We are 2 adults in our 50's and have been to many all inclusives. We flew air transat on xmas day, Dec. 25, 2006 and returned to Toronto on new year's day, Jan.01, 2007.

Both flights on Air Transat left and departed exactly on time and both were excellent flights. They used a 3l0 airbus which was only 1/2 full both ways.So the 2 of us, had the use of 3 seats, and with the armrests pulled up, it gave us good room.

The "Meal" to Ixtapa consisted of a bun with something on it, I cant remember what was on it. The "meal" from Ixtapa consisted of 1/2 of a subway sandwich.Good advertising for the company.We were offered free soft drinks and water. There was a movie and the cost of the headsets was $l.00 each.

The seats were actually not bad, compared to many flights I have been on.

We had no hassels in the Airport. You push a button,- green light.. you may pass. red light... they check your luggage.

The ride from the airport to the resort is about 20 min... on good roads.

The El presidente hotel is very well situated. It is right on the beach, and across the road from alot of stores, and restaurants. Walking around is very safe and very easy.

I know of 3 room types. All the rooms in the highrise are oceanview.The low rise are either pool or garden view.We upgraded to pool view and the room was okey, a bit bare, but clean. We had a great balcony and we had an oceanview from the side of the balcony. The "garden view" rooms actually could be facing the parking lot and not a "garden" at all.

By 4:30 a.m. people were going out and "saving" the pool chairs, by putting shoes and beach toys on them.! One morning my husband went out at 7:00 am.. and there was not ONE beach chair available. They all had towels and junk on them.That was the morning that the security guards were rounding up all the junk, and putting them in plastic bags so that some people could have chairs.That morning, we secured great chairs on the beach.But the other mornings, he got the worst chairs since he went out at 7:l5..too late... There is not much shade. There are palapas on the beach with 4 chairs under each one, but they get reserved very quickly. There is not much shade around the pool.

There were alot of kids... whew!mostly in the pool.! since the waves on the beach were quite high and dangerous. The sand is good for walking, and you can walk quite far in one direction and very far in another direction. But there is no privacy. Dont expect a tropical beach with palm trees, All you see are high rises and people, and condos being constructed.

One morning we took the local bus which cost 7 pesos to Zihuatenejo and that was fun.If you go, visit the municipal market where the mexicans go. You will see the bloody meat hanging and the fish out for sale with all the flies around.

Coffee was not easy to find at the hotel. The only place you could get coffee was if you asked the maitre'd at the buffet for a take out cup and she would have to ask a waitress to get it for you.! The staff were very pleasant but this became a hassel for a cup of coffee. Sometimes you could get capucchino, but not always.
There were only 2 bars, the lobby bar and the pool bar... and I believe the pool bar did not open until ll:00 am.... and the lobby bar was not open 24 hours.

You could get a hamburger or a hot dog at 12:00 at the snack bar.... If you wanted to wait until 1:00 pm. you could go the indoor buffet and have food there or you could go the the a la carte snack bar and have a hamburger or hot dog there or chicken fingers or pizza. If you wanted to wait until 2:00, you could go to the lovely outdoor buffet by the ocean. We did not think there was a good choice of food in the buffet and the presentations were not interesting... Fruit was not easy to find. For breakfast there was fruit,, but not too much and not a large variety.. I never saw fruit for lunch or dinner.

There were 4 a la cartes. The steak "house" which was tables set up in a main square outside the lobby, the french outdoor area, the Italian area and the sushi restaurant. The food was good in the first 3 and we did not try the sushi. Twice in one week was a Mexican fiesta. You walk around and eat while you walk and look at the vendors. The Mexican show was the same both nights. The stage is very small and the sitting area is also small. It is outside the lobby.

There was entertainment each night but it only lasted 1/2 hour. Then there was music in the lobby bar.

The week we were there were mostly Mexican families which was really nice. The other guests were from Canada and the U.S.

The weather was extremely hot, but it did cool down in the evenings.

There were no watersports offered. there was parasailing and ski doos on the beach, and banana boat rides but they had nothing to do with the hotel.

There is a gym open 24 hours and a kid's club.

In the airport on the way home, the Mexican security opened everyone's suitcase and hand inspected it. This took a very long time.But the strange thing is that I did take a bottle of water onto the airplane. No one checked hand luggage. I thought no liquids were allowed on the flights.!! I did see security checking passengers going on Delta to Chicago.And their water bottles were taken away, but NO ONE checked ours.. strange.... and scarey too....

Also,, we heard NO announcents about boarding, or saw no signs or tv.s'. So watch what is happening, or you may miss your flight.! We were hanging around the gate, and we could see our airplane so we knew when we were boarding, cause we saw people going on the plane.

We are very glad we vacationed in Ixtapa at this hotel, although we would not go back again to this area or to this hotel chain.

