Elcano is definitely one of the nicer hotels along the Costera. I really liked its location. It is located on a less congested area east of the Fiesta Americana Hotel. Once you get west of the Fiesta Americana on the Costera, the traffic congestion gets pretty bad. Clientele of the hotel appears to be of an international nature based on our experience and as represented by the reviews here on TA. We heard Spanish, English, French, and German at the hotel.

Our room was good size with a very large balcony that had a fabulous view. The balcony had an unobstructed view right out on to the center of Acapulco bay. The view is particularly amazing at night. The room had two queen beds with very hard mattresses which is typical of Mexico. Furnishings were modern and the bathroom had a powerful shower. A plentiful supply of ice was always available on our floor, somewhat of a rarity at hotels in Mexico.

The pool and pool area in general are small and it could use more shade. The pool deck chairs are hard plastic with no pads. I don’t understand why a hotel of this quality would expect their guests to lay on hard plastic while at the pool. However, it was nothing that $24 USD at Walmart couldn’t solve as that’s what my wife and I paid for two chair pads that we used all week at the pool. On the plus side, the pool water was warm and the pool area and beach were very restful. No loud music played all day at the pool. This is probably not the best hotel for spring break partiers.

The staff is very efficient and friendly. The front desk seemed to be able to handle any concern of ours effortlessly. The maid service was the best that we have ever had in Mexico. The room was always cleaned by noon and most days within an hour of our leaving in the morning. Midway through our stay our toilet handle broke and the toilet would not flush. Within ten minutes of my call to the front desk, maintenance had come to our room and fixed the problem. The Elcano lobby bar has a duo that plays any sort of dance music that you want. The facilities in the bar are also excellent for dancing. It was a pleasant surprise for nightly entertainment.

I highly recommend the Elcano.

We have just returned from a weeks trip to Acapulco staying at the El Cano.

Overall i found this hotel to be very good.


The rooms are quite spacious and very CLEAN and they all have ocean views. The common/public areas of the hotel are also very well maintained and spotless.
I found the staff to be very friendly and helpful.

We had the "breakfast included" package and found it to be excellent. Do not opt for the "all inclusive" package, as of course it will become repetitive, besides there are many good restaurants within walking distance. The El Faro restaurant in front of the hotel is fantastic. We ate there twice in one week.

Some places list this hotel as 5 star.. it is not...I beleive it is a very good very clean 3 and a half possibly 4 star by American standards.

The pool is nice but it is a bit too small for the amount of people it caters for.(Dont even bother trying to do laps).

The gym is terrible,what little equipment it does have is rusted and or doesnt work properly.

Apart from these two issues the hotel is great! I reccomend it.

a friend an i spent 3 nights in el cano in january 2005. we booked the stay over a german agency, so we had to pay only the half price for the room. otherwise, the room would have been much to expensive for the service. the people on the desk seemed to know about our cheap-price-stay, in fact that they were a little bit unfriendly and, one day, they told us that we betrayed ´em when we changed some off our traveler checks! very unprofessional... rooms are big, beds are ok and the location is real great. a small footwalk to good bars and diners, to cici (a waterpark) and a bus station in front of the hotel. a small tipp: take the bus to zocalo, taxi is too expensive ;) and riding the bus is great fun, if you like to see "real" mexicans". the food was not like the mexican stuff we eated in d.f. 2 days before, it was more like the european stuff you will get in hotel around the world. it doesn´t fitted my taste. what to say more about this hotel? the beach is crap (no real sand, more like small stones) and the overall price is very high (espacilly for drinks at the beach, better bring your own). better take one off the small hotels like hacienda maria eugenia

the El Cano hotel is excellent´, I have stayed here for the past 5 years. I don´t share the view with people who say the food is horrible. I have never been to any hotel in the US or specially Europe that have such a wonderful buffet for breakfast. Second, Acapulco is not a place to stay all day in your hotel. There are so many excellent restaurants around: Suntory, el Zorrito, Madeiras, El Olvido, you name it, they have it , for all pockets and tastes!! We have had paella for lunch or ceviche and it is always fresh and excellent. The rooms are very nice and clean and all rooms have views to the sea. I think for the price you pay it is an excellent option.