Mexico Travel: Zihuatanejo, Mexico – A Stay at the Thompson Hotel Ixtapa Zihuatanejo
engagedabroad
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In this post we share photos from The Thompson Hotel in Zihuatanejo, Mexico. Situated on Playa La Ropa, the hotel is part of Hyatt’s luxury property portfolio and was named “The Most Romantic Resort in Mexico.”
About Zihuatanejo
Zihuatanejo is part of the Mexican Pacific Coast known as the Costa Grande and is in the Northwest part of Guerrero state
Zihuatanejo is a 45-minute flight from Mexico City’s Lázaro Cárdenas Airport and a 15-minute drive from Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo International Airport (ZIH).
20 minute drive to busier Ixtapa
Expect to take taxis from the cliffside resorts and hotels into downtown – a 5 minute drive
PropertyAwards
2021: Travel + Leisure World’s Best Awards – Thompson Hotel nominated for best city and best hotel
2020: World Travel Awards’s “The most romantic resort in Mexico”
Zihuatanejo has existed as a fishing village for at least 400 years, with the Olmec, Toltec and Tarascan Indians having settled and occupied the area.
The name Zihuatanejo derives from the Náhuatl word “Zihuatlan” that means ‘land of women’. “The Spanish changed the name of Cihuatlan to Ciguatan, and then to Ciguatanejo. The current name Zihuatanejo has been in use for only the past two centuries” (Cruiseportinsider.com, 2022).
In the 16th century under Spanish rule, Zihuatanejo’s bay became “a stopping point and safe haven for Spanish galleons, pirates and privateers” (Cruiseportinsider.com, 2022). In the mid 1500s, Acapulco was named Spain’s sole port of entry into the Pacific, and Zihuatanejo returned to a fishing village.
Post World War II, tourism flourished and a small regional airport was built. A highway was built to connect Acapulco and Zihuatanejo in the 1960s only served to increase the allure of the town. In 1973, the Mexican government established FONATUR, Mexico’s National Fund for Tourist Development. The purpose was to promote the development of new large tourist resorts throughout the country and raise capital. Zihuatanejo’s more bustling sister city, Ixtapa, received funds for development. Ixtapa serves as more of a resort town where as Zihuatanejo once again returned to its roots as a bucolic traditional fishing village.
