Ixtapa in October

This was my second trip to Ixtapa in five years and I have stayed at three different resorts. This time around, we stayed for the most part at the very nice Royal Holiday Club Villas Royal Ixtapa at the Barcelo. This was at one time the Sheraton. Just a little down the beach to the south is the chair ride up to the El Faro Restarunt. We caught the bus just out front of the resort and in a few minutes we were in the old fishing village of Zihuatanejo for shopping and sightseeing.

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Best Way To Get Around:

The Park Royal Villas Ixtapa Royal Holiday Club is located at the Barcelo Hotel, formerly the Sheraton Ixtapa. The RHC people will try to get you to join their club. They have people working the streets and area tourist spots. It was easy enough to avoid most of their attempts to get us into a sales presentation.

The resort is located on the beach at the south side of the hotel zone. The unit had several rooms and could sleep six. It had two queen beds side by side in the bedroom. This bedroom also had a bathroom, TV, service bar, sliders to a balcony with an outdoor jetted tub overlooking the pool area. The other room had one bathroom, dining area, kitchenette, sunken living room, TV, and large window with a view of the pool and beach. In the living area were sofas that doubled as fold-down twin beds. The dining area was central in the unit with a nice table, chairs, and srevice for four. The kitchen was small including a coffee maker, microwave, and small fridge with ice trays. The villas were housed in three, four-story buildings (no elevator) between the main hotel and the beach, yet off center to the south to semi-seclude them from the main hotel pool and restaurant areas.

The grounds were tidy and lush. The room was clean and maintained. The staff was friendly and profesional. All services offered were of good quality. The pools were maintained and not crowded. The beach was lovely and kept clear of debre. The one issue we did have is at check-in the desk clerk could not find our reservation. He did not give us any trouble, and in a very short amount of time assigned us a room and accepted our RCI prepaid voucher. The staff acted quick and helpfull to take care of us. The Barcelo seemed to be one of the fuller hotels in Ixtapa, relative to the slow time of year that we were there. The Barcelo is a full-service hotel with multiple restaurants, bars, pools, huge lobby, activities, and theme nights.

Directly outside the hotel is a stop to catch the local bus north or south. Across the street is the flea market. Ixtapa is small, so most everything is just a short walk from the hotel. Transportation is mostly by foot to restaurants, shopping, etc.

I have stayed at three resorts in Ixtapa: the Krystal Ixtapa, El Presidenta Intercontinental, and the Royal Villas at the Barcelo. The Krystal is a big step down from the other two. The Barcelo had a much larger guest room and a huge lobby compared to the Presidenta.

This was the most memorable dining experience after 10 years of travel in Mexico. Yes the food and service were good but the location, atmosphere, view, and gondola ride are what makes this place special. This was not just eating. This was an experience!

Other than driving up the hill by taxi, the alpine-like gondola ride is the only way to go. The gondola departs at beach level at the very south end of the Ixtapas main beach. The gondola climbs up the hillside via cable a couple hundred yards to the restaurant. The ride is free for diners. The view from the restaurant is awesome. 180 degrees of vista over the hotel zone roughly northward. Wow!

I saw no kids while I was in the restaurant. The menu is priced somewhat high for the area; however the view is worth it. The attire was more dressy than most area restaurants. I saw a few people dressed in shorts, tanks, and sandals who were welcomed as warmly as those dressed nicer; yet I cant help but think they felt underdressed.

We did not need reservations, but it was not the high season. The menu was international: seafood, pasta, steaks, etc. The international liquors and fine wine list were ample. If one can afford the $50 or so per person, this is a must do place. A time share development owns the restaurant and asks if you would care to tour their condos, but it is a soft sell, and one "no" is enough for them to drop it.

I will go to El Faro again.

The only restaurant we ate at in the town of Zihuatanejo proved to be the best-tasting meal of our stay. Elvira is located on a small bay where the local fishermen pull in their boats and daily catch. As one walks this waterfront area, dozens of small restaurants line the walkway facing the water. Each eatery has people working the passersby - they become overly annoying, trying to hustle you to take a seat in their place. Yet my guidebook tells me to go to Elvira, so I keep going. Suddenly, I began to pass a small restaurant that had many seats already full with customers. What’s more, nobody was in my face about coming in or taking a seat. It seamed pleasant and I was thankful for the break from the hustlers, when I noticed the small sign that read "Elvira."

