At the last moment, we booked a 1 week package (Feb. 18-25) with Sunwings and stayed at Playa Azul Golf & Beach Hotel on Cozumel (listed as a 4 star).

In a word...fabulous! Weather was perfect..sunny, occasional light fluffy clouds, 80 degrees F every day. All units have an ocean view, our room was in the building farthest from the ocean & it overlooked the courtyard too (which holds the deck and pool).

The rooms were clean, 2 double beds were very comfortable, the bath didn't have a tub, but did have a large, clean tile shower which was fine for the 3 of us (from Canada, late 40's couple with 16 yr. old daughter).

All staff were very courteous, most spoke very good English. There always seemed to be someone somewhere cleaning, sweeping sand from the stairs, cleaning the pool, raking the beach sand, etc. They take a lot of pride in this hotel and it shows.

The package & hotel description didn't indicate any meals, so we were delighted to find our stay included a buffet breakfast each morning (the staples of pancakes, french toast, omelets or eggs, bacon & sausage, fresh fruit, cereal, etc were there each day. And every day there was a different selection of 4-6 more (mainly Mexican) hot dishes). Most days we bought our lunch at the hotel too, and one day we ate at the outdoor restaurant next to the hotel (also owned by the hotel). We agreed that the selection was better right at the hotel; the outdoor facility played lively music though and that was a nice change.

Located 10 minutes north of San Miquel, a taxi ride downtown cost approx $6 US each way. Rather than pay for the island tour offered by Sunwing, we hired a cab for much less money, and the driver stopped several times for 15 minutes so we could see the sites, and made a long stop so we could have our lunch. We did book the tour over to the mainland to see the large Mayan ruins...a long day, but worth it to see this historic site.

When we learned that hurricane Wilma sat on Cozumel for 3 days before it moved on, we were impressed by the amount of work these folks must have gone through to re-open on Jan. 1/06. New roof, repainted, new furniture, beddings, etc. The beach was all but destroyed but they have had sand shipped in. Apparently it is no where near what it used to be, but what was there was still very nice. The repairs still continue...while we were there, they got two fountains going again; however, nothing we needed or wanted was lacking.