If you have kids you need to entertain on vacation look no further..this is the perfect resort. The GO's are just awesome with the kids and our 4.5 & 6.5 year old had a ball at the mini-club. They learned trapeze, sailing and archery. They were separated into 2 groups, the Geckos for the 4-5 age group and the Iguanas for the 6-7. The had scheduled activities throughout the day and into the night. I am amazed by the effort the GO's put into making them feel comfortable throughout the day and the energy they have as they keep it up through the evening activities. The theater activites are even more amazing. We were amazed at the shows the kids put up every evening..where did they get time to practice? Also the GO shows were spectacular. These people are the heart of the club med experience. I want to especially thank: Hoshi for all the hugs and kisses she gave my daughter, Elizabeth for being my daughters BFF,Marshmallow for sailing, Tonio for archery, Victor, Jamie and Agustine for looking after my son and being so patient with him. Also Joe and Ronaldo on Trapeze. I am sure there are other GO's who put in as much effort, but these names were stuck with my kids..so thanks
Apart from the kids, me and my wife had an excellent vacation, learnt how to sail and took a class with Diego at the beach..its amazing the number of languages he speaks...we went kayaking, swimming, lay on the beach, took afternoon siestas, went for a massage on the beach (walk all the way to the end - I think it was US$35/person), soccer tournaments in the evening (i'm still sore), went for a swim with the dophins with my kids (this is amazing..and will write a section on it), went snorkelling to Ixtapa island and enjoyed the evening shows into the late night....in a nut shell there is plenty to do.
Trip to Ixtapa Island
Take a cab from the reception to Playa Linda 65 pesos, take the water taxi across to Ixtapa Island (40 pesos per person) and walk to the beach which is known for snorkelling. The boat drivers did speak english and can tell you how to get there. Once there you can get a table under some shade and can rent some snorkel gear. Prices are pretty reasonable. Couple of words of caution..the local bathrooms are extremely dirty..there are some you can pay 10 pesos so find them. I was advised not to eat anything there so did not..just ordered some fresh coconut juice..which was not as sweet as I thought it should be. On the snorkelling there are plenty of fish and they do come up right to the shore, but I felt this was not the best snorkelling expereince - the waves were a bit rough and I did get knocked around on the coral so got plenty of bruises. Anyway the trip to Ixtapa Island is worth the expereince and we went there twice (once with the kids) to give them some local flavor. Also the crocodile lagoon is right there..which is nothign much expcept for a few lazy crocodiles lying around. My wife did some shopping at Playa Linda..much cheaper than at Club med ..be prepared to haggle..get a walk away price,,sometimes 50% of what they ask for..and shop around the different shops. Also one note keep the ticket you get when you get the water taxi..apparently you need it on the way back..I swam with mine so had to show them some crumbs for what was left of it.
Dolphin Swim
Cost was ~$120 for an adult and a kid..so $240 for four of us. Bring a towel to dry up..they dont provide one. Also the lockers dont have keys and are open so make sure you dont bring some thing to valuable. My kids loved this experience, touching, kissing, hugging and even dancing with the dolphins..they have a kid package which is ~25 mins..They dont let you take pics or bring video camera..you have to buy their pictures and video..$8/pic and $79 for the video..we bought 8 pics and and the video which was well edited and had good back ground music to it. A novel experience if you have never done this and the kids have not stopped talking about it.
Some other general advice..bring plenty of suntan lotion, bring plenty of swimsuits (3-4) and underwear..you may end up taking 4-5 showers a day and the suits do take time to dry. we ended up doing laundry mid week inspite of bringing a lot of extra clothes..Club Med charged $450 pesos for 40 pcs..we gave it in the morning and it was returned the same evening. The food was excellent. we had lobsters for thanksgiving dinner..awesome and the variety of cuisine was really great (this will be the least of your worries). Avoid Mexico City if you transit..awful lines in immigration..took almost an hour and we actually had to get our bags from the baggage claim and then through an X-ray machine before they went on to Ixtapa. Also need to change terminals from Terminal 1 to Terminal 2. One good point was we left one of our backpacks at the airport and on our return we went to the lost and found one week later on our return and were lucky to find it (my daughters favorite teddy was there).
One reccomendation would be for Club Med is to have clocks at the swimming pool as well as the dining areas so we can see the time to make sure we make some of the events our kids are at to take pics etc..will also save us from carrying around my iphone. One other thing is that Club Med should always have the fans running in the theater..makes the guests feel more comfortable
All in all, An awesome vacation. We will be either back here or try out the Club Med in Cancun. This was our first visit to a Club Med and we are Hooked!

