"El Cid" or La Ceiba as I still fondly think of it was our Cozumel home for years, we love the location, I personally think it's one of the best on the island, some folks don't like the proxemity to the cruise ship pier, but my wife are people watchers, and that's some good people watching there!
The local staff have always been like family to us. The waitstaff and bartenders are always happy to see us & front desk manager Ester, has gone out of her way on many occations to help us out and always welcomes us with a big grin and a "welcome home"
Most if not all the rooms have been renovated now and are larger than they used to be & the restaurants have always served good food and again service has always been friendly and hospitable. Then new renovations since Wilma are just beautiful although they did get rid of one of the pools.
Plus my friends Holly and Armando's shop, Island Photo is on property and it made it very convienient to take care of my photo needs.
I was also told in May that they have not rebuilt the pier yet and had no plans to, divers were having to walk up the street a couple of blocks to use another pier. They also did not appear to have a dive shop on site anymore, although Dive with Martin's shop is very close at the International Pier.
In fact, the new owners, El Cid, seem to have decided to be less "diver friendly" in general. We did the time share dog-n-pony show a couple of years ago to find out some info on the direction the company was taking the property, and the sales guy pretty much made it clear that divers were not the main clientel they were looking for.
He flat out said, word for word "I don't give a damn about diving", to a prospective client and someone who he knew were divers! Not to mention the main reason this island has become what it is, is because of the dive industry!
They seemed to be shooting for retired couples and families, with their condo style, multi-bedroom, rooms.
If they have worked out the "diving issues" I would still highly recommend the place.
