This was my first AS Mexico destination years and years ago (before I discovered PVR and GDL)....Zihuatanejo is a small, definitely non-resort town next to Ixtapa where the vast majority of the resort hotels are located and that's where I stayed. If you think Cabo was essentially built from nothing to resorts, Ixtapa is even more so....nice hotels but has a very "artificial" or "fake" feeling in my opinion. I did take a bus over to Zihuatanejo and walked around the town which wasn't anything to write home about and honestly was one of the few times I've ever had an unsafe "vibe" while vacationing in Mexico and I've been to Cabo, PVR, MZT, CZM, and CUN (well, Playa Del Carmen).