My boyfriend and I stayed at the Tesoro February 25 to March 4 and had a FABULOUS time. We read the reviews about the hotel before we left and set ourselves up for no expectations except for fun, sun and the fact that we would be out of Minnesota for a week.
We booked our trip through MLT Vacations (Hectours affiliate in Manzanillo) and they were more than accomodating... transfer to and from the hotel on an air conditioned bus and a representative that narrated information about what Manzanillo has to offer. I was impressed by the outstanding English, it is Mexico afterall so I didn't expect the guides to be fluent.
When we arrived at the Tesoro, we were greeted by the entertainment staff and a Rum Punch beverage while we checked in. A great beginning to our vacation.
The Hotel Staff was cordial and checked us in quickly and a bellman was ready and waiting to take our luggage up to our room on the 10th floor.
We received the room that we booked, I know that previous reviews have complained that they did not. First off, the room was HUGE. We had a king bed (its a hotel bed, people have said sleeping on the floor would have been more comfortable, get real people!), huge balcony with a partial ocean view. Ideally we would have liked an ocean view, but we didnt intend on spending our whole vacation in the room, so not that big of an issue. We spent many nights sleeping with the balcony door open. The bathroom was huge and we had no problems with the plumbing or air conditioning in the room. We did not have a refridgerator in the room, but beverages were left daily: bottles of water (sometimes up to 4 bottles a day), 2 beers, 2 cans of coke, 1 sprite and 1 fanta. It was so nice to have the bottles of water on hand.
The maid refreshed our towels daily and we tipped her daily. About $1 a day.
Note about tipping: we found that tipping was very appreciated, even if it's less than a dollar, and it makes a big difference... not so that YOU can have a better trip by getting more towels or more beverages, but we were informed on some of our tours that hotel staff typically make $5.50 A DAY!! So $1 here and there is so appreciated and you can see the looks on their faces when you do so.
The food was pretty good. I consider myself to be a pretty picky eater since I dont eat Beef or Pork and was able to find something great to eat everyday. The buffets are pretty repetative, but if you find something you like, you'll get a chance to eat it almost everyday!! I was in LOVE with the guacamole. Almost every morning we had an omlette made for us at the omlette stand. If you enjoy eggs, this is your best bet. It was always so fresh and made to order. The same lady was working everyday for the 7 days we were there.. making omlettes from 7 am to 11am. EVERYDAY!!
We did not receive information about the hotel dining until the second day we were there, so here's a tip: the main buffet room is on the 1st floor next too the pool. There is also a buffet room (dinner only) that has the nightly shows also on the "R" floor. I am not sure if it is open every night for dinner everynight, as we only ate there 2 nights. Adobe (formerly Marias) is located next to the show room. This is one of the restaurants that you need a reservation. We ate there once and it was alright. People have their own likes and dislikes, so you'd have to be the judge. The Italian restaurant is also located on the 1st floor on the other side of the pool, under the Palapa. We made reservations twice and enjoyed it. Its a nice place to eat by the ocean and you can watch the sunset (at around 6:45). The Palapa also serves snacks (burgers, hotdogs, fries, pizza) during the day, around 12 I think.
The pool was nice, but we chose to spend our sun time on the beach. The white noise of the waves crashing was very relaxing. We never had a hard time finding lounge chairs, but would recommend getting up early to reserve one... especially if you want to sit under an umbrella. My boyfriend went to the beach at 7:03 one morning and got one of the last umbrellas on the beach. Not a big deal. We were on the beach, in MEXICO and it was WARM. If you got hot, you had the ocean right there.
There has been talk about jellyfish on some reviews, which I have to admit made me very cautious when I went into the ocean for the first time. However, we were at the beach and in the ocean everyday, about 4 days ALL day and saw one jellyfish. It was dead and on the beach. We never got stung and swam frequently. The sand is hot. That is not the fault of the hotel. Its 85 degrees everyday with no clouds. Ice is hot under those conditions. If you wear flip flops to walk on the beach, you shouldnt have a problem.
Waitresses stopped frequently taking our drink orders or just brought out trays of whatever and we were able to choose.
We went on 2 tours through Hectours/MLT Vacations that we booked the 2nd day we were there. The first tour was to Colima, the capital city of the state Manzanillo is located. On the same tour we stopped at Comala, a smaller town and had a traditional Mexican meal and were entertained by a band. Comala was probably one of my favorite spots. More rural than the big city, but very clean and beautiful. We also stopped at place where they make coffee located near the 2 volcanoes that we could view in the distance. I would recommend this tour to anyone who wants a little culture on their vacation.The tour guide spoke English.
Our second tour was to the Turtle Sanctuary. We were in a small group of 8 of us and our guide who was awesome. We became like a small family. Our guide really took the time to explain things to us, took us to a salt mine and then to the turtle sanctuary on a black sand beach. The sanctuary was a lot of fun, which included a boat tour of the lagoon where we saw crocodiles, snakes and tons of different and unique birds. On our way back from the sanctuary, our guide suggested we stop at the town of Cuyutlan for a beer and some lunch. This town was gorgeous and very very small in comparison to Manzanillo. In fact, my boyfriend and I are thinking of staying there next time we travel to Mexico. Very laid back town, right on the beach. I definitely recommend trying out the Turtle Tour if you only want to do one tour during your visit.
One day we went to downtown Manzanillo on our own. It was easy to grab a cab from the hotel, they were always ready and waiting. It was an $8 ride. We got to the town around 9:30am because we were told the shops open around 9... they more open around 10ish, but no problem, we walked around the town, found an open market where they sold fresh vegetables, fruits and meat. It was amazing. The shopping is pretty good downtown. Here's a hint: The further you walk into town, the cheaper the 'tourist' gifts are. T-shirts were about $3-4... but along the main shopping area, they were about $10. So go, explore.
One thing that is refreshing about Manzanillo is that the people are not aggressive sales people at all. If you've ever been to Cancun, you know what i'm talking about. They dont pressure you to come into their stores or braid your hair. Everyone is laid back and treat you so kindly. I noticed that most of the store employees do not speak English, but most everything is marked with a price and they take US dollars. We had a nice lunch in a hotel restaurant downtown for less than $20 and we had 4 drinks and food. So cheap. Finding a cab back to the hotel was easy and cost $10. Hint: when taking a cab back to the Tesoro, tell the cab you are going to Hotel Sierra. Apparently the Tesoro has had like 3 name changes in 5 years, so all cabs know it as Hotel Sierra. There is a Tesoro beach somewhere around Manzanillo and they may get confused and send you there.
I know that this is a long review, but I know that when I was reading reviews prior to my vacation I wanted to know as many tips as possible to make the best of my vacation. People vacation differently and have different opinions about everything. So I just wanted to share my experience. I would definitely go back in a heart beat. I appreciate the non-Americanized living of Manzanillo. Very different than Cancun or Puerto Vallarta. No loud spring breakers or clubs for that matter. Manzanillo is a treasure and I hope that it continues to stay a somewhat hidden vacation spot. El Tesoro means Treasure and that is how I'd describe my time there.
If you have any questions, I did actually leave out some details of my vacation, if you can believe that. I am just so excited about this town that I wanted to talk about as much as I could... so if there is anything else you'd like to know, I'd be more than happy to help you.