3 Best Hotels in Old Acapulco, Acapulco

A recent retooling, revamping, and reopening has turned one of Acapulco’s original hotels into one of the area’s coolest lodgings. It was originally built in the '50s (indeed, scenes from the Elvis movie Fun in Acapulco were shot here), and the remodel has a retro feel. An old refrigerator in the lobby is filled with Yoli sodas (a regional soda from the state of Guerrero), and there's vintage furniture and decorations throughout. The small rooms have a mint-green-and-white color scheme and are simply furnished with comfortable beds, retro sinks and showers, flat-screen TVs, and ceiling fans. A beachy area within the hotel is a sort of natural swimming pool; the adjacent beach is probably Acapulco's most popular, so you get a look at how the locals enjoy the sun and sand.

This white, all-suites hotel is popular with families, and comprises seven low-rise buildings—most four or five stories. Units sleep four, six, or eight and have terraces; some also have kitchenettes. There's a cable car to the hotel's beach club, which is on the bay and next to the Club de Yates and its 330-foot-long toboggan run.

On Cerro Pinzona (Pinzona Hill), a five-minute walk from La Quebrada, the Etel has outstanding views of Bahía de Acapulco and spacious, if plain, rooms with sturdy cedar furniture. All accommodations sleep three, and you can rent a full kitchen and dining room to turn your room into a suite. One studio has a kitchenette. There's a garden on the roof and a children's play area by the pool. The gracious owner is a descendant of John Augustus Sutter, whose gold mine launched the Gold Rush of 1849.