THE GOOD:
Architecturally, this is the stand-out hotel on the Acapulco beach. On the beach side, the 27 floors cascade from one level to the next in a dramatic curve. You enter from the street side by walking under a spectacular horseshoe formed by the walkway balconies of all of the floors. Every room has a balcony with a view of the beach. Rooms are light and airy, with gleaming white walls and shiny white tile floors--there does not appear to be a stitch of carpet in the building.

THE BAD:
Unfortunately, beauty is only skin deep, and those expecting accommodations equal to the spectacular appearance will be disappointed. Beds were very, very firm, and the bottom sheet was not long enough to cover both the top and bottom of the mattress, so wandering toes will find the exposed mattress.

The bath was adequate, but the tub in ours had undergone some epoxy/Fiberglas renovation treatment, leaving a strong chemical odor. The odor would have been unbearable had we not left the bathroom door closed with the fan on at all times.

The noise was incredible. Although our room was on the 24th floor, music blaring from loudspeakers on the first floor permeated the room until around 11 pm, at which time the traffic noises took over, punctuated by sporadic fireworks set off along the beach. In the morning, fireworks were replaced by sirens and car alarms. In defense of the hotel, it was Spring Break, and noise might have been less had we visited when the area was less festive.

THE COST:
We booked this on a special offer that came up while submitting a bid on priceline.com. We paid $64/room/night, which appeared to be an extremely good rate for in season.

ALL IN ALL:
We do not regret staying at the Acapulco Crowne Plaza--it was an interesting if not restful interlude in a landmark hotel. But, a return visit would be highly unlikely.

I went to Acapulco right before Thanksgiving of 2004. I went with 4 friends and we had a blast! When you walk into the entrance, it's all open air and lively. The staff there was nice, but the best part of our stay was our room. If you're able to request a room, we stayed on side of the hotel on the far right of the building (looking at the hotel from the street). We had TWO balconies. One next to the beds and one right next to it opposite the beds. The one opposite the beds was enormous! We had a spectacular view of the beach on the left and the mountains to the right. We didn't need a fan the whole time we were there b/c it was so windy and cool when we left the balcony doors open. I don't remember the food, but it must've been good b/c we ate a lot! All in all, we had a great stay there and I would definitely stay there again providing the maintenance and service hasn't soured since 2004!

The hotel is in a great location to go to the bar, grap a bus ride or do anything you want to do in town. There is security who is helpful but they repeatedly asked if we had a room and if we had padi for three people (which we had been surprised with when we arrived that our fair we paid travelocity did not cover three people.) When we were followed by someone to our hotel security was not much help in stopping him from following us up to the elevators. Other than that the cleaning lady was great and the pools were nice. Great views and very quiet for all the activity nearby. Restaurants were horribly over priced and food did nto look that great, we were glad we never did all inclusive.

Meeting of 45 people/32 rooms #1 did not bill quoted amount for non-mexican clients #2 meeting room too small and extremely hot - MGMT would not move us even though all rooms were empty, constantly asked to cool room and it would be OK for 30 minutes. Hotels room sheet said max of 40 people. it was so crowded they had to move coffee service outside and hotel guest got half of it. Food was mediocre at best. Service employees were wonderful. MGMT was least supportive of any place I do these meetings which is all over Latin America. Exactly opposite of Crown Plaza Tlanepantla. None of my group or their companies would ever return!!!!