I am very conflicted about El Cid. Being a 4 star hotel I guess I just expected more. Don't get me wrong, it is good, it is just not great. The facility itself is pretty nice, not fancy, but clean. On their page on booking.com it says that it is "newly renovated", but I am not sure anything is renovated the last 5 years, and if it is, I am not sure what that is... My grandparents stayed in a room for two, and I had a single. My bed was still roomy and I could of easily had a slumber-party, but my dresser space, and bathroom was smaller, which did not have an effect on me since I was traveling alone. My balcony, facing towards the water, was just as big as all the other ones so no complaint there either. however there were a few problems.... First, my bed was rock hard. I mean, it was just as hard as the stiff sun beds around the pool. I found this very odd, because my grandparents bed in their double was so much better... It was a HUGE difference which makes it worth paying for a double rather than a single just for the bed.. As for the pillows, well that is a whole other problem, very hard and very big which felt like I was waking up with a whiplash every morning. Secondly, there were ants on the floor of my bedroom on the fifth floor. It was not one, but a few of them which kind of freaked me out. Hopefully they did not make it into my bad, but I am going to but all my stuff in the washer, and throw my bag in the sauna just to be sure. This is not ok, and I am not sure if this has to do with cleaning, or if I brought them from the beach, or what. Still, there were ants, and I don't really expect them on the fifth floor of a 4 star hotel. Thirdly, my toilet. It scared me. Every time I flushed it made noises, and loud banging noises came from the wall. It almost sounded like someone was knocking on the door, so the first time it happened I actually went to open the door only to find that nobody was there. I am realizing this is turning into a long review, and I do not want people to get the wrong impression, because it was a great stay. The hotel has three pools, two outside, and one heated inside for the wintertime. They have a bar by the pool facing the water, and more than enough sun beds. The breakfast buffé is one of the best I have had in a while, and their rotating "teamed" dinners are not bad either! They have a show from 9:30ish each night, which might not be the best, but it still a meeting point for the 50+ generation. The hotel is kid friendly, handicap friendly and I cannot stress enough that the staff is GREAT. I hate giving less than the star rating of the hotel, but my strange encounters from my room really leaves me at a 3 star all together. read more

See all

Really don't know what all the hype surrounding this hotel is. Trip Advisor is flowing with great reviews--we did not have a great experience. Location and views are fantastic. It looks like all the hotel rooms face the ocean, which is beautiful. Can't complain about that! Tons of food and drink options are within walking distance, also a plus, although we found pretty much all the food we ate here incredibly underwhelming. Our room was very basic but had the necessities, including a fridge which is a plus. That said, the beds were super uncomfortable. The a/c worked poorly and the internet was very very slow. The staff was not very friendly and actually made us feel pretty stupid for asking such "obvious" questions as to how to get a taxi. That leads me to the food, which is HORRIBLE! They offer a huge buffet with bland, watery food. The only thing I could really eat was the fries. Hard to muck that up. read more