I cannot say enough great things about the Catalina Beach Resort. It is an amazing resort with gorgeous 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. read more