Positives: Nice setting – lobby and low rise buildings very well done in Mexican décor. Beach was clean and great to walk on – nicely spaced beach chairs with palapas. Sea was rough when we were there. Great service and friendly staff.


Negatives: Food could be improved, specifically the buffet. The a la carte was o.k. Biggest disappointment was that besides on Mexican night, I did not hear any Mexican music or mariachis. Noisy on two nights (we were there 1 week) with outside events that kept us up.

My husband and I spent our Valentine/Anniversary here and were in awe of its beauty. Jorge ( or George to some) was most helpful. We transferred from an 18th floor to ocean view to 17th with a balcony facing Playa Palmar. It was clean and the staff were friendly and worked hard. The hotel was well managed as seen by the numerous events that took place all week: A formal wedding on the beach, the same night as a Mexican fiesta in the plaza. A couple of conferences took place and a Mexican BBQ on the beach. We went on a 6k bike tour thru the town and Treks to the marina stopping to take photos, accompanied by a staff member. When we caught a 100 lb Sailfish, we took half back to the hotel and Jorge arranged with the Chef to prepare a feast for us Jorge became a friend and was visible as a low keyed manager. The wait staff were all professional and had a warmth they shared with the guests.

There were 10 of us, five couples, staying from Sunday to Sunday.
Check in went quickly. The staff was courteous. We found that not all the rooms had safes, so several in our group changed rooms rather than store money and valuables at the desk. Our room did have a safe.
The initial impression of the room wasn't good. The floor was dirty, there was still trash in the waste baskets, and visible mold in the bathroom. Also, the room was uncomfortably hot and humid. But after tinkering with the thermostat, it cooled down nicely and the maids kept the room quite clean after that. I think they had been rushed when we first arrived. We were on the 19th of 20 floors in the tower. We didn't want to switch rooms, as the view of the ocean was magnificent. The elevators (two of them) were fast, so we never waited long for one. I enjoyed the view from them, as they were scenic elevators, with glass walls (not for those with acrophobia). The TV got very few English-speaking stations. I only found three or four, and no premium movie channels.
The food was good, and there was a pretty good variety. None of us got sick, so that is saying something. It's very casual. I didn't even bring long pants, and didn't need them. There was a snack bar open all afternoon that served hamburgers, hot dogs, french fries, and nachos. Some in our group called the burgers "hockey pucks" since they were usually a bit overcooked. Well, better than being undercooked. They still tasted good. I liked the hot dogs after adding mustard, ketchup, salsa, and nacho cheese.
The waiters and bartenders were all friendly and gave you what you asked for. It took a while to find this out, but there were top shelf brands available if you asked for them. They normally poured local brands, but there was Absolut vodka, Johnny Walker scotch, Jim Beam, etc. in cabinets under the bar. The only beer they had was Sol, both light and dark. It was pretty good. Many people brought Big Bubba mugs, which are getting very popular. With a little ice, they keep drinks cold for much of the day. The bartenders were happy to fill them with whatever we wanted.
The pool was very clean. The reason was, they didn't allow food to be taken into the pool area. So there were hardly any birds hopping around, pooping and looking for scraps. This made a lot of sense to me. At the towel exchange, the attendant was very friendly and always had big, absorbant towels ready. He also had a book exchange.
Beach chairs were readily available any time of the day, except near weekends. From Sunday to Thursday we never had to reserve a beach chair. Thursday afternoon started getting busy, with Mexican families coming in. By Friday and Saturday, the number of guests seemed to have tripled, most of them Mexican families with children. The restaurants were harder to get into and many non-Mexican guests were getting annoyed at the number of children splashing around and squirting their little water cannons everywhere and taking up room around the pool bar. So this was the most disappointing part of the trip. By Sunday, when we were leaving, things were quieting down. The resort should do something to keep the children in line so guests aren't tripping over them, getting splashed or squirted by them, or fighting to get through them to the bar (where they shouldn't be anyway).
I only went to two places off the resort. One was Ixtapa Island; the other was a restaurant called The Blue Shrimp, which I will review.
I would visit this resort again. But I would try and time my visit to begin on Tuesday or Wednesday, and plan off-resort activities for Friday and Saturday to avoid those crowds.

This was our 10th visit to Inter-Continental Presidente Ixtapa and as always we had a wonderful time! All of the staff are amazing and I do not understand the comment about activities announced only in Spanish! This has never been true in the 10 times we have been there. No food at the pool is absolutely the best thing they ever did! Tourists are so lazy they would leave their plates of leftover food sitting around and the birds were swarming in to grab it - kids would leave their food - birds would come and grab food off their plates and then the kids would come back and continue eating after the birds were pecking at their food! It was disgusting! Sorry to the person that wants to "eat with the birds around the pool".

We will be back next year for another amazing 2 weeks!