Overall, the Intercontinental Ixtapa was exactly what we expected. Room - Had been partially renovated (bathroom was new), clean but basic, bed was very hard.... nothing fancy. Our room was very noisy till about midnight each night - either from the night show or the disco. We spoke to 3 other couples in different areas of the main building and their rooms were also very noisy. In the main building (not the tower section) - all rooms with 2 dbl beds have a small balcony (some only a juliette balcony with patio doors that do NOT open); the rooms with a king bed have a much larger balcony. We looked at 1/2 dozen or so rooms at check in and based on what I saw I would not upgrade to a pool/ocean view room in the main building. It is only a 3 story resort so there is really only about 5 or so ocean FRONT rooms that have a view worth paying for. The hotels in the area all built about the same time (with the exception of a couple of new time share resorts) and many of the balcony's have solid stucco walls and not railing which makes it impossible to sit on your balcony and look out. There are a few with railing so i would definitely ask for one of these if I was paying for an upgraded room with a view. The rooms in the Tower section have a view but most do not have a balcony so I am not sure what the benefit would be?????
Beach - Beach was very wide... similar to some areas of the Mayan, Dominican or Cuba and although the sand is not the white sand of the Caribbean it was very clean and you could walk quite a ways in both directions. Nicer than the beaches around PVR and longer stretches to walk than the beach near Dreams Huatulco. There were people in the water but you do need to be careful as you are in the Pacific and not the calmer waters of the Caribbean... similar to the water of Cabo. We saw a girl about 11/12 yrs old panicking in the water until pulled to shore by a male swimmer who heard her calls for help.
Pool - The pool is typical for the age of the hotel. Although it was not huge it was clean and well looked after and we received great bar service from Jesus every day. You can only get bottled water thru room service,however, you can get water by the glass (or insulated travel mug) around the pool. Drink quality was fairly typical - we've had better selection at other resorts but it is a small resort. No coconut rum, barcelo rum, etc
Food - Breakfast was served indoors only while we were there as they were doing renos at the beach front restaurant. We called this venue the "hot box" because it was very warm after 9:00 in the morning when the sun shone in. Would have preferred to sit outside in the pool side snack bar area but not an option for breakfast. Lunch - Poolside Snack Bar was typical (burgers, hot dogs, fries, tortilla chips and fresh salsa). Lunch Buffet - was average at best. There was always lettuce and a pasta or potato salad of some sort and a few other salad items but not an elaborate selection of fresh produce. Normally no cheese or olives, etc. The hot items were very authentic mexican. Would have preferred roasted chicken of some sort. They always had chicken or pork but everything was in a sauce. Dinner Restaurants - Outside of the Martini / Sushi Bar that was open periodically (but never knew the schedule), there was only 1 restaurant open each night. There were 3-5 entree options each night and then additional items available for a surcharge of about $20-$25 ( I think....). We had a couple dinners that were quite good but I would not count on wonderful a la carte meals or you will likely be disappointed. There are restaurants right across the street fro the hotel... we ate at Momma Norma's & Deborah's twice and the food was great. Owned by a Canadian and there are lots of Canadians eating there. It seems to be the only place that's busy. About $30 each for shrimp dinner and 2 drinks.
In summary - We went to Ixtapa for guaranteed weather in January and it was perfect....31-33 degrees every day (Jan 7th - 14th). The Intercontinental is a hotel, not what I would call a "resort". The lobby bar is very basic and the decor is a bit tired. The staff is very friendly ....from the front desk and bellboy to the pool waiters. You have everything you NEED at this hotel but not some of the extras you may be accustomed to at other resorts.
I have been to many other resorts in Mexico and the Caribbean and it is a bit difficult to compare the "Value" we found at this hotel in Ixtapa to previous trips. We have certainly found less expensive packages to more elaborate resorts in Mexico and the Domincan. I don't think I would take my 12 & 13 year old kids to this resort. If you speak only English, you will be the minority. The majority of the guests at the hotel are from Mexico and there are lots of small children. This came as a bit of a surprise to us since the package prices we looked at (out of Calgary) did not offer a substantial discount for kids which is usually an indication that although its not adults only, there won't be too many children. Wrong
There are also lots of French Canadians at the hotel who we enjoyed playing volleyball with.
Don't know if I would return to this hotel but I would certainly consider Ixtapa again for future January vacations. Huatulco is another great destination for perfect January weather with a more typical all inclusive experience for a similar price. (Dreams Huatulco)
This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC
