We stayed at the Dolphin Cove Inn Dec 27, 2007-Jan. 2, 2008. We absolutely loved it! We were traveling with our twin 9 year olds, a boy and a girl. They loved the pool and the beach which are both right there on the property. We stayed in a double bed suite, it was immaculate, cleaned very thoroughly every day by the housekeeping staff, they even dusted daily. The grounds are spotless and well maintained, not to mention the flowers everywhere are gorgeous. Great benefit having a refrigerator and coffeemaker in the rooms. My husband and I enjoyed our morning coffee on the large balcony every morning. It had a table with 4 chairs and 2 chaise lounges. Enough room for all of us. A quick trip to the grocery (they have a small store on site, perfect for breakfast foods,snacks etc) early in the week for breakfast items. Dishes and silverware were provided. The staff was very friendly and helpful and prompt if you ever asked for anything. Isis, the reservation manager and the concierge Edgar were both wonderful. We enjoyed several meals at the onsite Paradise restaurant overlooking the ocean. The staff was attentive and they had poolside service which was great for lunch. We had dinner their our last night, wonderful seafood, frescas for the children and house specialty blackberry margaritas for Mom and Dad, it was all great. Our daughter said "Mom this is beautiful here". She was right!! They have a nice book and VHS tape collection in the office that guests can use. We were able to get american tv channels and had a vcr in the room, which was great for the children to relax with after swimming all day. Our room was great but we had Isis show us a larger suite (the enchanted suite), it had kitchen, family room area, two bedrooms ( 1 with a king bed and 1 with 2 twins, both had private bathrooms). A huge balcony. If traveling with children I would stay in the enchanted suite next time. I would highly recommend this hotel!!!!! Kathleen, Sugar Grove, IL

We just came back from a 2 week stay at the Dolphin Cove. First for the good things....beautiful grounds, flowers, pool area, beach. Excellent service in the restaurant and enjoyed the few meals we had there. They put on an impressive spread, beautifully decorated for New Years Eve with an excellent band. The Concierge (Edgar) was extremely helpful and speaks great English.

While the view is beautiful it is badly marred by the constant and overwhelming presence of pollution (smog). We met many people who were suffering from coughs. The hotel is directly across from the two billowing stacks of the power plant and it is hard to get past this. There are no sunsets from this hotel but on 2 days we were up early enough to enjoy beautiful sunrises.

As mentioned in most other reviews the stairs really are overwhelming but we managed. We saw some people requesting service from the bellmen with golf carts. This hotel is extremely isolated (located up a steep cliff with winding road.) You can't walk to anything (we rented a car which is a must in our opinion unless you are willing to rely on buses).

While the hotel offers you passes to the Las Hadas resort next door it is really meaningless as it only entitles you to use the beach, you have to pay for towels, chairs, umbrella etc. The food at Las Hadas was not great and was very expensive.

The rooms are very plain and basic with poor kitchen facilities, pots and pans, dishes etc. The decks are big and beautiful.

Without question, the worst thing about this hotel is the maid service. Our room was left untouched for the majority of the day. The earliest it was cleaned was 3:30 and average was 4:30-5:00. The beds were poorly made and they consistently forgot to leave face cloths, proper numbers of towels, toilet paper and soap. We felt these were very basic items for a maid to provide and that it was not asking too much to expect basics like toilet paper and soap to be replenished daily. When we would call to ask we would have to wait 2-4 hours and on some days had to go use the bathroom in the lobby or restaurant as we had no toilet paper.

As for Manzanillo itself, it is a port city with a huge port and is not a tourist town at all. Very difficult to cash a travelers check, very quiet restaurants....we were there during the 2 weeks of the highest tourist season of the year and didn't find any restaurants even close to full and many were closed all together. The weather was very warm and doesn't cool down much at night so there are more mosquitoes than other Mexican towns we have been to. Again, I am compelled to mention the smog that hung in the air during this hot weather. We found most things to be very cheap, especially eating out (avg. cost of dinner for 4 was $50-60.

We loved it. I have four kids and we had adjoining rooms. The rooms have kitchens so we could eat breakfast at home and then go out for the day. We can't wait to go back.

Love the blackberry margaritas at the restaurant!

A very nice facility, however it is not for anyone who has any disability with the legs as getting around the site is either up or down ramps, stairs or spiral cases. We did not realize this when we booked in and sadly had to leave after one night. Staff of the Dolphin were very helpful in finding a room at another hotel. I would recommend this hotel for anyone who can handle the stairs.