This was a last minute holiday in fact I call it suicide travel where you book the day before departure and just leave on an adventure. You cannot be fussy, just have your bags packed and be ready to go at all times!

I was given three choices Cuba, Dominican Republic or Ixtapa. I understand weather conditions and opted for Ixtapa as the other two can be iffy this time of year.

We flew from Montreal Canada; Air Transat had to leave the house at 3am in the morning to catch the flight for 6am. No bottles of any liquid that are over 3 oz in your carryon are allowed on the plane so a ton of people lost sun tan lotion shampoos etc bottled water. In fact you can buy bottled after you have gone through the customs point after that it is safe.

The flight is 6 hours long, food on the plane was some mystery meal of an egg sandwich pretty vile I might add so eat before takeoff unless you are in club class which we were able to upgrade on the return from Ixtapa to Montreal. It was much better food wise, chair comfort wise and service was amazing going and coming. We were delayed because someone held up the plane due to some immigration issue coming home but all and all the flight arrived on time. It is a long flight so bring a book.

Everyone has expectations of some sort, so be prepared this is Mexico the pacific coast, and it is very small town. Ixtapa is charming the people are probably the most friendly and most accommodating that I have ever had the pleasure of meeting.

The hotel is old has not been updated in a long time, I would say the hotel would be a 2.5 star due to the updates to modern times. What do I mean, well there are no places to sit and really lounge like in the other hotels there, a few good comfy sofas and some some arm chairs could make this more inviting to sit and read. I would recommend that the hotel, tear up the cobble stone driveway as practically every single guest was complaining of having to walk on it during their Mexican Fiesta and getting either their ankles twisted or their heels stuck in the crevices it was really hard to walk on it.

The next thing would be a few chairs instead of only lounge chairs near the pool, some people like a chair better than the standard lounge chairs most of the chairs were covered in bird poop not pleasant to put a towel on. Yes they the help do clean around the pool every single night however they should also clean up the chairs some were pretty disgusting.

The beach was amazing and beautiful a tad dangerous for swimming due to the strong undertow so be careful pay attention to the flags :Black means very dangerous don't even go in, Red is dangerous strong undertow can pull you right out, Orange and Yellow a bit better to swim in but be cautious.

The hotel is situated strategically right on the beach good location.

Again the lounge chairs were covered in Bird poop and you have to get your towels fast and leave them on the chairs early in the morning at either the pool or the ocean because people are up at the crack of dawn and are towelling their chairs in order to reserve them SO GET UP EARLY OR YOU WON'T HAVE A CHAIR!

After the sunset which are breath taking, be aware for those that are sensitive to mosquitos bring bug spray, and benadryl cream, they are vicious I got bitten up pretty bad after a beach massage.

Restaurants: 4 Steak, Sushi, French, Italian. They have tons of space so I am not sure I understand why they put the steak restaurant in the entrance of the hotel in the center of the driveway so while you are eating your food you get head lights of each car, bus etc driving up. The exhaust fumes just don't mix with the food and steak was not great. The service was good this [particular place got a 1 star from me why 1 star for the service the food was terrible.

Sushi I did not try due to tourista phobia. It is a separate restuarant near the elevators most people were scared of eating it.

Italian was much better and the service was great the location was on the beach much better more conducive to eating calmly not worrying that a car might just hit you as you are eating. The sound of the waves was refreshing, and the seating is pleasant.

French was the best, the food was fantastic, I come from French background. The service again was excellent and the selection was very nice. The location was near the pool however small very effective and charming atmosphere.

Disco and shows are ok not great and very loud at night.

YOU MUST DRINK BOTTLED WATER AS THE WATER IS NOT PURIFIED, to brush your teeth do not let the water from the tap touch your mouth at all you will get sick.

Bring Imodium otherwise if you get sick like we did it can ruin your whole vacation. Quite a few people got sick from some upset stomach I did and so did my partner, along with some other guests not sure why we got sick, we did not drink the water however some food might have triggered it off. We were both ill for 2 days off and on.

The rooms: are small, very basic some have been redone, in the tower have only double beds none had been redone at all and the bathroom floors were not nice, I wanted a king size bed one so we stayed pool view some ocean view we were very lucky.

The two lights did not work in my room nor did the mirror light. The bathroom in our room was redone the tiles on the floor were new however the ceiling had pipes sort of sticking out.The counter was really short. Again it is Mexico.

Now for the service to just let you know last year we stayed at the Cancun Paradisus, the place was beautiful the service was so bad it ruined our holiday. Everything we asked was NO in Cancun, they could learn alot from how this hotel runs in Ixtapa, and how the staff is so happy to work there.

Presidente Ixtapa staff has alot of pride, and are respected and valued you can see it in the faces of the employees.

