El Mirador is the only high-end hotel in downtown Acapulco (source)
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Acapulco is both a large resort and a large city, so hotel rooms are plentiful at every price range. Hotels sell out for the week after Christmas or the week before Easter, but for the rest of the year reservations are optional. Mexicans tourists often tell the taxi at the airport which part of the city to go to, and then shop for a hotel on foot.
Budget Hotels
The cheapest hotels (with air conditioning and private bath) are located downtown, mostly on the west side of the Zócalo. Most accommodations above $50 (double) will be air-conditioned and will include a telephone, TV, and a view of the bay.
In Golden Acapulco, the cheapest hotels are on the eastmost side, past the coastal highway.
Around eco-friendly Pie de la cuesta you can find several small hotels and restaurants catering largely to long-term visitors and budget travelers. The somewhat bohemian Ukae Kim Hotel and Beach Club is a good place to start.
Mid-Range
The east side of Golden Acapulco has the most animated nightlife, with countless discos and bars clustered around the Costera Boulevard. All the Costera hotels have freshwater pools and sun decks, and most have bars-restaurants overlooking the beach, if not on the sand itself. Hotels across the Costera are almost always less expensive than those directly on the beach, but because beaches are not private in Acapulco, in spite of what it seems sometime, all you have to do is cross the road to enjoy the sand.
There, all the high-rise hotels are similar in both price and comfort. Consider the Howard Johnson Maralisa (Costera Miguel Aleman, 1-800-446-4656), which runs about $60 per night double for an ocean-view room.
For a quieter, low-rise, more Mexican version of Acapulco, head for Old Acapulco. Suites Alba (Grand Via Tropical 35, 011-52-74-83-00-73), a resort-style hotel popular with Mexicans and Europeans. Suites have kitchenettes and terraces. Prices can go as low as $60 in low season (April to September). 
Nearby is the more luxurious Boca Chica (Plaza Caletilla, Tel. ++52 (744) 483-6741), a 40-room hotel overlooking Roqueta Island. Rates run about $100 and up for a double.
High End
The most exclusive area is Acapulco Diamante, home to some of the most luxurious, all-inclusive hotels in Mexico. Remember though that the main beach of Acapulco Diamente, Playa Revolcadero, is too rough for swimming, and it takes 15- to 25-minutes to taxi to Golden Acapulco where most of the nightlife and restaurants are. The atmosphere of Acapulco Diamante is refined and revolves around a game of golf or tennis, dining at some of Acapulco's better restaurants, and dancing at the glamorous Enigma, Palladium, and Fantasy discos. More Info 
The most expensive hotel of Golden Acapulco is the Westin Las Brisas (Carretera Escenica 5255, 1-800-228-3000), a year-round resort, set high on a hill overlooking the Bay. Televisions have been taken out of the room to ensure the resort’s serenity. Rates start at $175 double and include a continental breakfast. Most of the guests are foreign tourists.
It is hard to travel to Acapulco Diamente without noticing the three stadium-size buildings of the Acapulco Princess Hotel, which rests on 250 tropical acres surrounded by the ocean and the Sierra Madre Mountains. Hotel amenities include 1,019 rooms and suites, seven restaurants, a shopping arcade, ballrooms, conference rooms, and offices totaling 118,000 square feet of space.
Another good bet is the Pierre Marques (Plaza Revolcadero, 1-800-223-1818), by the Puerto Marques bay just east of Golden Acapulco. It shares facilities with the giant Acapulco Princess hotel, but not the crowds. Rates start at $100 per night double.
A different kind of place with a lot of history and local color is the world famous Hotel El Mirador, pictured above, in the downtown area. No longer considered a luxury hotel, El Mirador pecularity is to be built across a cliff, and guests use a cable car to move between buildings. Yet, most people choose El Mirador for the divers and the ocean view. The terraces are the domain of the hotel's two restaurants. The top two are usually used during breakfast and lunch, the lower two for La Perla restaurant, where evening patrons can watch the divers from their table. Expect to pay a lot of sub-standard food though.
All Hotels in Acapulco
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