First of all do not stay in Ixtapa. Zihua is where you will find the real culture and people of this region. We stayed in Zihua for 7 days and then because of flights home had to stay 2 nights in Ixtapa. Yes the beaches are nice but if you stay at an all inclusive your whole trip you are missing our on the amazing food and people of this area.
Ixtapa is a tourist haven and watch out for the time share presentation sharks. They attack you every opportunity they get and even get rude when you politely say "no thank you". The one at the Presidente attacked us as soon as we left the check in desk and said that we had to attend the presentation and said that it was impossible to go straight to our room. Well... we proved her wrong.
As for the Presidente, We were where here in the off season (October) and arrived a little earlier than normal check in time. Keep in mind that the hotel was mostly vacant and they said that the room is not ready. We just wanted to drop our bags and go out for a few hours, not intending to use their so called ammenities till the evening hours. After asking again he said that is we pay 300 pesos we can get our room early, Unfortunatley that was worth being able to secure our back in a hotel room for the afternoon while we went out.
The room was pretty nice but not clean. We live in Alaska and have had to stay in some pretty bad places over the years so we are not picky about accomidations as long as they are clean. The tile floors had dead bugs, dirt and sand, After taking a shower and walking to the bed our feet left a stain on the sheets. That is just wrong.
We arrived on a Sunday and wanted to try some of the other restaurants in the hotel but since there were not many people staying there the only place open was the buffet. Now the food was editable but far from good. We are pretty open when it comes to food but there were some down right disgusting dishes that were not oven locally themed. The snack bar also left a lot to be desired.
At this point all the little things start to add up such as; the tv remote missing the battery cover. the towels felt like sand paper, there was a metal door stop at the base of the bathtub so when you step out you land on a rounded piece of metal.
I was out using the business center which had good internet speed but when it came time to print out a piece of paper there was no paper in the printer. I called and asked for them to bring some paper and a man shows up with 5 pieces of paper. I put the paper in and find out that there are many documents inline to be printed because they are stingy on their paper and other people tried to print things. Very frusterating.
To top it off while I was in the business center my wife ordered room service and the man who brought it up asked if she was alone and gestured that he and she get together by pointing at himself and her and smiling. He was lucky that I don't want to be put into a Mexican jail because he would normally be in a lot of pain after behaving like that.

DO NOT STAY IN IXTAPA AND DEFINITELY DO NOT STAY AT THE PRESIDENTE INTERCONTINENTAL.

This 5 star rating comes with a few caveats. This hotel has a great location, wonderful layout and a staff that truly seem to enjoy their jobs, which translates into a wonderful experience for the guests. The last few years have seen a major modernization occur. Some rooms are not yet remodelled, so make sure to request a renovated room.
There is no Wi-Fi in the rooms, but you have complimentary Wi-Fi in the beautiful, ocean view lobby and bar and free use of computers in the business centre. (Beats paying $15 buck a day and you get drinks delivered to you while you surf the net: having said that sitting on your balcony and checking in on Face Book would be nice).
Things to know about dining: usually they will only have one a la carte restaurant open. No reservations, so you put yourself on the waiting list and go have a drink. There appears to be no rhyme or reason as to which one will be open, but there is a TV in the lobby which tells you what is going on every day. Usually there will be a buffet or two open as well. During the day there is a wonderful BBQ /outdoor snack café by the pool. The hotel excels at special events, which occur frequently. Mexican fiesta’s, dinners on the beach, BBQ’s in the courtyard etc. it is amazing at how quickly they can set up for these events. These are really well done and wonderfully decorated but the downside is that usually the buffets and the al a carte’s are usually not open on these evenings.
Alcohol: they really have top shelf liquor here – all you have to do is ask. The last few visits, they have had a Chilean read and white as their house wine. (Not the best, but after a while it grows on you) It is too bad that they do not use a nice wine from the Baja region, which would be a great way to showcase just how far the Mexican wine industry has progressed. (Although it could also be terrible plonk..)
Entertainment: the hotel has first class professional entertainment almost nightly. The shows are spectacular, but if you stay for more than one week or are a return customer, you will have seen it all before. On the other hand with all that practice the performances are wonderful.
Rooms: in the village section, all the rooms are pretty much the same. The main difference is what you see out of your balcony. Pool view puts you in the middle of the action and chances are you will get at least a partial view of the ocean. Ocean front rooms get you a mini fridge and a coffee maker. (And a spectacular view of sunsets). The hotel should really address the fridge issue, although most people will just buy a Styrofoam cooler for 6 bucks across the street. Rooms in the tower are larger, but most of them have Juliette balconies. On the upper floors you get a most spectacular view, but on the lower floors, you see and hear the ugly rooftop mechanical stuff from the Presidente and surrounding hotels as well. The elevator has weird floor numbering system, so the 11th floor could be the fourth or something like that.
Atmosphere: for the last few years it has been pretty quiet during the week. The staff remember you from previous visits and I feel genuinely go out of their way to make your vacation special. Most of the staff have been around for many, many years and they still smile all the time as well as accommodate special request willingly. They have a quiet pool and a regular pool. It would be nice if one pool was exclusively adults only, but security does – on occasion – move kids out to the other when they are playing a bit too exuberantly, would be nice if they reminded the occasional adult. It is not too difficult to get a chair by the pool or on the beach, but it is amusing to see husbands going down to the pool at 6 a.m. and putting stuff on chairs, and often discussing how many chairs they are going to tie up, because someone may join them later in the day. It has a huge wonderful beach, but it also has quite the undercurrent. There is a lifeguard on duty. On weekends, the hotel becomes quite full as families drive in from other parts of Mexico and the place becomes full of life. By Monday it returns to a tranquil resort.
The hotel is not in the same class as a business Intercontinental, so do not expect the same atmosphere or pretentiousness. What it does have is great staff that bends over backwards to make your holiday memorable and a front desk that will try and accommodate your every concern. Jorge, the concierge is a true professional, whose motto appears to be “I can fix that” and gets things done. The general manager lives on site. This is one classy Mexican hotel.
Why the 5*’s: you really do get more than you pay for. Most importantly is the huge percentage of return guests. We have stayed there 12 times and many of the people that we meet have come many times before and newbies who say they will come back, this kind of repeat business says it all. These people have a lot of choices and they chose to return year after year. BTW: Ixtapa has perfect weather in the winter. It rained once in our 12 visits and the locals were very surprised. The rain lasted not more than two hours.

