We had a "bonus week" with RCI and the only options were the Pacifica Golf or the Park Royal. My fiancé and I decided to stay at the Pacifica Golf as we had stayed at the Park Royal when it was a Radisson. We checked-in, paid the all-inclusive fee, took one look at our room and immediately found another place to stay. I did my research before I left and the reviews I saw for the Pacifica Golf were, for the most part, good for some unknown reason. There are many other places to stay in Ixtapa so save yourself the potential disappointment by checking out the others. A word of advice to RCI members: you can save a lot more money by buying an all-inclusive package on the internet than you can by paying for the all-inclusive and airfares. If we would have used a service on the internet to purchase our package we would have saved over $3000!!!

We were lucky to get the top floor of building 71 of the Aqua Units.
The 2 top floor units are called the penthouse suites- your living area is outside like a giant veranda and you have the sound of the waves hitting the rocks below the unit 24hrs a day. Our unit had wifi but could only be used on the veranda. We loved having the coffee and fresh baked rolls delivered to our unit every morning- only the upscale units have the delivery every morning & you had a reserved palapa there on the beach by the cable car.
My wife loves the infinity pool for the Sands Units- they have a wait staff at that pool and wifi is available there and you see alot of people taken advantage because it - is not available thru out the resort. They are suppose to put in an elivator for the 2 Aqua Units.
They have just finished the road down to building 71 3rd floor- the road is easier than the stairs. They have a golf cart to carry you to and from the top of the hill for the Aqua Units.
Because very few members trade with RCI- RCI get the units left over and you take a chance at the units available- because Pacifica receives no money for the trade in- they have started charging the A/I. With the new toll road finished, on the weekends there are alot more Mexican families coming to this resort and others on the coast. There are alot of American and Canadian owners of time shares in this resort.
Pacifica became more popular after the Hurricane took out the resorts in the Carribbean a few years ago.
The Resort is built on a hill and they have vans and little trucks to pick you up at your unit to take you anywhere on the resort. They have put in an entrance for the resort on the main street fot Ixtapa (about 10 min walk) instad of having to walk down the beach and take the public or hotel entrance for the beach.

My family did an RCI trade week and were booked in a "Golf" room, building 30. We really like the fact that we could do everything right onsite, eat, play, sun... however, you have to walk and the resort is located on a hill, so you are either walking up-hill or down-hill on very uneven concrete. Our room was clean, had 1 bedroom with a double bed, and a common area with two double couch/bed things (like daybeds), a television, telephone, small kitchen area med sized refridgerator, cook to, sink, microwave, bottled water and the kitchen was stocked with all the cooking utencils you could need, even a juicer and a blender. The bathroom was extremely small, you could not sit on the toilet and close the door...kind of reminded me of an airplane bathroom. But we liked the place, the balcony overlooked the parking lot and a little of Loma Del Mar next door. Our building was the furthest from the swimming pool and dining area. There are various pools located throughout the property, but are exclusive to different levels of guest....Sands, Club, Master Sands, Aqua...and Golf, the lowlyest of them all, so we could only use the pools by the beach/dining area. Which was a bummer, because our timeshare was in a 5 star ocean view place and we were traded to a "Golf" suite...so not a fair exchange. I'm sure we would have had better reviews if we had a better room location. It appears that the rooms over looking the water would be awesome. There was a small convenience store located onsite, but halfway up the hill that had very reasonable prices...comparing to other prices in Ixtapa, all of which are more expensive than Zihua. We found out on our last day that you can use the internet onsite for $1.50 US per hour, which was a deal because in Ixtapa, it was $1.20/15 minutes. We really enjoyed the food, which offered different theme flavors on different nights. We ate once in El Faro, breathtaking view and ambiance, loved it. We did not eat at Bougavillas (sp?), didn't have time. We scheduled our meals so that we could catch the evening stage show, that was right there in the dining area. My little two year old had a blast dancing to the Chiuaua (sp?) song and won a bunch of prizes for winning the contests...I think she won because she was cute. She had a blast!!! Many people had a blast watching her....we were a little embarassed. We were lucky enough to be there to help release baby sea turtles in to the sea. My husband and son went on one of the bike excursions all the way to Playa Linda (next to where the boats launch for Isla Ixtapa) and my husband went kayaking one day. All in all, we enjoyed our stay in Ixtapa and the Pacifica, however we'd have like it better if we didn't have to walk so much....but again, it was probably a good thing considering how much food we ate. There were plenty of palapa's down by the beach but the water in both pools was a little chilly...funny observations coming from an Alaskan.

We traded into Pacifica thru RCI. We had to buy the all inclusive feature, but would have anyway. It was great to always have drinks, food & snacks available. Our location in a 1 bedroom unit was very close to the beach. Loved eating at the 2 specialty resturants. The employees were very eager to help and serve. The best was the wait staff on the beach always bringing food & drinks to our palapa. We have already traded with RCI to go again in April 2008. Just wish the flights from the east coast were nonstop.