Is this place real??!!This was our first Club Med vacation and we cannot wait to book another one....probably to Ixtapa again! This resort was absolutely beautiful and the staff and people from the area were so friendly and helpful. We were there for Thanksgiving and we were able to reserve a table and our own turkey (carved and stuffed!) with another family we met during the week. That evening the GOs put on an awesome Thanksgiving show for their guests- it was SO thoughtful and a perfect way to celebrate this special day. We met several GOs that made our stay especially enjoyable- special mention to POLO! He joined us for dinner our first evening and gave us so much valuable info and great conversation. He was right there every time we needed him or had a question about anything! One of our boys commented when we were leaving that his top three events of the vacation were 1. Swimming with dolphins2. Snorkeling3. MEETING POLO!! Obviously this GO does his Job very well
(sets up tours/excursions- go see him:-)) Special mention as well to TONIO- I said at dinner one evening that I forgot my plug in USB charger- he left and met me later with one of his own that I could borrow! Talk about service! Above and beyond with this Cub Med in so many ways!

Amazing as always, the best place for families with kids. Love seeing the same staff each year when we return and some new great ones. Christian, Garth, Daniel were all fun and always energetic. Marifer is amazing and Sandy so friendly. Keep it up Club Med. I would add to really hang onto the good GO's from a diverse range of countries as we have really seen that change in the last 5 years.

I recently went to Ixtapa Pacific (returned on Nov 17, 2012) with my family - myself, wife, 6 year old girl , and 20 month old boy. The resort was excellent - we had a phenomenal time - with a few highlights and detriments (which I'll mention below.)

Overall, the rooms are spacious (we had a family room, with a separate room for the kids, and a crib for the kid. The crib is a pack-and-play, but with a washable cover on it, so it's really quite clean. The kids room had a TV and 2 single beds as well. The room was clean and comfy, with separate AC controls for both rooms, and a nice little baby tub for bathing the baby. They also provided us with a stroller for our stay. The room had a mini-fridge.

The Baby Club room had all the kinds of kid stuff you would expect, including 4 types of UHT milk as well as baby formula. We ended up taking milk cartons to our room fridge since we didn't wan to always have to walk back and forth.

The highlight of the resort is really the kids club - which allowed us adults to have a good time as well. The kids club staff were *great* - they really forged bonds with the kids, and cared for them like their own. Our baby had never been in any kind of day care situation before, but he adjusted well. They adapted things like sleeping and eating to *his* schedule, rather than theirs (they do have a set schedule for activities, lunch, nap, etc.) - they were very accommodating, and we could check on the kids throughout the day and check them in/out of the kids clubs to do stuff with us. Our daughter did the trapeze, learned a bit of tennis, and *loved* going sailing almost every day.

Our daughter had a cough on the plane, which worsened once we arrived - we ended up taking her to the doctor at the resort ($50 USD ) who was very thorough and prescribed her an antibiotic. The Club Med staff called the meds into the pharmacy, and they were delivered to the front desk within the hour. The great part was that the folks at the front desk and the nurse remembered us - and Ricardo U (front desk) even came by later to enquire as to our daughters health!

