Hotel Marina El Cid Spa & Beach Resort - All Inclusive

The hotel complex itself is amazing. Its beautiful and you get a view of everything, ocean, pool area, natural areas. It is filled with native species and they use organic products and recycle their water. There is a "platinum club" which they charge you extra for all these "great little perks" is not a perk. They "give" a personal butler, which we only saw when we had our bags taken to our room. They talk about a pillow menu and aroma therapy menu for your room. We asked for the aroma therapy nightly and only got it once. We had to ask for our refrigerator to be stocked several times a day, and they would come at night with warm soda and water. This club is supposed to give you priority reservations at the 3 restaurants that require them for dinner. We tried to make reservations several days in advance and could never get in. Yet, when we talked to the head concierge, he was able to make it happen. We received better and more friendly help from the concierge staff than the platinum club staff. Don't waste your money on that upgrade and tip the concierge staff instead. They are were it gets done. Angel, who was the main gentleman in charge of our platinum club stay, was not friendly, did not care if we were happy or not, and then on the last day of our stay, my engagement ring went missing. When I went to talk to Angel in the Platinum Club, he could have cared less. He even tried to talk me out of filing a report because we were checking out and leaving for the airport that day. He also waited to send security to our room, even though the head of security was in the office when we went to talk to Angel and was confused why he didn't have us talk to him then. The place is beautiful, the staff for the most part is excellent, the platinum club is a waste of money and they really don't care if you enjoyed your stay.

I would recommend this resort to anyone. We stayed from 4/13 to 4/20. We are mid forties and there were 3 couples in our group. This is close to the airport, awesome food, nice room, great pool, and nice beach. We are beach people and spent most of our time there . We ate at all restaurants and had good experiences at all. My favorite was the Mediterranean. The beach is a little rocky but still awesome. I recommend water shoes. We visited the small area of Puerto Morelos and enjoyed the low keyed atmosphere. We have been to cancun/riviera maya 10 times and this is our 5th resort. None of the resorts were "bad" but this one is our favorite. We are planning to go back in the fall. Love the El CID. VERY Nice..... I really don't understand any negative reviews. We were in building 19.

it was totaly awesome. i cant wait to go back again.

Food is great, room is great, the resort is great. Will be back again!!

We had a fantastic vacation at the Hotel Marina El Cid! The resort was fantastic and the food was the best we have had at an all-inclusive resort. We enjoyed the pool and the beach as well as the entertainment staff activities - water aerobics, water polo and volleyball. The staff was fabulous! The only negative were the rocks that you would encounter on the ocean floor. Made the ocean less enjoyable, but the pool more that made up for that issue!

This hotel was very lovely and clean. I was a little disppointed with the beds. They were a little uncomfotable and the Murphy beds were extremely uncomfortable. They should just put another bed in the room. The staff and food were fantastic overall. I would definitely visit this hotel again!!

Staff was average. Had to request different pillows 4 days straight and finally received them on 5th day. Came home with multiple bed bug bites. I expected better. Food was good. Beach was very rocky.

This was our second stay at the El Cid. The staff is always friendly and very accommodating. We like the small size. Unlike other mega resorts in this region, everything is within a short 5 minute walk (the pool, restaurants, beach). The only thing that was maddening is the ritual of other guests waking at 4am to "mark" their chairs. We watched many of the marked chairs and they were not used for 90% of the day. The El Cid should be diligent about making this practice stop. I heard countless other guests complain about it too. (and no, we did not mark our chairs. We went to the beach and searched for chairs and were always able to find the 4 we needed for my family in a short time. If you want to sit by the pool....see you at 4am).

The food was so so. Reservations for dinner impossible if you didn't upgrade to the platinum club. Would be nice to have snorkeling gear available. Teen club and kids club but not much for kids in between or that aren't in to sports. Margaritas not great. Did not get building I wanted and barely got ocean view despite request because not part of the platinum club.

For the kids spring break, we went as a two-family group of 10. Staff are wonderful. Food is at the level of your average all-you-can-eat buffet restaurant. Hotel is dated and we had trouble with our A/C. They will try to get you into a time-share presentation but that seems to be the norm in Mexico. Beach is very close to pool but hotel itself is isolated. Reef snorkel trip from hotel is a good value. Mayan ruin (Chichen Itza) trip was unpleasant due to multiple bus/van transfers on side of four lane highway and waiting in a closed mall. Drinks (including water!) are NOT included in the "lunch-included" trip. Absolutely no access for people with disabilities on the ruins trip.