Crown Pacific Deluxe Suite Resort Hotel

We stayed at the Crown Pacific the first two weeks of January 2006. We have been to Mexico 14 times and have stayed at 8 all inclusives in four different areas. Basically, we found the CP to be just OK. Definitely a three star property. The Food Our biggest complaint was the food. We love trying new foods and we both love real Mexican food but the food here was over cooked and too heavy with sauces. The breakfast was great and the coffee wonderful. The one ala carte night was horrible and we ended up going back to the buffet for Tex Mex which was pretty good. Every night is theme night at dinner, some much better then others. International and Italian nights were the best and not to be missed. We arrived at the hotel at 5:30pm to find that there was no food available anywhere in the resort until 7:30pm. My husband spoke to the food manager and they brought us and another couple out a plate full of food. We were very impressed with this service. We found the bar hours confusing, the beach bar didn't open until 11 am. Now this doesn't sound too bad, as no one needs to drink before 11 am, but there was nothing available, no water no pop, nothing. One day my brother asked for water and was told that the bar was not open yet he walked away and a young woman approached the bartender and got two bottles of water right away. My brother was not impressed. Another time at the pool bar, the same brother asked for water at 10:57 am. Again, he was told it was too early. He walked backed to his lounge chair, only to have the bartender followed him back with water saying it is now 11:00 am here is your water. Talk about following the rules! We went to Don Portfino's for dinner and we had the rib eye steak, which was wonderful. My mother had the lobster at $40 USD, which was horrible! The jumbo shrimp looked really good and she wished she had ordered it at only $17 USD. We also tried Creama downtown...great pizza and excellent service. The Rooms The rooms are the best part of this resort. Big clean and despite what others have said, I found the hard beds to be very comfortable. So much so that I am thinking about buying a harder mattress for home. We started on the 10th floor bottom level and found the room to be musty and plaster was falling off around the shower. We moved to the 7th floor and loved it there. The pool area was never noisy and we had a beautiful view. The Service With a few exceptions, around the inflexibility at the bar, we found the staff at this resort to be very nice and accommodating. Paty at the front desk was great and the maid service was exceptional. Our room was also cleaned extremely well. We were very disappointed with the transportation around the resort. We choose this hotel party because of the reviews that said that transportation was not a problem. We had an elderly mother with us and we found it very difficult to get her around. We waited many times for 10 or 15 minutes for a shuttle and one day she waited in the heat for almost an hour. The funicular was not working the whole three weeks that my family was there, so we depended on the shuttle service. We were told that this hotel is selling as condos and therefore the service is not what it once was. The Area We would go back to Huatulco again but not to The Crown Pacific. We do like the Tulum area better, but it is getting too crowed. In Huatulco we had perfect weather, the water was warm and the local people even warmer. The Beach The beach at CP is very small. We found that we had to claim our chairs before 8:30 am to get shade at the beach or around the pool. The beach chairs do not have mattresses so they were very uncomfortable. We rented a boat and saw hundreds of dolphins and many giant turtles. If you go to Huatulco, stay at the Gala. We met many people from there that raved about it.