The service at this hotel made up for most of its shortcomings, it was the BEST EXPERIANCE bar none that I have ever seen. Kudos to the managers for training the staff so well. Kudos to Raphael for his help when we arrived no problem was too small they dealt with it immediately. Kudos to all the kitchen staff for every thing we asked for, there was never a NO the staff just did what was needed to make your stay feel welcome. I am so impressed with the management of this hotel and their friendliness. It is rare today to find that service and smile. When my partner was sick on Christmas eve he asked for something that was off the menu they made it special for him just to make him feel better.

Kudos to the Transat rep Tanya for her knowledge and her help when my bag arrived damaged it was also dealt with immediately and her supervisor at the airport who helped me the moment I arrived. Thanks gang for a really nice holiday much appreciated. and you way ward traveller go and enjoy the beauty of Ixtapa because one day it will just be like the other destinations, it is very unspoiled.

One more thing beware of time sharing opportunites that say they will last for 90 minutes most of them last longer than 3 hours and they will hammer you to sign their documents and call you names like losers, honey the salesmen are relentless and will not take no for an answer. At the end of the beach there is one time share with cable cars don’t get in over your head just don’t go unless you are planning to buy it. Save your time for your much needed holiday you deserve to all spend a week in Ixtapa Presidente. If you want go on a tour we did the combo tour and it was very interesting with our wonderful guide Antonio.The dolphins was fun too there is lots to do and see an relax. If you go during December you can witness the letting go of the baby sea turtles on the beach each day., it is their method of conservation to save them from birds and such.

We stayed at the Presidente Ixtapa from January 14-28, 2006. There was 8 in our group and stayed at this resort last year. We highly recommend this hotel and will return in the future.

Flight: We flew with West Jet and it was a very comfortable flight with the nice feature of your own TV in the back of the seat in front of you. Food was ok and you can buy snacks if needed.

Resort: Bus ride from the airport is approximately 20 minutes. Check in was fast and being the weekend we weren't able to get our first choice for rooms but that was rectified the next day thanks to Jorge the Concierge. 3 of the couples had rooms on the main level overlooking the quiet pool. These rooms were handy for using your own bathroom during the day and eating room service lunch out on your patio. One couple had a room in the tower and had an amazing view and a bit more updated room. Yes the rooms could use a redo but they were clean and we were hardly in them so who cares. Air conditioning worked great and necessary as it was hot while we were there. The resort itself is well maintained and the staff were always cleaning something. The grounds are beautiful with water fountains everywhere.

Staff/Service: The staff were very friendly and did their best to make our stay very enjoyable and comfortable. The maid cleaned our rooms daily and left nice flower displays on our pillows. Honorable mention goes to the following staff: Jorge the Concierge--who did everything possible to make our stay wonderful; Sylvestrie(?sp) our pool waiter who kept us well hydrated; and Carmen in the lobby bar, she too kept us well hydrated.

Restaurants: We found the food better this year than last. Every night there was a choice between 2-4 theme restaurants and the buffet restaurant. The Italian is set up at the beachside restaurant and had excellent lasagna. The French is set up beside the pool and we loved the fillet of beef with blue cheese sauce as well as the chicken. They also brought us ice cream even though it wasn't on the menu. The Steakhouse is set up in the courtyard at the front of the hotel and was excellent with the best atmosphere. The Mexican Fiesta is set up twice a week and it fun to walk around and shop and try different food stations. The only downside to the fiesta is no table to sit and eat at. The breakfast buffets are good with lots of selection and made to order omelets and pancakes. Lunch is buffet or you can order hamburgers, hot dogs, nachos around the pool. We found the room service menu excellent and would order lunch to our patio. We ate off the resort a few times and found Coconuts, which was so good we went back a few times. Their shrimp tacos are to die for!! We also went to Ruebans' for a burger which was good and had a few beers at Franks- where we could watch the hockey game and my husband was thrilled.

Beach: WOW!! This is such a great beach for walking and people watching. It's golden brown sand not the white of the Caribbean. Water can be a little rough and most days we were there the black flag was out but that didn't stop my hubby from venturing out and losing his sunglasses and brand new hat. There are 2 pools- one quiet and one very busy with the music and activities as well as the swim up bar. There was always lots of chairs available and they give you nice big towels to use. The beach chairs are in a roped off area with palapas available for shade.

Ixtapa is a beautiful spot, we have travelled to many places and its about as safe as it gets. mountains, ocean, and sunsets are gorgeous. most people you talk to keep going back year after year.

resort pros-
-check in/out very fast
-resort is spotless, they are always scrubbing and cleaning
-location is perfect, downtown is right across the street
-beach is great, you can take very long walks, very few peddlers
-breakfast and lunch are very good large variety
-drinks big variety, premium liquors, great service
-waiters right on the beach no need to get up
-rooms are very clean, we were in the poolside rooms, much closer to everything then the tower
-can't beat the weather
-24 hour room service was awesome (2.50) charge but well worth it