"Awesome" was the only word that came to mind as we entered our two bedroom suite at Marina El Cid. We booked our trip through Costco travel, and really didn't know what to expect. Upon arrival at the airport, our transportation was waiting. The resort was not too terribly far. Yes, there is a short dirt road that you must drive on to get to the property. It is under construction due to another resort being built, but the road really isn't as bad as some of the review make it seem. Upon arriving at the resort, since we paid for the Platinum All Inclusive, we were greeted in the Platinum club with a cool wet towel and glass of champagne...talk about feeling pampered! The hostess helped us check in and gave us all the information about the restaurants. Yes, we were approached by the Timeshare representative and offered 'freebe's' for attending the tour. With one simple 'no thank you' she went on her way. We were then driven to our room by our "Butler" (..a service that comes with the Platinum Level service..). Upon entering our mouths dropped. It was a beautiful suite with living room, kitchen, dining room and two bedrooms and two full baths. It was just perfect. It had a jacuzzi on the patio and was ocean front. It just could not have been any better !! We ate at the hotel restaurants for all but a couple of meals and found the food to be good, a good variety and all the servers bent over backwards to make sure we were happy. "Oscar" was our butler and made anything we asked for appear. We received aromatherapy in our room in the evenings, and camomile pillows at bedtime. We had pre-arranged all of our day trips prior to arriving (to Xcaret, Dolphin Adventurous and Chichen Itza) so there was no need to try to find taxi's or buses. The hotel had a wonderful group of guys that ran the Entertainment throughout the day and into the evenings. There were pool games, bike tours, volleyball, bracelet making...and much much more. In the evenings there was music triva, magic shows, a 'Broadway" type review. There was something different every night. We were traveling with two teenagers and were dreading that they would get board. Because of the resort, just the opposite happened. They did not want to leave!! After ten days though it was time to return to reality. We highly recommend this resort, and hope to be able to return to one day.

Hi there,

We just returned from vacation at El Cid Marina Hotel Riviera Maya. I can say good things only about the property, food quality and service.

Service especially... They will do everything and beyond to make your stay pleasant: check in, room service, drinks on the beach, cleaning the room... It was the best service that we saw so far.

Very clean and comfortable rooms... High standard beds....

We did not have any problems making reservations in restaurants.. and you don't need to go there before 9am like in other places, you can do it till 5pm. There were always enough chairs on the beach and around the pool.

Spa service was just UNBELIEVABLE!!!! Don't skip it...

I definitely will recommend this place for families and couples.

My husband and I stayed at the resort from May 10th through the 16th. I had read a lot of the reviews for the hotel after we had booked our trip and I have to admit, I was very nervous in regards to what might happen when we got there. We had read about the dirt road that leads to the resort so we were prepared for that. When the shuttle pulled up to the door we were kind of disappointed in the looks from the outside but when you walked through the front doors we were thrilled. The lobby is beautiful and we had NO problems at check-in. We arrived at 11:00 and could not check in until 3:00 but they held our luggage and we were able to make use of all the amenities at the hotel. The week we were there was an extremely slow time so there was no problem getting a chair at the pool or a palapa on the beach. The activities group were great at getting people involved and the pool is absolutely beautiful. Our room was very nice and the mini bar was stocked daily. The food was about the same as all of the other Mexican Riviera resorts that we have stayed at but the service was excellent. We especially liked Ramon. He was great and always made sure that he could be our server. We had a great stay and would recommend this place for couples that just want to relax. Since we were there at a slow time it was so nice and quiet which was just what we wanted!

My review of four stars is based strictly on the hotel. It is a beautiful hotel and there is nothing I can complain about when it comes to the accommodations and the staff. They were professional and courteous. This resort is a time-share, but we were never approached about buying. I really appreciated that. Our room was spacious, very clean and modern. Wonderful amenities. We had a beautiful view of the pool area and the ocean. In the evenings, the hotel would put on different, free shows to entertain the guests. One night was a circus, another was a magic show etc. The food, unfortunately, was not very good. The presentation at the buffets looked appetizing. There was a wide variety of foods to choose from and yet it was amazing that I couldn't really find anything that tasted good. The worst part is that some of our family members were stricken with "Montezuma's Revenge", even though we stayed away from the water. I would like to offer some advice about traveling to Mexico. Make sure that you don't venture out on your own. My daughter has a horror story about the Mexican police that hopefully she will share on trip advisor. When she informed the hotel staff about what happened to her, they were not at all surprised. If you take any tours, go with a group from your hotel. You take great risks leaving your resort area unescorted. After our experience in Mexico, I can confidently say I have no desire to ever leave the United States again!