My wife and I just returned from a very nice week at the Crown Pacific and we'd happily stay there again. We stayed with our 15-month-old, who had a great time too. The weather was consistently warm and sunny and the whole area is clean, safe, uncrowded, and easy to navigate, which is what we wanted in a vacation spot. I haven't been to an all-inclusive resort before, but here are my impressions: LAYOUT Soon after arriving, I had the impression that the design could easily have been inspired by Dr. Seuss---in a good way. Little vehicles transport people up and down a switchbacked pathway of a hotel which is not so much vertical or horizontal as angular. It's built on a hillside in loosely-joined buildings, and shuttles drive you to your room and back. You could get to the upper rooms if you had reduced mobility (there are ramps and elevators within each section), but I think you'd be happier staying nearer to the reception. For us however, hopping on a little truck to get to our room added greatly to the character of the place. The beach (where they serve lunch and supper) is a nice little walk from the reception, although you can always take a shuttle. These are almost omnipresent, and only once or twice did we wait more than a couple minutes for one. FOOD I strongly disagree with the negative reviews of the food---it ranged from good to excellent. Except for one night à la carte, all the meals are buffet-style. Each night has a different theme, and the Oaxaca, Mexican and Tex-Mex nights were the best. Anything with mole sauce is great. The fresh quesadillas (which you could get every day with anything on them) are something you can't get at home, and I loved the various kinds of chilaquiles every morning, which I'd never seen before. (In fact, I was inspired enough that I've been looking on Amazon for a Oaxacan cookbook.) Some people complained about spiciness, but I can't imagine how they'd have gotten that impression, except by making the false assumption anything strange-looking must be spicy and should be avoided. In fact, only a very few dishes had much heat at all---but you could add more yourself if you wanted. Here, I agree with Norman (Hi, Norman!) about the people whining about Mexican food: maybe they should go to another destination.... Like England, for example. Some people also mentioned that the range of food is limited---this isn't correct. It's only limited if you are looking for the same stuff you get at home. There were at least 10 main dishes per meal, plus the stuff they served for you on-demand (e.g. the barbequeue or the freshly made tortillas), plus the salads, fresh fruit, desserts and miscellaneous other things---plus hamburgers, hot dogs and french fries at lunch. There were at least three desserts, always including flan. The international nights were less interesting to me. I can have Italian food any time here at home, and the food in the buffet that night was ok, but not stellar. We didn't make it to the à la carte night since our infant son is easier to manage at buffets, but it sounded like seating was limited, and some people were disappointed they were unable to go. There are a couple restaurants within walking distance---it would be a nice change to get to one once or twice on these nights. Thankfully, there are no McDonalds, Burger Kings or anything remotely resembling them anywhere in Huatulco---this in itself should be enough to recommend the place. CLEANLINESS This place is very clean---the cleaning staff work their butts off, and you can even see them sweeping up the few leaves that have fallen off the plants overnight. As for the insect rumour, we talked with a lot of people, and no one complained about bed bugs. PEOPLE The people who work here are very friendly. The command of English amongst the staff ranges from completely fluent to unilingual Spanish, but everyone is agreeable and language is never a problem---you can always communicate somehow. Personally, I was quite happy to have the opportunity to go to Mexico and to try to use my limited Spanish. The staff loved our 15-month old, and never stopped commenting on his blonde hair and blue eyes. By the time the week was up, we could hardly go from our room to the lobby without a staff member saying "Hola, Lucas!" to our son. The guests here are also very friendly. Some people who had only been to Cancun remarked how much more amiable the atmosphere is here. My informal estimates during the meals were that people were about 50% Canadian and 50% Mexican, with maybe one or two Americans. We met lots of Albertans, Ontarians and Mexicans from Mexico City, and no one seemed to mind our occasionally-cranky baby. (In fact, one Mexican family thought he was so cute that they took some video of him.) BEACH & POOL I couldn't figure out why no one was in the 7th floor pool after about 8. We swam alone many times in the warm night under the stars. And the beach is huge and uncrowded. We went in the middle of the day in high season and never really had a problem getting a chair. If you walk down to the end of the beach, you can see little fish swimming around in between your legs. There are vendors on the beach (as everywhere in Mexico), but they are