned it on. Not a problem for us. If I had one complaint it was that the lighting in the closet/sink area was rather dim making it difficult to see into the safe which was located in the closet on the top shelf. The safe was electronic and of a generous size. There was an additional daily usage charge for it which was of no consequence at about $1 USD per day. Big whop.
Facilities:
Including our room the facilities were very clean and tidy. The pool was about the cleanest I've been in while vacationing to Mexico and cleaned every morning. Both pools were also perfect for our daughter with both having shallower portions that she could stand in. The main pool with the swim-up bar was great and Mario the bartender was happy and eager to server you. The man-made beach was cleaner than I've experienced also with far fewer cigarette butts and trash buried in the sand. The walk-in to the ocean was a bit traitorous if you were to attempt it bare footed. All in all, the "beach" was really nice and beyond our expectations with plenty of comfortable and clean loungers under palapas. On a few occasions, bartenders would bring us more drinks to the beach or pool area which also exceeded our expectations of this 3.5-star resort. Crossing the street from the resort to the beach area was of very little consequence/hassle with the addition of the new highway that runs behind the resort diverting traffic. Also, an enormous speed bump practically brings all motorists to a complete halt although it was funny watching fresh off the ship, pod-people attempt to slow their suicide cycles (mopeds) before going air born. In fact, it was like clock work... just about 2 hours after the cruise ship would steam to port, you could count on a steady stream of mopeds, jeeps and buggies all occupied by loud and obnoxious pod people determined to let every island vacationer know they've arrived.
Breakfast:
The food was among the best we've had staying at an AI resort. Although the selection was smaller than what we've experienced in the past, the quality and number of edible selections ranked supreme. We ate breakfast daily at the beach-side restaurant which consisted of the usual fare. For me, it was a bacon, onion, green pepper and cheese omelet with 2 chorizo tacos, 2 sausage links, 2 pancakes, a banana, cup of yogurt, glass of orange juice, cup of coffee and half a liter of water every morning. What can I say? I love breakfast and it was awesome here. The selection of cereals and fresh fruit was perfect for our daughter and she ate about a half a cantaloupe or honeydew every morning. The reports of flies at this resort are somewhat true. They were pretty bad the first couple days but disappeared for the remainder of the week. It was perhaps due to the heavy rains we had early on. I know for us in swampy Houston that when it's been dry for awhile, all the bugs try to come inside for food/water then when it rains they all retreat back outdoors. YMMV Anyway, for the most part, they would just hover above your table and swoop down for a nibble. I didn't see many on or around the food that was sitting on the buffet.
Lunch:
I seldom eat hamburgers and especially not in Mexico. When we arrived at the resort on our first day around noon, I saw several people with large tasty looking hamburgers on their plate so I decided what the heck. Wow they were good! I had a burger and fries everyday except on day 3. That was when we figured out we could order off a menu. I ordered a steak burrito which was very good but it couldn't hold a match to the burgers. Also, that was a magical day when we were greeted for lunch by Manuel who brought us a huge plate of guacamole, chips and pico de gallo. Just earlier that day, I commented to my wife that I hadn't seen guacamole and chips being served. Apparently they keep the really good stuff in the back and you have to ask for it however Manuel read my mind and served it without us asking!. Needless to say, he became our favorite server especially our daughter's since guacamole is her favorite thing to eat next to guava. Manuel was also very sweet and endearing to her. From that day on, we had the guacamole, chips and pico with lunch.
Dinner:
Dinner was good and they alternated between a buffet style restaurant and a traditional al a carte restaurant every-other-night. There seemed to be a theme to the buffet each night but it wasn't obvious until our last night which was "Mexican night". Each evening at the buffet there was a selection of beef, chicken, pork and fish.... all very tasty and palatable but nothing to write home about. The al a crate restaurant on the other hand was surprisingly quite good. The menu consisted of a variety of pasta dishes, seafood, various salads and soups, steaks and traditional Mexican fare. All could be ordered with your choice of appetizers. The first night I had Peruvian Ceviche and Rib Eye, second night I didn't get an appetizer and had Prawns in Caribbean sauce. The third night I had calamari and the Rib Eye again. The steaks were good and tasty but probably on par with a Ponderosa. The prawns were about as good as I've every had. The Ceviche was good but had a little too much squid for my liking and the calamari was good but a little overcooked. My wife enjoyed dishes such as seafood lasagna, seafood pasta and blue crab stew usually with some soup for an appetizer. She enjoyed all but didn't care for the lasagna as it too contained far too much squid as well. I'm guessing squid is much more economical than other types of seafood. Each night our daughter enjoyed about 2 pounds of fresh guacamole and bit off our plates.
Continued....