For our winter 2018 getaway we decided to stay at the Hotel InterContinental Presidente Hotel Resort Spa in Cozumel. This is not an all-inclusive resort. Now, in keeping with my website's name, Miles Miser, we wanted to spend the least amount of money possible but still enjoy a nice hotel. My girlfriend had the IHG credit card and recently earned the sign up bonus of 80k points after spending $1000 USD in 3 months. This resort just happened to be an IHG resort so we wanted to use her points and check it out. We arrived by shuttle from the airport at 1pm and were a couple hours early for check in. We decided to look around a bit and check-in and see if we could check in early or drop off our bags at least. We headed to the check-in area and spoke to the person at the reception desk. Our room wasn’t ready yet as check-in wasn’t until 3pm. So we asked if we could see the room they were cleaning for us. They called for someone to bring us to take a quick look at our room on the south side of the resort and when we got there we weren’t impressed. Not that the room was bad, by any means, it just looked a little outdated. It was also ground level and didn’t have an ocean view.
There weren’t many people at the hotel and I knew there had to be a lot of vacancies. I wanted a room on the north side of the resort because I had researched and knew that the north side hotel rooms had been recently renovated. We went back to the reception desk and spoke to the person who we had originally met with upon arriving. I asked if we could take a look at one of the Ocean View rooms on the north side of the resort. As soon as we entered the room, I knew this was the one we wanted.
I played it cool and when we got back to the reception desk I asked how much more would the north side Ocean View room cost. She said only $25 USD more per night. We both looked at each other and said yes in unison! Our new room was a Luxury Ocean View. It was on the 2nd floor and to be honest, I liked it better than a ground floor room with a lot of foot traffic. Normally this room goes for $332 USD a night plus $63 in taxes and a $12 room fee per night for a total of $407 a night. We ended up using 40k IHG points per night, $25 USD per night for our upgraded room and $112 USD total taxes and fees. Not bad!
Luxury Ocean View Room
Our room was 500 sq ft, with a king bed that featured Egyptian cotton duvets and was super comfortable. I slept soundly. I am a light sleeper but there was very minimal noise at night. Now, perhaps that was due to only being a third full. Regardless, it was a great bed and one of the best I've slept on in a hotel.
There was a sitting area with a small table and a cushioned bench area at the foot of the bed that you could lounge on and watch the 49 inch LED TV if a passing shower chased you inside.
Inside the cabinet under the TV contains a minibar, small storage area and coffee cups and glasses. Outside on the balcony there was another sitting area for two and table where we ate breakfast each morning and enjoyed the view. We didn’t eat in the hotels restaurant so I can’t comment on the food. We did order room service coffee each morning, which was really good. There was also a drying rack on the balcony for your clothes after your swim in the ocean, pool, or hot tub.
I especially loved the shower in our room. It had a separate shower head that was moveable and a ceiling rain shower as well. It was stocked with plenty of towels, shower gel, shampoo, conditioner and a mini bar of artisan mint soap, that I loved. Outside the shower there was a double sink stocked with hand towels, a bottle of water, mouthwash, two bathrobes, slippers, and a hairdryer.
Pool and Beach Area
The hotel had a medium sized infinity pool with an adjacent hot tub that could accommodate perhaps 8 people. Next to the pool was a seated bar area that served food and drinks. A waiter came around to service the hot tub and pool areas and we decided to try fresh coconut water in the shell. It was really tasty and refreshing. After we had finished it, we asked if we could eat the fresh coconut inside the shell. A couple minutes later the waiter came back and presented us with the shelled and cut up coconut on a plate with Tajín, a seasoning powder called salsa en polvo in Spanish, consisting of chile peppers, salt, and dehydrated lime juice. The powder is tangy and spicy and is used to enhance the flavor of fruits and vegetables. Let me tell you it was so good, we bought some of the spice before we left to fly home!
On our last night at the hotel we decided to have a couple drinks at the second bar area overlooking the ocean and small beach area. The drinks were decent sized and also the bartenders weren’t stingy on the alcohol.
Since we had a big lunch in town earlier we decided to just have an appetizer for dinner and tried the calamari. It was lightly battered and the sauce was mildly spicy with some pepperoncini peppers. It wasn’t greasy at all and I thought it was decent.
This is a private bar area that you can reserve.
My overall impression of the hotel and resort was good. I liked the service staff’s attentiveness and the nicely renovated room we had. The bed and shower were awesome. The beach area wasn’t huge but it was in a cove like area somewhat protecting it from the ocean waves so I was able to snorkel a bit. It is also a short taxi ride into downtown Cozumel. It cost us between $110 and $120 pesos per one way ride. You can rent a car but we didn’t want the stress of driving. This isn’t a party resort so don’t come here looking for a ton of nightlife or a party atmosphere.
I would recommend this hotel to anyone who wants to relax and escape the cold!
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