Club Intrawest: Zihuatanejo Travel Tips
After reading several reviews in order to plan the best vacation possible this year. I decided to impart my knowledge on others who may decide to visit this resort. My Fiance and I just became owners of a Hilton Grand Vacations property and Hilton has a relationship with Club Intrawest that allows Hilton owners to use their points at these locations as well. Here is what I was able to find out.
1. Stay away from non-tourist areas at night
Don't travel or walk outside of the tourist areas at night. There are some locals that have mentioned that these areas can be very dangerous for tourists. However, they say that if you stay in the touristy areas you will be fine. To be safe, I would recommend only traveling outside of the resort area during the day.
2. How to deal with the bugs
There have been some reports of bugs being found in hotel rooms, and/or a mosquito problem at night. According to resort management, the mosquitoes are at their worst during the rainy seasons, so either plan your trip around these seasons, or bring bug spray. They also mention that if you keep your room closed up, fans on, and food away, you won't have a problem with the bugs inside your hotel room.
3. Attention non-Intrawest Club Members
If you are not a Club Intrawest member/owner, or are a Hilton owner like me, you need to make sure you book early so you can make sure that you have the room that you want. Some people try to book later to get a better deal, but you are more likely to get a nicer room if you book early. I've read some reviews of non-members not able to get the nicer rooms. Just be aware of this. Also, if you don't need the Ocean-front view, or don't spend on being in your room very often, maybe this won't matter for you. I personally just want to have the best possible view, because I want to wake up and be surrounded by epic beauty.
4. Food Reviews and Packages
I have heard mixed things about the food at this resort. Some people say that they used their points for their food and they absolutely loved it and others said that the food was awful, so I suppose it depends on your standards and what kinds of food you enjoy. I would try out the resort food for a few days and you can always purchase a food package later if you really like it.
5. Limited Chairs by the pool/beach
I have heard that during peak seasons there not enough chairs by the pool/ocean for everyone to enjoy the space and the resort frowns upon saving/reserving chairs. I would say that you still might want to if you can get away with it. Otherwise you might not get a spot by the pool. The other way to avoid this issue is go in their off/seasons or get up super early and go layout started at sunrise.
6. Affordable Food and Alcohol
Many reviews mentioned that drinks and food are inexpensive around the area and they have a drink special every day at the resort that is 2 for 1. There are also great drink specials at surrounding bars and/or restaurants.
7. Tiny Kitchen
My Fiance and I signed on with Hilton Grand Vacations because we wanted to always have the option to cook our own food if we wanted/needed to. My fiance has Celiac's disease, and the last time we were in Mexico, he was very sick every day of our vacation. We wanted to avoid that by cooking the majority of our meals in the kitchen, however according to several of the reviews I have seen the kitchen only has a sink, and a fridge so any meal planning would either have to be cold items, or microwavable things and being Gluten free, we'd have to be very creative with this kind of set-up. However, I found out that if you get a 3 bedroom suite, you do get a full-kitchen so check with them when you call and see which rooms have a full-kitchen and which do not. If only the 3 bedroom ones do, then you could always call up some friends or family and have them join you.
8. Vendors
There aren't many tourist locations where you won't find locals trying to sell you things. From the reviews I have read, they mostly leave you alone after you say "no, gracias." I also read a review that the hotel/resort lets the vendors hang out in the shade under their tree and the vendors clean up trash on the beach which is kind of cool. Vendors are part of Mexico, so although it might annoy some people, just try to enjoy it, it's part of the culture and that is how they make their money.Just be careful with belongings that are precious to you, especially if you go get a massage on the beach. Leave your jewelry in your safe in your hotel room, don't bring it with you.
9. Adventures
The Ocean is literally just steps away from the resort and you can either set up excursions through the resort or you can go onto the beach and there will be several men who also set up tours. I have heard in the reviews that the sunset cruise was very enjoyable. My fiance and I went on an all day excursion where we got on a catamaran and drank, snorkeled, ate lunch, and saw some amazing sights. A dolphin swam along the boat for a long part of our trip which was so cool and we saw a sea turtle. It was a lot of fund and I would recommend it.
10. Romantic Private Dinner
I have not done this myself, but after reading several reviews, this private beach dinner sounds very nice. It was the highlight of the trip for several guests of this resort and because of that I plan on trying it and would recommend that you try it as well.
