We stayed at the Emporio from Mar 24 -31, 2007. We had a beautiful, mountainview, corner room on one of the floors that has been renovated/redecorated. The bed was king sized and lovely and soft. The room had a fridge, microwave, toaster, coffee maker, cutlery and dishes. I presume we were upgraded because most rooms did not have those amenities and other patrons at the hotel complained about the hard mattresses on their beds.
Most of the renovated/redecorated ocean front rooms are reserved for RCI time share customers so not available to others.
The hotel is a nice size (200 rooms); has a lovely, open air lobby; the main restaurant was nicely situated on the ocean front; all of the staff were friendly and helpful; and you didn't have to be up early to find a palapas on the beach or an umbrella around the pool.
Our only complaint was with the all inclusive option that we chose. We had to sign for everything (drinks, meals, coffee etc) although it was included. There were endless streams of paperwork for AI and paying customers. It slowed things down considerably. Breakfast was nice, and the hamburgers for lunch at the grill were excellent. At dinner the buffet was mediocre and soon became tiresome .
The daytime bar service generally was pathetic but I believe it was because management encouraged the staff to focus their energies on the paying customers. There was only one bar accessible to all inclusive customers during the day and you either had to get into the pool and swim up to get a drink, or you had to line up with the waiters at the "back door" of the pool bar. There was definitely controlled access to the AI bar service by the management. We have been on all inclusive vacations annually for the past 15 years and have never experienced this treatment . We aren't big drinkers and the staff at times seemed embarassed. Paying patrons received excellent service but in spite of tipping for bar service we could rarely get served. We felt like second class citizens.
In the evening the Lobby Bar was open and the service there (Alejandra and her co-worker) was excellent. Management must have gone home by then!!
Would we come back here? Because of the bad experience we had with the AI option we would consider coming back but not all inclusive. There are lots of great restaurants in Ixtapa and Zihuatanejo and your money would be better spent on them. If I were to return I would also try to book a renovated/redecorated room.
One other thing to note is that the ocean has big waves and can be treacherous at times with strong undertows. There were lots of people with boogy boards who were enjoying the wave action.

We arrived at the Emporio without our luggage, it had been lost by the airline and was lost for two days. The quality of the hotel and our room combined with the great attitude of the staff off set this major problem. Several staff of the hotel were communicating with the airport on a regular basis assisting us to work through the problem around the luggage. For us the Emporio and its staff saved the first two days of our holiday and we given them full credit for solving our luggage problem. Without hesitation we are recommending this fine hotel. While the hotel itself and the room were very nice the staff are outstanding.

Hotel Emporio is a great resort located on a fantastic, very walkable beach! Rooms have all new (very comfortable, not hard) beds, linens, down comforters. The housekeeping staff does a wonderful job of cleaning the rooms and decorating the new beds! Usually cleaned and ready by noon every day.
The location of the Emporio is truly ideal because you have the gorgeous oceanview on the front side and the city shopping and restaurants on the back side. You cannot possibly try all of the restaurants available in one week...and they serve great food. Our favorites were Isabels; Capri; Deborahs; Chili Beans;Emlios; and several more that I do not remember the names of. Just walk around and you will find a new place to eat each meal. Zihaute is only a $5 cab ride and they have excellent places to eat also! Restaurant next to the Catholic Church was so authentic and delicious. The Picante Sunset Sail trip was alot of fun and the drinks really flow. Also, they serve chicken fajitas on the boat. Sunset is gorgeous and they make the trip really pleasant for everyone. Staff is great and very friendly. Nice'(Bernice) speaks good English and joins in on the fun. Tell her hi from Illinois!
Carlos & Charlies is located mid-beach and is great for lunch. Also have a pool next to the restaurant where you can cool off from you beach walking while waiting for lunch to arrive. Several places on the beach for an inexpensive but great massage!
If you choose Emporio you will not be dissapointed - the pool is so refreshing and the whole setting is mid-size. You get to know people around the pool so easily, and volleyball is daily in the pool. Some pretty competive players! It is great that the resort is
not MEGA huge - you can eat beachside at 2 locations on property. We did not go AI, too many great restaurants to try offsite. Go, have fun, enjoy the beautiful views and warm weather. It was 88 degrees the week of 1/27-2/3/07!!

An 11 storey property that has been upgraded and well maintained over the years. Only 197 rooms, so it has an intimate atmosphere. Very clean, well appointed rooms. Suites available. Ours was a standard room with king bed, microwave, fridge, sink, dishes, toaster, coffee maker, table/4chairs. Large bathroom with shower only. In room safe, hairdryer, everything worked. Direct access to beach, across from central Ixtapa restaurants and shopping. Large pool.

Only negatives: low water pressure in shower. Front desk a bit disorganized and slow with check-in/out procedures. Very friendly, helpful staff throughout.