very unobtrusive. TIPPING Tipping is controversial at an AI resort, but I got the feeling that you really should expect to tip, regardless of what the semantic police say about the words "All Inclusive". Service was good whether we tipped or not, but I felt that it was probably the correct thing to do---these people were working really hard in the heat, and a trip outside the resort shows that people don't make a hell of a lot of money here. If you paid that much to get there, you can afford a few bucks extra. If not, buy a few fewer crappy T-Shirts. It seemed that 20 pesos per night for the maid staff was good, although I gave them a bit more since they lugged some extra stuff up for us (like a crib). Since people don't work seven days a week, it's good to do it nightly so that the relief person doesn't get an unexpected bonus. I think 10 pesos per bag is ok for the bellboy/drivers (so take some with you for when you arrive). I also tipped people who brought us drinks and highchairs at our meals, but less often. TRIPS & TOURS With our little guy, we didn't make that many side trips. We went to La Crucecita, which was a nice, real Mexican town (can you believe it's only a couple decades old?), and Santa Cruz, which was mostly a tourist trap (at least where we found ourselves). In both places, little Mexican boys and girls came running over to play with our son in the main square. I also took the Expohuatulco trip to Pochutla and the Coffee Plantation---which was a fascinating side trip in itself with our preternaturally well-informed guide Carlos (or "Charlie"). I'll try to post about that elsewhere. THINGS I'D LIKE TO SEE Water & Ice: It'd be nice to have bottled water and ice easily available from the floor you're on. I was on the 7th floor, and I never did figure out where the ice was. (We never drank anything with ice cubes based on the warnings about Mexican water in Canadian digestive systems, but it would have been nice for cooling some bottles). Funicular repaired: There was an out-of-service funicular there; it would be great to have it work. Refrigerator: Apparently there were some once upon a time. In a hot climate, it's really nice to have a fridge. This would also have been nice for our infant son. More à la carte nights: We didn't care too much to miss the one sit-down meal, but I think people would have liked to have a few more. CONCLUSION It was a great time---we'd gladly come back here again!

We just returned from a one week stay at the Crown Pacific,Jan.6-13/06.Huatulco is absolute paradise,the people are exceptionally friendly and the near by towns Santa Cruz and La Crucesita are 100% safe to visit day or nite. Here's what I can help you out with: BEACH: Perfect in every way. Alot of chairs available,loungers will be available as long as you get down to the beach by around 10am.The bar is right there,as well as the lunch buffet.The ocean is AMAZING! POOL: Right there by the beach and also on the 7th floor.The beach pool has vollyball,music and is always lively.The 7th floor pool is large with plenty of room and loungers.It has a bar and Lunch is surved there as well. FRONT DESK: Check in and check out was fast,they always have a smile,and are very friendly.You will receive cards to turn in for beach towels.Remember you must return the towels,if you don't it will cost you $20.00/towel.Make sure you read the info. they give you. LOBBY BAR: It has a large t.v. and a pool table,always a nice place to hang out for drinks before dinner and after.The bar tender Victor is awesome. ROOM: Let me tell ya,they are HUGE!! After you spend the whole day in the heat it's nice to have a private place to go with a air conditioner. We were on the 9th level,what a view!! The room had a big jet hot tub/shower with a large sliding door you could open right up and see the ocean.AMAZING!! It also had a king size bed.(a bit hard but not to bad at all)It was Very clean. GYM AND SPA: Didn't use the Spa,but the gym was perfect. It had music,air conditioning,free weights, some nautilus equipment,and bikes.No need to use the bikes,you'll do alot of walking being that the hotel is on a hill side.There are shuttle buses to take you around also.(You never have to wait long for one to come around.) SIGNATURE TOURS: Two words, NEVER AGAIN!! THE BUFFET: Breakfast was Awesome,eggs any way you want,cereal,toast,fresh fruit.Lunch,just fine there was always alot to pick from.(they always had hamburgers and fries,YUM!)Dinner,I found awesome.Always ALOT to pick from.TIP:STAY AWAY FROM THE SAUCES.(the hot food with sauces are fine)ie.NO MAYONNAISE. ENTERTAINMENT: Not great,but we didn't go for that. ATMOSPHERE: Heaven,perfect in every way!! MUST DO: Eat at Don Porfinio,it's just down the main road to the left,on the right side of the street.(huge shrimp about $220 pesos.) Eat at La crema,It's in the town of La Crucesita.Amazing pizza and atmosphere.It has a huge statue of Bob Marley on top of the restaurant.(right by the shopping mall) Shop in both town's,very fun it's Only $2.50 for a taxie.(you will not have trouble finding a taxie) We will be going back to Huatulco,and will stay at the Crown Pacific again,We highly recommend it.Have a great vacation!!

