Most beautiful island in Mexico so far! This place is so pretty. One side of the beach is…read moresnorkeling with waters filled with reef. The other side (you can walk in 3 minutes) has restaurants and great water for swimming. Very clear and blue with no waves. It was very cove-like. My friends and I decided to go fishing for the day so we rented a boat from La Madera to Ixtapa Island figuring that we could fish on the way to this island in the open water and then swim when we got to the island. Perfect decision!! We caught about 8 fish (a local fish in Zihua called Barrelete). We pulled up to the island and had to jump out into the water to get to shore. SO COOL. Then, the forst restaurant cooked our fish right there and it was the best thing I had ever tasted. The island itself was very pretty and had chickens, goats, bunnies, and deer! Yes deer!! How the heck are they out there you say?! I have no idea but it was way cool. I never wanted to leave this island. It was my top beach for Zihua/Ixtapa. This island is a must see! Awesome day trip!

My family comes here every often during the summer. It's a hidden gem. It's a membership resort…read morewhere families can buy time share or you can rent on Expedia. The weather in Ixtapa is humid, but I love it. They have van transportation to take you to the beach area, room and dining areas. They also have the Gandolas that take you up and down and give you a beautiful view. The walk can be a walk, I wouldn't recommend it for individuals who need extra walking support, have injuries, or disabled. The hills are very steep. GREAT EXERCISE before you sit to have a delicious meal... but highly recommend the transportation options for those who can't make the walk. They do have meal options... I get the unlimited. Totally worth the extra buck! Unlimited food and drinks by the beach area ( does not include room service or exclusive menus) do inquire about the food options at reception. They will give you a wrist band for the duration of your stay. There is a huge variety of food!! So if Mexican food isn't your preference... which I will add is absolutely delicious.. they have other optional menus. Other than the main beach and pool sides down by the buffet area... there are also hidden pools throughout the whole resort ( dining May not near by) but you can bring personal snacks. The employees are very friendly and very humble!! Very informative... don't be afraid to ask. They can help and answer questions.

Amazing resort. So wonderful. I did the all-inclusive. Definitely worth it. So many different…read morepools, I swam in 7 of them while I was there. The beach is so warm. They have little bungalows you can reserve for free! A waiter brought me a new drink ever ten minutes! So helpful! Fun pool games for kids. And water aerobics, Zumba, and bike riding! Watch them feed the crocodiles. Enjoy the gondola rides up and down the mountain. Exciting shows every night! So so good!! Great for a family!!! Napoleon was amazing! He was our concierge. So helpful! Thank you Napoleon! We even walked to downtown Ixtapa. Very safe! Lovely little beach town.

If I could give more stars I would. The best, most authentic guest service that I have ever…read moreexperienced. Granted it is a 3 room hotel and restaurant, but whether it was Judith the day manager or Antonio the night manager, service was impeccable. Our servers for breakfast (included) Eder and Carlos were fantastic. We saw Eder in town with his family and he went out of his way to introduce us! You can't teach this! The rooms vary in size, ours was not huge, but we'll appointed. We had the lowest room, with a deck that nearly hung out over the ocean, plus a nice private outdoor seating area. There's a common area with infinity pool, chaises, table and fully stocked kitchen! Like everywhere with a view, there are plenty of stairs. The hotel sits equal distance from town and La Ropa Beach, so it is a great location. We plan to come back with other couples and try to get all three rooms!

Incredibly beautiful and posh! Food was Devine! Service was the best! View of bay was of ultimate…read moreromance!

The best part about Villa Mexicana is the people. Especially the restaurant and Housekeeping staff…read more They're very sincere about wanting to take care of their guests. This is a three star resort. So don't have any illusions while reading other reviews that it's anything more than that. Although it could be much more than that with just a little bit of effort. But the resort does have some really wonderful aspects to it. The beach is incredible and just steps from your room, very clean and of course the water is very warm. It's a bay so it's really easy to swim. Nice white sand beach about a mile long. Housekeeping keeps the rooms super clean although they are a bit worn down. Our toilet leaked and we had very little shower pressure, but it wasn't anything that ruined our vacation. There is an ant problem. I've had them drop off the ceiling onto my bed and throughout the room. There's no food in the room so I think it's a bigger problem not sure what it is. But they're are all over the property. Dining room furniture is pretty worn down except for the wood furniture. That's very nice in one part of the restaurant. The patio chairs facing the beach and around the pool appear to be fairly new, but they are all very dirty so you can't really tell. It wouldn't take much to keep these clean and it would just make a huge difference in the appearance of the entire resort if they were cleaned at the end of each day. Also, there are so many squeezed together you can barely get to a seat without crawling onto it. I was emailed two weeks before my arrival asking if I would like to upgrade my unit to a beachfront for $12 a night. Of course, I said yes and confirmed a number of things in the email. I thought I was great, but when I arrived, I got stuck in a small room with no view completely different than what I was promised in email. Had lots of discussion about it, but to no avail, I didn't want to have any bad feelings, so I just let it go. The next day one of the front desk people said maybe he could get us into another unit but we'd have to pay double the amount for tonight so what am I gonna do? I said yes. He was able to get us into the room. We should've been in the first place And we were glad that we got it. It was a good room. Just a heads up to be careful that you bring any email promises with you to avoid any misunderstandings. Due to the workers and the great beach, we will probably be back. I plan on talking to the resort manager and making some suggestions. I don't know how that will go over but I hope she takes them to heart because they're not big things but they would make a big impact.

