Our experience (my wife and I) in Boca Chica was very memorable. Both for the hospitality of the people (including our hosts at the Hotel Zapata) as well as for the pervasiveness of the local prostitution.
We stayed at the Hotel Zapata because of all the good reviews we read about at this forum as well as on tripadvisor.com (not to mention its proximity to the beach). We agree that the hotel is very clean and well maintained even though the furnishings are a little dated. The owners, Martha and Robert, treat the guests so familial that it has a B&B feel. The staff as well are very accommodating and cater to your every need. On the week that we were there, most of the guests would converge at the bar before dinner to share a few drinks before moving on with their respective plans.
We happened to get moved (for our first night) to another property that the owners built at the far extreme of town due to our room having a plumbing problem. The hotel was called the San Gabriel (?) and it was really a classy place. The rooms in this property were very new with a pool on site. If this property had access to the beach we may have stayed there for our entire week. This would have been a mistake since we would have missed out on the Hotel Zapata experience.
The beach was awesome. I loved how the lagoon created such a large swimming pool like feel. The beach vendors were mild and were easy to dismiss with a ?No Gracias?. The beach in front of the Hotel Zapata (probably goes for all beach front properties) was cleaned every night and ready to go first thing in the morning.
The night life was a little disappointing from the perspective of a married couple looking to socialize with others on vacation. The night life in town seemed overwhelmingly dominated by single men and working girls. We patronized the three clubs in town but were very disappointed. The two clubs located on Duarte Avenue were just another venue for single men to meet working girls. The third was at the Hamaca AI resort. We were most disappointed with this club because we thought that it would have been patronized by the same couples that were hanging out on the beach. Instead it was full of teenagers. There were a few working girls with their dates. The best I could figure is that the cover at the Hamaca paid itself off when you factor in the free drinks.
The stay was very pleasant (despite the lack of social life for couples) because of the weather, the hospitality of the locals, the beach and the Hotel Zapata.
We stayed at the Hotel Zapata because of all the good reviews we read about at this forum as well as on tripadvisor.com (not to mention its proximity to the beach). We agree that the hotel is very clean and well maintained even though the furnishings are a little dated. The owners, Martha and Robert, treat the guests so familial that it has a B&B feel. The staff as well are very accommodating and cater to your every need. On the week that we were there, most of the guests would converge at the bar before dinner to share a few drinks before moving on with their respective plans.
We happened to get moved (for our first night) to another property that the owners built at the far extreme of town due to our room having a plumbing problem. The hotel was called the San Gabriel (?) and it was really a classy place. The rooms in this property were very new with a pool on site. If this property had access to the beach we may have stayed there for our entire week. This would have been a mistake since we would have missed out on the Hotel Zapata experience.
The beach was awesome. I loved how the lagoon created such a large swimming pool like feel. The beach vendors were mild and were easy to dismiss with a ?No Gracias?. The beach in front of the Hotel Zapata (probably goes for all beach front properties) was cleaned every night and ready to go first thing in the morning.
The night life was a little disappointing from the perspective of a married couple looking to socialize with others on vacation. The night life in town seemed overwhelmingly dominated by single men and working girls. We patronized the three clubs in town but were very disappointed. The two clubs located on Duarte Avenue were just another venue for single men to meet working girls. The third was at the Hamaca AI resort. We were most disappointed with this club because we thought that it would have been patronized by the same couples that were hanging out on the beach. Instead it was full of teenagers. There were a few working girls with their dates. The best I could figure is that the cover at the Hamaca paid itself off when you factor in the free drinks.
The stay was very pleasant (despite the lack of social life for couples) because of the weather, the hospitality of the locals, the beach and the Hotel Zapata.