A few other highlights:

- When we ran out of milk in our room, and the baby room was out of it also, Kari (of the Mini Club) actually went out, found milk for us, and delivered it directly to our room (wow!)
- The Mini and Baby Club staff - Kari, Victor, Dora, Vania, and Agustin - just to name a few, forged great relationships with our kids, and had our daughter telling us she wanted to move to Ixtapa and go to Club Med every weekend.
- We ended up going into Zihuatanejo two times during our stay - once to "Bodega" because we forgot some stuff, and once to just shop. Both times, we took the advice of the GO's and took the bus into town (10 pesos each way!), and they gave us great directions (it's one bus - almost impossible to get lost!)
- Melisa (restaurant manager) gave us great directions as to what to do in Zihuatanejo, and even gave us her cell phone number and told us to call any time if we had questions or needed help/advice.

There were only two shortcomings - which were as likely to be sales related issues as resort related ones:

1. The Miramar restaurant was under renovation when we arrived. We weren't notified of this in advance, and the end result was that we were stuck in one restaurant for the whole week. While not exactly boring, there are some repetitive dishes/deserts - and going to the same place 3x a day got a bit boring.
2. The La Luna restaurant was only open for dinner once, and the reservations filled up in under an hour - they should have had it open more than just a single night at least...
3. The kids club restaurant wasn't open at all - we were told it was because there weren't enough kids, but they shouldn't advertise it if they don't plan on having it open.
4. We were sold on booking travel through Club Med because we were told they provide transportation to and from the airport *and* provide child safety seats for the kids. They did provide the transportation, but there were no child safety seats. In fact, I *verified* 3 times, on three separate occasions (including the morning of our departure) that they would provide these seats on the way *back* to the airport, and they did not.
5. The Chef de Village was Christian (normally it's apparently Remy), a couple of GO's told us that Remy runs a "tighter" ship, and things slack a bit when he's not in the village. During our entire visit we only saw Christian a handful of times (mostly at night), and never once spoke with or met him. I'd have kind of expected to see him around a bit more...that's not necessarily a bad thing, but might explain the lack of coordination with the carseats..

I dinged the service and the food one star each because of the car seat issue and the lack of other restaurants being open. It's my understanding that the restaurant renovation (that caused Miramar to be closed) is a "one time" thing, that most other guests won't experience, but we should have been informed of this in advance of our visit.

Tips if you are going:

- Bring a tube of sunscreen for each of your kids (especially if they aren't together in the same group, so it's harder to share.)
- Bring shoes - like sneakers. For things like tennis and soccer, flip flops aren't sufficient. Hats are important also.
- Mosquito repellent is 10 bucks at the resort, and you might like to bring it.
- If you forget small stuff, it's a 30 minute bus ride each way to Bodega in Zihuatenejo (shorter if you head to the small market in Ixtapa.) Bodega is Walmart in Mexico. It's 10 pesos each way (less than 1 USD), and if it's stuff like diapers it's worth the trip.
- They have laundry at the resort (we paid US $40 to wash 40 articles of clothing.), they wash, dry, iron, and fold for you.
- Bring ibuprofen, it's not cheap at the resort, and if you're like me and do stuff like trapeze, you might need it. You can get it at the Pharmacy in Ixtapa (ask for Generico) if you want it cheaper.
- There is a boat service ($8 USD round trip) to Ixtapa island, which has hour-long massages for 250 pesos, as well as snorkeling. Consider that as opposed to the hotel massage (~1000 pesos)
- You can go horseback riding in/around a lake for about 100 pesos, but you have to know how to get there - ask at the front desk..or one of the GO's about it.
- If you go into Zihuatanejo centro (get off at the "Electra" store - it's got a large vertical sign that's hard to miss.) there is lots of good artisan shopping nearby - more so than the Ixtapa market, and seemingly more varied (not to mention cheaper.) Good for souvenirs/gifts.
- The doctor is good, and cheaper than visiting one in the US - if you sense illness coming on in your kids, go sooner rather than later (We went on the second night of our stay, and our daughter improved greatly that night.)