For six years, I lived at "the Dodo," and I would give it my most enthusiastic recommendation. I spent quite a bit of time looking at other furnished apartments in that price range, without finding anything nearly as suitable. The Dodo Residential apartments have several strong positives going for them, including the landscaped grounds, the location within the city, and professional management and ownership.
The Dodo apartments are a secure gated community. Once inside, you find yourself in the middle of a beautiful garden with a grassy lawn, lush greenery, and tall palm trees. The three-story building provides shade in the afternoon, and residents often gather outside for "happy hour" or cookouts.
The location is perfect. Not so close to the clubs and tourist joints as to be bothered by the noise, but close enough to walk there when you want to. The town square, the oceanfront and scores of great clubs and restaurants are all within easy walking distance. Just within a single block, there are several excellent eateries. Just a half a block away is the municipal farmer's market or "Mercado." There you can buy fresh fruits and vegetables typically of a better quality than the supermarkets. And of course prepared food. I used to walk down there for breakfast almost every morning. Tacos, empanadas, gordita's, and huaraches. Mmmm.
You couldn't ask for better landlords than Philippe and Delffi Croegaert. Philippe is constantly rolling profits back into the facility, keeping up with the maintenance and ongoing upgrades. And it shows. None of the other apartment buildings that I looked at were anywhere near as well maintained as the Dodo. And on the few occasions where problems cropped up, Philippe was there to resolve them immediately. I think this is probably very different from the experience that most people have with landlords on the island.
For more information and photos, visit their excellent website. www.dodocozumel.com