TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

Are Mendez was my Butler and during my stay, he provided Excellent Service. He was always on top of my requests. The other individual was Jorge from the Waves Lounge. I normally don't drink, but Jorge make me some cocktails that were superior. He isn't a bartender, he is a Artist

We had an amazing time with amazing people. The atmosphere was safe and welcoming; and so beautiful. The rooms were spacious and always had a stocked fridge. The staff were the kindest, hardworking people you have ever met. Celine Botello and Samuel Venegas were exceptional butlers. They checked on us every day to make sure we didn’t have any questions or requests. They were on top of it! Very professional and personable. We appreciate them so much! We are definitely coming back next year! Love to all staff at El Cid outside of puerto Morelos. Thank you for such a wonderful experience.

We stayed here for March break with our 3 kids (7, 9, 14). We enjoyed the food, cleanliness, and some of the shows (loved the Mexican night show especially!). However, there were a number of disappointing things to highlight: - customer service was awful! One of the nights it was raining and we (along with many) ordered room service. When after 1.5 hours it still hasn’t arrived (the original eta was within the hour), we called and were told it’s coming. It didn’t come and we ended up going to bed hungry; despite privacy on our door delivery person finally knocked and woke us up 3 hours later with the food! When I gave them feedback next day, they appeared very disinterested. - Lack of transparency about the beach. While their site says they have a beach and there are beautiful photos of it, it’s very misleading; there is a small sandy area around the waters that aren’t really swim friendly. Not much of a beach that we had in mind. - not as important but given we’ve stayed at other resorts it’s easy to compare; there was absolutely no snack bars or food beside pools and beach area. This made things more tricky with kids as we’d have to go to the restaurants every time we wanted food rather than a snack bar nearby. Also, limited ice cream options was disappointing. Overall, we would not stay here again and a big part of it was the lack of food and friendly service. There were a few people who did provide great service however, shout out to Marcus - he bought chocolate syrup on his own money to provide in drinks at the bar, which the kids loved, going out of his way to make things special.

We came there with our family of 19 people to celebrate our 50th wedding anniversary at the El Cid Marina Resort. We all had a great experience except three people got sick and threw up and our hot water wasn't working but they were able to get it working promptly. The housekeeping was overall excellent. Sarah, the head concierge was our contact person for arranging the rooms that we needed and she did a wonderful job of keeping us all in the same building and even had us on the ocean. She went over and above in everything she did. She helped us with arranging ahead of time the dining room at the French restaurant for our special anniversary meal on Wednesday, as well as arranged for us all to be at the Japanese restaurant on the Monday. Sarah also helped us to decide where to hold our vow renewal ceremony (in the lounge by the French restaurant all in the Ventus Lobby). While we were out getting our pictures taken prior to our vow renewal ceremony, without us asking, Sarah arranged for red rose petals around the area in the lounge that we were to use for our vow renewal ceremony, as well as set up a table for the included communion and candle lighting ceremony, decked out with red roses petals and a wine glass with wine and a napkin on a plate . We were so surprised and amazed. It was beautiful and very much appreciated. Sarah even stayed throughout the ceremony to make sure all went well. When we went to the private dining area the large table was decked out with red rose petals as well!! Beautiful, we were so touched by all Sarah's thoughtfulness! Also when we went to our room to change after the meal, our butlers Celine and Samuel had organized on our bed swans made out of towels surrounded by a heart with red rose petals all over the bed, chocolates on our bed, and a bottle of wine and two wine glasses on the bed as well. Also they had a plate with Happy Anniversary written on it and chocolate covered strawberries. Likely Sarah had something to do with this as well. All this was done without our knowledge or expectation. We were made to feel very special and honoured. We can't give enough high praises to Sarah and our butlers for all that they did for us to make our 50th Wedding Anniversary celebration and evening very special. Our butlers also were great in arranging transportation with the golf carts to get our pictures taken, as well as, arranging to get carts for whenever we needed and when we were leaving; they readily took care of any needs we had. The food was great, there were lots of pools to choose from, the kids had options, there were evening entertainment options, and the Platinum lounge and the attendants there were all friendly and helpful. Probably the main negative was that the seaweed was abundant and sometimes smelly at this time of year. They worked hard to remove the seaweed. We will be returning!

