Riu Emerald Bay: It was great, but maybe a little over-rated

Hotel was good, but the room we stayed in is ready for an update. Things were showing their age. Staff was really nice and attentive. But when we signed up for 5*, we expected a higher level. Room - Very clean with a great view, but old deco. Crack across the top of the toilet. All the rails and shelves in the shower/tub were partially pulled out of the wall. There used to be a TV on the wall, but now it's just the hanging rack with an old TV on the dresser. The outlets were so overused  [... read more]that our plugs wouldn't stay in the wall (dropped out). There was no hotel infotainment system on the TV - just TV stations in Spanish. One of our biggest complaints has to be that there were no actual a la carte restaurants. The 3 "restaurant" options had buffets. The food wasn't bad, but you couldn't order. Also, there were no activities for kids that are a little older (young to middle aged Teens). Kid's club looked great, but it was focused on very young kids. Pool table in the Sports bar was totally wrecked, and we had to pay to use it. AND it was missing 2 balls!! That was disappointing...

Playa Mazatlan: Pleasant Hotel

No complaints regarding the hotel. Staff were attentive and happy, tip or not. Rooms very clean and surprisingly, everything worked. Smart TV gave access to UTube which meant there was plenty to keep us amused rather than the usual 50 channels of Spanish. Specialty restaurants were better than average and if you are quick on the phone in the morning then it is possible to avoid the buffet. Ocean was a little rough and too cold to swim in. Only one pool was heated in the hotel. The big annoyance [... read more] was the noise. Impossible to relax on the beach without competing bands vying for attention, the Malecon is a madhouse of noise and exhaust fumes and the local restaurants were so loud it was impossible to converse. I recommend the hotel but not Mazatlan, but then I am a little over the hill.

Luna Palace: Quite a gem of a hotel

Very well maintained and quite lovely staff who always attempted to help in any way they could. Great room service. Shower water wasn't hot but adequate. As our stay didn't include meals, we ate at good nearby restaurants and do not know if we could have eaten here.

Oceano Palace: Oceano Palace

Just returned from 14 days at Oceano Palace in Mazalan,Mexico plus one night at Valagio due to flight cancellations .Oceano Palace is an extremely clean place with excellent food in our opinion,friendly and very competent staff with many beautiful ,professionally decorated Christmas trees!It is very noisy during the day and well into the late evening!However,we were allowed to eat breakfast and use facilities at nearby LUNA PALACE which is quiet,also has excellent food with a huge ,beautiful and [... read more] clean pool.We spent every day there!I would not recommend Oceano Palace hotel ONLY because of the loud ,loud,loud music!WestJet handled our flight cancellations well .We flew to freezing Calgary the next day.

Riu Emerald Bay: Loved this place

This is an excellent hotel in a perfect location. The staff is so friendly. They went out of their way for the guests. I traved on my own and felt very safe. My favorite restaurant was Bamboo the Asian restaurant. Definitely would return.

Riu Emerald Bay: Second Time at this RIU

PRO's -The hotel itself is nice and the rooms are spacious and clean. Great ocean views even from some of the non-view rooms. For the most part the staff are excellent Noa and Daniel were great poolside! Foam party was fun to watch and the entertainment was good. Between the 6 pools it's not that hard to find a sunny spot to hang out. CON's - Upper pool was a bit chillier than the last time we were there, would be nice if they turned the heat up a bit. While the food is plentiful the variety [... read more] gets a bit boring after a few days. I ended up with food poisoning on our 5th day and spent 8 hours in the hospital, it ruined the last two days of our trip and I was even very concerned that I wouldn't be well enough to leave. The Dr that came to the hotel was really good and got me to the hospital and loaded with IV meds and I was able to fly out. The location is lovely, but it is a distance to any shopping or other restaurants and night life. Although this was our second time here I would be reluctant to come back anytime soon.

