Star Palace Beach Hotel

“Great Getaway on a Budget”

This trip was booked through Sunwing Vacations and we are from Canada. The main reason we chose the Star Palace was price, but also because of its proximity to the Golden Zone and other amenities. This was our third time to Mazatlán, with the first two times staying at the Riu Emerald Bay a decade … more

This trip was booked through Sunwing Vacations and we are from Canada. The main reason we chose the Star Palace was price, but also because of its proximity to the Golden Zone and other amenities. This was our third time to Mazatlán, with the first two times staying at the Riu Emerald Bay a decade ago. I am giving the Star Palace (which includes the Oceano Palace and the Luna Palace) a five-star review mostly because of the fantastic people working there. I wish to thank all the staff for a wonderful two weeks. I am going to mention a few by name as they were, of course, our servers and bartenders, but there are many working there who work hard throughout the properties that do not get the credit they deserve. Thank you all and thank you Leticia who works behind the scenes. First, Augustin is probably the best server I have ever had at any pool at any hotel. He was tireless serving everyone at the very busy pool and beach at the Star Palace and because of him, I rarely had an empty drink. As well, the snack food (burgers, hot dogs, fries and pizza) at that pool was quite good. If you love cheese, the pizzas are a must. Secondly, the servers at the buffet at the Oceano Palace. All were great, but Adolpho, Jesus, Daniel, and Napoleon gave us very attentive service considering that it was a very busy restaurant. I would like to thank Napoleon (and all the staff) for putting up with our Spanglish and taking the time to get through the language barrier to give us the best service possible. And now the bartenders. In the evenings, you are most likely going to spend your time at the Oceano Palace bar and luckily you will have Philipe there most nights. He makes very good drinks and his service was incredible. He seemed to be able to make time for everyone and I enjoyed the personalized attention he gave me. Another great bartender was Victor Hugo at the Pacific Palace pool and Italian restaurant. I have never seen an all-inclusive bartender give so much care and attention to the drinks he was making. It was quite entertaining watching him work. Another bartender that stood out was Jorge. The “all-inclusive” selection of alcohol was somewhat limited, but no complaints as this was a budget-friendly vacation. They did have a selection of “top shelf” liquors at an extra cost but I was satisfied with settling for what was included. As a tequila drinker, I stuck with El Jimador Reposado and my wife was happy with the Bacardi Anejo Rum. (I was a little surprised that Cazadores tequila and Malibu rum was considered “top shelf”. The did not have an off-brand coconut rum option.) I did enjoy the margaritas, especially the mango. The food was as good as any hotel in this price range and always found something I liked or something new to try. We had the option of eating at the buffets at the Star Palace or Oceano Palace (with a third breakfast option at the Luna Palace). The buffets leaned towards Mexican cuisine but there were many international choices as well. We also ate at the Italian and the Sushi restaurants (both a la cartes). We also did the dinner theatre one night. All were good options if you want something different to try. We chuckled at the number of dishes that included hot dogs, but if you want some comfort food, the hot dogs were delicious (as well as the hamburgers). We had the opportunity to have two different rooms during our stay as there was an unfortunate water leak in our first room coming from a pipe near the washroom (it was coincidental to a news report we had read that there was some service being done to the water system in Mazatlán, which may have something to do with it). I bring this up because both rooms were clean and comfortable. There were no issues with the water temperature in the showers (as I had read with other reviews). Both rooms had a view of the ocean. A little bit of reality of the hotel is that it can be quite noisy. At night there are two or three night clubs/bars across the street and I can assume that the rooms facing the street might be affected by that more than the rooms facing the ocean. During the day, there are two or three Bandas working the beach and the competing music can get a little overwhelming. The Star and Oceano both are destinations for families so that can also add to the noise. However, all of this is also a positive as it creates more entertainment options and gives the properties a good energy. I recommend bringing something to block the noise if it interrupts your sleep. That being said, I had no trouble sleeping. Also, if you want a quieter day at the beach or pool, head up to the Luna Palace. A major plus to all three properties is the consistent and strong Wi-Fi, even in the rooms and on the beach close to the hotels. I would recommend that non-Spanish speaking visitors come prepared with Google translate. Although I don’t think we would have had any problems without it and many staff spoke very good English, it did make some interactions easier and even helped us have a more enjoyable experience. Because most of the guests at the hotel spoke Spanish, there is less of a necessity for the hotel to have staff that are English-speaking. I almost forgot. The sunsets. The beautiful sunsets.

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“Good food and music”

Great music and great entertainment. Close to the beach and clean pools. The employees were really really friendly and nice. The only thing is that I went thru a travel agency and the organization at the beginning lacked.