El Cid El Moro Beach Hotel

Ready to escape the cold, rain and snow? I was recently invited to attend the 25th Annual Fiesta Amigos de Mazatlán as well as to get a taste of Mazatlán, the Pearl of the Pacific.

El Cid El Moro Beach Hotel

While in town, I was based at El Cid El Moro Beach Hotel, part of the El Cid Resort Group. El Cid has been on the resort map for over 40 years, creating an enjoyable, family-friendly experience while keeping sustainability and conservation in mind.

El Cid El Moro Beach Hotel

El Cid El Moro opened in 1989, with rooms ranging from junior to multi-room suites with kitchens. Sister properties are located in Mazatlán, Cozumel and Cancun.

El Cid El Moro Beach Hotel

The El Moro lobby is filled with white walls, high ceilings, the main floor restaurant La Concha and a staircase down to the pool and beach. I’m checked in via the Elite Club, avoiding the busy check-in area at the entrance.

The staff are pleasant and helpful, going out of their way to make sure you’ve got everything you need, from the restaurants to lobby to pool.

El Cid El Moro Beach Hotel

Rooms

Spacious and modern, with luxury amenities by Bulgari, suites here include a kitchenette and fridge stocked with water, beer and soft drinks.

El Cid El Moro Beach Hotel El Cid El Moro Beach Hotel El Cid El Moro Beach Hotel El Cid El Moro Beach Hotel El Cid El Moro Beach Hotel

There’s a safe, iron, ironing board, plus one of my favourite features: all-access WiFi throughout all El Cid resorts in town. It’s pretty flawless too, as I spent some time at El Cid La Marina and didn’t even need to re-log in.

El Cid El Moro Beach Hotel

Spa, Pool, Gym

Two large connecting pools with swim-up bars and snack areas are resort highlights. They both feature rock designs and waterfalls, but one is notably for families, the other a bit mellower, offering two totally different pool-going experiences.

El Cid El Moro Beach Hotel

Across the road at the El Cid Golf Country Club is a spa, golf, tennis courts and fitness center.

El Cid El Moro Beach Hotel

Dining

El Cid offers all-inclusive, Elite all-inclusive and European plans (meals not included) when booking. Gourmet beachfront restaurant La Concha and Mexican-style La Cascada are the two main dining venues.

El Cid El Moro Beach Hotel

La Concha offers views of Las Tres Islas and live music (no reservations required).

El Cid El Moro Beach Hotel
[Choose your fish and get it grilled outdoors on the patio during Fish Market night]

La Cascada is located at the ground floor of El Moro Tower and requires dinner reservations (both are open for breakfast, lunch and dinner).

El Cid El Moro Beach Hotel El Cid El Moro Beach Hotel

As I was there the week leading up to Dia de Muertos, I got to check out the hotel’s festive – and free – event next door!

El Cid El Moro Beach Hotel

El Cid is one of 14 Zona Dorado venues that host the Ruta de Los Altares (this year, October 20 to November 3) to ring in the festival.

El Cid El Moro Beach Hotel

Resort Amenities

Assuming you’ve chosen one of the all-inclusive plans, meals at all four resorts (as well as unlimited house-brand alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks) are part of the experience, along with live dinner theater and themed buffets, daily pool and beach activities, El Cid Kids Club (ages 4 to 12), El Cid Teens Club (ages 13 to 17), fitness center, steam and sauna.

El Cid El Moro Beach Hotel
[La Gruta: the quieter of the two pools]

Elite All-Inclusive is all the above plus VIP check in, preferred seating, domestic and international alcoholic drink brands, VIP welcome amenities, concierge assistance, nightly turndown, Elite Club computer access (with Internet, 7 am to 10 pm), late check-out, discounts with tour company and spa, taxes and gratuities.

El Cid El Moro Beach Hotel

The beach is right in front of the property but note that vendors are there to try and sell you stuff. For a change of pace, I took a shuttle to El Cid La Marina, booked a relaxing massage followed by lunch at the beach and a cocktail at the pool, all without the busy, oftentimes party atmosphere at the El Moro’s playa.

Marina’s El Cocay Spa and Gym is located between the lobby and marina/pool area.

El Cid El Moro Beach Hotel

My masseuse, Esther, gave me a deeply welcome traditional massage to get those travel knots out of my back and shoulders. A range of massages are offered in 50- and 80-minute sessions; facials, body scrubs, Mayan (coffee) detox treatments and reflexology options are also available.

Tesla and El Cid Resorts
[Tesla charging stations at El Cid Marina & Yates Club, Mazatlan]

Going Green

El Cid works closely with their housekeeping staff to minimize waste and to reduce the amount of washing done to conserve water. Tesla chose El Cid as its first destination charging station, while the newest of the El Cid resorts, Ventus at Marina El Cid Spa, only occupies 26% of the land on which it was built, keeping the remaining land untouched and protected as a wildlife conservation area.

Check with the concierge to see when the release of protected turtles are scheduled (most of the sea turtle species that nest on the beaches in Mexico are both endangered and protected).

Immaculate Conception Basilica

What’s Nearby

El Cid El Moro is located 18 miles from the airport and four miles to the downtown district, where you’ll find shopping, dining, local markets, the Immaculate Conception basilica, Old Mazatlán architecture and nightclubs.

Venados baseball game
[Taking in a Venados baseball game]

The property is away from the busy downtown but offers enough to keep everyone busy.

El Cid El Moro is located at Av Camarón Sábalo 811, Zona Dorada in Mazatlán, Sinaloa, Mexico.

El Cid El Moro Beach Hotel

I was a guest of El Cid Resorts for the purposes of attending Fiesta Amigos de Mazatlán and experiencing the resort for this feature. Opinions, as always, are my own.

We may be off exploring Mexico, but the emails and texts keep coming in, so when we’re away from resort wifi, we can check in back home with pre-paid coverage via our friends at AlwaysOnline Wireless.

Ditching our carrier’s fees in exchange for AlwaysOnline Wireless (AOW) is so easy: just order a Global Data SIM card (currently priced at USD $10.95; worldwide shipping available), visit their website to active it, then top up with the plan that works best for the amount of time and coverage you’ll need (by the hour, day or megabyte).

AOW coverage map

Depending on location, you’re able to stay connected with 4G LTE in over 90 countries. The site lets you check to see if the country/countries you’re headed to is part of the AOW network. For example, Mexico data plans start at $0.99 per hour (20 MB), up to $59.99 for 3 GB (valid for 30 days). You can always top up any plan if you’re running low on data too!

You won’t need to sign a contract or pay extra fees either. AOW works on any unlocked smart phone, tablet or Wi-Fi hotspot. Visit AOW online for details.

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