Back from our fourth annual trip to Ixtapa and Presidente InterContinential. Since it was the fourth trip you might gather that I am a fan of Ixtapa and this resort.

However, this time there were some issues. For the first time we did not stay in the tower and that was a big mistake. The poolside room had a nice view but the bathroom flooded everytime you used the shower. That lead to mold and I had an alergic reaction that sidelined me for three days of my trip.

Housekeeping was horrible. Some days they did not come until 5 pm or later. And the minimal amout of cleaning she did was very disapointing.

There were positives, too. Raphael at check in was very accomadating. Showed me three different rooms when I was not satisfied with the initial offering. In hindsight, maybe I should have taken the first one.

The employees at the resort are simply great. Remember you from year to year. Nice to see them and catch up with what's been going on with them and their families.

Food was average. Steak House was very good but I was not a fan of the new picnic tables that they are using for seating. Fiesta night is a big favorite with our group and it was fantastic.

Overall, I will go back to the resort but will stay in the tower which in my opinion provides a superior experience.

For my very first trip to Mexico, I don't think I could have picked a better place to stay. On a cold Friday evening in Calgary, my husband and I decided to fly south, the next morning!!!!
The travel agent only had this hotel available, but I was so thouroghly impressed by its beauty and service standards.
The hotel itself had a beautiful layout, right on the caramel sandy beach.
I recommend getting a balcony with an oceanview, it is truly breathtaking.... We were on the 13th floor, it made for gorgeous sunsets.

The weather was above 30 and sunny for the entire week which probably added to our enjoyment considerably.

The staff were a delight to deal with. When checking in we were not in the system yet as we had only booked the night before, but they were very accommodating and gave us a wonderful room.

They had 3 restaurants, all of them very delicious.
Our favorite was the open air restaurant, right by the ocean. We ate and felt the breeze of the ocean air and heard the waves crashing.....

At night, we walked along the gorgeous beach and enjoyed the tranquility...

I truly reccommend this place to anyone who has never been to Mexico, or even if you have been before.
I think this is a great place for families, we brought our 8 month old daughter with us and everyone was very helpful and nice to us. We felt very welcome.

Since our Ixtapa trip, we went to Puerto Vallarta in Jan of 2008.
Ixtapa wins hands down......

We spent a week here in March, and enjoyed ourselves overall and felt we got reasonably good value for what we spent. Our room (an oceanview in the tower) was basic and a bit dated, and was showing some signs of disrepair (e.g. badly chipped floor tiles). Some of the common areas are also in need of updates and upgrades. The pool area, however, is well laid out and maintained. Service was good, as was the food. Buffet options only for breakfast and lunch, but pretty good selection and quality. There are four a la carte dinner options, although typically only two were open on any given night. A slight irritant was the fact that they don't take reservations, and (a staff member confided to us) serve only a set number of a la carte meals per evening. Since we were there the same week as a large convention group that dined en masse, this meant having dinner earlier than we would have preferred, and/or being in a long line up to ensure we got an a la carte option. Ixtapa is on a beautiful stretch of beach, and is a good destination for a few days or a week of complete downtime and/or beach activities. Be aware, however, that there's really no town here - just a collection of resorts and holiday condos, and some restaurants and shops to serve them. There's little if any opportunity for exposure to things cultural, historic or otherwise Mexican.

Just returned home on the 8th. Couldn't ask for better weather, sunny everyday. The hotel is dated, but the rooms were kept clean. The first room they assigned us was next to the disco/nightclub at the next hotel, so after putting up with that for 3 nights we asked to be moved. Should of done it after the first night, we ended up with a better view and silence. The food was good, a little repetitive at the buffett, and not all the restaurants were available as advertised. They have a crazy system in place where you cannot make reservations. Everyday you have to check which restaurants are open, and for which meals. The A La Carte restaurants' food is good, but the frustration that gets you to that point ruins the evening. What you have to do is go to the restaurant at opening time & give them your room number , if you've timed it right(which we only did one night), you get to sit down right away or they tell you to come back in half an hour or so. On the night the French restaurant was available for dinner, we went down and put our # down and were told to come back in 1/2 hour, we went to the lobby bar for a drink and then went back. We ended up waiting for another 45 minutes and by the time we sat down, we were hungry and upset, the food that was ordered was lukewarm and the vegetables were actually cold. I ate my meal because I was hungry, but my husband left his there, they offered to get him another plate, but at this point it really didn't matter. The whole evening had been ruined. We've done a fair amount of travelling in Mexico and this is the first place where you can't make reservations for dinner. It would make a whole lot of people happier. We were not the only people there that felt this way, and we all were told to contact the manager, which we will be doing. The whole time we were there, I was looking forward to Sushi night on Friday. Friday morning we check the board and see that they've changed that nights available restaurants and that was not one of them.
The pool and beaches were great. We spent most our time at the quiet pool and it was nice to see that this was enforced. The staff were always helpful, very couteous and attentive.