Hotel Marina El Cid Spa and Beach Resort - All Inclusive

Customer Ratings & Reviews

TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

10633 reviews

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  Excellent Service

  Excellent experience. The entire El Cid staff was very friendly, professional and always available. Our assigned “butlers” Noah, Luis and Hugo were particularly outstanding; extremely accommodating; proactively ensuring that daily we had what we needed to enjoy our 4-week stay at ECVC - Ventus.

  Nov 16, 2025
• 

  Top Tier 🍻

  We've been to close to 20 all inclusive and this El Cid is where you get the most value for your money. Food - 5/5 Amazing food and service at all the restaurants, bars and room service. Rarely had to leave our chairs to get a drink by the pool. Though, we had to do the buffet the first two nights because no bookings were available for two days upon arrival. Every restaurant we went to knew the exact ingredients to avoid allergies and some cooked a fully dairy free version of the meal ordered. Access to water was great, better than any resort. Dial the front desk and they will bring up however many bottles you need. Coffee shop was amazing as was the lunch option next door. Poke bowls galore! Cleanliness - 4.5/5 everywhere you step someone is cleaning something. Would have loved another room clean during the week, ours was done twice. Medical - not always something you need to rate but the lifeguards and medical staff helped me on 3 separate occasions with a bad scrape and blistering and they were being kind, compassionate and empathetic. Entertainment 5/5- there are some amazing bands that play at Waves, the lobby bar and the adults bar through the week. The actual shows were less than appetizing as they are inside a warm theater with limited seating. Hilarious pool side entertainment every day. Also, they had some fantastic mashups of various artists playing at the main pool which was great for the atmosphere. Returning? Yes!

  Nov 16, 2025
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  The worst experience vacationing here.

  Review: One of the Most Frustrating and Disappointing Vacations We’ve Ever Had I don’t usually leave long reviews, but our experience at this hotel was so shockingly bad that I feel compelled to warn others. What was supposed to be a relaxing short getaway turned into days of stress, discomfort, and frustration from the moment we arrived. Food: The food was honestly terrible. Bland, tasteless, and the fruit selection was practically nonexistent. Even with reservations required, the “restaurants” felt like crowded buffets with long lines and zero atmosphere. We ended up dreading mealtimes — something I never thought would happen on vacation. Rooms: We paid for an upgraded room, but the reality looked nothing like the photos. The room was tiny, worn out, and had constant issues with hot water. We had to call a technician three different times just to take a normal shower. No mosquito screens meant we couldn’t even open the window at night to hear the ocean; instead, we were fighting off mosquitos and even saw spiders. This is completely unacceptable for a hotel claiming any level of quality. Cleanliness & Safety: Jacuzzis and pools were not cleaned on time. In the spa area, there were exposed electrical outlets with wires literally sticking out — a clear safety hazard. It’s shocking this is allowed to remain open to guests. Beach & Facilities: We couldn’t even swim at the beach. Towels weren’t available until 9 AM, which is ridiculous for a beach resort. Everything felt disorganized and poorly managed. Service & Staff: Many of staff support barely spoke any English, which made solving problems difficult. When it rained, we waited 20 minutes for a golf cart that never arrived — even after calling twice. Upon arrival, instead of being welcomed or taken to our room, we were stopped by ansales representative trying to sell massages and excursions.It immediately set the tone for the rest of the stay. We tried to speak to a manager about all of this, and we were informed that he was “unavailable because he was having dinner.” That’s the level of customer care here. Follow-Up: I later received a survey from Hector Lopez, the general manager. I filled it out honestly, hoping someone would finally acknowledge the problems. No one reached out. No apology. Nothing. It perfectly sums up the attitude we experienced throughout the stay. The ONLY person who showed genuine kindness and professionalism was Diego at the reception during checkout. He was the one bright spot in an otherwise awful experience. Final Thoughts: This trip left us frustrated, disappointed, and honestly exhausted. We spent our vacation dealing with problems that should never exist at any hotel, let alone one presented as a relaxing getaway. I truly hope management will finally start listening, because guests deserve so much better than this. For now, I cannot in good faith recommend this hotel to anyone. P.S. neighbor property seems abandoned and doesn't help view or the overall experience. Please see photos attached

  Nov 14, 2025
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  Amazing!!

  This was our first all inclusive and it was just amazing. So many restaurants and food for everyone. Everyone was friendly and I can't tell you how clean it was we always seen people cleaning. Having access to the other two resorts was amazing too. So big and were still uncovering things 5 days in!

  Nov 14, 2025
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  Service, butlers and grounds are great need more entertainment

  We traveled to the resort as a family of 5 adults 50/48/21/19/19. We stayed in the Platinum Luxury and Platinum Family Suites. We enjoyed the energy and hospitality of having Butlers Noah, Luis and Hugo. Once they had our contact information they were excellent in communication and service. We celebrated birthdays while visiting and they decorated our joining rooms with balloons, streamers, cake and Champagne. They were great with making our dinner reservations, providing us with cart rides for dinner reservations, getting anything we needed and made sure they acknowledged us each time we seen them even if they were with other guests away from the building. We enjoyed our ocean view with waking up to the beautiful sunrise everyday. If you are traveling to this resort I recommend printing a map of the resort as there is not an interactive map unless you plan to get cart rides everywhere. We preferred walking to get exercise except for dinner time with dress shoes. The butlers also provided aromas each evening which was a delight to smell every evening after long days. Bring strong insect repellant and anti itch cream if traveling during rain season. This is not the fault of the resort just common for the region. There is only one family pool that has entertainment otherwise 3 other pools that have music piped in but quiet otherwise. The resort was only at 50% occupancy so was not crowded except for the main pool at El Cid Marina which is because that’s the only entertainment during the day. Evening shows were crowded and not our favorite so we skipped them. The Ventus bar is where people went for late evening gatherings. The live music was a treat to hear some music! The restaurants had great service! I highly recommend the Platinum level! If you get to request your Butlers, make sure you ask for Noah, Luis and Hugo. Noah had an amazing energy that the young adults in the group really enjoyed. We also enjoyed playing Pickleball every morning. I recommend bringing paddles and ball as there is not many to loan out. We got lucky and met people that welcomed open play to let other guests enjoy the courts and made for some great competitive games. Some guests were not as welcoming and claimed the courts to their group only. The shampoo, conditioner and bar soaps were great in the rooms so no need to pack in your luggage. Housekeeping kept the rooms tidy and provided a clean place to relax in the rooms. If you see Carlos the bartender give him some extra cash! He is great! If you are looking for an adults only high energy pool you will not find it at these resorts. We did enjoy the hot tub at the Adults only Infinity pool but felt like music would have made the experience more enjoyable. Check out the rooftop bars for adults only pools as well. The only downside is they stop poolside service at 3:00 at those bars. The bartender does accommodate if they can. The grounds were beautiful as well. We would have liked to have a quick snack option at the pools but that is not their standards at these resorts. The beach areas had a smell that was not pleasant. We did smell Sulfur smells constantly throughout the resort. There is a large resort being built next to building 24 & 25. The were doing construction on the building of the old spa next to the infinity adult pool with jack hammers as our only noise to entertain us. This resort would be a favorite it they provided more adult only entertainment during the day. Not sure if we would go back but there is a lot of nice features.

  Nov 11, 2025