El Cid Castilla Beach Hotel

the resort is in great location, but food needs some help ,kind of blaah even at the restaurants. italy was the best, but have had better, also beds are to hard and need to update the pillows/. We return because we know alot of the staff and like location. just wish they would have better quality of food and drinks. all inclusive drinks didnt have alcohol in them unless you were standing there an watching them. will go to other hotel we have stayed at probably next time for the price, unless el cid is alot cheaper or food gets better ,but do love location so who knows.

If you like kids this is the place its a family resort Im used to Adults only resorts nice view from the tower I travel alone if your a solo traveler get out of the resort and walk anyware on central ave it will help lot's of good food!

-I advise to go all inclusive and tip the waiters or you will be ignored. -Take as many tours as you can, but keep your schedule open for changes. - Beds are super hard. Good Luck with that. - Shower was broken. Check room before you settle in.

Excellent pools. Good food in restaurants but not the buffet style.

I have been coming to Mazatlan for many many years staying at most of the hotels in the golden zone. I had heard so much about El CID that I decided to give it a try. Check in was a breeze, for some reason I got the VIP service. After check in I had to go and see another lady who was supposed to explain more about the resort etc. Instead she was very pushy in trying to get me to go and see the Marina hotel and get a free breakfast (which really means they want to try and sell you a timeshare)., but I had no interest. She was very insistent about this and the only way I could get her to stop was to be be rude to her. This wasn't a good start to the vacation. The hotel was average at best. Nothing really stood out to give me the "wow factor". Service was acceptable, if at some times very slow in the pool area. The food was slightly less than average quality and after a couple of days of all inclusive food, I went to other restaurants in the golden zone to seek a better quality of cuisine. The system of making reservations for the restuarants was not the most user friendly and after several attempts to secure a table at the argentinian restaurant, I finally gave up. The pool was probably the best feature of the hotel, it was heated so there was no cringing when entering like at most of the other hotels in Mazatlan at this time of year. My expectations were high after I had read so many good reviews, but overall it was just an average experience, nothing really special. I would probably stay here again at some point in the future if there was nothing available at my other favorite hotels in Mazatlan.

The El Cid Castilla provides excellent customer service and generally good food in the buffet, open-air lunch BBQ, and specialty restaurants. The beds are hard even with a pillowtop mattress and the bedding is strange with a slippery, too-small blanket layered between two sheets, so that one person ends up with both sheets after a while and the other (or neither) with the blanket. Wait staff do not wear gloves when handling food, dishes, etc. One server wiped her runny nose on a tissue, coughed into it, then held onto it before setting cutlery on a table with her hands. Another dropped the sugar packet container on the floor, picked up the broken pieces, threw them out, but set the sugar packets from the floor aside. I can only assume they would be replaced in a new container and put back on a table for the guests to use. Many people were coughing while I was there and I got a sinus infection myself. Having a hand sanitizer bottle at the entrance to the restaurants is not sufficient. The entertainment is not great, although the performers are certainly enthusiastic. The value was, however, excellent for what was provided at the hotel.

When we got to our room there were 2 wet towels on one bed and dirty towels in the bathroom. Beds were made. Appeared someone just came in for a shower. Room wasn't ready.

We had great plans to play tennis each morning only to find there was an additional fee for court usage even though they were empty. Apparently we weren't on "that" all inclusive plan. Fortunately, the gym was quite well supplied and maintained with decent equipment but really, who wants to exercise indoors when you are in Mexico - not me! Next plan, enjoy water aerobics before lunch. The lack of enthusiasm by leaders, lack of variety in routine and poor music selection ended that plan after two days, two days was enough. On a positive note, if you wanted to learn to count in Spanish to 8 forward and back, this was the place to be! Sorry to say the food at the Pergola buffet was food from purgatory and unfortunately, the outdoor lunch buffet was no better. Of course for an extra fee, you could purchase food at the restaurants pool side; there you could even get a can of soda rather than the watered down liquid fountain drinks. No surprise, this option was the "other" all inclusive plan. Really, what does "all inclusive" mean... at this resort there seemed to be an endless number of definitions! After day three a violent bout of food poisoning set the holiday on hold. a bathroom was needed close at hand, no venturing away from the facilities for a couple days. Bring your Imodium. Compared to the many other Mexican all inclusive vacations we have had over the years, and there have been many > 15, this was the least favorite. No plans to ever go back to El Cid or Mazatlan - two thumbs down for me.

Our balcony overlooked one of the pools with the ocean in the background. An absolutely beautiful site. The staff at this hotel worked nonstop to make the guests feel welcome and taken care of. They were friendly, helpful, courteous, and hard working. We are already planning our next trip and have decided to go back to the El Cid Castilla again. The only thing I would like to change is the firmness of the bed mattresses. That is the only negative aspect in contrast to the numerous positives we experienced.

The city is beautiful with friendly people, so if this weather is very hot but out of a cold beer everything was excellent