I truly had the best stay here. The restaurant and hotel staff were friendly and helpful. The…read moreproperty is beautiful and right on the beach. I cannot wait to return. The attached restaurant is Doña Prudencia. We had breakfast and lunch here daily. The service staff was truly exceptional. Many of the guests have been coming here for ~20 years because of the staff, which means many of the staff members have been there for a long time. We never had a bad meal. The coffee was good and strong! The omelette talavera was my favorite egg dish. We loved sharing the fruit plate with yogurt and granola too. The hotel has three pools. There is one with an infinity edge beach side. There are two more that are between buildings, one of them is a shallow children's pool. They have little pools of water to clean the sand off of your feet and an outdoor shower to help clean the salt off after getting in the ocean. The water was perfect in the ocean and the pool. The ocean was clean and you could walk out pretty far before it got deep. Zihuatenejo is considered a fishing village, so you'll see some fisherman and can rent a boat very cheaply! All the typical beach activities are available here. There is a man named Javier at the front desk of the hotel who was instrumental in helping me to retrieve my phone which I left in the cab that dropped me off. He told me he'd take care of finding it and he did. I am so grateful for his customer service skills and willingness to help. I have never been to Mexico so I was nervous, but now I cannot wait to return. Zihuatenejo is such a special place and Villa Mexicana was perfection. The beach is small and this hotel is in the center of it. There are incredible restaurants within walking distance or a short cab ride. I cannot recommend this hotel highly enough. If you do wish to visit, please be sure to call their reservation phone line instead of booking online as they stated their website had been hacked. Also, pro tip: avoid flying through Mexico City for a much better customs experience.

There are only four rooms at this hotel which explains the intimate service and privacy. All…read moreemployees give special service and are genuinely interested in helping in every way. This alone is special but the views and location are equally impressive. We will definitely return to this paradise.

I cannot say enough great things about the Catalina Beach Resort. It is an amazing resort with…read moregorgeous lush grounds, in a beautiful spot on La Ropa (with an easy walk to Madeira or downtown). It is close to a lot of restaurants on La Ropa and headed into downtown area. EVERY SINGLE STAFF MEMBER WE ENCOUNTERED WAS OUTSTANDING. From Alfred, Javier, and Hector. Everyone was professional, friendly, efficient, and made you feel at home. From the moment we emailed to book our room to the minute we left, we felt welcome and like we made the best choice. Our room was absolutely amazing (we had a Linda Vista) with an outstanding view of all of Zihua. We loved the veranda with deck chairs, a couch, and hammock. We loved the pool, the water was clean and refreshing, and loved that it overlooked the beach. The palapas fill up quickly but we never had a problem getting one even if we were way out to the side. The water in front of the hotel is swimmable and warm. The beach is clean and safe. Our bed was comfortable and the air conditioning worked great. Room service was prompt and well done. I felt like we got a good price on our room and I would absolutely book again for the same price when we come back. Overall I felt that the hotel offered a lot of value. I felt safe the entire time in Zihua and never once had an encounter that made me doubt my safety. The hotel is older but it is taken care of and you get the feeling you are at a boutique hotel where you are not nickeled and dimed and the employees actually care about your stay. There were just a few negatives: The Sodovento next door is under construction so if you like to sleep in or take naps during the day, you might be annoyed as we heard constructions noises starting at 0800 and going until sundown. We were usually out of our room and down at the beach or exploring most days but it was annoying a few times when we wanted to sleep in or take a vacation nap. There is no pool bar. I know this sounds like a silly complaint but often we would gather with friends we had met in the afternoon in the pool. We would have to walk down many steps to the pool bar and then carry everything back up. I don't know why they dont have someone provide service to the pool - they could have made a lot of money while we were there. The food is not great. We only ate our free breakfast twice before we decided to go off property for our meals. The drinks, on the other hand, were delicious and reasonably priced. The mojitos are to die for. From the beach to our room (top floor) was 265 stairs. That is a lot of stairs. We are in shape and it still kicked our butt in the heat sometimes. With that being said we didn't mind because it was good exercise to offset all the drinks and food we had on vacation. All told, we would absolutely stay here again.

