About staying in Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo
Ixtapa and Zihuatanejo are two different holidays sharing one airport and seven kilometres of road. Ixtapa is the planned resort strip built in the 1970s: towers along Playa El Palmar, a golf course, a marina and a boulevard lined with shopping plazas. Zihuatanejo is the fishing town that was always there, with its market, the Paseo del Pescador waterfront and the sheltered bays of La Madera and La Ropa, where the small view hotels sit. Our 2026 scans logged 18 hotels with a real price: from US$24 a night and a typical rate of about US$123, a small inventory skewed by all-inclusives. Heat and humidity are year-round facts.
Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo hotel FAQs
Ixtapa or Zihuatanejo — where should I stay?
It depends what you want. Ixtapa is a modern resort zone: towers facing El Palmar, big pools, all-inclusive packages and no town character at all. Zihuatanejo has the market, the waterfront and small two- or three-storey hotels. For a calm bay and a view, aim for La Ropa or La Madera; for the cheapest beds, downtown Zihuatanejo.
When is it cheapest and most expensive?
June to October, with afternoon rain and heavy humidity, is when rates drop. The expensive stretch runs December to April, peaking hard at Christmas, New Year and Holy Week. Our 2026 scans found rooms from US$24 a night and a median of about US$123 — a spread that widens dramatically depending on your dates and which side of the road you sleep on.
How do I get there and get around without a car?
Fly into Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo airport (ZIH), around 12 km from town, or take a bus from Mexico City in eight or nine hours. You can manage fine without a car: shared minibuses run between Zihuatanejo and Ixtapa every few minutes for roughly MX$15, taxis have no meters (agree the fare first), and boats leave for Las Gatas and Isla Ixtapa.
Is it safe, given it's in Guerrero?
The Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo corridor works as a calm tourist pocket inside a state with real security problems, and visitors very rarely run into trouble here. The sensible precautions are road-related: drive Federal Highway 200 in daylight, especially the stretch toward Acapulco, and avoid night driving outside the corridor itself.