Qualton Club Ixtapa — Hotel in Guerrero

Checkin- so easy, walked up and they had everything ready to go. Front desk was very accommodating. |The rooms- well, the balcony is much larger than the room, jokingly. Not every room has ocean view, sadly. There is no drawer space, few hangers; lots of closet space, a lock box (literally)no fridge, no 3 plug outlets, no English channels (if you are winding down at night and want to watch tv), you get two waters a day, no ice machine (will need to call down for it or go get it from the restaurant or bar), no iron in room, beds are ok, semi firm. You might need additional pillows, only two per bed, standard room. They were also lumpy. The rooms are cleaned daily and look great when you come back to them. The maid service is great. We left a 2.00 USD tip daily with a pecan delight for our maid.They are bungalow style. The air conditioning is over bearing. Ask for additional blankets or wake up like you live in Alaska! |The Property- HUGE. only two hotels that share the beach; the Azul and Qualton.the water is calm enough to swim in, yet body surf! It's a hard sand beach, but like at the hotel zone in Ixtapa. Lots to do. There are lounge chairs and umbrellas for the guests on the beach as well as huts. There are two pools, we chose not to sit at- annoying music, too many families, the beach at least allowed us to play our own music, listen to the waves, read. Sleep, etc. The vendors are consistent, but courteous. There are tennis courts, basketball courts, a life size chess board, dance club, cinema, and shows nightly. You can get lost walking around. We laughed at the handicap accommodations as the hills and ramps were steep. And laughed by meaning of don't bother if you are chair ridden, Walkers are a challenge, as are canes. We watched a few struggle to get to the restaurant on the hill, down to the beach and to and from their hotel rooms. |Amenities- all non motorized sports included. |All inclusive, if you drink top shelf liquor- Jack. Captain. Bacardi- not here- All inclusive was not a bargain here, we bought our liquor and had the waitstaff fill our own cups with mixers only. Beer was ok. It was cold, they serve it with ice cubes. Wine- no, mimosas, no. Not great. The food. Well, my stomach was not having it. Not bad but not great. We had reservations two nights but skipped the second night after the first night. The salmon was good. All else I could have done without. I ordered the choclate cake for dessert, I took one bite and it tasted like ajax. I think the spoon may have had cleaning solution on it. Soon after my stomach knotted up and I became Ill. My husband finished the cake and said it was fine to him. Breakfast was ok. We ate eggs. There is no strip bacon, only crumb or chopped to extinction style bacon. Fruits were ok. Coffee was very good. There was only one chef at the egg station, so it took upwards 20 minutes to get an omelet or eggs. After eating at the sunset restaurant the one night, I decided not to eat on site except the breakfast. |The Staff- if you dont speak any Spanish- learn or download an app that translates. I speak pretty good spanish, at least enough to Express my needs and understand what they are saying to me. The staff were always helpful. The hotel caters mostly to nationals. There were no Americans here, a couple canadians, and a couple from Ireland. It really didn't bother us at all and we enjoyed everyone. Again learn some spanish or get an App. It will make your time here much easier. The regulars are very helpful too. We had a couple travel with us and they stayed at the Azul, they would come sit with is on the beach, running back and forth to their hotel to get their drinks. We couldnt sit with them cause they hotel Azul had their beach area for lounging blocked off, so they sat with us. We really isn't have any problems with that except a couple times. Qaulton thought they were drinking their liquor and we had to let them know that they were just sitting with us and they seem to be ok once they knew they were not eating or drinking anything from there property. I commend them for their securiry, but they also made us feel like shoplifters being watched from a distance. It kinda pissed us off, especially since none of their staff were addressing them or serving them. Not to mention we may have been the only guests on the beach evening tipping our service staff at all. |We commend the hotel for also employing persons with disabilities. It made our hearts warm and happy to see equal opportunity. All in all we give a 2. We prefer more 5 star accommodations, but we took a chance. It's not for us, but as for ixtapa itself we will always be back here.|Things to do outside the hotel- |Ixtapa Island! Take the ferry boat off the pier. Cheap fun. Snorkel, swim, get naked. Stick to beer, it is cheapest. |Banditis- zihuatanejo. Good food next to shopping.|Frank and Generals are a must for pizza and pierogies. |Miriscoles in Playa Linda- take your catch of the day to the owner and he will cook you a gourmet feast. We caught a sailfish and they did an excellent job in preparing it multiple ways. A must to go for...

