user123

Hello

My spouse, two children, and I stayed there in May 2013 and I wanted to pass the following. Quick summary: 4.5 out of 5 stars and VERY happy. Note that I travel extensively for business and stay at full service Hiltons/Marriotts almost all the time. So my "4.5 stars" may be a result of that US hotel yardstick

** We DROVE with family from Mexico City to Acapulco, this review will contain information regarding that also. We all speak fluent spanish, FYI.


TRIP ENROUTE TO ACAPULCO

We left Mexico City at sunrise (0700 local) to have maximum daylight. We did not leave prior to sunrise because we all agreed we needed to see the road signs/exits and getting lost enroute as we left Mexico City wouldn't help anything. So we climbed into the car literally at sunrise and started. We left with a full tank of gas. We used the TOLL ROAD/AUTOPISTA DE CUOTA at all times.

Toll Prices as of 05-2013 at each toll booth were:

1. 95.00
2. 60.00
3. 125.00
4. 115.00
5. 100.00
6. 92.00

We refueled (per advice from relatives who live in Mexico City) again in Cuernavaca. A large, easy-from-the-highway access Pemex gas station exists approx 5 miles south of Cuernavaca near a toll booth. I recommend that to be your refuel point. If you don't want to use that one, a few exist prior to reaching the south side of Cuernavaca.

Do NOT stop in a town called Chilpancingo, it is between Cuernavaca and Acapulco. This town has seen many narco-killings and violence. Just stay on the Toll Road and drive thru. No sweat, but this is not the town to say "wow, lets stop and buy some pottery"

Continuing south, into the Acapulco outskirts, Take the DIAMANTE exit as you approach Acapulco, this will dump you directly into the Zona Diamante and exactly were the hotel is.

** I used the GPS function of my tablet computer, I recommend using some form of GPS

HOTEL ITSELF

Check in was very easy. Our reservations were done prior, via the hotel webpage, I skipped using discount sites / hotels.com / etc as I was worried we would arrive and "problemas" with the reservation would occur, with my family's vacation in question. So to avoid this, and sleep easier, I just booked via the hotel webpage. I printed the confirmation. The front desk asked for "confirmation number" even tho I gave them my full name. So I recommend you have that info. Check in is at 3PM by the way. We arrived WAY early and had to hang around the lobby and walked around the beach fully dressed. We reserved the room about 1 month before the travel.

Request "Perla Tower" aka "Torre Perla" which is the "new tower" (built over 10 years ago...). Reportedly much nicer than the older towers (the main pyramid shaped tower is the original tower and suffers cosmetically. We were not charged extra for Perla Tower. We asked for it at the desk, with a smile, and told the front desk girl she had a pretty name. We got the tower.


Room Quality was very good. Perla Tower has half-balconies with a door that allows you walk out and see the ocean. The A/C in the rooms didn't blow as ice-cold as desired, I think the lowest it went was 21C or 70F. In the humid, hot, beach zone, I would have wanted a little colder than 70F. But at night it seemed fine. Beds/shower/bathroom/general room was clean and very acceptable. Wi-Fi existed in the room. Join Presidents Club for free wi-fi. Flat screen HDTV in the room.

Stay and overal Hotel experience was superb. Staff was very friendly, multiple restaurants on site, the restaurant Chula Vista had a excellent albeit pricey ($35 a person if I remember) breakfast and dinner buffet. Food quality was in-line with the food on cruise ships, a lot of food and very good quality, in light of the fact that they are mass producing the food. NOTE: the floor in Chula Vista restaurant is VERY slippery due to humidity/etc. I wore running shoes/trail shoes to breakfast and almost slipped. Next day I wore sandals for the beach and was fine. The majority of the guests are local in-country Mexican residents, I saw no Japanese, Canadian, or American visitors, likely due to the various travel warnings in place. I saw LOTS of kids infant to Age 12. Age 12 to teenager, few to none. All families and kids had a smile and were friendly. MULTIPLE swimming pools, one with a water slide and multiple pools with waterfalls. My kids are 5 and 7 and loved the property.

