Great location...but

The El Cid Granada, Moro and Castilla are in a great location for getting out and about to explore the area and take in some amazing dining experiences. The buffet and the lobby bar at the Castilla are filthy, to say the least. The tables and placemats are never cleaned after each guest. The dining staff simply take a cloth napkin to "dust off" the tables onto the floor and place new cutlery and napkins onto the filthy placemats. The chairs often had food and spilled liquids to them too.  [... read more] I must mention though that the service was always attentive and courtesy. Our favorite servicer at breakfast was Said. I should also mention that the evening entertainment is located in the same room as the buffet. You can not have a conversation over diner during the show, extremely loud! Service around the Castilla pool and beach were exceptional. The loungers on the beach are very worn and saggy. The ones around the pool are fine. There is NO saving of chairs/loungers, LOVE this policy and it's enforced. The lobby bar service could use some improvement. It wasn't horrible, but could definitely improve. This area was also filthy. The Granada was under renovations when we arrived so we were moved into the Castilla. The rooms were average. Balconies have no table, but we simply moved the table from in the room to the balcony. There is a coffee maker, but no mini fridge. For those that have purchased an all inclusive don't worry about the signs that state that the coffee and bottled water have a cost. When we checked out we had not additional costs for the coffee or the bottle water we consumed. The coffee isn't the greatest, so I'd recommend that you bring some from home. Receiving face clothes and hand towels were a hit or miss, but we made due with what we were given. For those that have never been to Mazatlan you will either love the Marachi bands that stroll up and down the beach or hate them.

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.

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.

Very satisfactory

Stayed at the Granada and the staff were very friendly and pleasant. The Hotel lobby was very tidy and the rooms were very clean. Large studio rooms. Prices were were good. Only one complaint would be the constant phone calls the first couple of days from the welcome committee to invite me down to participate.

A very nice resort.

The resort is divided into a larger part for the more energetic crowd and a smaller for the more mature, which is a good thing. There was not much grounds but grounds keeping were on top of whatever little there was. The public areas were clean and comfortable and so were the bathrooms. Our room was spacious and had a free safe. The linen were all clean and appeared quite new so also was the beach towels. Dining is a problem for the vegetarian as small pieces of pork can be found in almost  [... read more]everything including the salads, scrambled eggs etc. the same can be said for someone who does not use pork. Yet no one would starve as there was a wide variety of dishes but boy, do they ever overuse salt, sugar, oil and (hot) spices freely. The evening shows were all good and worth attending. Every member of the staff were found to be pleasant and helpful.

Good value

The hotel and rooms are well kept and clean. The pool at the El Cid was a nice quiet place to read and swim. This is not a beach front hotel, but has easy access from the walkway that goes across the street to the El Cid Castilla, where the buffet, shows and the Italian restaurant are. The service was good. We had an excellent meal at El Patio one evening. I especially enjoyed the shrimp skewers. The only negative things I would say is that the wifi is extra, $40 for one device for a week. Also, [... read more] beware of the time share vacation representative in the lobby. They make it sound like they are going to give you a tour of the hotel complex. We got sucked in, but got free wifi for our time. We took advantage of the All Inclusive, but our room had a two burner hot plate, microwave, small fridge and toaster oven if you did not want to. There are lots of shops and restaurants close by since this hotel is in the Golden zone. There is easy access to taxis and buses to explore the city.

Good value

Hotel is older but neat. Renovations around hotel , so was noisy during the day but these will end soon. Nice pool and pool surrounds. Staff were very friendly. Happy to help. Room older but neat. Had to ask for coffee in room daily , but beds were neatly made and room cleaned daily. Hotel and pool area a lot less busy and hectic vs sister hotels. Food was good and excellent evening shows.

Relaxing vacation

A large resort with a quite side at the Granada and a busy but fun area on beach side Marina part down the road is amazing staff is great food is good beach is fun room was nice Town is great and safe Loved it

Great resort!

El Cid Granada was very good. The staff were very friendly and very helpful, Ana and Julian at the El Patio were very friendly and their service was outstanding. Our room was very clean and comfortable.

Amazing resort great food wonderful staff very nic

Wonderful staff food was excellent had a great time would stay at el CID again rooms were clean ocean view was beautiful lots to do in town all around loved mazatlan first time there would definitely go back

El cid granada

WE HAD a great vacation tks to everyone hope to be back next year. Everyone was really great,service and housekeeping ty.We had a relaxing vacation.the activities at the pool were great,the music was not to loud just perfect

PEACEFUL , QUIET AND RELAXING

THE HOTEL WAS CLEAN AND THE STAFF IS VERY FRIENDLY. THE POOL AREA REALLY RELAXING... WAS ALTHO I WAS QUITE STUNNED THE HOTEL WAS CHARGING FOR WIFI AT A VERY HIGH RATE. MAY BE A POSSIBLE DEAL BREAKER ON MY NEXT VISIT ...