We flew to Huatulco on December 30th 2005, to stay at the Crown Pacific Resort Hotel for two weeks. We had stayed there seven years before, and were very pleased once again. The resort offers the largest rooms in the area, and the views of Tangolunda Bay are breathtaking. STAFF: The staff at the resort was very friendly and helpful. The staff all speak some English, and all try. It helps, too if you try a little Spanish. The rooms were always clean and fresh. It should be noted that you will get excellent service that is NOT dependent on whether you tip or not. We were impressed with the high standard of service. Tip if you want to acknowledge special service, but you do not have to. The bartenders mix the drinks you request - the way you want them: if you only want a little or no liquor, that is what they give you. This is important as in some resorts this is sometimes taken as a challenge to give you extra... Mexican Beer is great – much better than US or many CDN beers. Bottled water was also always available. ENTERTAINMENT: There was entertainment 7 nights a week - the usual corny stuff put on by the activities crew - but a great deal of fun. The sound was loud during these at first but as time went on the volume was lowered to a more manageable level. BEACH CLUB: The beach club is about two blocks from the hotel, which is a nice walk, or the hotel has a constant tramcar service all the time from your room to and from the lobby and to and from the beach. This is where the main buffet is located as well. The funicular, which is a small train that runs from the lobby up to the rooms, was out of order. I hope it is fixed soon as without it you have to take the tramcars or walk up to your rooms. ACTIVITIES: There is plenty to do at the resort, as they have pool activities and sea kayaks as well as a sailboat available at no cost to guests. There is one enclosed Tennis court. There is a nice Spa with steam baths and gym free to guests, with massages, etc. available for extra cost FOOD: The food is wonderful. This is real Mexican fare, and nicely done. Yes, some local delicacies, such as roasted crickets are available, but the staff is very careful to point out what is what so there are no accidents. Most people tried the crickets - they were not too bad – not to my taste, though. The Chorizo sausage (highly spiced Pork) is terrific! All courses are labeled as to what they are. The Tamayo Restaurant is in the main lobby building where there breakfast is served every morning, and a reservation-only dinner on Tuesday nights. The "Omelets Lady" at the Tamayo does a fine job of making whatever breakfast you want, including omelet’s, fried or scrambled eggs, pancakes, etc. You point out what you want in your omelet, ham, sausage, cheese, tomato, etc. Breakfast is especially enjoyable here as you can sit around a lovely pool surrounded by Palms. There is a snack bar at the level 7 pool that serves continental breakfast and lunch (hamburgers, fries, nachos). The main buffet for Lunch and Dinner is at the beach club, where there is always a large assortment of salads and fruit, as well as having beef, pork and chicken dishes available every night. Fish dishes are also available three nights out of five. Rich Mole' sauces are served, about four varieties. California wines were served at dinner. There are “theme” nights. The desserts are to die for. At lunch, tasty Hamburgers and Fries are added to the menu in case you want them. GRIPES: I noticed that some people were complaining about the food – IF YOU WANT THE FOOD TO BE THE SAME AS YOU GET AT HOME, STAY HOME. If you want a good Pizza, they are available at La Crema in La Crucecita. There are many good restaurants in the towns, if you wish to try them. FIESTAS: We were there for New Years' for which we had a lovely banquet, and fireworks from every hotel in the area provided a special way of ringing in 2006. There were two more Mexican celebrations we shared, one when the kids all wrote a wish, attached it to a balloon and then released them all at once - great fun! The other was the Fiesta Del Tres Reyes Magi, (feast of the Epiphany), where everyone got a piece of a special cake with surprises inside! These made for a super holiday. NIGHT LIFE: The surrounding towns of Santa Cruz and La Crucecita provided plenty of nightlife in addition to shopping, which was best early in the day or after sunset – it does get hot in the afternoons. TRAVEL: You travel by taxi, but