Once again, HotelChatter contributing editor Tim Leffel is moving around. He's left Acapulco for Zihuatanejo, Mexico where's he scoping out the burgeoning hotel scene. If you have a question about where to stay in Acapulco or Zihuatanejo, hit us on the tipline, or just comment below, and we will do our best to get you some sort of answer. Enjoy.
In the package hotel resort area of Ixtapa, there's basically one long beach lined with predictable hotel chains furnishing the usual all-inclusive arrangement. Just a few miles away in Zihuatanejo, however, there are three distinct beaches with very different looks and personalities.
Playa La Ropa is the swankiest, with Hotel Casa que Canta on one end, The Tides in the middle, and a Viceroy next door on the drawing board. This doesn't mean you have to be upper crust to stay here, however. There are plenty of hotels on La Ropa beach with great views from the balcony and easy beach access. Check out Catalina Beach Resort ($75 to $216 double) or Villa Mexicana ($99 to $169 double).
La Madera beach has more small, family-owned hotels and is an easy walk from Zihuatanejo town, making cabs or a rental car unnecessary. It also feels more Mexican than La Ropa, with a lot more domestic tourists. The best choices here are Brisas del Mar and Hotel Irma, with rates ranging from around $75 to $185 depending on the season and size. It's easy to wander around and find another hotel here if you don't like your first choice: they're all steps from each other on the same street.
Las Gatas beach (pictured here) is reached by a quick ferry boat ride from Zihuatanejo. The string of restaurants along the beach set you up with lounge chairs and then keep the food and margaritas coming while you tan and snorkel. At night, the whole beach empties out except for the guests at Las Gatas Beach Club. This collection of nice bungalows offers seclusion and quiet nights, but you're pretty much stuck after the last boat runs at sunset. Rates are a reasonable $115 a night though and drop to a bargain $65 from mid-May to October 1.
Once again, HotelChatter contributing editor Tim Leffel is moving around. He's left Acapulco for Zihuatanejo, Mexico where's he scoping out the burgeoning hotel scene. If you have a question about where to stay in Acapulco or Zihuatanejo, hit us on the tipline, or just comment below, and we will do our best to get you some sort of answer. Enjoy.
If The Tides or Casa que Canta would require a lottery win to get into your vacation budget range, fret not. Zihuatanejo, Mexico is loaded with killer view hotels that give you plenty of bang for the buck. We spent a few nights at the impressive Brisas del Mar for an easy-to-stomach $102 a night. (Not including the local 17 percent hotel tax--grrrrrr.)
For that price we got a nice room with a view that emptied out onto a huge terrace with a whirlpool, two cushioned lounge chairs, a dinette set, and a hammock. (View from it pictured here.) There's free WiFi in the lobby, a large pool with a built-in slide for the kids, and a nice restaurant and bar right on La Madera beach. This beach is not as long as Playa La Ropa on the other side of the cliffs, but a walkway connects this one to the town, where there are dozens of restaurants serving fresh seafood and buck-fifty beers.
There's a a gym and game room on site, a great sunset bar with a panoramic view of the bay, and the bilingual staff is generous with fluffy beach towels and boogie boards to borrow. Rates go up by about 50 percent in the high season, but considering what beachfront room prices are like in many Mexican beach resorts these days, Brisas del Mar is a screaming bargain.
Once again, HotelChatter contributing editor Tim Leffel is moving around. He's left Acapulco for Zihuatanejo, Mexico where's he scoping out the burgeoning hotel scene. If you have a question about where to stay in Acapulco or Zihuatanejo, hit us on the tipline, or just comment below, and we will do our best to get you some sort of answer. Enjoy.
The Tides may be the best place to stay on the beach in Zihuatanejo, but Casa que Canta continually tops readers' polls each year, nabbing the #1 spot for Mexico in both T&L and Conde Nast Traveler in '06. It's a favorite with honeymooners and those looking for a romantic escape that will impress their significant other.
The hotel made an appearance in the Meg Ryan/Andy Garcia movie When a Man Loves a Woman and recently got lots of play as the place hosting Samantha Brown on her Latin America Travel Channel show.
So what's all the fuss about? Dramatic architecture and killer views in every direction for a start, plus waves crashing against the rocks to lull you to sleep at night. Throw in an impressive infinity pool looking out at the bay and another one on the cliffside (pictured here). Then wrap it up with personalized service from a staff used to catering to the rich and picky. If you're celebrating a special occasion, they'll set up a candlelit dinner on one of the many small terraces dotted around the cliffs.
This is not a place for those with mobility issues--expect to be climbing a lot of stairs--but when you get back to your room it's a welcoming place to hang. Each is spacious and has a private furnished balcony or terrace mostly shielded from the view of others. The swanky marble baths have toiletries in clay pots. (As in no plastic to throw into a landfill.) Some suites have a hammock in addition to cushioned chaises and a dining set. The master suites are a bit larger and add a private pool.
None of this comes cheap of course: official rates start at $435 in the rainy season and bump up close to a grand for the largest suite. If you're not staying here, don't expect to be able to just pop by for a drink though. The hotel grounds are restricted to guests except for dinner.
Once again, HotelChatter contributing editor Tim Leffel is moving around. He's left Acapulco for Zihuatanejo, Mexico where's he scoping out the burgeoning hotel scene. If you have a question about where to stay in Acapulco or Zihuatanejo, hit us on the tipline, or just comment below, and we will do our best to get you some sort of answer. Enjoy.
We've covered the Kor Hotel Group quite a bit here, but "The Tides" coverage has mostly concerned the ongoing construction at Tides South Beach. In Mexico, it's a different story. They seamlessly took over the Ikal del Mar south of Cancun and the former Villa del Sol in Zihuatanejo.
On our visit, The Tides Zihuatanejo was full of California money looking for a place to be spent, but pretensions aside, it's hard to beat what they have to offer for several hundred miles in either direction on the Pacific Coast of Mexico.
There are only 70 rooms and suites, but they are sprawled out along Playa La Ropa: a long stretch of picture-perfect crescent beach with a view of the hills on each side. Three pools, a spa, a well-equipped gym, and tennis courts are on site, while on the beach you can indulge in parasailing or catamaran sailing.
Most choose to just kick back though, lounging on cushioned chaises with terrycloth neck pillows, sampling one of the dozens of tequilas in the bar, or eating some of the finest food in the region at one of the two restaurants with a view. Hey, where else do waiters ask you what flavoring you would like in your water--presenting ginger, cinnamon, rasberries, and lime?
Since taking over, the Kor group has put most of its effort into upgrading the already attractive rooms and bringing them up a notch. Most beds here are in the center of the room, draped with white gauzy fabric, with a vanity area behind the headboard. Even the standard rooms have a nice sitting area and a terrace or balcony, while marble baths with an array of toiletries leave plenty of space for two.
It's all visually impressive, with plenty of well-placed lighting, but also comfortable and functional. Rates officially start at $330 a night in the low season and if you have kids you'll have to step up to a suite--listed at $670. But if you're looking for luxe amenities and service, Tides Zihuatanejo is the magnet.
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by Tim L.
