Huatulco Hotels and Accommodations

Most of the cheaper accommodations are located downtown in La Crucecita, around 10 minute walk to the closest beach.

Aerial view and map of La Crucecita.

Half a block from the Zocalo is the Hotel Las Palmas, with bright, basic rooms, and connected to the popular and lively El Sabor de Oaxaca restaurant.

$20 low season, $35 high season. Comment on this Hotel

Amenities: Tobacco shop; money exchange; safe-deposit boxes; travel-agency services. All rooms have A/C and TV. map.

Av. Guamuchil 206. Tel (958) 587-0060.

Another popular choice is the Hotel Posada Michelle, right by the bus station of La Crucecita and a couple of blocks from the Zocalo. It has about a dozen smallish but clean and comfortable rooms with large beds. Rooms can be dark or well lit depending on the floor, so ask to view the room beforehand. The second floor is the most popular, with easy access to its charming and shady view porch.

$20 double low sea-son, $30 high season, including A/C and satellite TV; Some rooms without A/C are cheaper. map.

Gardenia 8, Crucecita, Oaxaca 70980. Tel./fax ++52 (958) 70535

Right next door to the Posada Michelle is the slightly cheaper Posada Primavera. With only six simple but well-lit, high-ceiling upstairs rooms, it has a B&B feel.

$12 low season, $20 high, with fans. map.

Palo Verde 5, Crucecita. Tel. ++52 (958) 71167, fax 70630.

A popular choice with foreign tourists is the Mision de los Arcos. Owned and managed by a Spanish-American couple, this hotel sports a pleasant hacienda feel, with wrought-iron tables, inlaid-pebble floor designs, sponge painted walls, handmade fountains and tropical foliage. Conveniently located right by the Zocalo, the hotel has a street-level cyber-cafe and a gym.

$30 low season, $50 high. Add $5 for A/C. map.

Zocalo, Crucecita. ++52 (958) 70165. resevations@misiondelosarcos.com. web.

Mid-range Beach Hotels

The most affordable beach hotels are around the Santa Cruz Bay.

Only one block from the Santa Cruz beach, the Hotel Binneguenda is particularly popular with foreign tourists, with its Neocolonial arches surrounding an hacienda-style cascade pool, and ceramic handicrafts throughout its interiors. Most rooms have Mexican-tile floors, foot-loomed bedspreads, and colonial-style furnitures, with small balconies overlooking Juárez Street or the pool and gardens. A complimentary shuttle leaves every hour for the beach club at Santa Cruz Bay.

$50 double in low season, $90 high, including parking, satellite TV , A/C and safe-box.

Benito Juarez 5, Santa Cruz de Huatuico.

Tel. ++52 (958) 70077. fax 70284.

Not as elegant is the Hotel Castillo Huatulco, 3 blocks east. Rooms are small but comfortable A favorite of local Mexican families, it can be noisy at time.

$100 in high season. Prices are negotiable in low season. Includes satellite TV, A/C, pool and parking.

Benito Juarez, P.O. Box 354, Santa Cruz de Huatulco 70980.

Tel. ++52 (958) 701-35 or 701-44. Fax 701-31

For honeymooners who want to avoid the "mass-market tourism" of Tangolunda Bay but still want a very special hotel, consider the Agua Azul La Villa Bed & Breakfast. With only 8 mediteranean-style, gazebo-roofed casitas snuggled into the hillside above Conejos Bay, you won't find more intimate a place. The common area is charming and welcoming, and hosts an ample Continental breakfast each morning with Canadian owners Brooke & Rick Gazer. A small, quiet beach is 3 minutes away walking. The charming, two-tiered pool and waterfall in the back garden is ringed by flowering foliage and offer a spectacular view. $90 - $110.

Tel. ++52 (958) 581-0265. gaurei@hotmail.com. More Info.

US tourists seem to like the Best Western Posada Chahue, a 5 minutes walk from Chahue Beach. Starting at $50 in low season, its rooms are modern and clean, and the on-site restaurant serves authentic Oaxaca specialties.

Mixie y Mixteco, Bahía de Chahue. Tel: ++52 (958) 70945, Fax: (958) 71240. Inside Mexico: 1 800 710 7889. bwposadachahue@prodigy.net.mx.

Virtual Tour.

High-End and Luxury Hotels

Tangolunda shoreline and its five luxury hotels. (enlarge)

Five luxury hotels spread along the

Tangolunda shoreline. All have top-service and tropical-style facilities, including pools, live music and countless sport facilities. Be aware that there is no night-life on the Tangolunda Bay outside of hotels, few real shops and all restaurants are part of hotels and tend to be pricey and not always good. Except if you intend to spend the whole trip at the beach in front of your hotel, you may want to avoid buying an all-inclusive package.

The Las Brisas (ex-Club Med) dominates the western bay, whereas the smaller Barcelo Hotel and Zaachila stand side by side on the bay.

One of the first hotels in Tangolunda Bay, the Camino Real Zaashila spreads gracefully on a secluded sandy beach. It is a family favorite thank to its calm water, perfect for swimming and snorkeling. The white stucco building has a Mediterranean feel, and many rooms each have their own sizable dipping pool and ocean-view balcony or terrace. If this is not enough, the main pool is of gigantic proportion and surrounded by tropical gardens, and has armchairs built into the shallow edges. $200+.

Bahía de Tangolunda. ++52 (958) 581-0460, or 800/722-6466 in the U.S.

video of hotel.