We shared a memorable week with friends at the Villa Carolina in November/2011. Any expectations we had were surpassed!! There are not many places that one stays on vacation where you can truly say that "we are at our home away from home". Villa Carolina is certainly one of those special places.The staff led by General Manager Cyntya were exceptional - they even helped us with our Spanish everyday.
Mornings were spent at the pool enjoying fresh pastries and coffee while we planned our day. The hotel is well located - just 2 blocks from a beautiful beach and excellent restaurants. Taxis are available just outside the hotel and for a reasonable price they will transport you to any location in Z or nearby Ixtapa. We felt very safe in our travels throughout the area.
Our room was massive with a private king size bedroom and an open area with a bar, private spa, sitting area, dining area and a small kitchenette. Every day the staff would have a different floral arrangement on our bed - a special touch.
Can't wait to go back!!

I last reviewed Villa Carolina 2 years ago - after our first trip. We just returned from our third trip - this time staying in the top floor (with another couple). This is definitely the way to go. It is economical to share. (in fact, their rate for only 2 people in the suite isn't all that much higher than the mid-level suite.

The suite has 2 good sized bedrooms - each with complete bath. A TV room with large TV and more beds and another complete bath. A huge kitchen to die for. Better than what I have at home. And an open-air sitting/living/dining room that is high enough on the hillside to offer a view of the bay and fabulous sunsets.

I will echo all the wonderful reviews of Cyntya and the staff. They were all great as usual.

Below I rate "sleep quality" only average. This is because the mattresses were pretty hard and I (personally) like something softer. None of the others traveling with us had this complaint - so to each his/her own.

If you are reading this far, you probably already have gotten past all the negative publicity about travel to Mexico. If not - DON'T LET ALLTHE NEWS/ALERTS SCARE YOU. Zihuatanejo was perfectly safe. There was absolutely nothing that made us nervous - and we walked into town. What is very unfortunate is that because of drop in tourism (economy, nervous travelers) there have been some businesses closing. Now there are no cruise ships stopping at Zihuatanejo. This is a real shame.

We had wonderful meals as always, and tried a couple of new restaurants but because of the great kitchen we didn't eat out as much as in previous years. So we didn't get to return to a couple of favorites.

Villa Carolina has seven lovely accommonations. The four smallest have a very large bedroom/living room, a good-sized kitchen, and a covered patio area with dining table. The hotel is immaculate and very well run. The manager provides concierge services that would do a very large hotel proud. The pool is lovely and there are plenty of chaises. The clientele is very pleasant. The beach is a couple of blocks away. There are pleasant restaurants on the beach and some a short walking distance away that have spectacular views of the bay and the really pleasant town of Zihuatanejo. Good shops and restauarants. A fascinating market area offers fresh fruits and vegetables and there is a large, traditional supermarket in town.
You can't miss here!

Cannot say enough good things about this hotel. Would highly recommend to anyone visiting the area.