We just returned from our trip to Mazatlan
There were 6 of us Me. My husband, My Daughter, my son-in -law and our two grandkids 8 & 9 yrs. old.
We had to stay at the El Cid Granada because there were no rooms available. I was VEERY nervous about the room at the Granada... But I was impressed!! to see that it was spacious and very clean.. We were only sleeping at the Granada basically, because we had the all-incl, pkg. There is a bit of a walk across a pedway which was fine for us but I wouldn't want to have to do it with toddlers or babies. The El Cid was great ! This was our 2nd. time at this resort.. The first time(last year) we enjoyed it too. We were excited to bring our kids with us this year..
This was our kids first "all-inclusive" experience and they were VERY impressed with everything.. My grandson developed a friendship with one of the waiters there (Armando) He couldn't wait to see him there every morning and again at supper.
The Entertainment was great except one night they didn;t have a show... We played Bingo instead.. They said because there were not enough people there that night ... we were dissappointed.. But every night after that was wonderfully entertaining.
I can't say enough about every staff member at this resort(also the Granada) Every thing we asked for was happily taken care of ..
We will be returning again next year . With 4 more! My son and his family are joining us.. Can't Wait!!
If you want a quiet vacation don't go to this resort. But if you have kids.. you will love it!! We did!

We (myself, my husband, and our 12 year old and 10 year old) stayed El Cid Castilla starting March 19 for 2 weeks all inclusive. I read the reviews and didn't want to expect too much from this resort. We booked our vacation through signature vacations and I was extremely happy with them. Our information was very clear and all our hotel transfers to and from the airport were included and were easy to follow. They were also very informative. Since we were staying 2 weeks and had heard about the time share people we decided to do it right away(even though we had no intention of purchasing one) and get it over with because then they would leave us alone the rest of our stay. That was a good decision because we got 2 free tours out of it for our family (stone island and city tour, which were both excellent) and also they did leave us alone because apparantly the hotel can't give you a time share tour if you've already had one. We were approached by other time share groups from different hotels down the block when we were out walking but we just pleasantly said "no, gracias". We were pretty overwhelmed by the size of the resort and it's sister hotels and took a while to find all of the restaurants and the spa and fitness centre. We had a fantastic time and enjoyed the pools and the beach, even though the beach was extremely crazy at that time due to local spring break. We did know this before we went so we were expecting a bit crazy. We went down to the beach by the malacon and it was very quiet and peaceful there. There were still a few beach vendors, but they weren't bothersome. I found that if I started talking to any of the beach vendors to ask "how much" or anything like that you got approached by every vendor, but if you just didn't show interest in any of them (sometimes "no gracias" was needed) they would continue on their way. We liked to buy stuff so i'm sure that just feeds the whole situation, but we had fun making deals and getting our hair braided and parasailing. But other days we just wanted to relax and didn't talk to any of them - it seemed to work.
Our room, which was a 9th floor ocean view was roomy very clean every day(we left a tip every morning for them). We enjoyed the shows and restaurants - our favorites were El Patio(argentine) which is across the street-try the spanish coffee! and Elcazar(italian) great pizza. I enjoyed La Cascada, but my daughter is a bit picky and didn't enjoy it. We ate breakfast at El Patio a couple of times but mostly enjoyed breakfast at the buffet. Only once did we eat dinner at the buffet and it was enjoyable and there was a huge assortment of desserts! I think our only disappointment was the sushi bar, which we found on our way to the fitness centre. We were disappointed when walked in. It was the only time that our all inclusive bracelets disappointed us (even though it was the way we were treated here that was the real disappointment). We had to stand there and wait and wait and finally we decided to go ahead into the sushi bar, which is in the back corner of the Prime Grill restaurant. We were given a menu, which included sushi and then when we went to place our order we were told they had made a mistake and they gave us a different menu for all inclusive members. This menu was very limited and the 2 waiters that we had didn't know anything about sushi and didn't even know what wasabi was. Still we ate there several times(the sushi was good) and every time were given terrible service while watching people in the Prime Grill get excellent service from the same staff. We didn't get drinks and had a horrible time getting our bill. Twice our table was dirty and they just set a new setting without washing it. I must say the sushi makers were very friendly and fast and the food was great! My daughter (the picky one) doesn't like sushi but loved a few of the dishes that were like meat skewers and the noodles. The pools at this hotel made the stay for us! The kids spent hours every day in the pools and just couldn't get enough. We all loved the swim up bar, and the snack bar was very convenient while spending time by the pool. We had to save loungers early in the morning if we wanted them. Becuase it was so busy my husband went out before 7 some mornings and there were hardly any loungers left, which is annoying when people save a chair almost all day and barely use it. Getting drinks by the pool was not a problem for us, however a few times when it was very busy we went up to the bar and got our own. We liked to keep the drinks coming! After a few days of the waiters learned what we liked and kept them coming, even though we did tip, others around us seemed to get served just as well. We loved Ramone and Ruben. And my husband thought Jose (he called him smiley) was great too. We left tips(we also found it hard to get small change in pesos) for every meal and it was appreciated. We saw that the all the servers worked very hard and were so friendly. I had an issue with the hotel customer service when I left my sweater in the evening show at our table and the next morning they told me to check with customer service which is by the lobby bar. The girl in there seemed very confused with very little english and told me to come back in the evening. That night I asked our server from the night before if she saw it and she told me she took it to the manager who took it to the customer service. Everyone seemed confused and never did find my sweater. While talking to customer service I found others who were looking for lost items, which were never found. But overall I must say this being our first time to Mazatlan, it was amazing. We loved the experience and would definitely go back.
Sorry about the rambling - hope it's helpful.

