Stayed from Jan. 20th til 30th. One bedroom apt. on the 8th floor. For a family of three it's generous: two balconies, two full bathrooms. All inclusive.
SERVICE is great! I mean it. Front desk staff (Ester, Maria and others) is friendly, helpful and nice looking. Room maid - doing great job. In and around the hotel it looks like they clean all areas 24/7.
Restaurant - I am speechless: Cristiano (forgive me if I misspelled your name), Alberto, Eliezer - actually, everybody including beach service - are doing their job as if you are their best friend: fast, efficient, with a smile, meeting and greeting and thanking.
FOOD. We found some favorites, we tried almost everything on the menu, and we liked it. It is not super fancy. Of course, the menu is limited. But we did not get tired of it during our 10-day stay. Want more? Downtown is 5 minutes away (and 10 bucks).
BEACH. The beach itself is great: fine sand, a lot of chairs, umbrellas, (not talking about margaritas). Getting to the sea is a challenge (bring water shoes) but warm sea (about 77F) will comfort you and - just put on goggles and you are in the aquarium literally surrounded by colorful fish.
CRUISE SHIPS. The terminal is just 50-60 yards away. One day there were 5(!) large ships. Despite of the large amount of people coming out, the beach and the restaurants were far from being crowded.
SUMMARY: This hotel is for relaxation. No entertainment, no youngsters' party. Once you can walk along the main street in San Miguel (you MUST go the Chankanaab, Cozumel's famous botanical garden). I know nothing about night life - it was not the goal for our trip.
We wanted it to be quiet and well seviced. We got it. It was exellent.

If you are planning to do diving while in Cozumel this is the hotel for you.

A good diving operator is made up of three crucial parts: 1. A fast boat 2. small group 3. experienced and safety conscious dive masters who take the customer where he/she wants to go.

Babeica Diving in El Cid has all of these and on top of this, the DM's are simply great and cool people. If you take pot luck and end up with any one of the three amigos, Luis, Socrates or Julian, you simply won't be dissapointed. I give 10/10 to Babeica and the crew. Take this from a person who has been diving for 15 years and on 5 continents.

If you are interested in snorkeling off the beach the El Cid has the best of that as well even though boat access is necessary for proper reefs.

On top of this, the hotel itself is great and I'd stay there again.

I stayed here for 3 nights of my honeymoon trip to Mexico and loved this hotel more than any of the others! We did the all inclusive with a one bedroom suite, it is soo worth getting a room that includes all inclusive. We ate every meal there and drank there and did not spend barely any money, minus tipping, but we were not complaining! On our last night there they had a buffet by the pool and my husband tipped the manager & chefs a good deal of money since they kindly sent us a round of shots. There is so much that I could say about this place! Oh this doesn't have anything to do with the hotel but if you want to go downtown at night make sure you do it while the Cruise lines are still at the piers since the streets are DEAD after they leave!

Have made 3 trips to CZM over the last year and going back again in February '12! Can't say enough about the El Cid. Gracious, helpful and friendly staff throughout the hotel make it more than a comfortable stay. The Babieca Dive Center has been GREAT, and having them there on the premises is a big plus! We vary our eating habits to take advantage of the local fare but consistently have our breakfast at hotel, and have never been disappointed. So hats off to everyone at El Cid for showing us a great time in CZM, See ya' soon!