Quinta Real Acapulco

We came to Acapulco for the sole purpose of catching a plane back home. Quinta Real suited our purposes - tight security, private beach, large rooms. We saved big money by booking with the property by phone.

Sadly, because we drove into Acapulco from back side of the city (having driven from San Agustinillo to Acapulco), we also saw 'behind the curtain' of tourism here, the real Acapulco, and we were a bit traumatized by the grinding poverty just below the famed hills. Not a pretty place at all. Given the stark vision of the social inequities that fuel Acapulco, we had mixed feelings about staying behind the well-guarded gates of palatial Quinta Real. Relieved to feel protected after seeing the scary side of Acapulco, but guilty that we were inside when so many were not. Yes, the smoke on the horizon is from burning trash within the city.

Ironically, you will feel like royalty at Quinta Real, in more ways than one, in rooms that are large and marbled. Every room an ocean view (though the cracked stucco and rusted metal on our veranda made us reticent to step out on it). The staff is gracious, even solicitous - just don't ask them to tell you about the living standards for locals, like I did, because they will tell you, and you may not want to know. The morning buffet is a delight. The multi-leveled architecture meanders down several levels to the beach: from glorious, sweeping views at check-in, along winding garden-scaped stairways until suddenly emerging water level into a series of private sunning/pool areas: from a private bar and pool complete with lounging beds, to a second bar area containing a cooling pool and deck lounging, and finally down to the beach where tented areas give way to gentle waves and private beach. Note: get down early to the pool to mark your chair with a book or towel, as spots fill quickly.

We spent our time on the uncrowded beach (Jan 1st - 3rd '08), boogie boarding on waves not quite large enough, and resting under white tents in the sand - delightful. No beach vendors to bother us. If you don't mind that men with rifles stand guard to keep people on the public beach from encroaching onto the private Quinta Beach, and if you can ignore that small altercations between locals and armed guards arise sporadically, then yes, aside from such incongruities...I confess, shamefully, that I enjoyed my stay. But I do feel guilty about it. Guilty like a queen who is able to block out those details after being served a cooling tamarindo marguerita or two.