Barcelo Maya Beach Resort: Relaxing Holiday w/ amazing food/drinks

We just returned from the Barceló Maya Beach. Travelled with 4 adults and a 9 month old. The hotel recently went though major renovations as everything looked new. BOOKED: Krysti Coronios helped us. She was absolutely amazing and went above AND beyond my expectations. Will be calling her again and recommend her service. (Thank you again!!) BEACH: Gorgeous beach. No beach huts JUST palm trees = awesome. They provided enough shade/sun. No need to get up early to get a spot. Lots of room for eve [... read more]ryone at the pool or beach. The area is experiencing a MAJOR SEA WEED issue. We were assured the staff cleans this regularly. NOT the case. As the fresh stuff comes in you can see the other older piles that have shriveled up and clearly were lying around for days. Once you get past the first couple of meters the ocean is super clean and nice. So it’s a small inconvenience BUT not a huge problem. Bring water shoes. ROOM: We stuck with a standard room and I am glad we did as there are no ocean views here; just pool views with a sliver of an ocean from a distance. Unless you are planning on spending a lot of time in your room, save you money. The water pressure is amazing, bath tubs are standard with two shower heads and the plumbing works perfectly. The king size bed, in an actual king size (not 2 beds put together). Room equipped with a flat screen TV and a mini fridge with various coke products, nuts and beer (replenished daily. DAY ENTERTAINMENT: Surf riding lessons are available for $15-20 US per hour. Super fun. Your muscles will be hurting the next day. Husband wiped out bad and got whip lash. Be careful but try it. Kayaks, paddle boarding, catamarans are free just need to get a time slot (open until 4:30pm). They have a dolphin pool. Same prices as everywhere else to swim with the dolphins, but you don’t lose a day commuting as the pool is within the Barcelo complex. NIGHT ENTERTAINMENT: There are 2 theaters super close to each other. If you don't like what one has, just walk over to the other. There are 2 clubs. Jaguar and One. Both are huge and had very little people dancing in there, but were super nice. FOOD: Seriously amazing. If you are a huge sea food person, they have a sea food night with full size lobsters and lobster tails - all you can eat. Went to the Mayan many times, never seen this at the buffet. Needless to say, don't book a la carte on sea food night! Tokyo A La Carte = amazing. La Fuente A La Carte = great. Mecico Lindo A La Carte =to die for Steak House A La Carte =ok. For an additional $20 US/person you can use the restaurants at the Palace. Make a reservation at the Brasserie (French restaurant). Won't regret it!! Breakfast and Lunch Buffet were the same every day. Huge selection, but food was just ok. MALL: Yup, they have a huge mall with free wi-fii from 10am-noon. Lots of shops from bikinis, to bath bombs, trinkets and everything else you can think of. They have the same trinkets at the airport, but for ½ the price so purchase here. GENERAL: Nothing bad to say. Honestly, book this place. You won’t regret it, especially if you can get an amazing deal. Room Tip: They have elevators, stay on the 3rd floor. There is NO

Barcelo Maya Beach Resort: Best Resort Ever

Wonderful staff! Beautiful beaches, bars, and pools. This resort has all the facilities you will need. Food was pretty good too. Smoking areas are really nice if you are a smoker. I can't really complain about anything except for the doctor at their hospital! She was not very helpful. Also, if you want to buy gifts, the gift shop at the hotel is much cheaper than the street sellers.

Occidental Caribe: Barcelo

The place was very nice, staff was excellent, food was good Beach was beautiful, pools were great, could another swim up bar there was only one . Everything was within walking distance and the view from our room was spectacular