Note: This review is meant for North American travelers. ||||My father and stepmother are expats living in central Mexico. When we suggested meeting them somewhere on the Mexican coast for Thanksgiving week, they recommended this place since they'd stayed here before and enjoyed it. I'm glad they did because we LOVED it.||||First, you should be aware that the vast majority of Qualton Club guests are Mexican tourists. It does help if you or someone in your party speaks at least a little Spanish, but many of the employees speak English quite well, so it's not a requirement. I remember a little from school 4 decades ago, and got along just fine.||||If you're the kind of traveler who likes to feel like you're actually in a country when you visit it, but you're tempted by the convenience of an all-inclusive resort, then this is a good and economical option. It's family-friendly and quiet, except around the children's pool during the day, of course. It felt to me like what I imagine a (lower-end) mid-20th century Catskills resort would have been like — only with sun, palm trees, and a beach.||||We appeared to be the only white North American guests during our stay, but I didn't notice the kind of "staring" mentioned in another review. A few of the other guests seemed a little surprised to see us at first, but a friendly smile and "Hola!" were always returned. We just behaved like guests in another country and got along just fine.||||Our rooms were amazing, with beach view patios and close to everything (but with very little noise in the evenings). The rooms were very clean and the air conditioners were new and fancy (it took me a while to figure out the remote control). There were some tiny bugs around the sink, but that kind of thing is to be expected in a low-rise (2-story) building in a tropical area. The only downside was that, in my unit, I was only once able to take a warm shower, but given the heat outside it wasn't a huge problem.||||The buffet food options were good — a little hit-or-miss for some things but there was always a wide variety of things to choose from. The wait-staff brings drinks to your table and tips are appreciated (~20 pesos/$1). ||||There's also a dinner restaurant for ages 12 and up set up on the beach (it's part of the all-inclusive price, but reservations are needed). We only ate there once but the food was EXCELLENT.||||Activities: ||||-- There are two pools, one for families, and another with a swim-up bar for adults. There were a number of activities (bingo, etc.) around the family pool, but as it was led in Spanish we didn't usually know what was going on.||||-- The beach was beautiful and uncrowded, with more than enough chairs and umbrellas to go around.||||-- Some of our family did a guided kayak trip to Ixtapa Island and back. (I took the water taxi which is located right next to the resort.)||||-- There are evening shows with a different theme each night. The performers/dancers are resort employees who hail from all over Latin America. We enjoyed these a great deal.||||-- There is a late-night disco (well away from the rooms) for the night owls, but we never went so I can't really comment on that. We were too exhausted from all the activity during the day!||||-- My daughter and stepmother borrowed bicycles one morning. The main avenue that runs through Ixtapa is lovely.||||-- Transportation wasn't a problem. The resort doesn't operate a shuttle service, but taxis and buses are very convenient. We went to a restaurant (Deborah's) in Ixtapa for Thanksgiving dinner and, on another day, into Zihuatanejo to browse around.||||The service was unfailingly friendly and helpful, from the concierge and desk staff to the wait staff and housekeeping staff. They were also very gracious and patient with my fumbling Spanish. ||||We all agreed that we'd love to go back...

We had a great time! We travelled as a family (2 adults, 2 kids) from Canada. ||Location is fantastic. The beach is nice and not busy, we were often the only ones there. The pool was busy but not insane, we always found chairs with shade without issue, regardless of time of day - no need to "towel reserve" spots or anything. The resort is pretty small, the beach and main pool were both visible from our room balcony, which gives it a nice quaint vibe. Hotel is right by the pier and you're able to ferry over to Ixtapa Island after only a 2-3 minute walk along the beach - the island is worth at least a day trip, I think it was 100 pesos per person, round-trip. There's a market near the pier for touristy purchases along with a free crocodile/iguana zoo exhibit about a minute's walk away from the lobby. Unbeatable sunsets every night.||Food was good, our kids are picky but always had some stuff to eat (i.e. pancakes/french toast/cereal for breakfast, pizza/fries/burgers for lunch, hot dogs/pasta/chips/desserts etc. for dinner) while us adults were able to indulge in more authentic and spicy food. Big recommendation for the Mexican night on Saturday, which is setup like an outdoor festival and had some fantastic options. The buffet is smaller than we were used to on similar trips, wish there was a bit more variety some nights, but we always left with full bellies. Drinks were good, the kids loved their virgin daiquiris and pina coladas, and the servers came around to get drink orders from both the pool and beach very frequently. Great palomas and micheladas.||This is one of the older resorts in Ixtapa so don't come in expecting new and perfect, the rooms are a bit dated but very comfortable. WIFI worked great while sitting on our balcony but only sporadically while in room, so don't count on in-room WIFI unless you are very close to the lobby or pool. AC worked great, and the room was clean. Biggest room complaint was the water pressure of the shower which was terrible (one day literally just a dribble of water), but may have been related to some renovations they were doing to the units nearby. ||HUGE thank you to Ramiro who was amazing. He was our guide for two of our included trips, the catamaran trip and the kayak/snorkeling trip to Ixtapa Isle. He was amazing and I'm not sure how we would have gotten by without him. This dude never sleeps, when not working the tours he would often emcee at the pool and at the evening shows, and if he saw us he'd always give us a heads up on upcoming activities or events that we would not have known about otherwise - thanks Ramiro!||Heads up for Canadians: This resort is very Spanish-oriented. Even the information pamphlet they give upon checking in was only in Spanish, so we had to use an app to translate it for us. Staff were all super friendly but communication was hard in some cases. You will need to attempt at least basic Spanish to communicate - if you aren't willing to try - you will have a rough time. If you are accustomed to being able to speak to anyone you meet in English (like some of the larger resorts in Cancun, PV, etc.) then maybe book elsewhere. But if you want some authentic experiences for a good price, or want to avoid some of the huge mega-resorts and have a bit of a quainter vibe, then this is a great resort...