El Cid Granada: Dated hotel

El CID Granada is the first resort built by the El CID Group. It is dated and has some issues relating to its age (leaking taps, bathroom fan not working) but it was always kept clean and neat by staff. What the disappointing part was that “all-inclusive” is completely dependent on which of the resort chain you stay at. There were places Granada folks were not allowed to attend using the all-inclusive. The “good” restaurants must be booked a minimum of 24 hours prior and meals do  [... read more]not start until after 6 or 7 pm. The meals that were automatically included were ok. Not amazing but definitely tasty and there was some variety. This was not a true all inclusive type in regards to snacks and alcohol. Very difficult at times to get a simple beer in the afternoon. Each night there was a different stage show. These were very amateur but the actors were enthusiastic. All in all, I recommend if anyone wants to go “all inclusive” - the El Cid Resorts are lovely - just go to one of the newer ones.

El Cid Granada: 10 days in Mazatlan

We stayed at the El Cid Granada. Which is part of the El Cid Hotel network and 3 are close together,, Granada, Castilla, and El Moro. If you stay at one you can use some of the facilities of the other 2 (pools, beach bars, and some restaurants, not all). The fault I found with the Granada all inclusive plan, which we had, they only had 1 restaurant which was always open for breakfast(which was good), it changed to a pool bar snack place for lunch, then a reserve Argentinian steak place at night. [... read more] The only other restaurant we could go to for all inclusive dinner at night was across the street at the Castilla. Most All inclusive hotels we have ever stayed at had facilities where you could get all three meals at the same hotel so this was a disappointment which dropped my opinion of the hotel quite a bit. Also look out for persons pushing you to join their holiday club "time share". The staff were excellent and helped make the holiday experience enjoyable for my wife and I.

Riu Emerald Bay: Riu Emerald Bay Mazatlan

Beautiful resort, rooms with pool and ocean view rooms. Staff are very friendly and helpful. This Resort caters to all age groups. Never any problem finding loungers around pool or the beach. CON: Did not enjoy the food. Majority of tourists were Mexican, so food really was catered in their favour, which is fine if you enjoy that. Overall, an awesome resort.

Riu Emerald Bay: Down hill

This our fourth time to Riu Emerald Bay and will probably be our last unless the price is way under 1000$. We where their pre covid and was a good resort, and this our first time going in Dec. Always went in the spring but this time of year there was way to many locals and was really busy food was all repetitive never used to be, starting to show its age abit as well

Riu Emerald Bay: Good enough getaway

This is a massive hotel with 1000 rooms so there are lots of people everywhere. Deck chairs are all crammed together. Lineups in buffets are basically always there. There is no "true" al a carte - this was disappointing. Even the al a carte has buffet sections. The food was ok but not great. We prefer quiet sit-down meals for dinner so we went off the resort for 4 nights for our own dinners. The elevators are absolutely awful. They take forever and they're tiny - sometimes waiting 15+ minutes as [... read more] they pass by your floor already full. They did do a good job with check-in when our entire flight basically showed up at the same resort. LOTS of children at this resort as they have all the great amenities for them. There are 2 different adults-only pools though and the in-water loungers were a great way to relax in the sun. Cali (spelling?) in the adult's pool was the highlight! He was fun and loved mixing new drinks. Don't think we'd be back mostly because it's just too big and too busy for our liking.

Riu Emerald Bay: Excellent vacation resort

Riu Emerald Bay Mazatlan is a great place to for if you're looking to relax and enjoy the sunshine. Great staff, friendly people and quiet. Beautiful grounds, rooms are spacious and clean. Everyone was welcoming and helpful.

Riu Emerald Bay: Great Resort

This was our second time at this resort and we honestly have no complaints. The beach & pools are well maintained. There is a good variety of food for everyone's taste. The rooms are kept nice & clean and supplied with towels & soap etc. The only small thing is the wait for elevators even though there are 8 of them, but you are on vacation so what's the hurry.

