Marguerite

I'm looking for a quiet laidback hotel/condo on the beach (prefer 150 or less rooms). Are the beaches here rough water? Is the snorkling here good?

Kat

Avoid Ixtaba, Marguerite. Head south four miles to Zihuatanejo. This old Mexican town has terrific beaches (especially Playa La Ropa). The two best places to stay in Zihua are La Casa Que Canta and Villa del Sol. Both small, luxury hotels. Check out the websites: www.lacasaquecanta.com and www.villadelsol.com

Susan

I agree with Kat. There are some excellent websites for Zihuatanejo - if you do a search, you'll find lots of nice places to stay. Most of them are small (lot smaller than 150 rooms). The beaches are much quieter than Ixtapa - water is good for swimming. We went snorkeling in a couple of places - one was Isla Ixtapa (on the other side of Ixtapa), the other was Playa Las Gatas (past Playa la Ropa). <BR> <BR>Casa que Canta looks great - I didn't stay there, but it looks beautiful. There's another hotel across the bay that looked very nice (and I did see the rooms) - we met guests staying there who preferred it to Villa del Sol. I'm trying to remember the name of the place - if I do, I'll post another note.

mexicodan

Try www.tomzap.com/manza.htm or www.lamanzanillamexico.bizland.com/lamrentals

Kat

Susan, you may be thinking of Puerto Mio across the bay at Zihua. I believe it is managed by the same folk who run Villa del Sol. It's lovely but far from the better beaches.

Susan

Kat, Puerto Mio is the hotel that I was thinking of, but I didn't think that it was run by the same people as Villa del Sol, or at least it wasn't when we were there 2 years ago. Obviously that could have changed. At that time, we met people who had stayed at both and preferred Puerto Mio. It is quite a distance from a good beach, it's true, although the setting was really nice. <BR> <BR>Personally I was happy staying in a bungalow just off Playa la Ropa (5 minute walk). The beach was lovely for swimming and cabs were very reasonable into town.