all the rates are reasonable and fixed; it costs 25 pesos to go to Santa Cruz or La Crucecita and the rates to other places are posted. MONEY EXCHANGE: Banks give fair rates – better than the hotels, and they are found Santa Cruz. Banamex gave us a good rate but HBSC, Bancomer, etc are all good. TOURS: There were many excellent tours offered, which were always available cheaper from local tour companies (especially those in the plaza just between the hotel and the beach club) than the travel agents in the hotel. You can even try surfing! They rent surfboards at La Bocana, a great beach with two great restaurants, mud baths on the Copalita River, and thousands of birds. You can get there from the hotel for 40 Pesos each way. The taxi driver will even come back to get you later – just tell him when and he will be there. If you are adventurous, just walk up the hill to the highway and flag down a taxi. If they have a fare already, they will carry you home for 20 pesos. On the way to La Bocana, if you look off toward the ocean you can see Madonna’s house - one of a group of high-end villas on a hill. The President of Mexico also has a house there) INTERNET: There is internet service available: We used the DSL high-speed connection offered by two great guys from Montreal with a scooter and car rental/internet shop located in the plaza just below the hotel. WEATHER: For the two weeks we were there, the days were sunny with highs in the 30-35 degree Celsius range and around 20 at night. SUMMARY: This hotel was a great buy (we shop on the internet). The rooms were clean and bright, the food was good, the staff was great, and there were lots to do. The guests were nearly 50% Canadian and 50% Mexican with a few from the USA, Europe and South America, which made for a great interaction. The hotel was completely renovated over the Summer with new management, and they are making a sincere effort to make your stay there enjoyable and special. They act like they really want you to come back. We will! Hotels nearby cost considerably more and gave you less. A GREAT HOLIDAY! AIR CARRIER: We flew with SkyService, which uses B757’s. We flew from Calgary through Vancouver, and on the return the plane went mechanical, which led to a long layover in Vancouver and an Air Canada trip home the next day. We appreciate the safety concerns, but there seem to have been a few mechanical delays with them lately, and things like problems with the in-flight movies, etc. If this continues we will be considering other air carriers in the future

The bottom line with the Crown Pacific is…well…it’s OK. A solid three star, maybe three and a half stars if you were generous, but just OK. My family and I stayed there over New Year’s, and here are our thoughts… Location. The front door of the resort is about 500 yards from the beach, and although the trams come along semi regularly to take you there, you’ll probably end up walking more often than not….which may not be a bad thing. The CP is built on the side of a hill/mountain, which can afford some spectacular views the higher you go, but not necessarily. For example, we were on the top floor of villa # 8 (of 10, #’s 1 & 2 are near the bottom and they count up as you ascend the hill), but our view was almost completely obscured by the palm trees that they’ve planted right in front of the building! I felt like Arte Johnson from ”Laugh-In” (Veeeeery-intereesting…..), but without the trees, or perhaps in a few years when they grow taller, the view of the bay would be spectacular from there, as it likely is in some of the other suites in other villas. BTW, villa # 8 is another 500 yards from the main lobby, so our total trek to the beach as 1km either way…again, given it’s an “all-inclusive”, not necessarily a bad thing. Rooms. Very big, clean, airy, everything works; a/c is enough to kill most of the heat, but no bar fridge, which would have been nice if only to keep water and such cold. Hard to say which villa would be best as the lower ones are a shorter walk from the lobby, but might not have the views. The higher ones are probably quieter with the exception of # 7 which is beside the upper pool/bar area, but since the upper bar closes at 8, it’s probably not an issue. Service. Not horrible, but not outstanding and one of the reasons I wouldn’t give the CP a fourth star. People were friendly enough but seemed to be going through the motions more often than not. The beach club (more on that later) bar