"Some Good Values in Mazatlan " a Mazatlán Travel Page by MonoBichi

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Mazatlan has a lot of hotels, but very few of them have chain names like Hyatt or Radison: the result of greed and dirty local politics, but that's another story. What if means is, you end up having to choose from hotels you never heard of. That sort of choice is made easier by internet sites, but it can still get bewildering. There are clear-cut choices for backpackers and penny pinchers, and some obvious spots for the price-is-no-object crowd. For the average vacationer, it can get confusing or just the result of random picking. Well, here's a local's list of some good "inbetween" places that stand out for various reasons.

Transportation is snap in the hotel strip (known here as the Golden Zone) There is only one main drag, Camaron Sabalo, and a short offshoot called Loaiza (named after an assasinated govenor, not the baseball star). Sabalo Centro buses headed south go along the boardwalk, stop at tourist traps like Senor Frogs, enter the downtown, pass by the public market, and end up at the ferry terminal. And running north they take you back to the Zone. Heading north along Sabalo, Sabalo Cocos, and Sabalo Cerritos take you out to pretty beaches beyond the building sprawl. All other buses go to horrible places.
Taxis are extremely cheap. Slightly less cheap, but more fun are Mazatlan's gift to leisure transport--the pulmonia. These open cars, usually with monstrous (in every sense) stereos, offer wind in the hair, easy upchucking, flashing at opposite sex, and as their name suggests...pneumonia. If you have a big bunch of funlovers, try an auriga, a Japanese pickup truck with rails and benches in the back for a true cattle-drive sensibility. "EcoTaxis" are cheaper, faster, safer. You will ignore them, right?

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Mazatlan, tourist-wise, is more like three separate cities. The Golden Zone is a spawling, raucous strip of tourist traps and overpricing (still cheaper than U.S. or even other Mexican beach resorts, though). It also has a long beautiful beach, tropic islands just offshore, nice hotels with cool pools, flashy restaurants, and nice shopping. And, of course, thousands of other people just like you.
The Historic Zone, downtown, is rising from ruins and has a couple of hotels on Olas Altas beach, lots of great, cheap restaurants, museums, cafes, jazz and R&B joints (along with crazy Mazatlan music), a real public market, art galleries, symphony concerts and opera...and a laid-back lifestyle.
The Malecon...miles of boardwalk that connect the two areas...features dozens of cheap hotels across the beach and a bus ride from anything else. Few of these hotels appear on the internet or travel agent radar, but are perfect for anybody who drove in.