I have to state up front that our overall vacation experience in Mexico for the week we were in Mazatlan was miserable. We went in January. It was the coldest that the locals has seen it in 30 years - highs in the lower seventies all week, lows in the forties. We had to buy extra jeans and sweatshirts just to stay warm. And my wife was suffering from a sinus infection all week as well. Ended up being a recuperating vacation for her.

This may taint my review of the El Cid. I will try hard to be subjective and when I have a bad thing to share, I will specify if it was the hotel or otherwise.

Take a cab to and from the airprot. It's the cheapest and most efficient way to go. Once in town, you will have to try the open air cabs at least once. After that, either walk or take the bus. It's the cheapest and safe. If you are bored, take the bus to the local Wal Mart or Home Depot. Gigante is the local version of Wal Mart and is the closest to El Cid.

The view from our room was awesome! We were on the top (4th) floor of the north wing of the El Moro Tower. The balcony looked out over the executive pool and beach. Beautiful sunsets!

The room was more that adequate in size for my wife and I. Having traded a studio time share, we were expecting smaller. It had a very small, yet full kitchen - minus the dishwasher. It was basically a hotel room with a kitchenette/dinette.

The beds are very hard. Couldn't wait to come home to the comfort of my own mattress.

No Tub. But the stand up shower was huge and more than adequately accommodated two people.

There were these little ants that would show up every day around the water sources in the room. I was told this is normal for Mexico. Remember, this is Mexico. Things are different. Keep that in mind, and don't be a stereotypical arrogant and snobby tourist, and you should get along fine. Even though the El Cid is one of Mazatlan's finest resorts (arguably their best), it ain't the Marriott. Don't expect it to be. All things considered, the El Cid does a decent job.

Maid service, and other hotel personnel, were wonderful.

The pool is HUGE! It is very nice. BIG however. It is also very cold. Well, maybe not very. But definitely cool. I like warm water. I never did actually get in the pool. Too cold

The hot tub was actually a lukewarm tub. By my estimate, water temp was in the seventy degree range.

Don't pass up the Free salsa and drink bar in the lobby on Saturday and Monday.

BTW - try the local soda called ToniCol. It's awesome! However, it is sort of a quirky taste. You'll probably either love it or hate it. It is a vanilla flavored soda. Reminded me of a soda I used to drink frequently in Europe. I wish I could buy it here in the states.

The best part of the hotel was La Concha restaurant. They offered a special every night - 2 people/$29.99 U.S. Dollars, buffet. The buffet fare rotated from night to night. Mexican, Kabobs, seafood, etc. We priced other restaurants nearby and found that just a main entree was $15.00-$20.00. So we figured the best deal was at La Concha where we got everything, soup, drink, entree, dessert, salad, all for $15.00. And the food tasted great.

The Mexican Fiesta show at El Cid was pretty good. Food was great. The MC and the role-playing stereotyped Mexican drunks were obnoxious, but the regional dancing in costume was beautiful. A been there, done that, event.

If you are a diver, skip it. Water temp in Jan was sixty degrees and visibility was about four or five feet. Not much more to see than rock and mud. Another been there, done that, experience.

If you have ever contemplated parasailing, do it here. Sure, it is a beautiful scene from up there, but the real motivation is that outfit that runs the boat on the beach in front of El Cid only charged $25.00/person. Compare this to close to $100.00 in other locations. Do it at the El Cid!

Golf, at the El Cid course, was very nice. We teed off on one hole in the company of a wild Iguana. That was a first for me! However, you are required to hire a caddy, even if you take an electric cart. Total waste of money! Rip off!!! There's no way around it. So, if I were to do it again, I would walk, and hire two caddies. That way, I could at least feel like I am taking the victory walk up the fairway to my ball on the green while my pro caddy carries my clubs, just like on the PGA tour!

Definitely take the time to go to Stone Island. We did the trimaran tour via the hotel tour company (Pronatours). Water was rough that day (no one's fault), and the ride through the local peasant village to get to the beach was third world Mexico at it's best. But once we arrived at the beach - WOW! I would have like to stay there all day. Lot of activities, food, sun, etc. Highly recommend.

The two absolute worst things about El Cid, and Mazatlan in general, were the beach vendors and the time share salespeople. We couldn't get away from them. Even in restaurants, they constantly pester you to buy stuff, and are not easily dissuaded. I don't suppose there is much that the El Cid can do about the beach vendors - the beach is Mexican federal property. And for that matter, now that I think about it, the El Cid was the least of our worries on the time share sales scene. So I guess this is really just a complaint against Mazatlan and Mexico in general.

All in all, as my wife and I talked about it, we really didn't see many reasons to even leave the El Cid property. All of the food you need can be obtained right there at their multiple restaurants - especially if you have the all inclusive package, which we did not, or you can just stop by the reasonably-priced little market on street level of the El Cid El Moro Tower for ther food basics, which we did frequently. All of the activities we did were either held on one of the five El Cid properties, or sponsored by them, so they provided transportation.

That being said, will we return to El Cid? Probably not. When you factor out the weather, it was an acceptable hotel/resort experience. But we learned to dislike the pacific side of Mexico. And besides, there are so many other places around the world to visit. So far, Maui is our favorite. Check it out sometime.

We stayed at the El Moro Tower for 3 weeks in January,
We had a 1 Bedroom with a Kitchen on the 9th Floor.
The view was fantastic, as we could see the Ocean, Pool,
and Island from our Balcony. The Room was spacious,
and well kept. We had no problems there at all, and
would recommend this hotel to all. Of Special notice was
the amount of poolside activities that went on throughout
the day, from Aerobics, ping-pong, bingo, spanish lessons,
darts, coconut bowling,etc. There was always something to
keep you going through out the day. The activity staff was
very friendly, and made you feel like you were among
friends. A special thank you to Emir and Luis for their part
in making our stay enjoyable. As Tony Montana would say
("Say Hello to my little Friends" )

Rate was to pricey, we attended a timeshare presentation at Pueblo Bonito Emerald Bay and moved resort the same day. For the same rate, we went from a two star (El Cid) to a Five Star (Pueblo Bonito) resort.

Bed Hard, Timeshare sales pushy, front desk staff snotty, give credit to restaurant staff..they were friendly. Room was clean but not spectacular and smelled musty. Beach full of vendors and pool was closed by 5 pm.

Exchanged through RCI for the El Moro Tower El Cid (RCI #1844)

Dropped off at the main tower for check in. Received free beer from the welcome lady. Didn't give them an imprint of my credit card at check in and ripped the plastic bracelets off as soon as we reached the room and the bellboy left. Stayed in the second shorter tower south of the main tower. They're connected via indoor walkways. Second tower is called "Castilla".

My review will continue on the correct tripadvisor page. Search for El Cid Castilla Beach Hotel.