ran out of beer pretty much every day about 2pm and they never seemed to be in a hurry to replenish and service there was quite slow most of the time. Front desk was OK, check in and out was fairly quick and the lobby bar had its moments, especially later in the evening. Food. Just OK. Basically, you’ve got two choices for Breakfast, the seventh floor pool area (continental) and the main building eating area by the pond (full). We never did get to the seventh floor, so I can only comment on the pond-side place. It was OK, but due to the number of Mexican guests, it is decidedly Mexican in its fare. I was OK with it, but if you’re expecting the full range buffet with bacon, ham and the like…..don’t. You can get eggs anyway you want them and pancakes from the outside grill, but the line-ups were long. Fruit selection was OK, but limited and the same thing every day…but the coffee was pretty good. During the day, you can eat at the seventh floor pool place (open at 11am to 8pm) or the beach club down by the ocean. Fare on both levels is pretty much hamburgers or hot dogs with some additional salads and fries and such down at the beach club which weren’t all that bad most of the time. There’s only one place to eat for dinner and that’s at the beach club between 730 and 1030. They kick it up a notch on quality for dinner, but it still ends up being…just “OK”. There is a la carte opportunity, but one night only (Tuesday) and you can book it the day before only. We did it, and it was nice and given the restaurant is air-conditioned and they dress the room up a bit, it was a nice change. The beach club is an interesting place, a sliver of land about 50 feet wide stuck between the golf course and the Barceló. There’s a fairly big, under cover eating area, then a pool, then the beach. The beach area by the water is public so you can walk up and down the shore to your heart’s content, and each resort creates an area outside it’s “back-door” for guests. The CP’s Beach Club area is fairly small, but you could wander down there as late as 9 or 930am and still get a place under one of those grass umbrellas for protection, and you’ll need it as the sun is VERY strong (don’t forget you’re on the 16th parallel!). The poolside music there during the day is fairly loud and although they receive complaints daily, they don’t do anything about it. It didn’t bother us much, but the seventh floor pool was probably quieter, maybe better for families with young kids and afforded some nice views of the bay. Odds & Sodds… For a 25 peso set taxi fare, you can take a cab into the two neighboring towns, Santa Cruz and La Crucecita and that’s where you’ll find some semblance of nightlife, which is non-existent at the resorts. Keep in mind it doesn’t get going until late in the evening, but my late teen and early 20-year-old kids had fun at a Club called Le Papaya and got home REAL late! For the older crowd the Café Dublin is a great little Irish pub with mostly Canucks and Yanks and real football on the toob as opposed to the 24-hour a day diet of soccer you’ll see on the TV at the CP. Some good shopping in the towns and some good restaurants, although I’ve never seen the logic of going out for dinner while staying at an all inclusive, no matter how average the grub is. The Snorkeling in the area is fantastic, we went on an all day trip with Hurricane Divers and were very pleased with the knowledge, service and shore lunch they provided. They’ve got a good website, try to reserve in advance as they’re usually booked up…Roberto is the boss and a top-notch guy with help from his wifie Paulina. If you’re going to go parasailing or fishing, try to make a direct deal with the boat operator as opposed to the guys on the beach or your hotel, always a better value. Talked to many people who were yanking tuna out of the water like crazy, including some other Albertans who had the “chef” at the CP grill up a big one that they shared with other gringos at dinner. There’s no duty free at the airport so buy your mescal and teck in town or before you go. Airport is modern and efficient and the bus ride into town is about 30 minutes. All in all, a not bad place if you can get a good deal, but we talked to some who were staying at the Gala, had booked well in advance and were paying way less than we were at the CP. If you can get a good rate there or the Barceló or Las Brisias, you’d probably be advised to do so…but if not, you’ll be OK at the Crown Pacific!