At check-in, they had our reservation in the computer but I couldn't find my print-out--which apparently is ABSOLUTELY necessary! They directed us to customer service to look it up on the computer and print it out (be sure and ask how to delete the "cookies" and history when you're done, so your info doesn't stay in the computer for the next person, such as your credit card number. It was in Spanish, so I needed help to accomplish this, but the lady spoke great English and showed me just where to go--different than on the computers I use in the States). After several tries, we figured out what credit card we had booked with and were able to print it, thankfully, since we had already paid and didn't want to be put out on the street, or whatever...

The room was adequate for one night (we stayed in a timeshare for 7 nights and had one extra night in town). There was three adults and we had a small room with a balcony overlooking the activity pool, where they played REALLY loud Mexican music for hours. Hard to enjoy the balcony and take in the ocean view past the pool. The room lacked a microwave or refrig, though there was room for them. They did have a ceiling fan, which was really nice when we were sleeping and the beds, although only full sized, were much less hard than at the timeshare we stayed at.

My husband liked the resort OK, but I thought it was too big and impersonal--not my style. You have to walk forever to get to the pool or one of the many restaurants. The timeshare "information staff" people were constantly on us every time we walked through the lobby, which would get really annoying if you were staying more than a night. We just told them we were leaving in the morning, which helped.

They did bring a plate of fruit--complementary--however, the next morning there were little bugs walking all over the table. Thanks but no thanks.

What a week. 8 times to Mexico, never ill a day in my life, and here I was, my third day there curled up in the fetal position hoping I would die I was so sick. I remember the buffet the day before and the wonderful shrimp, please be careful....I had a few and I thought they had a strange taste and thank God, only ate that many....please check before you eat that food is hot in their containers. very few are kept as hot as they should be..the positive was the doctor of the hotel was AWESOME better attention than I would have received at home, and quicker. After a few shots, and four different prescribed antibiotics and pain killers he was gone. It took me a few days to recoup, and in the meantime, the room which my daughter was in next to us was overtaken by bugs which would explain the little bites on her feet...housekeeping was there in a flash, and we realized a HUGE FAMILY OF THESE CRITTERS had taken over her room, we had to insist on another room immediately, and they agreed.
We had a room facing the pool, and it was very noisy and loud, they need to turn the music down a few notches...I love music but when all you can hear is the thump and your eardrums are beating, something is not right. The housekeeping staff kept the rooms clean and seemed happy enough with their jobs.

The restaurants that are part of the all-inclusive are great. The restaurant underneath ElMoro (elScada?) had amazing service. You have to make a reservation for dinner, but breakfast is excellent, if you get sick of the buffet. Across the street at Granada El Patio is terrible, they lost our reservation twice, so we were really excited by the third time and it really was a great disappointment, food was cold, steak was tough, spanish coffee was wonderful, with a good presentation. My family had a good dinner at the buffet one of nights I was out of it, because everything was fresh and hot.
Time share people drive you crazy, you just have to tell them you are not interested, likewise to the vendors, if you lay on beach, they will harass you. So stay at the pool.

People reserve their chairs with shoes, books, whatever, it is ridiculous.....but if you stay at these big resorts this is what happens.

Yes, I know they are always trying to improve this hotel, but one morning at 6:10 am a tile setter was pounding on his tile, doves and waves are one thing, but this was nuts, I put on my clothes and by the time I went to wring his neck he was done.

This was not a quiet peaceful resort. Lots of People and always something going on. Personnel at front desk accommodating enough, but not really friendly. So go at your own risk.