When a Home Away from Home Is Better than Home, Part 2

Four years ago, I published Part 1 about El Cid in Mazatlan. It was a “home away from home,” a place that is not one’s residence but where one feels as comfortable. Four factors were key: amenities, food and drinks, entertainment, and service. I wrote about El Cid in Puerto Morelos last year. Here's how it meets the same criteria.

All the Amenities

Just like Mazatlan, we had a choice among three resorts. There are 20 buildings with rooms, four for restaurants, three for lobbies/services, a gift shop, a kids’ club, and a teens’ club. There are five pool complexes with three infinity pools and four large hot tubs. There is a long beachfront with three stone walkways to gazebos that reach out to the ocean. There is a marina, a dolphinarium, a convention center/auditorium, a sports area, and a garden activity center. In Mazatlan, we had to go to private laundromats across the street but in Cancun, there is one right inside the complex. 

All-Inclusive Food and Drinks

El Cid in Cancun is a mandatory all-inclusive resort (Mazatlan is not but our contract is). As in Mazatlan, there are nine fine dining restaurants, three of them buffets. There are three lobby bars and four are beside pools. For Platinum members like us, there are five exclusive locations for a wider range of drinks, including the most expensive ones, plus a variety of finger foods. Wednesdays and Thursdays are wine or tequila-tasting nights with special food. A Taco Night is held at the garden activity center every Friday. There is a special Jazz Cocktail Party for members every other week. And Christmas, New Year, Superbowl, and St. Patrick’s are lavish events.

Entertainment All-Day

All day long there are activities for young and old alike, centered around the pool complexes (bingo, trivia, water aerobics, dance, Spanish classes, etc.). My grandkids loved the soap bubble and giant pool castle days. The evenings are filled with two shows, one at 7 and another at 9 (tributes, extravaganzas, etc.), and the three bars always have live music. 

Exemplary Service

But what sets El Cid apart is the exceptional care we get from the staff. These are four such people but there are many more like them.

As a Platinum member, we are entitled to a butler, a “chief male servant.” We asked for 54-year-old Gonzalo again this year. He always goes out of his way, including lending us his home DVD movie and music collections. He made sure I received Bill’s Valentine's flowers during our dinner date. When I ran out of medicine, he researched where to get them and bought them for me.

Carmen, our chambermaid, has been working with El Cid for six years. Every Tuesday, her “descanso,” she made sure that the reliever knew that I wanted our room cleaned at noon when we were out for lunch and that we didn't run out of our supplies. She learned fast that I prefer my pillows to be long, not short and bulky, and fixed such every day.

Italia was our concierge in our favorite Platinum Lounge. A college graduate, she sees becoming friends with people, not just working for them, as the best part of her job. It thrilled me that, as soon as she saw me approaching, she filled the serving bowls with potato chips so I could have as much as I wanted right away!   

So was Cynthia, our waitress in the Hacienda lunch buffet. She has been with El Cid for eight years, her first job since high school. As soon as she saw Bill and me, she filled our water glasses at our favorite table for two. Next came Bill’s glass of red wine. As soon as I was into dessert, she brought my tall cup of hot water, two packets of chamomile tea, and honey.

Amenities, food and drinks, and entertainment make it a home away from home! People like these four make it even better than home.