Ever since watching the ending scene of "Shawshank Redemption", where Andy Dufresne escapes to Zihuatanejo, it's been on my "places to visit" list. Even though I later found out the beach shown in the movie is actually not even in Mexico. None the less, I still wanted to see this town people kept referring to as "paradise".
So after looking at a few different hotels I landed on Capella. And, just a short 3 hour flight from LAX to ZIH and a 25 minute cab ride from the airport, I arrived at Capella Ixtapa. Usually pictures tend to look a lot better than the real thing with all the photo retouching but with Capella the pictures online do not even come close to truly capturing this hotel's beauty and the scenery it has to offer. As soon as you arrive the hotel staff is outside expecting your arrival and ready to greet you with warmth and smiles. They are BIG on customer service here and you can see it the minute you arrive. Upon walking just 10 steps toward the main lobby your mouth will literally drop as you hear the sounds of crashing waves and you take in the gorgeous views of the Pacific Ocean. I honestly took 5-10 minutes just to absorb it all... it's that beautiful. And, the hotel is a beauty all in itself. With only 8 years since it was built, it still feels very new, clean and definitely 5-star worthy.
All the rooms at this hotel are very private and come with their own in-room, infinity pool! The rooms here are nothing short of amazing and all include an ocean view. They also feature a nice patio area with some comfy chairs to lay out on and sip on some of their thirst quenching Jalapeño Margaritas. I particularly love that the rooms have 2 huge glass doors so your view of the ocean is never blocked even when in the room. Nothing like waking up every morning to an amazing ocean view and the bathroom also has an ocean view!
Every day at around 5pm, the hotel staff drops off some guac and chips with a couple of Coronitas in a mini ice bucket! Cool little treat!
There are a couple of restaurants on the premises, a bar and 2 large infinity pools. The restaurants here serve up some very good dishes and everything I tried from the breakfast, lunch and dinner menus was very tasty, fresh and well presented.They have a daily event that starts around 6pm every evening where they bring in all the fresh catch of the day including shrimp, fish and lobster. You pick out what you want and they prepare it for you to your liking. Good stuff and it doesn't get any fresher than that!
The bar offers a full variety of mouth-watering concoctions of which I highly recommend the Jalapeño Margarita. I think I ordered about 45 of them during my 5 night stay, including a pitcher which is not on the menu but they will make for you upon request.
Capella also offers a Romantic Dinner which includes a 4 course dinner for 2 with a private table set up on their wedding deck overlooking the ocean. This package also includes a very romantic setup including candles, rose pedals and live saxophone musician! The dinner is private so it's literally just the 2 of you with your own table, waiter and musician who plays everything so i requested some Frank Sinatra of course! Capella even allowed me to alter the menu to my liking and all this for only $350! The food is delicious and the experience was well worth every cent or in this case, peso. I HIGHLY RECOMMEMD you do this if your budget allows.
As far as location, Capella is just down the street (walking distance) to Playa Linda where you can take a ferry to Ixtapa Island and do some swimming, snorkeling, shopping, sun tanning, eating and a little drinking. The hotel offers it's guests complimentary bikes that you can ride down there if you prefer. In that same area there's a lagoon where you can find some large crocs, turtles iguanas and various other creatures.
Just a 10 minute cab ride in the opposite direction from the hotel you have Avenida 5 de Mayo which is a cool little area packed with stores, restaurants and bars.
There's plenty to do and if you need any help planning activities just talk to Connie Ochoa who is the Activities Supervisor and is there to help guests plan their ultimate Ixtapa experience. She's truly a huge help and super friendly. She's also bilingual so if you're not brushed up on your Español, no problema!
Also, if you need to exchange money, you can do that at the hotel's front desk. Their rates are comparable with that of the nearby banks.
So... next time you're thinking of heading South of the border for a little R&R, consider Ixtapa. And, if you're wanting to have an unforgettable and memorable experience, definitely stay at Capella.
I honestly think I'll be making this a ritual yearly trip after this experience... see you soon Capella Ixtapa! read more