Catalina Beach Resort

There are many nice aspects of this old hotel -- built in the 50s and 60s on a high cliff 240 stone steps above Playa La Ropa (best beach in the area). Let me say I am an American and this place caters to mostly Mexicans. I did have a great stay, but there are rough spots that people should know about and some that management could fix. First there is zero 'room guide' that would assist those unfamiliar with such things as the AC (that has ~ 6 modes, only 2 of which cool the room). Cable TV (0 streaming -- the wifi was not functional in our room (Room number in high 40s) was difficult to manage - major networks had Spanish overdubs only -- dont come for the TV... ALL of the food service is VERY SLOW. The breakfast guys do ok -- AND you have the cool morning breezes and spectacular view while you wait. The beach snack bar service was SUPER BAD -- very very slow. The Hotel sells Day Passes to non-guests for 400 pesos and they get full credit towards buying food and drinks (so if they order 400 pesos worth of stuff its 'included' -- and the staff cant keep up with the orders... it seems. We ordered a shrimp cocktail (awesome) and a few drinks and it took at least 30 minutes to arrive and that only after we left our chair area and bugged them about our order at the bar there (this is all stuff that should be premade and super easy to serve.. ? wtx) Anyway, the beach is great,calm, sandy ! BYO there. Grounds are a beautiful jungle with birds etc.

as usual, Catalina always provides a great service and safety. rooms clean, awesome staff, nice access to the beach, and yummy beverages. I enjoy having my steps in when going int

Staff was very helpful, Older resort with clean rooms, a lot of stairs to get to beach, Good location to beach and restaurants.

Absolutely stunning views. Staff extremely nice

Very friendly staff, clean rooms with daily maid service, great view of beach and ocean. There is a beach bar with service on the beach and a sunset bar with a nice happy hour.

Clean room, gorgeous sunset views, lovely sandy beach with access to snorkling- alot of stairs so not for the faint of heart.

The hotel is made up of several buildings on a hill. It is all stairs, no elevator. Good exercise..Great beach.

Our overall experience was not great. Our first room was dirty , safe didn’t work no windows or AC. We upgraded at a cost to a better room which worked out much better. Check in was poor , no information was given to us by front end staff regarding special events, no map of the resort. Most of the staff seemed to be indifferent to requests from guests. The few bright spots was Alberto in the breakfast area without him we wouldn’t have known about special dinners or events or what the breakfast plan included. We kind of got the feeling that resort did the bare minimum just to keep the resort open. Checkout was a little bit of a challenge do to extra costs which most we’re prepaid but some were not.

Beautiful view of the bay. The staff were very nice and helpful. Special shout out to Alberto (the waiter) who was great.We already made reservations for a return trip in November.

yes

Beautiful ocean view and nice big balcony for the room we stayed in

We loved our stay at Catalina Beach resort. It was our 2nd trip to zihua but our first stay at Catalina. We loved the location. It was a nice distance to walk to town. We enjoyed having the private beach with palapas, beach towels and our own bar. Our favorite bartender Alberto took very good care of us. The breakfasts had a great variety of food.....fruit, eggs, bacon, eggs, pancakes, french toast, juice, coffee....and much more. We ate dinner at the resort for 3 nights and they were by far some of our best meals of our 2 week stay. One night we enjoyed the sunset beach bbq dinner and it was FABULOUS! The steak was melt in your mouth and the lobster was to die for. A big kudos to Hector who served us for breakfast and for 2 of our panoramic bar dinners. He was so helpful.....recommended things for us to do around town and sharing lots of local stories. The ladies at the reception accommodated all of our requests. It was a 100% stress-free holiday and we will definitely be returning. Thank you Alberto, Hector and the rest of the Catalina team for making our holiday on to remember.

So many stairs, our major complaint- very poor service. We watched the waitress put left over salsa from one table back into the main container and then scoop it back out for a new table . Disgusting

Yes

I highly recommend the Catalina Beach Hotel. Old world style Hotel. Could use some updates, but is clean, beautifully designed, and the service is incredible. The staff are wonderful. The private beach is heaven. The view from the balcony of our room was lovely as was dinner on the terrace. Watching the sun go down over the ocean was incredible. The Staff: Alberto, Hugo, Grace, Julie, Antonio, and Edgar, were so helpful and kind and really helped me out with making sure I did not get anything with gluten in my meals. The only thing I would caution is if someone is in a wheelchair or cannot do stairs. There are a lot of stairs! I got a good workout Daily. Some people didn't like that there was plastic on the windows. I thought it was ingenious. I could hear the ocean at night, but no bugs came in! Bathroom was clean hospitality and cleaning staff were great. We even had daily artistic creations with the towels that delighted us every day. The food was spectacular for dinner. The lunches were not good for gluten-free people, but were spectacular for my kids. And they had wonderful things like Thursday night buffet, and weekend dining on the beach, which was lovely for families, but also very romantic for couples. Location was great, and good security. It felt very safe always.

The view was lovely though some trees did interfere with a clear sight line. There are lots and lots of stairs, whether going to the beach or the pool or the restaurant. Restaurant staff is very good and friendly though sometimes our breakfast was cold. Reception staff was okay but not particularly helpful. The bed was hard and the pillows even harder. The lampshade was ripped and the curtain was not properly hung. There was no guide or map to help you navigate the resort. So many little things that would have made our stay better. I wouldn't stay here again for price.

All was good. Not. a 4 stat but clean and good value for money

Classic hotel overlooks wonderful LaRopa beach. My parents stayed there 50 years ago and I bet it has not changed a bit. The stairs mean this is not the right spot for people with mobility issues. Restaurant food good

The room was always perfect, complete with towel sculptures.

Overall was ok, bed was very stiff, servers took forever to bring food and drinks. But the views were incredible.