El Cid Enters Cancun

Delayed briefly after Hurricane Wilma struck Cancún last October, the Hotel Marina El Cid resort is scheduled to open on Feb. 18 in the Riviera Maya.

The $40 million all-inclusive resort—then a concrete shell under construction—“was spared extensive damage,” says Carlos Berdegué, CEO of Mazatlan-based El Cid Resorts. “We were very fortunate that windows hadn't been installed, landscaping and furnishing hadn’t begun, and the electricity and plumbing fixtures were not yet in place. Rip tides actually widened El Cid Riviera Maya's beaches [and] the marina one block from the resort site suffered no damage whatsoever.”

The first 200 suites of the 21-acre resort will open this month, along with public areas including the 22,000-square-foot free-form pool at the center of the property, the restaurants and bars, the business center, the tropical gardens and the oceanfront mega Jacuzzi. The latter is part of an adults-only day lounge on the beach that will also feature massage tents and private palapa huts.

In May, the 3,541-square-foot fitness center and 2,587-square foot, full-service spa, featuring Mayan-inspired treatments, will open. That will be followed by the 200-seat El Cid Theatre in August. When finished, the property will have 350 rooms and suites ranging in size from 560- to 2,400-square-feet. Amenities range from a pillow menu, marble bath and private terraces in all rooms to plasma-screen televisions, on-balcony Jacuzzis, luxury beds and linens, and kitchenettes or kitchens in the larger suites. The all-inclusive plan includes meals at the property’s four restaurants and dinner theater.