Barcelo Maya Beach Resort: Great trip

Our family vacation to Riviera Maya was a good trip overall. Stayed at Barcelo Maya Beach- fantastic staff from reception to everyone we encountered! Everyone tried their best, thank you all! Facility: room - building uxmal room 3314 very average, bathroom needs an upgrade sheets always had some type of stain. Barcy club- no activities really for children from 7-12, no teen activities. There was no entertainment for kids between 7 and 12 yrs of age. Pirate Island- fun for a day be very careful a [... read more]s kids can get hurt on the slides - bumping the back of their head while lying down and sliding through some of the slides. If planning to try surfing there be aware of the great water pressure- it will throw you up against the padded walls, and it will hurt! Restaurants: tried Mexican - not thoroughly impressed we went to Xel Ha natural water park and had the most impressive Mexican food there! This is a fantastic excursion, I booked it directly with the park! Spanish was great - especially with the Spanish coffee demonstration for us! French- fantastic Italian- not impressed at all Japanese- very entertaining and good food The grounds are very well kept, resort collection is huge, and makes for a good walk to burn all the calories! however there is no sense of connection to the place or people. Food: much variety, good quality however we were not impressed with the deserts! Beach: even though the beach front of the Beach Resort is the best, at the time of our visit the beach was unsettled with lots of seaweed and a mushy and smelly ocean front (for a few 1-2 meters in) once in it was clear and more pleasant. Other: Coupons: We did not see the value in them at all! Mosquitos: a real problem so make sure to have mosquito repellants with you. Mall - over rated and expensive, the Mexican mall further down is much more authentic and offers better deals. overall at the time of our visit we felt this resort had a great potential of being a 5star but felt it was 3.5 at best due to room accommodations and lack of entertainment.

Barcelo Maya Beach Resort: amazing resort!

This resort was absolutley beautiful! It was about an hour drive from the Cancer airport, but we'll worth it! From the minute we checked in the staff was so nice, always asking if we needed anything. The resort I'd absolutley stunning, the staff is constantly cleaning the place, there is never apiece of trash on the ground or a piece of grass uncut! They do such an amazing job at keeping the resort clean. The rooms were lovely, the only bad thing I have to say is that the bed was terribly uncomf [... read more]ortable, other then that I have no complaints. The food at the beach buffet was satisfying and you were always sure to find something for everyone in your group! The pools, bar and beach were also amazing, Bravo Barcelo

Barcelo Solymar: Great Holiday in Cuba

We had a wonderful time, hotel was a really good location near the town of Varadero walking distance of 10 minutes. The hotel room was spacious and clean it was 4th floor ocean view so could see the sunsets from the balcony. Bottled water and beer put in fridge in room everyday and delightful to see what shape the maid had made with the towels after cleaning the room i.e. a swan or heart shape! The food was good, chefs at each meal cooked up fresh meats and eggs and pasta in front of you. The pa [... read more]stry/bread chef made the most delicious rolls, croissants and victoria sponge cakes. Good selection of fruits from mango to melons, guava and papaya every meal and the a la carte meal at the spainish restaurant was excellent. One of our party was vegetarian and this was catered to with no problem wherever we went. The beach and the sea of course was the best part of this trip, out of this world, clean clear warm water and clean beach and we were always able to find beds and umbrella to lie on and under. Entertainment at night was fun saw some excellent dancing shows, a michael jackson show and disco on the beach some nights. The guests ranged from families with children to a few elderly but mostly in the 20-30 age group. The staff were all lovely and helpful.

Barcelo Solymar: Amazing resort!!!

The hotel room was amazing always clean and the fridge is always stocked with water and beers and myself and my boyfriend had an amazing time. The food was not always the best but breakfast you can always find something to eat and lunch was not that bad either but if your an adventure you can always go to one of the many restaurants in town and they have amazing food at very lost cost.

Barcelo Gran Faro Los Cabos: Great Resort

We spent a week at Barceló Grand Faro Los Cabos. We had a great time. The common areas, the pools, the green spaces were immaculately clean and well serviced. The room were also very clean and spacious. The staff is very friendly and helpful. Unlike other places we have been to, we didn't feel like we had to tip on every corner to get good service although we always tip since we understand that people appreciate the extra money. The entertainment staff tried their best to keep the activities ro [... read more]lling and most of the day there were some games or other events going on at the pool or other areas. We really enjoyed the food at the buffet and A la Carte restaurants as well as the snack bar. At times it felt that the restaurants were understaffed but it's not a big deal to grab your own drinks from the bars. The construction at the hotel next door was very noisy but our room was quiet when closed. The bar had a great list of liquors and mixed drinks that were available most of the time. Many families visit the hotel in the summer, the kids club was not able to attract the children to hang around. I would suggest that the kids club promotes itself better and offers more activities in order to attract children to it. Overall we would gladly return to this hotel and recommend other families to stay here.

