Amazing as usual

we have been to this resort 6 times and it did not disappoint! Many upgrades and service and food were fabulous. I would not recommend the bowling however. Very poorly run. Did not have shoes to fit the children and then offered bumpers on our 10th frame....geez thanks! We also were never asked if we wanted a beverage or snack which is included! When paying $15/person you kind of expect some service.

Huge Super Clean Resort

Just me and my 2 boys (age 14 and 17) made the trip.The rooms where very clean and nice .They had a cot/bed all set up when we got there so we each had our oun bed.Room service was amazing. The resort is Huge.We only saw about half of it.Really easy to get loungers at the beach anytime of the day.The snorkelling was great right off the beach. I heard a restaurant review once that said if you want to know how clean the kitchens are ,look at the bathroom.The bathrooms everywhere are the cleanest [... read more] I have ever seen.The food was fantastic. My boys did sports all day long and eat all day long of course also. The gym was state of the art.Hardly anyone there but if you like to work out it a must. Cheers,drink the dark Modella Beer

Lovely resort.

August 13-20/2016. Barceló Maya Colonial The best food and show was at the Japanese restaurant. The appetizers, tempura shrimp and veggie sushi, were very tasty. The surf and turf, steak and lobster, were cooked to perfection. The Mexican restaurant was very good. However, it took very long to get the food. Obviously everything was made fresh and was worth the wait. Seafood restaurant, service was too fast, they almost seemed to have the plates sitting and waiting to be order [... read more]ed. Shrimp and lobster were mushy, not under cooked, not over cooked but mushy. The disco was fun and played every type of music. From Bon Jovi to Rihanna and the dance versions of the songs. We did not go to see any of the theatre/night shows. Every washroom on the resort was clean, had toilet paper, and soap. The buffet at the Caribe had more selection and hotter food then our buffet at the Colonial. I liked the fact that we could eat and drink at the sister resorts, except the Palace. The double decker bus was convenient in taking us to all the resort lobbies. The mall was impressive. Bowling, casino, haunted house, stores, water slides, etc. Bowling and haunted house was $15 US per person. Extreme Elevator was $10 US per person. I was disappointed that there was no free Wifi except at one end of the mall between 10 am - 1 pm. All the staff were friendly and helpful. A few that stood out were; Carlos Ortis at the Caribe breakfast buffet, Sandra, our maid/house keeping, Roberto at the piano bar, Hugo at the front desk of the Colonial, and Marco aka Mark Anthony at the pool bar, across from the Captain Morgan buffet. The resort may need more staff. Sometimes the pool bars and buffet wait staff were busy and took a long time to serve us. One dangerous thing to point out is the drips of water from the air condition in the Caribe buffet. The staff was always mopping up because the floor was extremely slippery. Our safe did not work and was replaced within 20 mins of us informing the front desk. Same with a blown light bulb in our washroom. Over all we had a wonderful time and would go back.

Beautiful Family Vacation

Stayed at the Maya Colonial, beautiful resort. Exceeded our expectations. Gorgeous beach, crystal clean water. There were some rocky spots, but the water is so clear you can avoid them. Pools were huge and never felt overcrowded. Plenty of activities to keep 3 active teenagers interested all week. Food was great, lots of choices. We purchased the Wi-Fi for the week for 45.00, I was skeptical because all the negative reviews I had read on the horrible Wi-Fi connection, however for some reason we  [... read more]never had an issue. The kids had to share the login code and it could only be used on one device at a time. We were told by guests services that we could only get connection in our room, lobby and restaurants, but they got connection on the whole resort even at the pools and the beach. While I realize we spend a lot of money to be away from the technology it was nice to still have that connection and the kids were respectful of our time together. Stayed April 2016

Beautiful and amazing resort

This resort was stunning, lush palm trees, great food, excellent service, very clean and maintained. Out of all the Barcelona resorts, the Colonial was the best, fewer rock and better beach. All the immenities were at your finger tips and localized.

