For the past 4 winters, we have stayed at Suites Alba for three to four weeks each year. We have just returned from our latest visit, and hope to return again next year.

The hotel complex consists of several buildings, 5 swimming pools, one small beach area in the Bay of Acapulco accessed by a cable car, and one huge water slide. Some suites have kitchenettes, and some units have a view of the beautiful bay. The hotel also has an affordable restaurant on site, which also provides room service upon request (menu in the suites). A lot of the hotel staff don’t speak English or French, but they are generally friendly and patient. The hotel operator speaks English and other languages. There is also a small convenience store on site. The “loza” (kitchen supplies dept.) provides cutlery, pots, dishes as well as beach towels. Some of the older suites need upgrading, but they are kept clean with daily housekeeping services. The hotel also has a playground area for young children, and a kiosko where there is a free entertainment as well as music and dancing about once a week. The kiosko overlooks the bay and is beautiful in the evening. During the high season, the hotel also provides a free shuttle service to the downtown area. The shuttle follows a route so if you time it right, you can pick it up on the way back to the hotel. Otherwise, taxis are cheap, but negotiate before you get in. The hotel is a safe complex with security guards.

Suites Alba is located in older Acapulco away from the noise and pollution of the downtown hotel strip. It’s located up a hill, so if walking is not your forte, you can take the hotel shuttle, taxis, or a “combi” up the hill. “Combis” are vans (pretty rustic) that will take you up the hill for 5 pesos (about 45 cents). The hotel is situated close to Caletta beach (shuttle’s first stop) for beach lovers. From Caletta, you can take a small (near Magico Mundo) to Roqueta Island—a nice place to picnic, hike and swim. You have to pay for chairs and tables, but can get a package deal if you order some beer. One of our favourite spots is the restaurant “La Cabana” on Caletta beach. It’s a great place to have dinner or just have frozen Margueritas and sit on the beach. We also enjoy taking the shuttle down to Caletta and then taxi up to Los Flamingos restaurant, where John Wayne, Johnny Weissmuller (the original Tarzan) and other old-time movie stars hung out. The restaurant overlooks the Pacific Ocean and sunsets up there are beautiful. And if you go there on Thursdays, the "pozole", a traditional Mexican dish, is delicious.

Because Suites Alba is very affordable, the hotel hosts many long-term retired guests during the Canadian winter.

Roberta and John,
Ontario, Canada

Hotel was not near the bars and discos strip, which was what we wanted . We have two kids and they enjoyed the pools and spent a lot of time in the water slide. Next to the yatch club, very convenient if you want to rent a boat! It has a little beach and access to sea, but if you want a big beach you have Caleta and Caletilla 10 min away. Food ws great and reasonable priced, as well as the drinks. Personnel was very accomodating, even though the hotel was full because of Christmas vacation. Even with that, we had a very relaxing vacation and we plan to come back. Weather was excellent! Good deal for your money.

You have a view of the bay, you have you own kitchen if you need to prepare something.
Taxis are really cheap if you want to go to the most beautiful beaches.

Acapulco was not all we dreamed, but our one saving grace was the hotel. It was far off the beaten path, well away from the nightlife and the urine smell of downtown. The room was great and came with a kitchenette which was wonderful. There was a coffee maker in the room, but no coffee provided. The waterslide was awesome and the four other pools were enough to keep our son entertained every day. It was pretty hard to find, and we just got lucky, but be sure to call and ask for directions, if you're driving. The resturant was alright, but nothing to write home about. We were given a free contintial breakfast when we got there, so if you ask for it when you check it they'll probably give it to you too. They did have internet available. It was 30 pesos for our entire stay, but we could only use it at the resturant or lobby. The bar had a happy hour and they gave continued to give my husband happy hour prices even after happy hour was over. The staff was nice and they spoke plenty of English.
On an unrelated not, when heading to the beaches of Acapulco, go to the hotel district because the beach is much cleaner. Although, I don't think there is any way to avoid the crowds as all the beaches are public and even the hotel beach access is just sand access and you'd have to wade through the masses to get to the water.