Riu Emerald Bay: Second trip is a charm

We went for the second time March 1 to March 15 2022. Two weeks not a drop of rain blue skies and sunshine our whole trip. Covid testing was a breeze had a little wait but not bad. We love this resort from the workers to food and cleanliness. Beautiful resort with beautiful people. My most favorite person is the cleaning lady Veronica in the main buffet she is such a hard worker we love her so much. Can't wait to return only next time will be 3 weeks. Thanks again Riu Emerald Bay

El Cid Resort Castilla: No complaints

Staff was very good. Rooms were clean but run down. Pool was cold and a little dirty but had lots of seating. Food was good except for the beach lunch bar was awful. Entertainment in lobby was fun but was never able to watch a show because it was at dinner time in the buffet.

Playa Mazatlan: Good resort

The resort is about 40 minutes from the airport so be prepared for a long bus ride upon arrival. Nice hotel. Easy check-in. Room was large with 2 beds. Garden view but we did have a nice view of the ocean. We liked that. The hotel was not busy. Maybe 1/4 full, likely from the effect of COVID. The location of the hotel is excellent. There are many stores and restaurants nearby (5 minute walk). Playa Mazatlan is 2 blocks from FRIENDS DINER. It is a hang out for Canadians. Worth visiting.  [... read more] It is a safe place. There is a security person at a gate at the front of the resort. Security people patrol during the day and at night. Food was good. Servers are great. We had a good one. His name was Robert. We did the buffet for breakfast and lunch. We did dine at the 3 restaurants. The Brazilian was the best. Every enjoyable. The beach is very nice. Of course the nice bright sunny days helped and made walks on the beach enjoyable. There are only 3 bars. None are on the beach. So you have to order your drinks from a server. Pretty well necessary to have tip money with you. Entertainment is limited. There are no shows. Musicians did play at meal time. They were actually quite good. One downside is the Mexican bands that play on the beach. They are numerous and a bit loud. Not appreciated. We enjoyed our stay. The biggest complaint would be with SUNWING. Their site stated that the PCR test was $45 and ON SITE. Well it was NOT on site. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. We had to wait 20 minutes and then rode in an open truck to a testing place about 20 minutes away. We then stood in line to get our test. The test seemed amateur. Cost $80 US each. So $100 Canadian. We wasted hours getting this test done. Waiting is part of life in Mexico, it seems.

Riu Emerald Bay: Disappointed in the Jacuzzi Tub.

We have been here twice before. This time we got the suite with the jacuzzi. There is a jacuzzi tub in the room and one in the balcony. My husband ran the water for the outdoor one. Brown crud was coming out of the jets. He tan the water a while and it seemed cleared. Do he filled the tub. Once the jets were on there were more brown stuff coming out of the jets. Needless to say we were not able to use a feature that we had paid an extra 600.00 for. Very disappointing. All staff wore masks and [... read more] the food was great as usual.

Riu Emerald Bay: Amazing resort

Rui was amazing one of the best resorts I have been too from the beach to the pool food hotel eveything was amazing I can’t wait to go back if you’re going to Mexico I highly recommend you go whale watching truly a very amazing experience

Riu Emerald Bay: Great resort

Everything about this hotel is awesome. The rooms are very clean, the maids are on it everyday. The restaurants are really good especially the Bamboo. Our favorite waiter in the buffet is Pedro such a wonderful person and I’d like to call him our friend. Hesus would take care of us at lunch and he was very funny and personable. The front desk were always helpful. The elevators get a bit busy so you have to learn to work around the busy times (eg…checking out, breakfast and dinner.

Riu Emerald Bay: Can't wait to return!

I was at this resort in November 2019 before the world changed for all of us. I couldn't wait to return. I really wish you could fly down more than just Tuesday's from Toronto. Staff is fabulous, resort is beautiful. We had the jacuzzi suite this time and would always get it from now on. They need more a la carte restaurants, and more areas Adult only. Love the place and going back next November again with a group of friends we keep meeting down here. Talk to most guests and many are return [... read more]ing guest that stay for 2-4 weeks or more. So worth it.