TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

This is our third visit to this hotel. Rooms are clean and spacious albeit somewhat dated. The use of the two sister hotels is definitely a bonus. Food at the a la cartes is good with the Argentinian being the best followed by the Italian and Mexican restaurants. For breakfast the El Patio restaurant is perfect. Letecia and her staff do a great job of taking care of your needs and have fun while doing it. One sticking point is the $15/day fee charged at checkin. We were not informed of that until checkin. What is this fee for? Why is it not included in the price of the booking? This fee should be reviewed by the El Cid group and/or handled in a different manner. This may be a factor when considering future accommodations. I'd be interested in hearing from a hotel rep why this fee is in place.

We decided to see the total eclipse in Mazatlán in April 2024 but found that most of the hotels were either fully booked or had increased their prices astronomically. Not the El Cid Granada. They had rooms available, and the rates appeared similar to other non-eclipse period dates. I was skeptical at first. Why was this hotel different? Although the reviews and ratings on Hotels.com were rather mixed, the reviews and ratings on Trip Advisor were good. I went with the ratings and reviews on Trip Advisor. I always have placed a greater weight on their reviews than other sites and have been rewarded for it with good selections. The El Cid has a few hotels in the Zona Dorada. And if you stay at one, you get access to the services of the others including restaurants, pools, and beaches. A daily resort fee of around $15 USD gives you a yellow wrist band that allows access. Some of the other hotels are just steps away and another, the Marina is accessed with a free hotel shuttle. The Marina is the best property and has one of the best beaches. We were happy to have booked the El Cid Granada. It's one of the oldest El Cid properties and is set back from the beach, yet within a few minutes walking distance. It seemed quieter here than the other properties. We didn't feel like we were at a mega-resort here. We got a quiet studio, with a very nice kitchenette just above the pool area. Despite some prior reviews, we found the hotel to be very clean and well maintained. The service was excellent. The front lobby staff, like Eduardo were exceptionally helpful. This hotel chain certainly does its homework when hiring, training and maintaining staff. Location? Outstanding. Right in the heart of Zona Dorada. In probably the cleanest and most upscale part of the city. A brief walk to the northern end of the Malecon. A short 10–15-minute ride to the old city. Steps to some of the best beaches. And close to a good number of really good restaurants, breakfast cafes, and massage and wellness spas. We stocked our refrigerator with food from the new Fresh Market grocery store a few yards north of the hotel. We liked Mary's, and Rico's (good American breakfast) for breakfast, Taquito Grill and Sports Bar (good for lunches and watching basketball and soccer), Shangri La for some surprisingly good Chinese food, and Panama for some easy Mexican and western fare. Panama also has a chain of great bakeries throughout the city.

The Granada was comfortable and clean but needed some updating. Our studio room was very nice with a large table which we used for playing cards. We didn’t use the kitchen and probably a good plan because it was poorly equipped. No kettle to boil water, only one terrible knife which was so dull it was hard to slice a lime. I did like the big fridge which we used to store large bottles of water. I think you should NOT be charging for coffee or bottled water. Also because we were all inclusive many hotels provide a stocked fridge ( with beer/ wine/sodas). Even a nice bottle of tequila as a welcome gift would nice. Many places do that. I felt the Granada was on the low end of the rating scale.

We have always enjoyed our stays. Great staff, 5 ala Carte restaurants, a number of buffets mean there are many choices for meals. This is an older hotel but is well maintained. The new Resort Fee may keep us from returning.

The total staff was very helpful. I wnjoywd my stay and meals were very good. I would recommend my friends and family too stay in the hotel. And Maria who worked for nexus tours was also excellent also.