Vila di Acapulco

The building has an intriguing shape and there are many pools. It’s also right in La Condesa Beach. Ideal location, you would think. BUT…. 1. After checking in, I found a very dirty washroom sink, and called down to report it. The woman who arrived waved her hand dismissively but I stood my ground and she cleaned it. Turns out the drain is clogged so even if the poor cleaner did her job the first time, the previous guest’s hair and muck would ring the sink unless you took special care. Annnd the sink was never fixed the whole time I was there. 2. At checkin I got a band slapped on my wrist and later realized every guest got one. It showed you belong on the property. Also they come in different colors: White means a basic stay; red means breakfast included and purple means all inclusive. So yea others will know what you’re paying for during your stay. 3. The beach is pretty good except it’s a pirate’s cove — meaning that because of the vagaries of Mexican law, though Hotsun has a great location and a piece of the beach for its guests, where you can generally sit free, the spots nearest the water belong to the government. So if you sit in the lounge chairs and under the tents nearest the waves, you have to pay different guys who keep changing the price every single day. If you land on a cruise ship from some far-flung country you may not be aware of this. Those guys, wearing uniforms of some sort, also sell drinks that are exorbitantly priced. Before you figure out they have nothing to do with Hotsun, you may be taken for a ride. I was. Also, every 1-2 mins of every day, vendors descend on the beach with all sorts of things for sale. In one day I was asked to buy grilled shrimp on a stick, coconut water with jelly, sun hats, fridge magnets, massages, boat rides, oysters, sun dresses, sunglasses, beach floats, tattoos, braids, sunscreen, sand boots and a serenade from a nice old man with a guitar. People have to make a living, yes, and the law makes Mexican beach space very democratic, but I wish the hotel, which took a $200 MXN returnable deposit to give me a towel to lie by the pool for the duration of my stay, had warned me about the Wild West nature of the beach where it is located, and pointed out which uniformed person belongs to the hotel and a head’s up so I could buy at my own risk. I said “No, gracias” maybe 90 times during that one week. 4. The noise, oh the noise. El ruido comes up to the hotel’s top floors and grabs you by the neck: Music, laughter, children squealing, etc. These are usually all marvelous aspects about living on planet earth, but when you can’t sleep because a group at the hotel is holding a party on the beach and the thump thump thump of reggaeton is blaring deep into the night and giving you a headache, the conclusion is the hotel is not prioritizing the comfort of the rest of its guests. If this is your jam, go for it. But for many it would be a frustrating experience all around.