We just returned from a week's stay in AC. The weather was perfect, and the beaches beautiful. We stayed at Banana Beach, and are completely happy that we did: the staff was friendly and helpful. A bonus for us was that Banana was one of the few (three maybe?) hotels on AC that has a backup generator for when the power went out. We met some older travelers staying at Ramons who were displeased at the lack of tvs and other general niceties taken for granted at most hotels/resorts- but Banana had everything we needed, plus some.
All future first-time visitors should frequent the 'fast food' stalls for some very inexpensive rice and beans (and potato salad on top) with stewed chicken- but beware the habanero peppered onions: they look innocent but they pack quite a punch.
There is only one thing that I regrettably feel I should mention here, if only to advise future travelers.... It is a bit of a long story, but the basics are that I went snorkeling and couldn't get water out of my ear. It began to ache fiercely after a few days and I finally decided to go to a clinic. I walked to the closest one and saw Dr. Emmanuel, at the Emmanuel Clinic (?). He was a pleasant person, but please do NOT go there. He tried to get me to go along with some insurance scam that involved my paying him more, then him writing me a receipt for more than what I actually paid him, so that I could file a claim for reimbursement with my insurance company back home. I declined and refused to fill out any paperwork. The end result: a consultation fee and left there feeling more miserable than when I arrived. (I don't mean to disparage Dr. Emmanuel, but my experience with him was truly terrible.)
When I got back to our hotel, I asked the front desk what to do and they groaned when they heard that I went to Dr. Emmanuel. Apparently he has quite a reputation for inflated prices. I ended up seeing Dr. Javier Zuniga, who came right to the hotel with his medical kit in less than 20 minutes, diagnosed me with an ear infection, and felt so badly that I'd been swindled by Dr. Emmanuel that he wasn't even going to charge me for anything but the prescriptions!! As soon as I got the medicine, I felt 100% better and could enjoy the rest of the vacation. I highly recommend Dr. Zuniga for any of the unfortunate medical events that may put a damper on your vacation- he was gentle, kind and honest.