I stayed at the El Cid Granada for 2 weeks followed by another 2 weeks at the El Cid Castilla from January 8 to February 5 ,2013.as a single occupant,

Initially I wasn't too impressed with the accommodations at the Granada. When I first arrived I was disgusted with the mold and mildew in the washroom.The shower mat was covered with black spots ,I mentioned it to a member of the cleaning staff, and within minutes she brought me a brand new floor mat. I gave her 50 Pesos and she was my best friend for the duration. Apparently the rooms were being renovated and I happened to get one of ones that wasn't. I mentioned it to someone who was staying at this resort and I was surprised when they showed me their renovated room. It was very clean and modern.
When you check in,make sure there is no door to an adjoining room.These doors are not very sound proof. When I hear someone else snoring, I find it soothing, but others may not.
The Granada is a very quaint and quiet place with a pleasant Mexican flavour. I had a room on the second of three floors. It had balcony on one end and on the entrance end, a walkway overlooking an enclosure with a pool ,stage and restaurant. The Patio restaurant was convenient for the a la cart breakfast. The waiter gave me a bill for the meal, but since I was "All Inclusive", it was merely for accounting purposes.

I spent most of my time at El Cid's sister resort, the Castilla,across the street. It is conveniently connected by a covered overpass.All the facilities are included with both resorts.
Staying at the Castilla is slightly more expensive than the Granada, ($100 more for a 14 day all inclusive package). The rooms are fantastic,very modern with a huge bed; although I could do without all those pillows. The only problem was at night, with the outdoor lighting over the pool. I like to sleep in the dark and the windows lacked heavy drapes.
Connected to the Castilla by the pool or an indoor shopping mall is another EL Cid hotel called El Moro.Or you can take a free shuttle to the El Cid Marina resort.It's quite the empire.
If anyone complained about the food, because their was no variety, i had to wonder how they could ever prepare such extensive and tasty meals at home. They had pasta, chicken, pork, beef,fish, lobster,shrimp,even turkey,,prepared in a different ways with each dinner menu.If you want vegetarian, there were more than 10 different fresh and cooked vegetables.And fresh fruits..wow..some I had never heard of. My favourite meal of the day is breakfast, with fruits yogurt, refried beans,bacon,hash browns and an omelette made to my request with cactus no less...mmmmm.. No variety? You've got to be kidding.

As for entertainment, it was very professional.These kids put on 6 shows per week,,so athletic, all gymnasts I'm sure. I saw their shows at least 3 times. On Sundays they had the night off but they did the usual "humiliate the guests night",,always funny.
For the kids,they had organized water events and for the tots,there were supervised art classes.
Of course they had tours,not too expensive, but i preferred taking the local bus, for 8 pesos to
visit the downtown shops, theater and historic sites.

Being there for a month, laundry at the hotel can be fairly expensive at 25 pesos for one pair of underwear. A Lavenderia, within walking distance, will do it for 20 pesos/kilo...that's alota underwear.

The internet service was pretty good at 300 pesos/week for WIFI and if you want to use their computer they have about 10 computers in the business section of the resort..It costs 2 pesos/minute.,A bit pricey but most of the time the attendant would let you off with a wink and a smile..

The weather was a bit chilly the first week and the locals were wearing heavy parkas,scarves and gloves while while us Canadian gringos bravely wore shorts. Back home it was -30 C, so i wasn't complaining.

I really enjoyed my stay.The staff were extremely friendly. Although I try not to go to the same place twice, I might make an exception in this case.

We stayed at the El Cid Granada for 2 weeks.

Rooms: the shuttle from the airport was quick. Check in was SUPER easy and we had fresh drink brought to us. Our room had 2 double beds, a kitchenette, a nice sized patio and was on the 3rd floor just up from the lobby. There was a bit of noise but nothing unusual - this is a hotel...the location was very convenient to the Granada El Patio restaurant & pool as well as the walk way over to the Castille/Moro. The room was clean - nice linens and towels. Our room was "updated" which means that the lighting and furnishings are new. However, the bathroom is still 70's style. Tipping the maid gave us some cool towel animals and kleenex flowers...

Restaurants: Had breakfast every morning at the buffet at the Castille. You can also have breakfast at the El Patio or at the Moro but this is a menu and for breakfast that did not suit us. For lunch we tried out the El Patio which was nice, quiet with a small menu, the buffet at the Castille which was always busy but on the ocean and we also went to the mexican restaurant at the Moro which was a nice change - indoors, airconditioned, menu. For supper we found the Mexican restaurant (moro) to be very good, the El Patio (granada) excellent, Sushi (granada) quiet & good, Italien (castille) okay, Buffet (castille) okay. Servers were super - especailly when they know you are a good tipper!

Ammenities - the pool at the Moro was the best for kids with the slide and rock jumping, the pool at the castille was quiet but we never swam there, the pool at the granada was great for windy days as it is very protected and warm. The ocean was nice and swimmable for all ages! We did not try the spa. The shows at night were not kid friendly until the last 10 minutes when the kids were invited on stage to dance - they LOVED that...but the actual shows (except broadway and kids show) were a little too adult! The bar in the castille was also GREAT in the evenings for sports, a bit of flash mob dancing and good drinks.

Overall, for the price, this was a GREAT hotel. We did go out of the hotel to do siteseeing and to a few other restaurants. Would definitely recommend this to the budget traveller. If you want 5 star accomodations - do not stay here.

Note: We also did the time share presentation. We had never done one before and even though we did not buy into it, it was very imformative and was interesting and actually a good idea. We were glad that we looked into it!

Just returned from our trip Feb 13-23, 2013. We stayed at the "Granada" but used all the amenities of the other El Cid properties. I really can not say enough good things about the place and especially all the staff who go out of their way to keep the hotel & grounds spotless and provide the most fabulous service. The wait staff at pool & beach side was great. A special mention to "Ramon", Tomas" & "Ivan" who are some of the best waiters I have ever had the pleasure to be served by! We went to all the a la carte restaurants and were pleased with the food quality but the Argentinian was my favorite! The buffet restaurant is what you should expect. There was enough variety to please most palates. The nightly shows were also very entertaining. I would highly recommend the Mexican Fiesta they offer Wednesday evenings. It was Awesome and really quite the experience. This was our third time to Mazatlan (& the El Cid) and believe me, we will return again next year!

We stayed at El Cid Marina but went to restaurant at Granada. El Patio was enjoyable. Great atmosphere, but stay away from the rib eye. Everything else was great. Would not hesistate going back. Was hoping to see the Fiesta, but it was too windy the night we wanted to go – have heard nothing but good things about it.