During the weekend stay we had (Saturday thru Monday afternoon), the hotel was fully occupied due to numerous large groups. But the staff, restaurants, etc all did a good job. Monday morning at breakfast, the restaurant was noticeably less crowded.


Beach quality was very good, sand is darker and not rocky at all, very fine (but not Cancun sand). As you walk towards the beach from the hotel, numerous vendors immediately see you, from 4-wheeler rentals, tent rentals, etc etc and they are on you immediately. We simply told all of them "No gracias senor" (some it took 2 or 3 times) and that was the end of it. These guys probably have kids to feed so no hard feelings. Note: don't bring anything to the beach but yourself, douse yourself in sunblock/etc IN THE ROOM because at the beach, there is no where to put your belongings unless one of the family members stays around to watch it. FYI. Decent waves and beach/sand below the water is clean. Water is very dark/green due to Pacific ocean. This is not Grand Cayman. Kids saw a sea turtle and loved it.

Stay Summary can be rated at 4.5 stars. Had I not almost slipped in the restaurant and the AC in the room been a little colder, I would rate it higher. But the Four Seasons is a 5/5 and its hard for any hotel to hit 5/5.

I would HIGHLY RECOMMEND this hotel if you visit Acapulco. If you ask local wealthy Mexican travelers for "the" hotel to visit in Acapulco, they all say Princess. Just FYI.

We drove back (obviously).... tolls are the same, top off in Acapulco (a Pemex exists a few blocks from the hotel prior to Highway Diamante), and a re-fuel in Cuernavaca. A good northbound refuel is at the Pemex which is physically attached to the Cuernavaca Harley Davidson retail store, it has a subway sandwich store and lots of people, cameras, etc there.

** ZERO SECURITY/SAFETY/ETC TYPE ISSUES with drive or hotel itself.

Hope this info helps....

AMRivlin

Great information. I would love to visit this destination/resort for my honeymoon, and your safety info is very thourogh.

That being said, my espanol skills are pretty weak, and I think Mexico is getting safer. I think I will just put off Mexico for a few more years.

For now my sights are set on Praslin Raffles, for a "fairmont destination" experience

Ancien Maestro

AMRivlin.. What room or suite did you book? Did you utilize the suite upgrade certificate? Was your room ocean view? How big is your rooms (sq ft)?

Glad to hear you had a nice time. Did you check out the neighboring Fairmont Pierre Marques? Is the hotels comparable?

AMRivlin

AM; I think you mis understood. I haven't done Mexican fairmonts, I am too fearful of the cartels. I know there is little risk, but I'd rather visit other countries until I don't hear about random killings in Mex.

PointWeasel

Cartels at the Fairmonts in Mexico? OK...the food may be pricey, but no cartels. The bigger issue is with 'chilango' families from the capital and their kids running around the place. Everywhere.

Honestly, this property is still crappy and has no clue how to run a 4 star property.

The check-in/check-out process this past week as a gong show with only 2 disinterested staff on the front desk and no one of the FPC Desk at all.

Upon entry to my room in the old main building, the wifi did not work properly (roughly .75 mbps, not 7.5 mbps), there was a baby crib next to my bed (never had a baby in my profile), no Platinum welcome amenity and turndown service consisted of a tiny bottle of water passed thru the door.

This property needs new management desperately, as it is nowhere near Fairmont standards in so many respects.

The Tavola restaurant was a bright spot with the food served, and I requested a risotto that had been removed from the the menu, and the chef put a nice seafood risotto together. My server just disappeared for over 20 mins, with no apologies, sitting there waiting, but the dish was enjoyable.

Its a shame that this property is so poorly run, as the Mayakoba property is enjoyable and the staff are 'with it', much closer to Fairmont standards.

PointWeasel

It has now been 7 days since check-out and I still not received a copy of the final folio showing the restaurant charge and FPC certs adjustments. A poor property with some cheap owners and poor management, IME.