Let me start with the rooftop pool.
I need to get that out of the way first because if I bury it at the end, you might stop reading before you get there, and that would be a shame. I will come back to it in detail. But I want you to know, before we get into anything else, that the rooftop pool at the Westin Cozumel is one of the best kept “secrets” I have ever seen at any resort. I have now warned you.
When I visit a property I pay attention to things that go beyond what most guests notice. I am thinking about who this resort is right for, what the honest trade-offs are, and what I would tell a client before they book. This review is exactly that. I went to the Westin Cozumel in early July with my own curiosity and a lot of prior experience with Mexico at that time of year. Here is what I found.
THE BEACH: RIGHT OUTSIDE THE BACK DOOR
The Westin is a beachfront property in the truest sense of the phrase. You walk out the back of the resort and you are immediately on the beach. No long pathway, no shuttle, no walking across a road. The water is right there.
I want to say something about this because it matters more than it might sound. Easy, immediate beach access changes the rhythm of your whole day. You do not plan the beach around getting to it. You pop down for an hour in the morning before it gets warm, you come back up for lunch, you go back in the afternoon. That kind of casual relationship with the water is only possible when the beach is genuinely accessible.
At this time of year, I was always able to find a lounger on the beach. I had been bracing myself for competition over chairs, but it simply was not the case in early July.
The Wifi was even accessible on the beach and I was able to bring my computer down and make Cozumel the temporary “Command Central” for clients.
Tips for the beach:
The main resort pool is outdoors and has direct beach access. Most guests, whether they had children or not, gathered here. It is a lovely pool. The one honest note: loungers around the main pool were harder to come by, as guests tended to claim them early and keep them for the day. If a lounger is important to you, either get down early or head to the rooftop (more on that in a moment).
THE SNORKELING: GENUINELY IMPRESSIVE
I did not expect the snorkeling at the resort itself to be a highlight. It was.
The Westin is located away from downtown Cozumel and away from the high-volume hotels and the cruise ship activity. What that means for the water is significant. The water in front of the resort was calm, clear, and completely free of sargassum. There was very little motorized traffic to contend with. And underwater, there was genuinely good visibility and marine life worth seeing.
Cozumel travel is often marketed around the dive sites and the offshore reef, and rightfully so. But what surprised me here was how worthwhile the snorkeling was without leaving the resort at all. If you are a snorkeler, bring your gear. You will use it.
This is something I now mention to clients when recommending this property. The combination of calm water, no sargassum, and strong underwater visibility right off the beach is not something you can take for granted at every Mexico resort. It is a genuine differentiator here.
The clear blue of the water and the wildlife in the area, make for great snorkeling, bird watching , and every morning we were able to watch the crabs emerge from the rocks around the restaurant!
THE HUMIDITY: BETTER THAN EXPECTED
I want to address this because I was genuinely concerned about it before we went.
We had been to Puerto Vallarta in early July previously, and the humidity there made it difficult to be outside for extended periods without becoming uncomfortable quickly. I was expecting Cozumel to be similar.
It was not. The humidity was entirely manageable. I was outside comfortably throughout the trip. Whether this is a consistent pattern or whether we simply got lucky with our week, I cannot say.
For clients who are nervous about Mexico in summer, this is worth knowing.
LOCATION: NOT WALKABLE, BUT THE TRADE-OFF IS WORTH IT
I want to be transparent about this because it is a real consideration. The Westin is not within walking distance of the cruise docks, the ferry terminal, or downtown Cozumel. If that kind of walkability matters to you, this is not the property.
What I found, however, is that a taxi was readily available every time we wanted to leave the resort. There was no waiting, no uncertainty, no logistics headache. Downtown and the waterfront were easy to reach when we wanted them.
For me, and I think for the right client, this is a genuinely worthwhile trade-off. The location away from the concentrated hotel zone is part of why the water is calm and clear, why the beach feels unhurried, and why the overall atmosphere of the resort is quieter and more relaxed. You gain something real by being away from the action. You just need to be at peace with the fact that you will take a short taxi ride when you want the action. But the views and atmosphere is certainly worth it in my opinion.
As a travel advisor, I would recommend this property to clients who want a peaceful, beach-forward resort experience and who are comfortable making occasional excursions rather than expecting everything to be walkable. I would not recommend it to clients who place a high value on being in the middle of everything.
THE ROOFTOP POOL AND BAR: THE BEST PART OF THE PROPERTY
Now. The rooftop.
The Westin is the tallest building on the island of Cozumel at 17 stories. At the top is an adults-only rooftop pool and bar. I was up there every single day of our stay.
Let me tell you what you encounter when you step off the elevator. The infinity pool is directly at eye level. You are looking through a glass wall, over the water in the pool, and then beyond it into what I can only describe as one million different shades of blue that go on forever. The pool appears to run directly into the Caribbean, which runs into the sky. There is no clean line where one ends and the next begins. It is entirely seamless.
I am not a person who runs out of words, but I genuinely struggled to describe this view to people when I came home. There is no photograph that captures it adequately, and there is no description I have found that does it justice. You need to see it.
