Family of 4 first time to Mexico. We went 12/20-12/26. Mazatlan was amazing. The staff at the El Cid resorts treated us like gold. The food was amazing. We had Elite All Inclusive and it is true, everything is included. Even what wasn't on the menu.
Ramon was a favorite waiter at the pool and he was great. All the waiters and hotel staff was amazing.
Yes, the pool is heated and it was like bathwater. Our two girls (7 and 10 years old) loved the pool and the resort. And the pulminias.
We went everywhere in Mazatlan and never felt unsafe. The locals were friendly, helpful and wanted us there. It was great.
El Cid was better than we expected and we loved it. It is great for families. We travel a lot to resorts in Southern California, Vegas, and Hawaii. El Cid was right up there with those resorts as far as service and food. The staff was the best we have ever dealt with. They were so great and helpful.

I have noticed many people on Trip Advisor leave negative reviews about Mexico. Yes, there are something challenging or different. But isn't that why we go to another country, because things are different? Mazatlan and Mexico was amazing and we will go back for Thanksgiving 201

Bad service i was shouted by one employee speaking to me out loud (her name was Carmen) once i went to the hotel program. The rooms are old, the service is poor. Dont spend your money in this hotel while you can have an excellent service somewhere else

We arrived dec 21 and checked in fairly quickly. We booked our rooms through club Wyndham and were expecting a renovated rooms based on the description we were given and pictures we saw. Unfortunately our rooms 1-1 bedroom and 1 regular room were very dated and the beds were one step up from plywood. We are not picky and have slept on hard beds in the past but nothing like these. The showers in each bathroom did not drain and there was a tub full of water by the end of the shower.
We were greeted by the time share company at the airport and agreed to attend the breakfast the next morning with the promise of half price all inclusive wristbands. The breakfast and presentation took over 2 hours. I said I would not ever consider purchasing after receiving the quality of rooms we got using our own timeshare. He said he would check about getting us a better room. We waited over half an hour more and he came back to say we had to put 20% down in order to get a better room. What a scam. We left to talk to the front desk about the rooms. They showed us 2 rooms, one of which was an improvement and the beds are excellent but the other room is no different. We changed our room but instead of hearing the ocean, we were kept awake much of the night by the noises from the street. We could also hear showers from nearby rooms very loud very early in the morning. In my sisters room, their phone didn't work and neither did their tv. It took a long time before anything was done about it. The food so far (we have been here 1 and a half days so far) has been ok but not amazing. We got our wristbands but only to find out they are not actually all inclusive. There a 3 restaurants we cannot use them for supper or for the Christmas supper. Very disappointing. The peddlers on the beach do not respect the rope boundaries at this hotel like they do at other hotels down the beach. We were eating supper near the beach and one guy was actually throwing jewellry up to our table while we were eating! There were security close by but they couldn't be bothered. In summary, we are here for 6 more days and unless something happens for the good, we will not be staying here ever again. I will add more when our stay is complete.

We got picked up at the airport and were greeted by sales staff that was very nice and explained the tours and all inclusive deals during the 30 min ride to the hotel. When we got there we went to our room and then came down to finish our plan for our stay that took way too long to complete the paperwork. We stayed in theElCid Moro, 23rd floor and room was spacious but a little dated but accomodating with the kitchen and nice views. We finally finished and enjoyed a late lunch and after enjoying some relax time had dinner at the dance show (it was alright but needs some work before going to Vegas).
As for the hotel, as noted it was nice but in need of upgrading and the beds were hard with little give; the grounds were very nice and pools and water falls glistened in the sun. I would stay there again but will probably stay at the Marina even though we would have to travel to the Moro dining room for meals. now for the only negatives were we had no water one morning for about 45minutes and one nights found ants in one of the bathrooms and felt the staff was a little slow and never did call us to let us know the water was working, and very poor follow up.
Lets talk food and drinks! Well the food was good but you had to choose between the many mexican dishes, especially on the buffet at Breakfast: there were pleanty of choices and all the food was very good. The drinks were good as well with one exception, the Strawberry Margaritas were "The Best"! We truly enjoyed ourselves and hoped they wouldn't run out of strawberries.
Last was the Waiter staff, we must give high marks there as we had Joshua the whole time for Lunches and Dinners and were treated superbly. He was always by far the most accomodating to our needs and we felt he was truly interested in making our stay comfortable and special; would also add that one of the managers "Victor" keeps a tight ship and the Dining Hall was always very well kept and tableclothes were changed daily with different colors and themes, a truly nice touch for those that appreciate the little things to make your stay pleasurable. However I cant say the same for the other dining establishments. If you go to the mexican Sushi bar expect a disappointment with both food and waite staff. The all inclusive requires to make reservations before 5 PM daily for some places and not sure why since there were more waiters than diners (2 tables of 2) in the Sushi Bar.