The book was right about this place - it was great. The open face restaurant had great prices and even better food. We relaxed under a ceiling fan with cold beers before ordering food. The menu had salads, soups, lots of seafood, and local dishes. The garlic-encrusted catch of the day was awesome, pan-fried to perfection. The service and atmosphere were good, yet not great.

To find this place takes a little doing. From Ixtapa, take the local cheap bus south to Zihuatanejo and stay on until the stop at the heart of downtown. The waterfront is roughly southwest. Walk or taxi about a mile or so to the waterfront. Elvira is nearer the north end of the long line of side-by-side restaurants that line the waterfront. Do not stop until you are in front of Elvira - the pressure is very high from other restaurants. They will bring chairs out onto the sidewalk, slide them underneath you and drag you and the chair into their establishment.

This is a great place - easy to find, really good food, and pleasant service. The restaurant is located on the west front corner of the Los Patios shopping plaza, across the main street from the hotel Aristos. The patio-style covered dining area has a little class and is a good people-watching spot. It is visible from the main street that runs between the beach hotels and the Ixtapa shopping centers. The menu is large, with many seafood choices as well as Mexican and U.S. items. The place serves breakfast, I was told, but sadly, while we were there, it was only open on the weekends because it was the off-season. Live exotic birds are shown off around the restaurant but are not a distraction to the customers.

Two other sidewalk-type cafes in the area nearby are La Hacienda de Ixtapa and Cafe Onyx. Although they have very good locations, I felt after eating at both that their food was a notch or two below the Toko Tucan.

In the eight days we stayed in Ixtapa, we hit this place three or four times. The value was great. It did not cost a lot to eat and drink here. The food was good to very good and breakfast was a hit. The service was good yet not overly done.

The place is small and most of the tables were on a covered patio with ceiling fans. It was a good people watching spot and the kind of place you could get really used to. Mexican specials and seafood were the main menu choices.

We met Frank, owner of Frank’s, on the sidewalk handing out coupons for "his joint." Frank told us a good story about himself. Originally from western Canada, he moved to Ixtapa a few years ago and has since opened a restaurant. The location of Frank’s is behind one of the main shopping plazas (south end). It’s not far, but is out of the line of sight of most passerby. So someone works the sidewalk to direct customers to the location.

When we went to Frank’s, we were surprised to see the place almost full (slow time of year). The place is open-air with shade. The mood was more like a sports bar - fun and louder. The menu was a mix of friendly Mexican fare and American staples. Frank was working the whole place and talked with the customers all the time when he was not giving orders to his staff. The service was very good the portions large, and the price was reasonable. Although Frank’s was fun and he would do anything to keep you happy, the food itself seemed to be prepared with less skill than most. I have no doubt that standards of preparation were high, it’s just that the taste was bland and flavor unexceptional. This is a fun spot and a good one for someone who does not like spicy food.

In two attempts four years apart, I have yet to make it to Ixtapa Island. The first year, we went to Playa Quieta and waited for a boat to arrive; after an hour the locals told us and others waiting at the launch site that no boat would come! It was a Mexican holiday. We took a seat at a nearby palapa, drank a couple of cold Coronas, and watched for a boat. The boat sure never came, so we returned to the resort after viewing some wild gators near the beach.

This last time I asked lots of questions and got few solid answers. It was, however, not a local holiday on this day! We went to Playa Quieta (the launch site) only to find that a big storm had wiped out the boat dock a year or two earlier. Things got very confusing from there. Some said the island was closed because it was the off-season. Others said to hire a private boat in Zihuatanejo. We were told of a private beach a little south of Quieta that had a launch site for the island. We spent about an hour trying to find this beach. The locals had all heard of it, but most could not tell us how to find it. One part of the story that remained in common was that it had to be reached by foot not by taxi and that it was a long walk from the coastal road. We were also told we could arrange transportation with our hotel or an agent. After about three hours of trying, we once again saw the wild gators and returned to Ixtapa burnt out on the idea of getting to the island. In the future, I will make arrangements for a guided tour through the hotel or an agency.