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Last Updated on December 11, 2020 by Natalie

This year, our new tradition of going to the beach during the second week of December was thrown off due to our new school schedule. On a whim, I checked the prices for the week of my birthday. To my surprise, Cozumel was affordable and heck yes, I booked the trip! The third week of November we were off to stay at the Allegro Cozumel on Cozumel Island, Mexico. My husband visited the Allegro Cozumel several years ago. I felt comfortable booking this hotel based on his experience, without reading any Cozumel Allegro reviews. The other plus was that there was a water park for the kids. How did we get on?

As always, this review is based on accommodations that we paid for ourselves. We did not receive any freebies or financial incentives. Read on for our Allegro Cozumel all inclusive reviews. This review has been updated after spending another week there a year later, still at our own expense.

Cozumel Allegro reviews

My husband had visited this resort around 14 years ago, so I was comfortable booking without paying too much attention to the Allegro Cozumel resort reviews. I knew it had a water park for the kids, it was on the beach, and it was all inclusive. Did this property live up to expectations?  Below, I lay it all out. The good, the bad, and the items worth mentioning. Read on for the details!

Disclaimer

Blissmersion is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Posts on this site might contain affiliate links. If you click them and make a purchase, I’ll receive a small commission. Accommodations in this post were paid for by me.

The Good

Here are the highlights of the resort.

The Beach

The beach here was a dream come true. Standing on the beach, you could see several, lovely shades of turquoise and blue. If a beautiful, calm beach is important to you, then this just might be the resort for you. We spent a lot of time in the ocean during this trip. It was mesmerizing and tranquil and everything I wanted it to be.

Between resorts, there are long stretches of beach to walk and enjoy (though the lifeguards aren’t monitoring it, so I don’t recommend swimming there). During our second trip, this section had a lot of debris and some trash, due to hurricanes in the area stirring up stuff.

Layout and Size

This is a smaller resort and the size is fantastic. The layout is decent, although most of the rooms are not oceanfront. The first trip, our room was close to the outer edge of the property, without a beautiful view. We could see the property fence and trees and grass, so I wouldn’t say it was bad. It just wasn’t ocean view or jungle view. We were in one of the buildings closest to the lobby, and also one of the furthest from the beach. In a small resort like this, that’s pleasurable.

We were close to the water park for the kids.The resort property is a rectangle shape and the water park is close to the lobby. It is probably around a 7 minute walk to the beach where the towel station is located. It would be nice if they had a second towel station next to the water park for the kids, since many families will spend a lot of time there.

On our second trip, we were much closer to the “relax pool” and the beach. I loved this location! I didn’t realize just how much location can make a difference. We had a lovely pool view. We were also on the second floor, with the gorgeous thatched roof. The stairs are a bit steep.

The Rooms

The beds were comfortable. I was pleasantly surprised.

The shower head was awesome and the shower had great water pressure and hot water. It was a huge plus! Also included in the shower are shower gel and shampoo dispensers. I’m a fan!

Also, the room was clean.

Pools and Water Park

There are 3 pools on the property, plus the water park. There are two main pools and a pool off to one side for the vacation club members. The pool behind the lunch restaurant was never crowded, as people seemed to congregate in the pool closer the ocean, which has a swim up bar.

Our kids enjoyed the water park. It was shallow enough to be a kiddie pool for toddlers, while the older kids are playing on the slides. The only issue is there wasn’t a consistent time where they turned on the water, and the slides weren’t usable without the constant flow of water.

Food

We were pleased with the food. I thought it was tasty and had nice variety. On the last day, I discovered they have almond milk available, so if you have a food allergy or celiac disease, you may want to mention that on the first day to see what they have available. I stuck to veggies, rice, and meat for the most part. I also tried chayote; a vegetable, similar to zucchini, for the first time and loved it.

The food was consistently good during our second trip, as well. I also discovered that I could order cappuccinos during breakfast. I enjoyed them!

Staff

The staff at this resort are collectively wonderful. We were happy during both our trips!

The Bad

There were several things we found concerning about this resort.

Wildlife

For this section, I wanted to put the updated information first. The resort was closed for a good portion of 2020. Due to this, the wildlife wasn’t as crazy as it was the first time. There were still cuotis hanging around, but they were no longer running around the rafters of the restaurant (which for me was a bigger concern than anything else).

There are these adorable animals called cuotis that are related to raccoons. Though there are numerous signs posted that say “do not feed the wildlife,” I saw more than one person feeding the cuotis. A bigger problem was that the cuotis were all over the open air lunch restaurant near the beach. At night, when the restaurant was closed, they were all over the food serving areas. Yes, I still ate there everyday.

Side note: Cozumel cuotis are an endangered species, so I feel excited to have been able to see them from such close proximity.

Problems Checking In/Problems with the Room

The front desk moved pretty slowly. It was still faster than our check in when we visited Huatulco, though.

