The Costa de Oro is a great fit for us. We stayed for 10 nights recently; it was our second visit to the property. The hotel and its rooms are a bit dated, but are very well maintained by a dedicated staff.

The restaurant and pool waiters are very attentive to their customers, and didn't seem to care when we brought our own beverages to the pool in a cooler. There is quite a bit of "chair saving" at the pool; but, on our latest visit we didn't have much trouble finding a place to sit.

We highly recommend Poncho, the tour broker in the lobby. He is posted next to the little coffee stand, and should not be confused with the timeshare gals in the lobby. His son, Javier, will arrange fishing expeditions. We booked the fireworks cruise for Carnival with him for $50/person. When we had to cancel at the last minute, he cheerfully refunded our money. He also got us tickets for the local professional baseball team, the Venados. Mexican baseball is of high quality and a lot of fun to watch.

The hotel has safe boxes in the lobby, but only used on for our passports. We left our laptop, camera and other valuables in our closet. We tipped our maid daily, and she did a great job cleaning our room. She would even arrange the stuff we left laying around the vanity and the tables. A nice touch. The little store in the lobby has a lot of the little things you might need from time to time.

We attended their timeshare tour and received $200 in Costa Dollars for use in their bar and restaurants. The food in Adobe's was very good. I never recommend TS presentations to anyone who hasn't attended one, but this one was pretty low-key.

This is not a fabulous resort, but we're not into that type of vacation. Costa de Oro fits our needs because of its location, its price and, most of all, its people.

We stayed here Feb 1-8. It was OK. They have a nice big pool area but the pool water is not heated, it is very chilly. The hot tub is not hot, it is luke warm. It gets a little windy around the pool area too which can make it a little chilly this time of year. The price was not bad. We stayed in a pool area room on 4th floor. The room could use some renovation, although it did have a nice big new shower with plenty of hot water and volume. The walls are a bit thin. We could hear the neighbors telephone and hair dryer and voices. The location is near several restaurants and shops. Try Mr Coco's restaurant for breakfast. It is very affordable. Beers were $3.50 at the pool but if you buy in the hotel store and bring them out yourself they are only $1. The hotel is very close to the main street so there is some traffic noise. Basically, you get what you pay for. It is not a fancy hotel but not a dump, it is a middle of the road place. The vendors on the beach are very annoying.

I just returned from Costa de Oro... from the other reviews i read, let me just say that yes, if you are traveling with small kids, then this hotel may not be a good choice only because there are two great restaurants directly across the street that play live music almost every night .. no not mexican music either... the play list was very broad. Yes it is loud but I did not have a problem with it. You are there to have fun!!! The only time we were really in our rooms was to sleep or change before going out again. Our room was an ocean view room. The hotel has added a newer more updated addition, however I traveled with my fiance and his mother and a few others and we stayed in the older section. Although I admit they could use a small update, like the bedding and the chairs... I found the rooms to be extremely clean. I am a clean freak and I thought they did a great job! The rooms were cleaned and bed linen and towels were changed every day by 2 pm. The bathrooms were very nice and you can not beat the view. it is a good idea to bring your own beach towel and save a lounge chair or two as it becomes a bit hard to find one after about 9 am. I just threw on some shorts and ran down and saved a few chairs... the staff were great. Every morning the staff are present cleaning, scrubbing and making sure everything looks as best as it can.. why?.. because of all the new construction... they are by far the less expensive of the hotels on the strip.. and they want to keep up, so they work harder to please the customer. All I can say is I appreciated the very warm and friendly staff. I do have to agree that the drinks were not strong what so ever and so i bought a small bottle and just added my own to my juice i bought from our cabana peron Lucy... She was the best! There are so many new hotels being built along the beach that it is no wonder there are the time share people there asking you to sign up... but no worries, yes you get aproached by the time share people, but you simply have to say no, and keep walking. After a while they leave you alone.. i would not base the enyoyability factor due to the fact I was approached by a time share person.. that is rediculous! Costa De Oro was the perfect location.. it was within walking distance to so many shops and restaurants. We will be going back next year.!!!

