The El Mirador must have been quite something in its prime. Unfortunately it looks as if not a lot in the way of maintenance, or staff training as been done since then.

Our main complaints were that basic ammenities such as purified drinking water in the rooms, and ice were not provided. The pool areas were in disrepair, and the famed salt water pool area was locked up tight. Service was either obtrusive, or nonexistent. The upper level staff at the restaurant were often just plain rude.

The hotel is in an amazing location on a rocky cliff over an ocean cove. It is convienently located: about a 10 minute walk from the central Zocalo. We enjoyed being able to walk almost everywhere. If we needed an "affordable" taxi we just walked down to the Malecon instead of catching one of the overpriced taxis that lurk outside of the hotel.

Our room, in the old section, had a great view, but the windows didn't have any screens so we ended up losing a lot of the ambience by having to keep the windows shut to keep the mosquitos out. The room itself was comfortable, but I doubt that the floors had been cleaned in months.

The restaurants were both adequate. I had read a lot of bad reviews of the La Perla experience, but was pleasantly surprised to find the food good, and with the 20% discount offered to guests, quite affordable. Service was another matter. There was an excess of staff for the quality of the service, and, as I mentioned before, the attitude of the upper-level staff stunk. Twice we were told that we couldn't sit in a certain section because it was "reserved", only to see half (if that) of it fill up.

Overall I would say we had a decent experience at El Mirador. The place has potential. Hopefully someone wil get on the ball and upgrade the service and the maintenance before the El Mirador falls apart.

Restaurant is not up to scratch and we were hit with extra charges on a set menu price, plus being asked blatantly for a tip by both the waiter and the divers. The food was not good for any of our party. Not a good experience!

If you read the reviews you will see a wide range of responses. The key is expectation and adventure. The Mirador is a unique property, one of a kind and in my opinion well worth a brief visit. It is true that the hotel is a bit rundown, where not everything works up to standard. Ours did not have a shower curtain, and the toilet could only be flushed by reaching in the tank. They would have been glad to fix it, but since we were there for only one night, I did not want most of it spent with a maintenance man wandering around. Given that, the place is extraordinary. Built on the side of a steep cliff, there are great views, and a real sense of the history of the place. I could imagine all the old movie stars wandering around in its heyday. Being able to see the cliff divers right from the hotel made the stay well worth it. We got to see several shows including the late night show where they dive with the torches. This is the old Acapulco side of town, which truthfully I liked a lot more than the rest of the week being stuck out at a Disney type resort on the Diamond beaches out by the airport. It helps that I speak Spanish, but everyone we encountered at the hotel spoke pasable English to my daughters and wife. They are doing some vacation club stuff there and offered two more breakfasts for my kids if we attended. We declined and they did not bother us at all again. I would recoomend that you look at your room before having them haul the luggage, and don't be afraid to ask for a different room if yours is not OK. We did not eat dinner at the restaurant as I had heard it was quite expensive and not very good. Instead, we had our driver from the airport stop at a local restaurant where we picked up food to go and ate it on our patio with a fabulous view. Breakfast was included in my reservation (made through a Mexican version of Hotels.com) and it was wonderful. They even had strolling musicians.

All in all, it is a great experience for a couple of nights if you are at all adventurous. If you like your Holiday Inn experience, then this is not for you.

A few daus ago, I found a great last-minute airfare, and the El Mirador was one of the only hotels that had availability, so I booked it. I saw on Frommer's.com that it was rated, so I figured that I had found a diamond in the rough. It certainly wasn't a diamond....more like fool's gold. You see, when traveling to a place like Mexico, the "star" system there is their version of the star system...not what one would expect from the same rate of hotel in the USA. However, I came into the El Mirador with an open mind. However, after seeing the first room that they gave me....I was not impressed. They had one of those dorm/evaporative air cons in the room, that never, ever got cool. The first room didn't have a deadbolt on the door, and it was completely open to the next room, which was filled with construction materials. I didn't feel safe at all, so I moved to another one. Well, this one was just like the first one, but it was okay...for Mexico. The only problem was that it was facing the square in front of the hotel on a Saturday, and these vendors selling the conch chells decided to blow into them a-la Lord of the Flies all night....a most piercing sound! The next day, I moved to a much nicer room that overlooked the salt water pool (looked funky, plus I heard that it was well-protected and didn't get any wind)...this room was good, clean, and newly renovated. However, the air con only had one setting (arctic) and I had to sleep with the window open and the a/c running just to moderate the temperature. No remotes on the tv's, and most of the buttons were missing.

Now the good: There is a pool on the 6th floor with a bar, and awesome veiws of Acapulco Bay. The staff was very friendly, and was most helpful in getting things done for me. The main restaurant was most excellent...and cheap to boot! Any place that was Frank Sinatra's seal of approval is good with me. The location is really cool....you can see the cliff divers from every open area in the hotel, and the sight of this specticle at night is awesome. Downtown Acapulco is right down the street, and is a very interesting place to shop, dine, etc. I would say that this is a great last-minute place to stay, but if planning a trip, I would look elsewhere.