You'll find hotels catering to families in the center of Golden Acapulco, stretching from the Qualton Club all-inclusive near Papagayo Park to the Hyatt Regency by the naval base.

Costa Club Beach Resort

Reservations: 744-485-9050

This 506-room self-contained, all-inclusive resort on the beach in Golden Acapulco features a twenty-eight-story tower, two-story shopping mall, four pools, health club with sauna and jacuzzi, three tennis courts, four restaurants, three bars, all water sports, and a special program for kids. It's loud and noisy, with live music into the wee hours in the lobby bar.

Radisson Acapulco

Reservations: 800-333-3333 (U.S.), www.radisson.com

This 212-room hotel, consisting of a main building, thirteen cliff-side villas, plus an oceanfront palapa restaurant and nearby pools, clings to a steep cliff above Puerto Marques Bay. Each building has a flower's name. A tramway connects its upper and lower levels, making ascending and descending the rocky hillside a breeze. The hotel has two restaurants and three bars, two pools with swim-up bars, and a health club.

Fiesta Americana Condesa Acapulco

Reservations: 800-343-7821 (U.S.), www.fiestamericana.com

Located in the middle of Golden Acapulco along the Costera, this 487-room, eighteen-story oceanfront hotel offers spectacular views of Acapulco Bay from many rooms. Popular with families, it features oceanfront and children's pools, water sports, three restaurants, and three cocktail lounges. Activities for children center upon the pool area.

Fiesta Inn Acapulco

Reservations: 800-343-7821 (U.S.), www.fiestainn.com

This modern 220-room hotel is on the beach, next to the Fiesta Americana Condesa Hotel. It's a good family hotel with a large beachside pool with snack bar, plus an additional restaurant and kids' program.

Vidafel Mayan Palace

Reservations: 800-292-9446 (U.S.), www.mayanresorts.com.mx

Built in the Mayan style with lavish pools and luxurious junior suites with jacuzzi tubs, the Vidafel is a fantasyland for the whole family. The hotel stands at the other end of Revolcadero Beach from the Fairmont Acapulco Princess toward the airport. Enormous mirror-like pools and waterfalls are connected by Venice-like canals, with flower-laden boats to float you around the entire area surrounding the 380 rooms. Across the road from the resort, and connected to it by an elevated monorail, is an eighteen-hole golf course and twelve tennis courts.

Hotel Fairmont Acapulco Princess

Reservations: 800-866-5577 (U.S.), www.fairmont.com

Ranked as one of the world's best resort hotels, this 1,017-room property sits on 480 acres near the airport. A magnificent sixteen-story pyramid-like building plus two ten-story towers rise above two large free-form pools with waterfalls. The resort also features a variety of restaurants and bars, plus two eighteen-hole golf courses, eleven tennis courts, a luxurious spa, and three additional pools, one fresh and two salt water. The beach is good for horseback riding but not swimming. The hotel is isolated and an expensive taxi ride to town.