We... where do I start?
We have never been to Mazatlan and my goal is to go to a different hot spot every year so when a seat sale came up with West Jet we jumped at the chance to visit Mazatlan using our RCI points.
From the moment we got off the plane we were attacked by the ‘Time Share Sharks.’ We attempted to get a taxi for the 40 minutes cab ride from the Airport to the Hotel. When we asked to get a taxi for the Costa De Oro, we were told we must see ‘so and so’, when we went to see the guy who we thought was a representative of the Hotel, it was a ‘Shark.’
We got finally got our cab and we were off to the Hotel. After checking in, we were walking to the elevator when we were ‘attacked’ again by a ‘Shark.’ This time it was a Hotel employee, she wouldn’t take no for an answer. This is really starting to aggravate me after our long day and having to fight off these ‘Sharks.’
This was the start of a week long daily regime of fighting off ‘Sharks” at every corner on every street and even trying to walk down the beach. Our attempt to enjoy the sun and sand left us fighting off ‘Sharks’ and ‘Peddlers.’ This was, by no means, a relaxing vacation.
The Peddlers where also harassing, they were everywhere!!!! On every excursion they would be waiting for the bus, even when we went on Stone Island tour they were there, in your face and not taking no for an answer. I was getting so frustrated I would walk with my head down looking at my feet, just so they would attempt to leave me alone. This is by no means enjoyable when I want to enjoy the sun, sand, scenery.
We wanted to get some souvenirs so we took a cab to the market. Everything the peddlers were selling on the beach is located at this market for at least ¼ of the price. They sell everything at this market, from fruit, veg, meat, cloths etc. If you are at least a little squeamish then you might what to avoid the meat section as they cut a whole animal right in the open. My 10 year old will not eat pork or beef now after seeing a pigs head sitting on the counter and then they were skinning a cow head….yuck…
We went to the Mexican fiesta which is held every Tuesday and Saturday. It cost us $200.00 to bring the five of us there, I don’t think it was worth the money. The buffet did not give you a lot of choices and if your children are some what picky they might go hungry. My 10 and 14 where really bored and falling asleep, we left at 9pm, 1 ½ hours before the end.
Aside from the harassment from the “Sharks’ and ‘Peddlers’ the Hotel had friendly staff and if I needed anything I had it delivered to my door within 5 minutes of making a phone call to the front desk.
Our suite was indeed older, but hey, we are not at a new five start resort. My only complaint was the road noise, as the front of our room faced the street and the patio doors were to the ocean, since the bed was closer to the street, all I heard was cars, cars, more cars.
Happy hour was between 1-2 pm, the drinks are two for one. This is great if you don’t expect much alcohol in your drink. I never once tasted alcohol in the drinks during happy hour. We ended up bringing some rum down in another glass to put in our drinks from the Bartender, and then we could taste it. They provide you with a blender in suites with kitchenettes, so we bought some rum, and pina colada mix in the store located in the hotel and mixed our own drinks when it wasn’t happy hour. We saved a lot of money this way.
We cooked breakfast and lunch in the kitchenette, and went out every night to experience some Mexican food. The best fajitas I have had were located at the Hotel restaurant itself. After four days of Mexican food we needed a change and found this amazing sandwich shop across the street called Mary’s Sandwich Shop. I had the best bacon/cheeseburger that I think I have ever had, and who would have thought I would have found it in Mexico?
All in all, it was an experience to visit Mazatlan. I was extremely disappointed in the harassment and due to that we will not go back and will not recommend it to anyone who wants to go on vacations to get some peace and quiet. If you chose to go to Mazatlan, do some research and pick a Hotel that is not located in town or the “Golden Zone” I believe you can eliminate some harassment but definitely not all of it because you get attacked leaving the airport.