Barcelo Solymar: Decent resort.

The food wasn't as bad as people were saying. Staff were very friendly and accommodating although a lot of problems with the ac not working in many rooms. The hotel was located conveniently near the city. The beach was absolutely beautiful! However, this hotel is not worth paying > 1000 dollars for.

Barcelo Maya Colonial: Great Trip

No major complaints at all for this resort! Plenty to do and see. Rooms were very clean and comfortable. Pools great our kids had a great time going between them and the kids water park. Kids Club also fantastic for them. Definitely a family resort. Would definitely go back!

Barcelo Solymar: Great beach resort

The beach is wonderful. Beach towels in rooms, we never got them changed in the 3 days we were there because they said they never had clean ones. Other than that excellent place to stay. Oh! No entertainment!

Sunscape Puerto Plata: Great Value

Wanted an inexpensive holiday and that what I got. Pool great ,beach cleaned every morning, food tasty. Went to all 5 a la carte restaurants, couple good, others average. People friendly, room ,dated but clean. Would go back again.

Sunscape Dominican Beach: Good resort

My sister and I booked this trip for my birthday. Upon arrival the resort was very nice. Happy that it wasn't too big, but I did find that the people weren't too friendly as we didn't speak Spanish. Nathaniel at the front desk was great. He helped us with everything we needed. Entertainment staff was nice. Keep in mind when booking an oceanfront view room most beds are king. My sister and I had to change rooms as we requested two doubles. We were then moved to the elite club. Nice room and close [... read more] to the beach. Closer to the end of the week we noticed that there were possibly fleas or might I say bed bugs as we experienced bites over night. We were happy to be going home needless to say.

Occidental Caribe: Great resort !

Beautiful grounds, well kept, clean, 1/2 of the servers great other 1/2 rather straight faced. Language barrier (hardly anyone knew English ) beach was beautiful but lots of seAweed On beach so hard to swim plus water was a Little rough for me. Weather was great. Lots of grads there 400+ the week we were there so not the best family oriented resort that week for us. But We had a great time regardless. I would advise to book excursions through your rep at hotel not at the pool or beach. We did ha [... read more]ve a disappointing experience on one event that we did not book through our rep. My son got good poisoning on the last day unfortunately. Food was ok overall. The Japanese restaurant on site was awesome. The pirate excursion was also Fabulous.

Barcelo Solymar: Absolutely Stunning Beach

My fiancé and I traveled to the Barcelo Solymar from June 27 to July 4th , 2015. When I first read the reviews for this resort, I was pretty terrified of what to expect when I arrived, but it is not nearly as bad as people have been making it out to be … some people you can just never please. Was it perfect … no … was it still enjoyable… absolutely. Let me start by saying the resort is a little run down in some areas, but not to the magnitude some make it out to be. I will say that th [... read more]ey are making efforts to be try and update / maintain their facilities. While we were there, we seen multiple different locations in the building being painted, new shower heads being put on the outdoor showers, the pool bar was renovated, fixed up and reopened while we were there and all the loungers by the pool appeared to be brand new. When we first arrived, the check-in was quick maybe a 10 minute wait, and the lady was very nice and polite. We were originally put into room 1260, unfortunately the air conditioner was not working, and because it was so hot we went right back down to reception and they happily changed our room to 1221 which was much better, the air worked pretty good and the bed was clean. I do have to mention that in our first room when I was checking the bed for bed bugs (which I thankfully did not find and), I did however notice quite a large white stain on the red box spring (you can take a guess at what it might have been … eeeek). The rooms are older but they are fine, our couch was black leather, and it was all torn up so they just threw a sheet on it to cover it … not very good for first impressions, but we are easy going so it didn’t bother us much. The maids were good, clean rooms but she only left hand towels to shower with, which was weird, I would recommend that larger towels are left in the room to shower with. The food as with most Cuban destinations was not the greatest, but they did put on a decent spread of food. My biggest complaint about the buffet was the lack of air conditioning, it was very warm and muggy every time we ate in the buffet whether it be breakfast lunch or dinner, and the doors were always open so flies would get in. We only got to try the Italian restaurant and it was ok, when we tried for Mexican and Japanese’s on other nights it was closed, but we didn’t try very hard to get the nights they were open so not a big deal. The positives of the trip was that the staff was friendly and the beach was absolutely gorgeous, probably the nicest beach I have ever seen. The crowd was a mixture of families with children and young adults. We are 29 and 33 so the noisy partying didn’t bother us much but it was definitely louder (at times) than most other resorts I have travelled to. Overall, if you are looking for luxury, fine dining and a quiet relaxing vacation, this is probably not the best resort for you, however if you are young and aren’t picky this is a reasonably priced decent resort. We had a good vacation, and for the price this is a good stay.

