El Cid El Moro Beach Hotel - All Inclusive

Customer ratings & reviews

TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

5444 reviews

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  A Terrible Start, a Beautiful Transfer, and an Unacceptable Timeshare Experience

  A Terrible Start, a Beautiful Transfer, and an Unacceptable Timeshare Experience Our vacation began at El Cid El Moro, Room 0322, and unfortunately, the experience was extremely disappointing. The property smelled old, several amenities were closed or unavailable, and there was no open bar or entertainment at 10:30 on a Saturday night. There was no convenient lobby store for basic necessities such as water, and we had to walk to another property just to have dinner. The cleanliness of our room was also unacceptable. The floors were so dirty that I did not feel comfortable taking off my shoes. This is not something any guest should experience at a resort. A deep cleaning was eventually arranged, but the room should have been properly cleaned before we arrived. The beach at El Moro was overcrowded, dirty, and poorly maintained. It did not feel like a clean, relaxing resort beach. The area was overrun with people, and the overall atmosphere was nothing like the resort experience we expected. Although the pool was open, it looked like a boiling bath of confusion, and we had no desire to get into it. The television programming was in Spanish, and we were told that we should have brought our own device if we wanted to watch Netflix. The internet and television issues were never properly resolved. La Pérgola felt more like a high-school cafeteria than a resort restaurant. Overall, El Moro did not reflect the vacation experience we had been promised. After speaking with our concierge, Diana Lopez, and her supervisor, Andrea, the situation finally improved. They listened to our concerns and arranged water, soda, tequila, dinner reservations, a deep cleaning of our room, two T-shirts, and—most importantly—a complimentary transfer to El Cid Marina Beach. I sincerely appreciate Diana and Andrea for stepping in and making a genuine effort to recover our vacation. El Cid Marina Beach was a completely different experience. The property was beautiful, and we were finally able to relax and enjoy our surroundings. The difference between the two resorts was remarkable. However, we did have one disturbing encounter at the Marina that made us feel extremely uncomfortable and unwelcome. A group of men confronted us and questioned why we were there and what we were doing. My husband sat down and then got back up to get us something to drink. As one of the men walked past us, looked directly at us and he spit on the ground. We cannot say with certainty what his intention was, but considering the questioning that had just occurred, the entire interaction felt hostile, disrespectful, and unsettling. No guest should be made to feel as though they do not belong at a resort where they are paying to vacation. We did report the incident to security, however it felt disregarded. Despite that incident, several Marina employees deserve special recognition. Kevin was a wonderful waiter, and Edwardo also provided very good service. Aylin at the front desk was beautiful, exceptionally friendly, and welcoming. Her English was impeccable, which made communicating with the front desk comfortable and easy. These employees helped make our experience at Marina enjoyable. Unfortunately, the timeshare presentation created another major problem. Our salesperson, Marco, presented us with a package costing approximately $430,000 USD, with a requested $45,000 down payment. After we declined, Marco repeatedly said, “Oh, you don’t see the value in this,” instead of respecting our decision. His supervisor then joined the conversation with even more disturbing advice. He told us that we could purchase the timeshare and later simply stop making payments, claiming that it would not affect our credit. That statement was financially irresponsible, troubling, and completely inappropriate. We gave them our time and sat through the presentation. Our decision not to purchase should have been accepted without sarcasm, pressure, or disrespect. A vacation should not include aggressive sales tactics or hostility because a guest refuses to make an enormous financial commitment. One of the gifts we received for attending the timeshare presentation was a city tour. Edwin, our driver, did a good job. Unfortunately, I cannot remember the tour guide’s name, older gentleman, but he spoke Spanish approximately 95% of the time. Since we do not speak Spanish, we could not understand most of the tour. That was our only complaint about the tour. El Cid Marina Beach and its wonderful staff helped save our vacation, and I am grateful to the employees who treated us with kindness and professionalism. However, the poor conditions at El Moro, the uncomfortable encounter at the Marina that made us feel unwelcome, and the unacceptable timeshare experience cannot be ignored.

