Villa Sueños de Mar (Villa Ocean Dreams) any one stayed here?

[scuba_guy62]

My partner has decided that we are going to get married in Cozumel and have the after party/dinner at La Veranda. So it seems I will be renting a villa for 8 of our friends to come down and join us in the occasion. So far she has her eye on Suenos de Mar which is south of town between Fiesta Americana and Chankanab.
I'm usually a big fan of staying in town and have advocated for the many options available within walking distance to all of my favorite taco stands and restaurants but she will have her way.
I imagine we will stay in town before and after the week of the "event" so as to get some diving in so the big question is "has anyone stayed at this villa?"
Pictures on the net are fine but more up to date and anecdotal information would be nice so as to help convince me that I'm not renting a pig with lipstick.
On one of my trips while staying at the Coral Reef Inn there was a group of ladies from the mid west who thought they had rented a nice villa based on pictures from the internet. Needless to say that instead of just spending their first night with us they spent their entire week and fought to get their money back (the place was a dump). They were lucky the Inn had room.
This promises to be my most expensive dive vacation yet..lol.
I sure hope next January is unusually calm.
Any feedback is welcome, other than don't do it..lol.
Cheers, J>
Villa Sueños de Mar

 

[cvchief]

Sounds like you have adopted the proper attitude for a long and happy union....

 

[scuba_guy62]

Also now looking for input on Villa Sol Haa which looks to be just a little further south on the "beach" side. Her first choice appears to be right behind a bar and restaurant. I'm still trying to convince her of the merits of in town, drive to the beach for the day, walk to the restaurants at night. If anyone has any feedback on 5 bedroom homes for rent with a pool feel free to chime in.

 

[JenLoves2Dive]

You do realize it's not on the beach, right? It's across the street.
No big deal at all, but for the amount you are paying you should be sitting right on the water.

Another thing to consider is there are only 4 King size beds. No biggie as long as you have all couples, much harder to accommodate everyone if not all are couples. Look for houses that have two Queen or 2 Full beds, etc. For that kind of money you do not want to have people sleeping on air mattresses!!

Don't forget that the price does NOT include the 14% tax. So add on another $600+.

Location is pretty good. Between Chankanaab and the Money Bar which is a popular watering hole for tourists and the locals. Also, it is very easy to catch a cab from the Money Bar. A cab into town from the Money Bar will easily run you about 110-120 pesos (about $9.00-$10.00) I would think it would make more sense to rent a car as the cab fares will add up fast. With that being said, you might consider staying farther south of town if you are going to rent a car.

Also, check out El Cantil. They are in town (next door to Cozumel Palace) and for that price you can probably end up renting two units. Gives the group a little more privacy by splitting everyone up. Renting a detached house will make you feel like you have more space IMHO as many of these units available for rent are up on the higher floors.

Check your email. I also sent you some info about a large house on the beach I know of that a friend of mine owns. You might be able to save yourself some money by not going through a management company and renting direct.

P.S. If any of you are diving, you don't have to go with the dive op mentioned on their web site to get a good deal. Most dive operations will already have a relationship with these rental homes so you can get good package deals by contacting the dive op of your choice directly.

BTW, I can not figure out where you would get picked up for diving?? I am trying to picture the location in my mind, and am wondering if you have to go to the Caletta to be picked up. You might be able to sneak over to the Fiesta Americana to get picked up but I wouldn't cont on it. I would find out before renting. You don't want to have to try and get picked up by fast boat from the shore in January. It can be windy and choppy on some days.

Congrats on your upcoming marriage!!

 

[scuba_guy62]