Occidental Caribe: Delicious sea beach palmer's decision attention

Amazing resort, simple and beautiful. Carefully treat people excellent room and service awesome view. I would recommend my friends to consult your company tripcentral before to make a decision regarding to holidays

Occidental Caribe: Beautiful

Room was beautiful and clean, the grounds were well taken care of, the beach was clean and you never struggle to find a chair, food was decent there was a wide selection and the pasta bar and fresh meat station were very good. Night life was good, many options from shows, casino, to lobby bars, music and a disco.

Barcelo Solymar: Probably wont return..to Barcelo Solymar

Barcelo Solymar Cuba.This was probably one of the worst vacations i have taken in my life. there were many negative things on and off the resort that happened, but i will only review the hotel experience. Keep in mind i am a very patient and understanding person but there is a limit. Anyway we arrived at the hotel a bit later at night and to a very long check-in line This was expected since i read in the reviews that this would happen. so after about half an hour in line we got to our room. We w [... read more]ere satisfied with the quality of the room aesthetically, but then after further exploration we found out that the shower door rusted so bad that it fell off once we opened the bathroom door. the balcony door was broken and would not close and the one thing that i wanted in a room was not there. AIR CONDITIONING. This is Cuba so at night it would be around 30 Celsius. we immediately went to reception to ask if they can fix it. They were quick in calling someone on the phone to fix and said there would be someone to fix it in 10 minutes. we gave them a tip for their help because we like to tip for good service. well 10 minutes turned to an hour and an hour turned to 2 hours. well you can imagine nobody showed up and it was around midnight and decided to sleep in the room sweaty and super uncomfortable. The next day we went down to ask what happened and they said there was nobody available to fix it and we couldn't switch rooms. once i heard that i knew this week would be terrible. So for the whole week it was scorching hot and we even opened the balcony door and it helped a little. but mosquitoes feasted on our blood and i am not exaggerating we got dozens and dozens of mosquito bites. The food at the hotel was reviewed to be bad and i am definitely not a picky eater but it was bad. I don't know they can mess up cooking rice, pasta and potatoes, you literally just have to boil it. So even though we got all inclusive at this "4 star" hotel we ate off resort every lunch and dinner. To be fair the breakfast was decent and had the most flavor, but we rarely were awake for those times. Now the staff, the staff were very polite and were super attentive but they had an ulterior motive. Every staff member from reception to security to waiters were looking for tips. If you did not tip them after they helped you they would not even look at you for the rest of the week, even if you made eye contact with them they would just ignore you. The good part of this vacation was that beaches which has nothing to do with the hotel. the pool was pretty good but the best part were the people on and off the resort. My group and I made many friends on the resort sometimes because of the negative things we had in common and the locals off the resort were pretty polite. All in all i would go back to Cuba but probably no to this hotel..

Barcelo Solymar: Nice beach but Horrible room

We knew the hotel rooms are in bad condition in Cuba so we paid for the suite bungalow which is the most expensive room we can get. But to our disappointment. the room is in very bad condition. No blow dryer, no iron. Bathroom is in very bad condition. Equivalent to the a one star hotel here in Canada. The bathroom ceiling collapse on us on the 4th day. The management actually wanted to just fix it while we are living there. But it was not fixable so they switched us to a cheaper room saying the [... read more]y have no other rooms available. Have fun at this hotel :)

Barcelo Bavaro Palace: Looooved this resort!!

The hotel is so convenient to the airport!! 10 minute drive! The lobby is beautiful! The Junior Suite was amazing! Every room has a jacuzzi on the balcony! Will return for sure! Great for everyone! 5**