Below, I’ve updated the room situation, which was better the second time around. We grabbed our room keys and immediately went to eat. We were all starving. After our late lunch, we found our room and opened the door to find someone else’s stuff. At the lobby, we waited again to get the room situation figured out.

Our second room was clean, but we quickly noticed the first floor bathroom didn’t have a privacy window. On our way to swim, I asked for that to be fixed. Upon returning to our room, we discovered out that our toilet was leaking. We stopped at the front desk before dinner and asked for the additional repair.

While they sent a maintenance person to fix the toilet quite quickly, the toilet wasn’t repaired and was still leaking. We had to ask for a repair person to come again. It took awhile, but someone finally came again to fix the toilet. Thankfully, the second time, the toilet no longer leaked. There’s nothing like stepping on the bathmat, soaked with toilet water, after your shower.

There were other problems with the room’s functionality. The sink, while pretty, was a poor design and water splashed out when we used it. Additionally, it took ages to drain. There was a fridge in the room, but the cord couldn’t reach the outlet and even if it did, the outlets were in use by the TV and coffee maker. Obviously, if it reached, one can just unplug the coffeemaker. I probably wouldn’t have even thought to mention this if it that was the case. Since I was frustrated with the toilet situation, I did also notice that some cosmetic work was needed.

Regarding the bathroom’s lack of window privacy, we also mostly used the bathroom with the light off, since anyone could have walked up and looked in. That was inconvenient.

Room Problems – Updated

Our room during the second trip also had a toilet that leaked at the base. I didn’t actually ask for it to be repaired and put a towel down to catch the water. Why didn’t I ask? I actually completely forgot by the time we’d walk up to the front desk. I’m positive had I mentioned it that it would’ve been repaired.

Understaffed (First trip only)

The resort seemed understaffed. We went on an off-week, leading up to the Iron Man race. It is possible they didn’t think to staff appropriately for the extra guests that a large event brings.

The kids club only had one attendant and she had a two hour break from 1-3. There was only one evening had an activity for kids and we only found out about it because were walking by and ran into a child the kids knew from kids club and the parents told us there was a pajama party.

The water park for the kids also didn’t appear to have a specific time that they turned on the water. One morning it was 10:05. Another it was after 10:40. Yet another morning, it came on around 9:30. This did sincerely bother me, since we couldn’t plan our mornings very well.

During our second trip, we didn’t use the kids club at all. Since the second trip was during the year 2020, restrictions were in place , the actual buildings weren’t open, and activities were offered outside. We didn’t check this year because our kids weren’t interested in participating.

Pressure to go to a Marketing Presentation

The first year, we were pressured into a timeshare presentation, only it is now marketed as a vacation club. You will also be pressured into it. They took us over to the Occidental (next door) and we had lunch there. The beach there is also phenomenal, so I might consider staying there, should we head to Cozumel again. If you’re wondering, we didn’t buy the vacation club. We weren’t impressed with the property – why would we invest in it?

During our second year, we weren’t approached or we successfully avoided being asked about participating in the vacation club presentation.

Does Cozumel Allegro have wifi?

Yes, but they charge extra for this unless you are a Barcelo member who booked through the Barcelo website. Be aware, I was only able to get a weak 3G signal in my room. Wifi is NOT included.

I knew that Wifi wasn’t included. However, I didn’t realize that there would only be a weak 3G signal available.

During our second year, I booked differently and wifi was included. It wasn’t the best wifi and we were disconnected frequently, but it was better than our first year. Plus, we aren’t at one of the most beautiful beaches I’ve been to in order to hang out online. However, it’s important to know in case you decide to visit and want or need to use it. The front desk staff is quite accommodating and will help you if you have problems.

The Neutral

These are things that are worth mentioning. They didn’t make or break the vacation. Some were nice added bonuses.

There was poolside and beach drink service. Also, the lunch restaurant was casual enough that you could grab lunch in your swimming gear (as long as you had a shirt and shoes and weren’t still dripping).

The towel station is down by the beach. It would be awesome to have a second one close to the water park. Though, this wasn’t so bad during our second trip when our room was much closer to these amenities.

Some activities were included in the all inclusive price: renting a snorkel and mask for one hour, fins, and also the kayak. There wasn’t a huge amount to see within the confines of the buoys, but we did see a lion fish, star fish, old conch shells, and other assorted fish.

There is a game room on premises, but we didn’t get to go inside. We did play a lot of air hockey on the table located above the lobby (near the bar and the breakfast and dinner restaurant). It was a lot of fun!

Would I Return to the Allegro Cozumel?

I did return! I wasn’t sure I would because it feels like the property has been a bit neglected and it certainly wasn’t as nice as my husband remembered from 14 years ago. I was not expecting perfection and I have a pretty high tolerance for outdated places. However, the beach here is absolutely amazing. Our second trip was much better than the first. The resort facilities are clean, the staff is friendly, and the beach is one of the most beautiful I’ve had the pleasure to visit.

Do you have feedback on the Allegro Cozumel or the Occidental? Please share your thoughts and experiences in the comments.

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