Thanks for the PM Jen.
I have a pretty good idea of where the first place is and diving isn't likely to be in the cards for the week of the wedding. Hopefully a week before or after.
I have been looking at El Cantil as well as places in town (my preference) and had considered the two condo's idea.
If we are staying south of town then a car rental or two will be factored into the week (again another reason to be in town..lol).
I'm even thinking of doing a week on the playa side as flights are more abundant into Cancun and I suspect many more options for homes to rent and spending a few days on Coz to dive and maybe a day or two on Isla Mujeres.
I thought I was off the hook as far as getting hitched and could just continue to live in sin as it were but I made the mistake of broaching the subject on a recent trip to St. Lucia.
In my feeble male mind I thought getting hitched while on vacation (perhaps a nicer upscale vacation for a change) would do, now it seems the plans have been lurking in the background all along as well as the dinner at La Verandah etc.
The four couples potentially coming will all need their own room, thus the need for 5 BR's and one of our friends coming seems to have just beat the big C after much chemo and a plan just to "rock out" (save up his strength all week to play in his band on Saturday nights) and he has always wanted to see the island I speak so glowingly about so if I have to sell an organ or two to keep everyone happy and make sure he makes it while still healthy then so be it.
We are all heading toward or just sailed past the half century mark so we need more pampering it seems. I've even accepted that a hammock in a beach shack doesn't quite fit the bill for me any more.
All the guys in the group can cook so we will want to have some meals in (breakfasts and lunches with one or two dinners) so kitchen and dining is as important as the bedrooms.
From what I remember of the stretch where these homes are there isn't really much of a beach and I am guessing the homes are more crammed together than the pictures will show.
So keep the feedback coming.ong:ong:

 

[judydivescoz]

Congratulations!!!
You may want to check out Villa Debra. Its a beautiful house at Costa de Sol. Web address is http://www.cozumelbeachhouse.com/. The owners rent and manage it themselves. Deb and Matt, the owners, live on the island and take great care in maintaining their property. It is right on the beach. I think there are 14 homes in the community that share a pool and a private beach. If your group got any larger, there are several other homes that could be rented as well.

 

[nodakdive]

I visited friends that were staying at Villa Sol Haa about a year ago. Clean and comfortable. It has a small pool. No dive boat pick-up. I think some of the group went snorkeling, but I never saw the beach. It may have not had much of a beach, but I could be wrong.

My other impression was that, though there were other houses in close proximity, it felt a little isolated. I remember that we called for a taxi at night as it didn't feel easy to pick one up on the road. I believe Villa Sol Haa is on kind of a frontage road which doesn't have the traffic that the main paved highway does. Also, I'd expect the taxi fare to town to be closer to $12 or so, maybe more. It's now $7 from Casa del Mar, which used to be $4 or $5.

The house and grounds are beautiful and immaculate. The pictures you see are accurate. I met the caretakers a couple times and they seemed like wonderful people. They don't really speak much English but that was half the fun as we don't speak much Spanish. The man, (married couple maybe?) harvested some coconuts and opened them for us. He and his wife were both very smiley and helpful.

-Blair

 

[Christi]

Congratulations!!!
You may want to check out Villa Debra. Its a beautiful house at Costa de Sol. Web address is http://www.cozumelbeachhouse.com/. The owners rent and manage it themselves. Deb and Matt, the owners, live on the island and take great care in maintaining their property. It is right on the beach. I think there are 14 homes in the community that share a pool and a private beach. If your group got any larger, there are several other homes that could be rented as well.

First of all CONGRATS!!!!!

Villa Debra was going to be my suggestion as well for a better alternative IMO - if you can't convince her on the condo route in town. It is HER wedding though...haha!

Jenn also hit all of the points I was going to cover! It looks like a nice place, but there is no beach there - even across the street.

 

[scuba_guy62]

Great info so far and keep it coming.
I keep telling the boss that a beach vacation is not why we go to Cozumel but she has this "vision" that includes dinner at La Veranda along with beach walks for our friends, the house on the beach....and so on and so on....
I keep trying to remind her how much she hated the van rides in St. Lucia to get to the diving pier and how much she did like the short walks at night to get to the great restaurants...
I think the Jen house lacks the right number of bedrooms and we are looking at the other one as it comes up as two different numbers of rooms depending on the site (4 or 5).
Maybe I can keep them all in a house and get a place in town just for me near Zermatt and visit them a couple of times in between diving..lol.
Just out of curiosity for you regulars/locals have the effects of the meltdown started to wane sufficiently to increase tourism?
There was a major downturn in St. Lucia as reported by the people we dealt with there and it was just slowly starting to recover but was still tenuous as of early in the year. Still lot's of cruisers but not much money being spent by them.
Coz has had enough trouble with natural storms without having to suffer from the man made sort.

 

[scuba_guy62]

I meant the Villa Debra...not sure where Jen cam from..lol.