Wonderful time

This is an amazing resort, massive grounds, beautifully laid out with so much to do. Bring extra money because there are lots of fun things to do on the resort but some cost extra!! Wonderful resort!!

Great resort!

This resort was huge but catered to all age groups. We were 5 people,three adults and two teenage boys. The food was great as we had a chance to visit 5 à la carte restaurants. They were all very good. The beach was very windy (red flag all week) be you could still manage to swim in the beautiful crystal clear water. So many fun things to do (surf rider,bowling, shopping,pool animation, scuba,volley..) Not far from Tulum and Playa del Carmen. SOOO many activities! It was a great week for all 5  [... read more]of us! I strongly recommend this resort!

Beautiful Barcelo!!

Barcelo Maya Colonial and the other resorts included in your stay was absolutely beautiful!! The grounds are beautifully manicured and well taken care of....once in the resort area youll feel like your in paradise!! The beach and pools are second to none...the activities are endless...to the included watersports to the jetskis and parasailing you can indulge in for a small fee right at this resort!!! If your going to take in an excursion this resort is centrally located...about an hour from airp [... read more]ort but your transfer is comfortable enough before you know it youve arrived at your new home for the next week!! The food and drinks are top notch something for everyone!!! I really enjoyed my stay here as did my 15 year old son....we will definately be back to Barcelo Maya Colonial!! Thank you Tripcentral for all your help!!!

Great Trip.

This resort is huge. We booked at Colonial but they put us at Tropical. This was a bit of a disappointment because we were there to meet friends for a wedding at Maya Beach (the furthest end of the resort). The Maya was the nicest because it was newly renovated. All 4 resorts were nice, but they definitely started upgrading at the Maya end and haven't finished yet. Food is great, again better selection at the Maya snd Caribe grills for lunch, but nothing is bad. Staff are good. Beach is beautifu [... read more]l (better at the Maya end) and the ocean was warmer than the pools. Pools are cold but refreshing. If you want music and activities go to the Tropical pool.

BARCELO COLONIAL

If you have your heart set on the Colonial, you could be disappointed. I had been to the Colonial twice before my recent vacation in March 2016. It would seen the hotel puts you in the Tropical instead the Colonial. I spoke to quite a few other people with the same story. The hotel insists they are all the same now with the exception of the Palace. When I booked my vacation there were price differences between the hotels (Tropical, Colonial, Beach and Caribe). Therefore, you could be paying more [... read more] (hundreds) and getting a cheaper priced hotel. I hope this practice is fixed quickly. It would prevent me from booking with Barceló in the future. The grounds and cleanliness are spectacular.

Overpriced large resort without a personal feel.

Rained 5/7 days. Room smelled of mold and mildew. Staff "fixed" problem by adding an air freshener to the A/C, Helped a little. Hard to get good bar service unless we were waiving dollar bills at the bartenders. Resort was very large and we spent too much time walking between restaurants/our room/buffet/bar and beach. Price dropped by almost $2000 for our family and no help from tripcentral.

Great resort with kids

We traveled with two toddlers, 16 months and 3 years old, so our experience reflects that. We generally liked this resort: -the beach was great, as were the pools with waterslides (our 3 year old loved them!) -the grounds were very large, so a lot of space to walk around However, a few things that could have been better: -the food was poorly labeled - being vegetarian, this was a problem -the entertainment started very late - again, this was a problem only because our kids went to bed around 8- [... read more]8:30pm, it would have been nice to see some sort of entertainment that they could enjoy a little earlier (e.g. live music in the lobby) -the shows in the theater were VERY loud - even after our kids were asleep in the stroller, we were hesitant to go watch it because of how loud it was.

Wonderful resort

Staff were so welcoming and friendly, the food was fantastic including each buffet meal, and the special coffees were great! You did not have to get up at 5 to reserve a spot at the beach as there was plenty of room and recliners. Thumbs up to Air Transat staff as well.