What made it even more remarkable was how few people were up there. On every visit, there were never more than six to eight people on the rooftop, including myself and the bartender. There were days when I was the only person in the pool. On a resort that size, that kind of solitude at a pool of that beauty is almost unbelievable.
It made for a quiet office in the mornings!
Something else I noticed and loved about the rooftop: depending on which direction you looked, you saw something completely different. On one side of the building, all you saw was blue water and sky stretching to the horizon. On the other side, it was all lush jungle green and trees. Two completely different worlds from the same vantage point.
I travel with my own pool floaty. It keeps me afloat without being obnoxious or intrusive to other guests, and I find it genuinely relaxing to use in a pool. On the rooftop, my floaty became something of a talking point with the other guests and the bartender. It was a small and ridiculous thing that I mention only because the atmosphere up there was warm and friendly in addition to being visually extraordinary.
This is the perfect travel floaty!! It has 3 smaller tubes that are easily inflated by mouth, and when it is deflated, it takes up very little room in your suitcase!
Tips for the rooftop:
Go every day. Go in the morning before the sun is directly overhead. Go in the late afternoon for the light. Go at least once at sunset. Do not make the mistake of only going once and calling it done. This is the experience that will stay with you.
THE ROOM UPGRADE: SKIP THE PRIVATE SOAKING POOL
We upgraded our room to one with a private outdoor soaking pool on the balcony. I would not do this again, and I will explain why clearly because this is exactly the kind of thing a travel advisor should tell you before you spend the money.
First: you have to fill the soaking pool yourself when you want to use it. This takes approximately 30 minutes.
Second: the balcony is not private. You can see directly onto the balconies on either side of yours, and they can see onto yours. The balcony wall is glass, which means guests on lower floors can look up onto your balcony from below.
Third, and most importantly: without genuine privacy, there is nothing the private soaking pool offers that you cannot get elsewhere on the property and enjoy more. The rooftop pool was more beautiful, more private in practice, and more enjoyable in every way. The beach was right outside. The resort pool was lovely. The soaking pool on the balcony added nothing that I could not find in a better setting with a better view.
These photos are both off of our balcony. You have a straight on view of the Ocean abd the beach. However, you don’t have any privacy here either.
Save the upgrade cost. Put it toward a better room category, or put it toward experiences and excursions. The private soaking pool sounds appealing on paper and I understand why guests book it. In practice, I found it unnecessary.
THE LOBBY, BAR, AND DINING
The large open lobby bar at the Westin was busier and more energetic than I expected. In the afternoons and evenings, it was genuinely lively, with guests of all ages using the space and seeming to really enjoy themselves. During our visit, the World Cup was on, which gave the lobby an extra energy and a natural gathering reason for guests who wanted communal entertainment.
For dining: there are two restaurants that alternate being open for dinner. All of the literature suggests reservations are necessary. We always made them. In early July, we found that reservations were not actually required; the restaurants were not operating at capacity at this time of year. That said, I would still recommend making them for peace of mind.
The food was good. Not extraordinary, but genuinely enjoyable. Two of the evenings we were there, dinner was served in a more buffet style format. The sushi was good and tasted fresh. One evening featured a Fourth of July celebration with a band and outdoor dining on a decorated patio. Yes, we were in Mexico. Yes, they celebrated it anyway. The food was good, the outdoor setting was fun, and seeing the patio transformed into a festive dining area was a enjoyable touch.
This was the set up for the outdoor patio 4th of July dinner. They even made a fun red, white, and blue cocktail for the occasion.
WHO THIS RESORT IS RIGHT FOR
This is the part of a review that I think matters most, and it is the part that most hotel review websites do not provide. Not every resort is right for every traveler, and the Westin Cozumel is no exception.
This resort is a strong fit for: couples, adults traveling without children, anyone who prioritizes calm water and good snorkeling, anyone who will genuinely use and appreciate an extraordinary adults-only rooftop pool, and anyone who values a quieter, more relaxed resort atmosphere over a high-stimulation activity hub.
This resort is not the right fit for: families with young children who want a resort with a water park and high-energy programming, guests who want to be walking distance from the cruise docks and downtown, or anyone who wants a wide variety of motorized water sports and activities on site.As a Cozumel travel option, the Westin occupies a specific and genuinely well-executed niche. It does what it does beautifully. A professional travel advisor can help you determine whether what it does is what you are looking for.
JENN’S FINAL VERDICT
I would go back. That is the simplest version of this review.
The rooftop pool is one of the most memorable resort experiences I have had in Mexico, and I have had many. The beach access is excellent. The snorkeling surprised me. The July humidity was manageable in a way I was not expecting. The location trade-off is real but the taxi availability made it a non-issue in practice. The food was solid if not spectacular.
Skip the soaking pool upgrade. Book the rooftop into your schedule every single day. Pack your snorkeling gear. And if you have a floaty, bring it.
If you want help deciding whether the Westin Cozumel is the right fit for your specific trip, or if you want me to compare it against other Cozumel travel options and curated travel destinations I have stayed at, reach out. That is exactly what I am here for.
As your travel advisor, I can book this property for you at no additional cost, while ensuring you have all the honest information you need before you commit.