Javier & Celso at the Front Desk are very helpful, friendly, and professional. They handled special…read morerequests with ease. Angel at the Playa Bar speaks excellent English and happily accommodated our special drink requests, which we enjoyed under the palapas on the sand. Salvador at the Panaramico Bar/Sunset Bar made the beautiful sunsets even more spectacular with his delicious 2 for 1 cocktails.

We usually spend our vacation in Ixtapa as it is a very chill and the beach by the Pacifica resort…read moreis beautiful. On this trip we decided to spend a few days in the neighboring town of Zihua. We spent 3 wonderful days/nights at the Thompson. As others have mentioned this a beautiful location in Playa Ropa and service is 5-star. When you arrive, there is a welcome drink awaiting you. The front desk worked with us to secure a beachfront suite with a large deck and a plunge pool. Our room was spacious and decorated very tastefully. We loved the artwork. There is Comp coffee and water. On our second day, there were 6 additional bottles of water! We returned from the beach on day 2 to find a very personal note from the staff and a dessert. There are cabanas on the beach with drink and food service. The beach area also has an adult pool that is perfect for watching the surf, having a Marghie, and socializing with the other guests. Hao is their beachside restaurant and bar. There is another, more upscale restaurant on the property. It is so relaxing here, having an early morning breakfast or dinner and listening to the surf just steps away. We enjoyed the Paella theme night. The grilled octopus App was off the charts delicious. It was grilled and seasoned to perfection. The paella portion was very generous with seafood, clams, and chorizo. What a wonderful evening dining under the stars, a pleasant breeze, and the surf just steps away! We walked the beach multiple times a day, and there is a small market area where you can purchase souvenirs, beer, and sundries. If you feel adventurous check out Le Parla and La Pirata. Perla is a great beachside bar with good drinks and a seafood ceviche that easily satisfies 2 hungry vacationers. The Pirate provides some great local flavor. If you want to explore dinner off property, make a reservation at the "House that Sees" resort Casa Rumi. There is a Michelin-star restaurant overlooking the bay. As expected, the service and dinner was 9 stars, and the 3-course dinner will not blow up your budget. We are already planning our visit for next year!

I usually stay in Ixtapa, but know here in Houston, Tx they recently opened up a Thompson hotel and…read morewhen I found out that there was one in Zihuatanejo, I was especially excited. I just did a day pass where you can reserve a cabana at the pool area that affords you credits for food and drinks and is very proximal to the bar / restaurant, HAO. The whole hotel, grounds, cabana's and beach are stupendous. I'm sure similar to many great beach locations and this place is nothing short of spectacular. The beach cabana's are between the beach and the bar area where your closer to the water and get the same service for drinks and food. Wonderful and quite relaxing. The beach itself is clean, sand is white, water is free from any and all debris and grass and quite expansive. Jumping into the water is especially refreshing and great for tanning yourself. At nigh time you can dine in the sandy court area or on the deck at the Hao. I found the food options are all very good and drinks especially. I would encourage during the day you get a coconut with rum and coconut water. Oh, I almost forgot this location has awesome sunsets. The hotel is a close cab ride to the town / city of Zihuatanejo where you can walk around and check out the places here or other nice restaurants nearby. I didn't stay here overnight but the pricing isn't cheap but worth the price if you can stay a couple of nights, which I plan on doing the next visit back in town. Overall a memorable experience which I look forward to doing again.

Found this place surfing our time share points exchange thru diamond . AWESOME! Loved the place,…read morestaff was exceptional. We will be back for sure. Easy access to the beach, rooms were great, clean. Everyone from the reception to concierge were fantastic. Senor Ruiz will be back!

It's rare and fantastic when an experience not only measures up to my overactive imagination but…read moresurpasses my highest expectations - and EMBARC in Zihua did just that. The initial view was jaw dropping and we found no reason to ever pick it up. Just gaga over the accommodations, food, drinks, incredible service, weather, the friendly and kind people of this region, and to boot... caught incredible waves at some local surf spots. Zihuatanejo gained fame as the dream destination for the two prisoners of Shawshank Redemption - and the reverse effect is that when you return back to routine civilization it seems like prison by comparison. Marie, the General Manager, runs an impeccable operation with a world class staff. Bravo EMBARC Zihuatenejo! See you again soon. * be warned if you are stairs impaired because there is a lot of them, but thankfully we are not so we enjoyed every step.