My wife and I returned from a one week stay at the Crown Pacific and for the most part, really enjoyed our time there. The Hotel: The rooms are exactly as they are shown in all the brochures - very spacious and well appointed if a little worn around the edges. We were in building #6 on the top floor with a corner suite - the view of the bay is truly spectacular. The house-keeping staff do a great job keeping rooms and the hotel in general very clean. Pools: We spent almost all our time at the pool on the 7th level - we found the beach pool just too hectic and noisy. The pool on 7 was always very clean and well maintained and never overly busy - we could almost always find a lounger whenever we would show up. Great poolside bar with a super bartender named Miguel who trys to push tequilla shots on everyone. Restaurants: Here's where the hotel runs into trouble. They have 3 restaurants but none of them is open all day. The poolside reataurant on 7, called Cielito Lindo is open for breakfast but choices are very limited. Breakfast always consisted of fruit, cereal, sticky buns, toast and coffee. They stay open until 5PM and serve hamburgers, hotdogs, fries and quesdillas throughout the day. The second restaurant is opposite the lobby (Tamayo) and is open for breakfast serving as above plus omelettes, pancakes and a Mexican buffet. If you're Canadian or American and looking for bacon, sausages, hash browns etc, You're out of luck. Tamayo is only open for breakfast except for Monday? when they serve an a la carte menu. Very strange. Lastly, there is the beach side restaurant which serves lunch and dinner. Never tried lunch but I did attempt dinner twice. The food can only be described as swill. On one of the nights I was there the buffet menu consisted of beef in red sauce(chunks of stewing beef), mole chicken (black sauce), chicken and grasshoppers in green sauce(I kid you not!), rice and some sort of soup. Disgusting. We ate all our evening meals in town where you can find any number of good inexpensive restaurants. We didn't do any of the tours because my wife is recovering from knee surgery but if you're lookinfg for a quiet relaxing holiday, Crown Pacific is the place. A few extra notes: Found a scorpion in our bathroom - they come up thru the floor drain. Quickly dispatched and given burial at sea. You may read concerns about getting around the property - you need not worry. You can catch a tram that takes you from your building to the lobby and the beach club simply by phoning the front dask. You will find that the hotel caters mainly to their Mexican gusets so they are only a limited number of staff who understand English - you just have to be patient. Excellent restaurants in town. I would suggest Terra Cotta, great food, smoke free, and air conditioned.

We arrived on December 26th and stayed two weeks, got back this morning. Flew Skyservice form Toronto. Mechanical problems in flight forced a landing in Cancun en route. So 4.5 hour flight became 9 hours. Such lenghty delays happen to us half the time we fly with Skyservice... not sure why. FOOD: Food at hotel was edible. I don't like spicy foods, and wish they would try to make some Mexican dishes without the spiciness. Had no guacamole while there - the kind they offered was too spicy, like many of their dishes. Most important, though, we did not get sick from any of the food. But choices were minimal and we seemed to eat a lot of burgers and fries towards the end of the trip. There are lots of bottles of water available at all the bars all day long. You can take some up to your rooms too, if the maids don't leave enough. One strange thing is that there are lineups every night for dinner. I never experienced that at other hotels before. KIDS CLUB: We spent our days at the beach club. Our kids loved the kids club, which is at the beach club, near the pool. There is no kids' pool at the beach club, and the pool there is small and sometimes crowded, about 4 feet deep across. Carmen, Betsa and Candi, the girls who work at the kids' club, are sweet and paid a lot of attention to our kids. EVENING ENTERTAINMENT: There was a show about 5 nights a week at 8:30 or 9:30pm on the stage at the beach club restaurant where you eat dinner. The shows were ok, put on by the animacion staff (6 in all, plus a DJ). They are talented and engaging, we enjoyed it, but it's not for everyone. BED BUGS: There are none. OUR ROOM: 10th floor, large, two walkouts, nice view of the Bay. There was always a smell of sewage coming from the bathroom, though, at all hours of the day. Not sure why. Maids did a good job, tipped them $3/day. Hair dryer in the room, no coffee maker. Bring your own if you want fresh coffee in the morning! Sometimes you catch a bus right when you want it, sometimes you wait 10 or even 20 minutes. No big deal, but can be a little frustrating. MY WISH LIST: - more food choices that are not spicy. - pads on the beach loungers (towels are not enough!!) - Not closing the beach bar between 6pm and 7:30pm. - fridges in the rooms - no lineups for dinner OVERALL: Overall we enjoyed our experience there. Two weeks of blue skies, never rained. Ocean was menacing at times. This is not a gentle beach for young children!! But you can walk down to the Gala beach where the rocks are and the waves are much smaller. There are fish there too, and clear water. It's like an aquarium!! The kids loved that. Also, try to walk the other way (west) 100 metres to the Quinta Real hotel, and watch the iguana feedings at 1:30 every day!! Fun for kids and adults too. This hotel is not luxury, but is a nice spot to stay and relax for a week or two, if the price is right. I would not pay as much to go the Crown Pacific as I would to go to the Barcelo next door, or the Gala one hotel over, or the Brisas down the beach. And I didn't have to. We wore shorts and short-sleeved shorts to dinner at night - it's always warm, although one night it was a chilly 17 degrees celcius. Bottom line: I would go back to this hotel.