All-inclusive vacation A travel package where the price covers lodging, meals and many on-site activities. Our journey to El-Cid at Ventus Marina El Cid Spa and Beach Resort, Cancun Riviera Maya. My wonderful wife last year purchased a 5-day vacation at a charity event in the wine country and then surprised me when I arrived home from a business trip to Chicago. Day1: Our wonderful flight from SFO was delayed an hour due to the high traffic in/out of Cancun. We arrived, airport very busy, and it took an hour to get through customs and retrieving our luggage. Met our driver and it took another 25 minutes of paperwork between the driver and the company to check off who they were taking. Puerto Morelos is 25 minutes south of Cancun. El-Cid has 3 properties in the area. We showed up at 8:30 to the front desk and the clerk pointed out what type of room we would have, and it was with two double beds looking at trees. They moved us again as we complained this time it was ground floor looking at kiddie pool. Back to front desk, pay for an upgrade to an ocean front room with two rooms and a wonderful view. We had dinner at 9 at an Italian restaurant we did not choose as the one we did was closed. Before dinner we were told to see Adania tomorrow as she would show us what was available for us during our stay. At check-in they gave us wristbands to wear, felt like we were in camp and cut them off as soon as we got into our room and no one asked about them. Day 2: The word of the day was “we did not meet a minimum requirement.” We went down to have breakfast, then to meet our concierge, who would give important information. When Leah sat down, she had her first F-1 moment, 0 to 200 in 1 second, having never seen her so mad so quickly. She left to look a look at the jewelry store, and I sat down with him. We were told that if we sat for a 90-minute presentation, not a time share but selling you points to enjoy the resort, they would give us free Wi-Fi, guarantee reservations at the restaurants and spa credits. We passed. I then went over to the person who took care of the reservations, and she told us the on Sunday-Monday-Tuesday the only time was at 9:30 at night. We did get on Wednesday at 7:30. Next was the wi-fi issue. We went to front desk, and they told me 1 phone is $10.00 a day so if I want to use iPad, iPhone, and laptop would be $30.00 a day times 4 = $120.00 for our remaining time here. I chose only my phone. It was a rip-off city it was. That night we took a 20-minute walk to the other resort for the no reservation restaurant. Long lines, 25 minutes to get in, its sea food night, food ok. My F-1 girl again went from 0-200. We did get a ride back to our hotel via golf cart. So, day 2 of our vacation ended. We requested robes and slippers and their comment “you did not meet the minimum requirements.” Day 3: Weather was cloudy and cold, walked to breakfast, which was good and then back to our room, where we stayed most of the day on our balcony looking out at the sea, and reading. We are still not happy with how we are not treated, which is no fault of the hotel but at the company that the school used to sell us this all-inclusive package that was touted as a MBZ but was really a stripped-down VW. We decided that we would have dinner in our room that night instead of the no reservation restaurant. We ordered it, 20 minutes later it arrived, and it was not bad. I wanted to go back and tell them yes, we will go to the presentation, but F-1 said no. Our rooms are cleaned every day, and the staff is very nice, but the underlining bad points leave us with never again. Day 4: The day started out cloudy, then the wonderful sun came out for the rest of the day that we spent at the pool shaded by two palm trees. I am calm with the whole trip, it is what it is, Leah was sold a defective productive and we did best with what we were dealt with. We had dinner in our room again, rare burger well done and good chips. I have lost my appetite for the fatty food being served here. Nothing they serve is healthy for you. Day 5: Watched DT give a state of the union address turned it off at 15 minutes and went to sleep and read in the WSJ a quick breakdown of what was a 2-hour speech. This morning on our way to breakfast, we picked up our towels, and all the chaises had towels on them, they have a 1-hour rule, not one to enforce it. Then we walked over to the beach in front of our room and since we are not black but brown on our wrist bands, we are not allowed to be there. We do have a reservation at the French restaurant for our farewell dinner. Hope it is good. At breakfast today, F-1 told me that she really wants to leave on Sunday as she was so frustrated with the resort. In conclusion: blame the company “Privileges Redemption Center” for not spelling out to the school who purchase the item what and what it did not include. I would never purchase at any auction anything that had the name of Privileges Redemption Center on the logo. This was the worst trip of many years, if you go a property and know ahead of time what to expect that is your problem, this was again a trip that the buzz word was “We did not meet minimum requirements.” The staff at the El Cid Resorts were great and very helpful, the food was too full of calories, lines were too long and not enough chairs or attendants to enforce they’re policy of 1 hour of towels put on the chaise and if no person is sitting on it, they remove them so the next guest has a chance to sit there. My advice, even if it is not purchased through an auction, avoid the El Cid Resorts at all costs as there are hundreds of places in the Cancun area where you can get a better deal than what is offered here. 90 Minute presentation that people had posted was very high pressure to purchase to package of points to get what should have offered at any other resort and no cost. Also, the beach and water are unsuitable to swim in as the color is brown and the beach is full of dead seaweed.