Ventus ha Marina el cid
Recently stayed at ventus ha at Marina el cid from July 28th to August 8th. We booked through Costco travel and found a pretty good deal, they unfortunately changed our flights which had increased cost though it did include checked baggage. The price of the vacation went down shortly afterwards and Costco was able to price match so ultimately payed less than our initial booking. $5300cad for 10 nights and private transfer to resort.
Arrival at the resort with quick only 30 minutes from the airport. The lobby had a Chic ambience and greatly appreciated AC. check-in process was quick and painless. We somehow managed to avoid the timeshare/ travel club sales pitch throughout our entire stay. Due to our early arrival we couldn't get into our room so we had our first meal at Akkat which was amazing. I highly recommend the fish tacos. We returned the lobby and our room would not be ready until 4:00 p.m. however, they had an alternative available. Same category at no extra cost so we were able to get to our room relatively early.
The ventus ha section of the resort has a beautiful tropical Garden feel the landscaping is truly amazing. There were two pools available to families in this section of the resort as well as two rooftop pools. Unfortunately having an 8-year-old you were unable to spend time at those. There are also bars at each of these pools. While there are only two restaurants at ventus ha you have access to all the restaurants at ventus and marina all within an easy walking distance or if it's particularly hot or not nice weather golf carts. There is a road to cross to access the other parts of the resort but there is a crossing guard during the day.
When we booked Costco had a deal on the platinum package (same price as non platinum) which came with a butler. We were able to get reservations every night at the a la carte restaurants if we chose. The restaurants were overall very good, the show cooking at Kobo was Entertaining for the kids, the steak at the French restaurant was surprisingly good and the seafood restaurant also offered a good variety of delicious meals. The service was fast at all the restaurants so be aware if you're used to taking your time with meals. The only letdown was the Italian restaurant, at least for us. The buffet changed the theme nightly and the few times we ate there while the food was tasty, the selection was not always impressive . Poolside drinks and pool service were as expected for an all-inclusive. However, the cocktail bar at waves ventus ha had an excellent bartender Jorge who made spectacular espresso and chocolate martinis again, highly recommended.
There is a kids club and teenage club available at the resort, however we did not make use of this. There are also several other pools with the marina pool, having a slide and jumping Rock which everyone seems to love. There are daily activities, foam party weekly and the entertainment staff make an effort to get everyone involved.
Our room was the junior suite platinum and we found it to have surprisingly good air conditioning considering the heat and humidity in August, it had a king size bed and pulll down Murphy bed, which while surprisingly comfortable is quite high. Room service was reliable and our room was tidied and prepared everyday. The view on this side of the resort is across the mangroves and the pool and what's surprisingly pleasant, it was also away from the sargassum smell.
Sargassum is a major issue at this time of year and we did see multiple backhoes at work clearing daily , the beach is not the reason for booking this resort.
Overall, we were very happy with our vacation. Will you consider returning again if there were similar deals available. On a side note, booking through Costco came with $350 usd resort credit. We were able to use this for a snorkeling excursion and buy souvenirs at the gift shop with no issue.