El Cid El Moro Beach Hotel

If you're thinking about a day pass here, you might want to rethink it. Sure, the resort has a huge, pretty pool and super nice staff, but honestly, that's where the good stuff ends. Everything else is pretty disappointing. The buffet food is really bad, and the cocktails are basically just flavored water. And if you're hoping to chill on the beach, forget it – there's no seating! The beach area is tiny, and even though there are palapas for shade, you won't find any lounge chairs or anything to sit on right on the sand. So, with the bad food, weak drinks, and no beach seating, a day pass here just isn't worth it.

We just returned from El Cid and stayed in Castilla Beach. We were a family of 9 including an infant of 10 mos, a toddler just shy of 2 and a 4 year old. When we booked we upgraded to Elite and it was worth every penny. Let’s start with our arrival. We were immediately directed to the private check in. There is a small tourist tax per room which we were aware of prior to our arrival. Check in was smooth and the accommodated our request for 2 cribs, a fridge and adjoining rooms. Out of the gate we were extremely happy. Our rooms weren’t ready yet so we went and had lunch at La Concha in the El Moro hotel. Shout out to our server, Angel. He looked after us a few times throughout the week and was always pleasant and welcoming. We had a choice of buffet or à la carte dining here. Food was excellent. We had breakfast and lunch here almost everyday. Definitely try the coconut shrimp and the La Concha salad. Rooms were clean and we had a beautiful ocean view. Like others who commented, they are a little dated but honestly the decor is low on our priority. Cleanliness is what is important to our group. Beds were comfortable and there was plenty of space for clothes to be hung etc. Poolside was great. As I mentioned we had a 4 year old with us and there was plenty of things for her to do. Water wasn’t too deep close to the edge and they had water slides that were age appropriate. Our servers at the pool were Francesco and Ramon who were amazing. Talk about hard working! Those guys never stopped. We were there over the Easter long weekend and they set up an Easter egg hunt and the Easter bunny was there for pictures too. Very kid friendly and well organized. Beach was a ton of fun for everyone too; from building sand castles to playing in the waves. Life guards on duty took their jobs seriously and certainly were watching what was going on. We booked four of the five à la carte restaurants and again food quality and service was fantastic. We didnt go to Marina. We will save that for next time. The only place where we didn’t find the food to be good was the buffet in Castilla. There wasn’t a ton of selection but with so many other choices it doesn’t change my rating of the property. We (twosome) also managed to get four rounds of golf in. Courses were in great shape. Played a round in about 3 hours. Our caddy had eagle eyes so no time wasted looking for balls. Overall we had an amazing family vacation. We had never been to an El Cid property prior to this vacation and we were completely satisfied with everything. Although I only mentioned a few, all of the staff were outstanding. Highly recommended and we will definitely return but absolutely upgrade to Elite!

All right, excellent service.