Hi, everyone: For a more detailed discussion about this hotel, please see the Forums page that starts with 'bedbugs'. No... there are not any bedbugs at this hotel. Just rumour gone rampant. We spent Christmas at the Crown Pacific. We researched the hotel and new about the climb up the steps to our room. Each building has 3 floors. We were in Blgd. 9, on the 3rd floor. Magnificent view. Very clean. Good maid service. Jacuzzi bath/shower with a large window that opened over the bay!!!! King sized bed. The pool is on Level 7 complete with a little bar and cafe. Nice and quiet. Great place to see the bay and kick back and relax. All the noisy people are down at the beach club. Beware the beach club. Small, loud and very crowded. There is also a pool and the activities staff are busy all day long blaring music and keeping people hopping. Very difficult to step into the Pacific from this beach... try walking down 1/2 way to Las Brisas and it's a little... only a little bit better access. Breakfast is in the lobby restaurant, 2nd floor. Lunch is at the beach club restaurant as is supper. Also a little entertainment show each evening. Snacks of quesadillas, hotdogs, hamburgers and/or salad can be had at the 7th floor cafe... also a continental breakfast there. Food is average to good. Depends on the night. To get around the hotel, little shuttles appear every 15 mins or so or...simply dial 0 and call one from your room. It will meet you at the entrance to your building. Staff speak limited English but this is usually not a problem. Most of the guests are Mexicans mixed with Canadians. Only a few Americans. Staff are very polite and helpful if you need them. Front desk staff speak English. Overall, a great, relaxing experience!!! Nothing wrong with this hotel! We would go again. 'Canucks'

We stayed a fun week at the Crown Pacific in January 2005: 2 adults and 2 girls, 13 and 11: better than Zihuatanejo in 2004, we agreed. We enjoyed the pool, accommodations (level 10 - great view of Tangolunda Bay!) and helpful and friendly staff, golf, tennis, snorkling, Santa Cruz, Dona Celia, guieter/slower pace. We tend to prefer **** and *** vacations to ***** ones. We could easily return to Huatulco this winter but wonder if there're other places something like it in Mexico or the Caribbean. Isla Mujeres sounds appealing, but there's no golf or tennis, unfortunately.

We stayed at the Crown Pacific for two weeks in March 2005. First the rooms are huge and very clean. The cleaning staff is exceptional and we always had something fancy in our room like a swan made out of the bath mat with a flower. We found that transporting from our room (on the 8th floor with a great veiw) to either restaurant was easy and fun and we never had to wait more than five minutes to catch the shuttle or the fanicular I don't think walking is a problem as you don't have to walk if you don't want to. Our children loved Malia who was the kids club coordinator and the children's acitvities were great and close to Mom and Dad so you never had to worry, yet you had a bit of adult time. Service at meals was rather poor the first week even though we tipped - it was a famous Mexican holiday time so I guess the Mexicans received preference and we noticed didn't tip. So we were at a loss as to getting service for drinks to tip or not to tip seemed to have the same affect we were ignored a lot. The breakfast and lunches were great. The dinner's were fine but of course were buffet style so you could choose. There was usually something you could fill up on. The activites were fun and the staff tryed to get all involved was excellent. They were fun and very friendly. The staff at the front counter weren't very friendly at all and were almost to the point of rude on numerous occasions. It would help if the bar beside the pool was open later than 5:30 as for people who were located close by it would have been really convenient to stay. However all in all I think we made a great choice to stay at the Crown Pacific and would recommend it especially to families! The pools were great!!!