Hotel Castillo Huatulco & Beach Club

“Good Home Base to Explore Huatulco”

18th time to Mexico, 1st to Huatulco. traveled March 3 - 10, 2024. Weather was outstanding. This is an in-town hotel, not a resort, and it is not on the beach. It works well as a home base to exploring the area. Upon arrival, we were set back as the lobby is old, and not very inviting. It ... more

18th time to Mexico, 1st to Huatulco. traveled March 3 - 10, 2024. Weather was outstanding. This is an in-town hotel, not a resort, and it is not on the beach. It works well as a home base to exploring the area. Upon arrival, we were set back as the lobby is old, and not very inviting. It is an old smaller hotel but in a fantastic location in Santa Cruz, with good service. Primarily guests vacationing are from Mexico. We did our research before coming, but we were still very dissapointed upon arrival due to the esthetics. The main areas (lobby/dining) seriously need some lipstick and a facelift, however it wasn't long before we settled in and adjusted our attitute and began to see the positives in this hotel . Unfortunately which contributed to our initial disapointment , we learned through the hotels facebook page prior to departure that the hotel pool would be closed the entire week for re-tiling. It was drained the day we arrived and reopened the day we left, so we spent all our days at the Hotel Casitllo Beach Club which is a couple minute shuttle ride away or 15 min walk. Shuttle runs every 30 mins on the hour and the half. They provided some entertainment in evenings in the small open air lobby facing the road, consisting of a singer, Dj, or just music videos playing. Don't expect much so you won't be disappointed. On Friday they host a Mexican night with traditional dancers, this is held in the Banquet hall. BEACH - Towels are provided at main hotel, (very old and thin); and you can change out daily. Beach chairs, palapas, umbrellas, washrooms, food and drink/alcohol are provided at the beach club on Chahue Beach. Bar service begins at 11:00 a.m. Beach chairs are hard white plastic with no padding. Extremely uncomfortable. THe beach sand is somewhat course & hot, but beautiful and its quiet. The water is rough and you need to watch the strong undertoe depending on the day/hour. But once your in, its nice refreshing water to float in. I only went into the beach pool once, it was busy and very dirty in my opinion, someone should be scrubbing those tiles. They do not have many palapas, and if all taken, just ask the lifeguard and they will put up an umbrella for you. DRINK - very decent red wine (cab) and white; Dos XX on tap both light and dark, beach club had sparkling wine for mimosa's and clamato juice for Ceasars. Margarita's were yummy. No complaints about the variety of drinks you could order AND there is beach service to your chair at the beach club, I have been to 5* Riu's that don't even provide beach service, so Kudos to you Castillo! Lobby bar opens at 11:00 a.m. and closes at 11:00 p.m. Late in the evening, We often sat out back of hotel in dining area, & had a nightcap while watching the workers work on the hotel pool into the late hours of the night. FOOD - breakfast was decent with a fresh egg/omlette station, and a variety of fruit, cinnimon toast, pancakes etc. unlike other reviewers, our food was hot all week until they moved breakfast into the Banquet hall to feed the masses when it was crowded on the weekend. Lunch was very good at the Beach club served at 1:00 p.m all afternoon. Variety of hamburgs, hotdogs, chicken wings, fresh fish, chicken, salads, rice etc. All was tastey with a beautiful view of the ocean while dining. Back at the hotel, they served snacks of nachos, hot dogs, quesadillas, etc during the afternoon until 5:00. Supper served at 7:00 buffet style. It appears they recycle their food and you will see the same offerings for the next meal served, so take notice and be careful, we heard of others getting sick. Luckily, we had no issues our entire stay. We ventured out to dine nightly, some excellent places close by or a short 15 min walk to La Crucecita where there is an abundance of restuarants and sports bars to watch any and all sporting events. Cab was approx $3.50 Cdn. ROOM - we faced the road in a renovated room, the vehicle traffic is quite noisy throughout the night. Small Juliet balcony, King Bed and pillows were comfortable, bathroom was renovated with a rain shower, combination room safe provided, and TV with lots of movies, shows, etc offered in english, (you have to change language on clicker)- No complaints about our room, it cleaned daily. They provided bottles of water, tiny bottles of shampoo & room towels were fairly new. No fridge in room. There are about a dozen rooms with huge balcony's facing the road, and there are rooms with jacuzzi tubs, however both dictate a nightly upcharge for these types of rooms Overall, the hotel grew on us as the proximity of the hotel to everything was second to none, we spent very little time at the hotel, as days were spent at the beach club & evenings out. It was a home base with very nice staff, the guests we met were wonderful, and the AI option for breaky; and the lunch option at the beach club was good. For the deal we paid and how we used the hotel, we felt it was pretty good value. Although a 3 star hotel, our overall experience with Huatulco was a 4 star plus - venturing out. We loved Huatulco! Tips ⦁ Press the yellow button on your TV converter for option to change language from Spanish to English ⦁ Bring your own shampoo/conditioner ⦁ Bring a Yeti cup if thats your thing, but the cups/glasses they provide are a good size and decent. No straws available. ⦁ Bring a pool noodle (or buy one) or any floaty device to float in the ocean. If you can think of some sort of pad to bring for the white plastic loungers - bring it. ⦁ Bring Ear plugs, in case you face the road. ⦁ No need for dress clothes or long pants for men, this is not a fancy place ⦁ No toaster at the buffet, if you like toast in the morning, bring your bread to the girl making eggs, and she will toast your bread on the grill ⦁ lots of shopping/markets close by if you forget and need to purchase anything ⦁ Across the street form the hotel you will find the marina and Santa cruz beach, you can walk there in minutes. I believe there are approx 35 beaches in the area to explore. Many guests did so by taxi and there are boat tour options to purchase to tour the various beaches. ⦁ Get out into the towns of Santa Cruz & La Crucitita and explore the excellent places to dine and see the culture. ⦁ Bring Mexican Pesos. fortunately, we were able to use Canadian & US dining out, and some places accepted Visa. ⦁ Lower your expectations for hotel esthetics (lobby/dining area) think Seventies (-;

less

“Great dollar value but you get what you pay for”

At first we were seriously disappointed. The hotel pool was down for retiling and the beach club was so crowded, we were unable to find a chair to sit at. We tried to move to another hotel but the price point was so high at the others we decided to make the best of it. This is a case of you g... more

At first we were seriously disappointed. The hotel pool was down for retiling and the beach club was so crowded, we were unable to find a chair to sit at. We tried to move to another hotel but the price point was so high at the others we decided to make the best of it. This is a case of you get what you pay for. However if you are looking a very reasonable stay in Huatulco and want the local flavour then this might work out well. It is in a great location for going out to local restaurants and has some shopping close by. The breakfast at the hotel is OK and the lunch buffet at the beach club is exceptional. The dinner buffet at the hotel is sketchy at best and we ate out almost every night. The did have a really nice traditional dinner spread one night that I thought was great but my husband wasn't impressed. Don't forget to bring water shoes as the beach club sand and concrete surfaces are very rough. The pool at the hotel is nice but again the concrete is really rough. The beach is nice but it has a very steep incline once you are in and there is a undertow that could be problematic for weak or non-swimmers. On the plus side the price point is good. The rooms although dated and shabby were extremely clean with no smells. The bed was OK. We found the entertainment to be a little lame or non-existent at times but if you got into it and joined the local people we had a few nights of great fun. Overall for the dollar value and the great service I would go their again but my husband's opinion was never again.

less