All you could ask for

service - servers around the pool - they are constantly on the move asking you if you would like another drink, picking up empties. tireless workers. Servers at dinner - wine, water glasses always being topped up. dirty plates whisked away. property - grounds, rooms - always tidy, clean and sparkling fitness centre - the new fitness center is the best I have seen in the Caribbean. makes my private club back home look shabby. worked out every day in that centre and it was awesome. Food - fresh [... read more] and lots of variety. no stomach issues for the four of us. Restaurants - went to Spanish, Japanese, Mexican and Seafood. Service was excellent for all. Food excellent at all save for Seafood restaurant where we rated it good. For the Japanese, we were not at a show table which is what we originally wanted. that was overcome by amazing service and tasty fresh food. no issues in being able to sign up for a Hobiecat sailboat. Sailing was a delight due to moderate winds.

Excellent resort

The Barcelo resort was fantastic! Overall experience was definitely a positive one! The Barcelo allowed us to engage in a variety of activities and helped us have a much needed relaxing vacation. I would definitely recommend is this resort to everyone!

Fantastic Vacation!

This was our first all inclusive vacation in years, and it was great. We had been booked into the Colonial, however when we arrived, they were overbooked and we were moved to the Palace. Little did we know when we booked, there was a country music festival on the grounds (the other end of the resort past the Caribe/Beach), and the 5 resorts were at capacity. Amazingly, all of the amenities were not crowded. The pools were not crowded, there were always lounge chairs and hammocks available, and s [... read more]eats in the buffets were always free. Speaking of the buffets, the food was quite good - both selection, flavour and quality. Also, the staff in the restaurants were fantastic. In fact, we would always seek out one specific waiter - Yhashua. What a lovely young man. He is taking schooling on his days off for hotel management, and when we return in a few years, we hope to see him in a supervisory position! Also, whoever put Luis in charge of the 2pm pool entertainment was a genius - he was hilarious. Loved playing bingo with him, and my husband played pickup volleyball with him as well. The pools were very nice. I had the lap pool all to myself in the mornings. There were 2 gyms, 1 in the Palace and one near the beach by the Colonial/Caribe. That gym was far nicer and bigger than most gyms I've see here in Canada. It was obviously new, and the equipment was top notch. The room itself was also very nice... but we didn't spend much time in it. We did 3 excursions - Xel-ha, Rio Secreto and Ek Balam/Cenote - all of which I would recommend. We also snorkeled in the ocean right off the beach. There were lots of fish, and large sea turtles. Definitely bring your snorkel gear if you have some! We ate at 3 of the specialty restaurants - the Italian in the mall, the Brazilian in the Palace, and the French in the Palace. By far, the best was the French! If you get the chance, definitely eat there. We didn't think it would be for us, but everything there was amazingly delicious, and the staff were fabulous! All in all, great vacation, and we would return again! Now that we've experienced the Palace, it would be the resort of choice on our return trip.

Huge resort!

Rooms were great, staff was very friendly. The only thing I would change is the buffet. There was a lot of variety but it wasn't the best tasting. Other than that it was an amazing vacation and a very beautiful and clean resort

Great Vacation

Very well kept. Lovely large resort and lots to do. Nice, friendly staff helpful with all requests. Would recommend swimming shoes for the ocean and to use on any swimming excursions. 15-22 $ US at any market or gift shop.

Large resort , plenty of beach chairs

The resort was huge with lots of options for dining, swimming and relaxing. Overall good food and service. Beach was nice with lots of fish and even turtles. The negative I would have to say would be our room. We were ground level & it smelt moldy & musty . We asked to be moved and were told nothing was available.

Awesome resort

the "a la carte's" we tried were good, the buffet was huge with something for everyone. rooms were clean and bright staff was helpful and friendly plenty of gift shops Cant wait to go back and try the things we didn't get to!