My wife and I had been planning an epic trip through Burma and Thailand, for September. However, my work changed the plans, and the trip to Asia was cancelled. We started looking for something closer to home, and settled on a beach chill out in Mexico. We were focused on Intercontinental hotels, due my status (royal ambassador) with the chain.

I was looking at different hotel options, and Ixtapa was interesting as I had driven through in the 80s with my father, and had visited Mazatlan some of the other pacific beach towns in the 70s and 80s. i contacted the hotel to talk about available rooms and rates. We settled on the Presidential Suite. It was pretty nice. I have had a number of similar suites over the years, but mostly for shorter stays. We had 8 nights in the Presidential Suite.

The room was great. 2 floors. Upstairs nice bedroom, hugh bath room with free standing tub, and walk in shower, upstairs balcony with nice view of pool and ocean. Downstairs - nice living room area with 2nd 46ish flat screen, dinning table, kitchen area, direct access to pool and beach. PLUS private pool and sun bathing area. Room was clean, comfortable and quiet.

We experienced two completely different hotels - for 5 nights the hotel was about 10% full, and we had lots of space to ourselves, nobody around, essentially a private beach, private hotel, private dinning, etc. This was great and just what we needed. So we loved the attention, space and personal service. For two nights the hotel was 100%! It was like a different place. While we had less privacy, we still had lots of space to ourselves. The beach was full, but only for a couple hours per day, the rest of the time we had lots of room.

Food was good. However, when the hotel was empty the choices were limited, but the quality was good. The focus was clearly on quality and flavor, not so much on presentation. I would say that the fully inclusive nature of the hotel is great for families. For couples recognize that it is family style most of the time with 4 or 5 good choices at each meal.

Service and Staff were great. People treated us very nicely and responded to every request, with a smile. What ever we asked for, it was delivered to us - on the beach, in the room, at the restaurant...

The beach was great! we walked the length of the beach every day, swam and sat on the beach for the rest of the day. Never went in the pool. It looked nice, but we have a pool at home.

The town was quiet, as we were there in the off season. Lots of people selling timeshare, but we walked right by. I think the town is probably better when more people are around, but all we wanted was privacy and the beach, so it did not matter.

Basically a great break. Very happy with everything.

Since we were visiting Ixtapa my friend and I decided to do a site inspection on this hotel. We are travel agents so we always visit different hotels when we have time. There was a little bit of rain so we decided to go into the property. If you are a tourists who likes to relax and veg for about a week then Ixtapa is the place to be. The hotel staff is very nice, the rooms are clean, the balconies are great if you have an ocean view. The property is well maintained and the swimming pool areas are very welcoming with the swim up bar. If I were to come back to this part of Mexico I would stay here.