This is the best motel on the beach. You have the lounge chairs and cabanas right on the sand, not up in the air-way back on a cement deck-like other motels. (we walked the beach and no other motels compared). Lots of sand , wide beach in front of it too. Very clean, friendly people, reasonably priced snack bar for lunch on the beach, wonderful restaurant for breakfast over looking the ocean (weren't impressed with dinners there). Large motel room so there was plenty of space for luggage. Excellent maid service. We were very glad we had chosen Playa Mazatlan. Plus there was a small snack (grocery) store right across the street for snacks and beverages cheap.

We stayed at the Playa from Dec 23 to 30 and were very pleased overall.

First, a couple of rants:

1. The front desk staff are the least friendly, inefficient group we have experienced in 32 years of travelling. They are further burdened with stone age check-in and check-out procedures. Expect long waits if you need to go near the front desk.

2. Oyster Joe's. This bar is on the neighbouring property on the south side of the hotel. The music is LOUD and late (until at least 4 AM). We had a ocean front room on the north side and it was very quiet. Our daughter (19) was given an ocean view room across from Joe's. She loves her music loud, but was kept up by the noise. She felt like she was trying to sleep in Oyster Joe's! Her room rate was the same as ours - go figure. These rooms should be rented at a discount because the location is so poor. The garden view rooms seemed to be very quiet.

Now for the good - and there is lots to like. The hotel is spread out giving it a large beach area in front of it, and there is lots of sand for those that like to go for long walks on the beach. The hotel has a lot of character, beautiful grounds and is well maintained. Maid service was excellent. As the property is only 4 and 5 stories tall, there is no problem having to wait for elevators like at a lot of the high rise hotels. A draw back for some is that the double beds cannot be moved together as they are built in pedestals.

The hotel is well located, and shopping and restaurants are only steps away. We would strongly recommend NOT doing an "all inclusive" package as there are just so many excellent, reasonably priced restaurants near by. The restaurant in the hotel is also very good and has a great location for dining beside the beach. The Fiesta Night is well worth the $300 pesos (There is little to no alcohol in the free drinks, so unless you want to drink juice all night, chose the free Pacifico beer instead).

This was our first first to Mazatlan, and we plan to return. we would stay at the Playa again as long as we were certain that we would be on the north side of the property. We met people who have been staying at the Playa for decades. If you are thinking of visiting MAZ, be sure to go over to the Mazatlan forum as you will find a lot of usefull information that will make your stay even better.

I stayed here with my family the week of christmas. It was my first trip to Mexico. I did not realize until after I have traveled to many other resorts in Mexico that it is rare to find a nice quiet hotel that doesn't have loud music playing constantly!! There is no loud music here, just the sound of the ocean. You can hear some music coming from the oyster bar next door, but def nothing like other resorts I have stayed at that have loud music pounding all of the time and all of these different activities that people are trying to make you do! It really was nice just to be able to relax and not be annoyed. The rooms were nice, the beds were a little hard though. The grounds of the hotel were very very pretty. There were numerous pools and gardens. It was very pretty. The beach is nice too, lots of room! The most popular mexican fiesta is held there one night a week. It is pretty neat, I would suggest it! The restaurant at this hotel is also vvvvvery good. They have bread that is amazing and some seafood dishes that are fantastic also! There also is (or was) a very talented artist who sells hand painted tiles in the lobby of the hotel one night a week, they make a GREAT gift and are so pretty. I wish I would have bought more than I did! I would for sure suggest this hotel if you want a relaxing trip!!

As far as other restaurants off the grounds of the hotel, I would suggest Mangos! The staff is very friendly and they have HUGE margaritas and you can eat right on the beach!

We arrived at the hotel the day before Thanksgiving. We wanted to fly with Alaska, as they offer non-stop & the fare is cheaper going Wed to Wed. We arrived at the hotel at 8:00PM & we had a fast check in. They upgraded our room without any additional charge. We usually stay in a suite(1007) & they gave us a 2 bedroom suite(550) with a swimming pool attached. We had a fun time with some of the new activities at the hotel. They now have a zip line going from one tower to another & a tall climming wall. The gym now offers massages & they also added a steam room. We heard very soon they are going to have underground caves & a swimming & sauna area within the grounds. This was the best vacation for our family this year. We were in Manzanillo in June, but The Hotel Playa just has more ambience & the food is very delicious. We also attended the Fiesta Mexicana & the show was lots of fun. We hope we can come back again next year. The $5.00 hamburger on Alaska was very good.