  Sep 28, 2026
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  Perfect June Vacation

  My wife and I decided to spend 4 weeks in Mazatlan Mexico for our once a year vacation! We have stayed at El Moro before and it was by far the best all inclusive beach resorts we had ever stayed in! Timeshares have plus and minuses but we really scored when we chose El Cid! They have beautiful resorts south of Cancun which are also excellent! The Mazatlan resorts are so much more laid back and perfect for us seniors! Lots of interactions with the locals makes it welcoming every stay ! They offer many room and meal choices! We love the El Moro for all the staff that always makes our stay so enjoyable! When we arrive we check in at the Elite Club, that staff incredible ladies that be sure we are happy with room. The ladies there make our reservations at one of the many great restaurants ( Mexican, Italian , Japanese, Argentine, and the Terraza at the Marina!! Most of our breakfasts are enjoyed at the La Concha. I could list names of our favorite staff but I want to keep them guessing!! Shuttle services are free to the restaurants at other locations. My wife uses a cane and was not able to go to the other restaurants without the shuttles! We needed to change rooms after our guest went home but the hotel manager, Guillermo Espinosa let us just stay in the same room so we did not have to pack our bags up just to change floors!, He also has a large housekeeping staff that keeps everything spotless! The management in housekeeping, restaurants , pools , bars, security and transportation do a really wonderful job. We really enjoy the Adult Only quiet pool that has a huge waterfall presentation and a bar that will also provide meals poolside after 12:00. The guys there provide frequent visits to ask if we want sodas or drinks! The beach has a lot of palapas and attractive waiters that provide cold drinks while we enjoy the beach and ocean. Transportation from the airport is free prin vans.

  Jun 20, 2026
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  People and Options galore!

  This resort offers many options for your individual tastes and energy levels. We stayed in a 1 bedroom unit and enjoyed the pools, pickleball and golf amenities. The unit and sports facilities are well maintained and the staff everywhere were amazing. POOLS staff Erik and Tomas provided excellent service. We enjoyed walking the beautiful long beach! SPORTS Celso, Marta, Juan, Leticia and Julio - pick any of them because they are professional, friendly and are ready and happy to help you. If you have the food options included, there's something on every menu and the staffing and service was consistently excellent. PERGOLA - Ruebens (evening )and Sergio (breakfast). It was lovely how they were so attentive and 'read' our likes so quickly and remembered even our names! Sooo much variety on the buffet! LACONCHA - We really can't narrow the morning staff down! Danny, Pancho, Luis, Raymond, Rodrigo, Ricardo, Jaime (Simon, Ulises and Rosie - cooks,etc extraordinary!) We ate there every morning and their service, friendliness helped make them like personal friends who you want to sit and visit with! They really are awesome! Itzel and Maribel greet everyone with a smile and provide assistance with finding your seat. EL PATIO - Omar, Alberto, Sanson, Erick and Diego - great job! ALCAZAR - Mario, Giovanni, Luis and Axel serve and Karla greets - all of them are ready for your arrival! CASCADA - Rueben, Johan and Richard - serve some of the best food at EL Cid!!! El Cid Management - Elite Club - VERENICE, Carolina, Vanessa are all so thorough, professional, friendly and beautiful. They speak excellent English and besides remembering our names, any requests we had, they didn't forget and it was done. If you are reading this, the important things at EL CID are obvious right from the top management! Mark C, Luis*****A, set the environment and are seen actually in the resort daily being friendly and observing (and tasting the same food as us!). Isn't that the best quality control? When considering Mazatlan, I'm hoping that with this above information you can get to EL CID, EL MORO and arrive feeling like you can call everywhere and everyone like your home away from home. Bus is right outside the door and can take you safely down to the Mexican downtown - seriously, just taking the bus and looking out the window is a tour! I'm sure this information isn't complete BUT my hope is you can be blessed and be a blessing!

  Jun 17, 2026
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  Beware Time Share!!!

  We have stayed at some excellent resorts over the years. This is not one of them..... We found the resorts to be too large and spread out. The furniture appeared worn and soiled, especially in the lobby and bars. The lobby bar at Moro beach had very limited brands of alcohol and was only open until 8:PM. The Castilla Beach lobby bar was much better, but a long walk from Moro beach. The main pool was closed, which we only found out on arrival. The other 2 pools were so over crowded that you couldn’t move, even if you were able to find a chair. Good luck with that. The food was mediocre, at best. The staff were kind and friendly. I’ll give them that. And now the time share..... We did not know that there would be an attempt to sell us a time share or vacation club membership. It started with an El Cid representative at the airport terminal in Mazatlan. That was our first red flag. We were offered "Courtesy" round-trip transportation (airport taxi) to the the resort which cost us $1200mx. We were told that it would be reimbursed at the "welcome breakfast". We decided that we weren't interested and chose not to go. We were not reimbursed for the half of the taxi fare we had not used. It's in somebody’s pocket. When our departure date came we had to pay for a taxi...... a second time. Time share... had we known we would have never booked there. There are other choices and next time we will choose one of them.

  Jun 15, 2026
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  Wonderful

  Beautiful hotel and pools. Waitstaff are attentive especially Martin at La Concha. Alejandra in housekeeping made our stay especially nice.

  Jun 15, 2026