Not a 5 star

Poor food, no themes at buffet despite lunar new year and Valentine's. No flexibility for unusual circumstances. Rooms are worn out. Buffet staff not allowed to join tables to accommodate family groups I'd these larger settings are occupied

Amazing Resort

We cannot say enough good things about the Maya Barcelo Caribe. From the moment we arrived until we left, we had a great time. The service was great, the food was great, the beaches were great, the weather was phenomenal. Many things we probably did not get to do as the property is hug and we were discovering new things daily. Very clean and well maintained. We will definitely be visiting again.

Love love love this resort

This resort is amazing, clean, friendly with spectacular scenery ,everywhere you look it’s like a picture postcard ….. absolutely breathtaking. Plenty of good food all day long with amazing service! Our second time here and can’t wait to go back.

Average Resort

Returned a week ago from the Barcelo Maya Caribe. It is a no frills resort with the beach and pool being the best factors. We went to 2 al a cartes and wouldn't bother if we'd had known it was just mediocre. Didn't even go to the other 2 that we had reservations for. The buffet is really good, something for everyone. I think most of the resorts in the Mayan Riviera all use the same company to source their desserts from. They are all the little cakes cut in different shapes and differe [... read more]nt colours, but mostly all the same. I didn't even bother with them, stuck to the fruit and fruit cups. I really love dessert but can pass those little cakes up easily. Dessert was disappointing. The rooms - very blah. No frills whatever. They do supply shampoo conditioner and lotion. The hall outside the rooms are VERY DARK and unappealing. Definately need some nice lighting and some sort of decor as there is ZERO decor, inside the halls and outside the actual buildings. When we arrived at the resort in the bus, it was so blah and disappointing, just a big building, no decor or flowers whatsoever. No excitement to finally get there. We were apprehensive about the place. The checkin was fine, the lobby, again blah, no flowers, nothing even on the checkin counter, NOTHING. Only 4 of us checking in and the young man checking us in talked so fast and rushed like he was really busy. We couldn't understand him, didn't know if he was talking english or spanish! Again, no decor other than some metal spanish metal statues in the lobby. They didn't appeal to me at all . The room didn't have any towel art, no candies on the pillows, nothing, no frills. I only seen 1 miriachi singing group during the whole week, at the mexican a la carte. Why not have them around the whole resort each day?! They really add to the Mexican feel of a place. Should always be at the buffets. I didn't see any drink servers at the beach or the pool. Had to get your own. No frills. No little snack stands right at the pool, like I ALWAYS see at other resorts. Seen lots of fish at the pier. That was really nice. The theater - was good on 3 nights -- Michael Jackson, Il Divo and the Magic Show were good. But the kareoke, the men vs. ladies were bad. Don't recommend. But they really should turn ON the lights after the shows. I actually tripped on the side of some stairs (there are stairs all over), and I fell right down. (Not a drinker). Lighting is very poor. They should also have little golf carts to drive customers around as there's lots of walking. One of the 4 of our group rented an electric scooter for about $100/day to get around. The bartenders all seemed unhappy. This really sounds negative, but the beach and the pools made it worthwhile for us, that's what we went for. It was average but at a higher cost. I would recommend if you are happy being at the beach and pools and fine with buffets, but the resort is very MEDIOCRE, again NO FRILLS THERE!!! Just my opinion.

Wouldn't book again

This resort is very big. It is 619 acres. Be prepared to do lots of walking. If you do choose to stay here, be sure to book 'Premium.' Even though this is a 5 star resort, the 'superior run of the house' rooms are extremely dated and need a thorough renovation. Our room was on the second floor and air conditioning worked well. Bathroom had peeling paint in the tub. The food is excellent. We had read reviews about bland food and did not find that. The a la cartes are hard to book and we could [... read more] only get dinner times between 5 - 6 pm. I don't know if they did that as well as we had an 8 year old. Seems like all the kids were with parents at this dinner time. The resort's entertainment around the pools and activities are lacking. There are 4 main pools and most of the action seemed to be happening at Tropical. That was 2 resorts away from us. The shows are too late. All started at 9:30 pm. With a 8 year old we just couldn't make it to them. We have enjoyed other resorts where the entertainment is more geared towards children (having some children's shows). The Barcy club is too hard to access. They are too strict with drop off times and they only allow you to book in 50 minute increments. The pools and beaches were great. Alcohol was very watered down. The staff work very hard, especially the grounds crew. The resort exterior is immaculate. Very commercial resort, too many stores. Miss quainter resorts with less shopping options. No one is selling you anything on the beach which is nice but you almost miss it too. We used collectivo to explore, but be prepared to be in the middle of nowhere.

Upgraded to the Barcelo Maya Palace

When we arrived at the Barcelo Caribe we were told they were full and we were to go to the Barcelo Palace as an upgrade. We had a fabulous time. It was myself, my husband and our 2 young adult children. We loved the Palace but our kids spent more time at the Caribe which was livelier and more going on for their age. Room/staff: Fabulous - 2 double beds, 2 couches, patio to garden, wrist band key door openers, large bathroom 2 sinks, toilet and 2 showers with bathtub in each room. Great co [... read more]vered walkways to everywhere. Very clean well kept grounds and areas. Staff friendly and helpful. If you leave a tip in the room fridge you will get xtra snacks. Food: Much better at Palace than Caribe as we ate 2 lunches at the grills at Caribe/Tropical and our stomachs were upset after those. Stressful booking dinners at restaurants at night. Had to book the first day and only got choice of 3 restaurants at a time so had to go back 2 days in a row to book more. Unable to get restaurants the first 2 nights. Restaurants are the way to go for dinners. They were excellent even at the Tropicale. Breakfast buffets were wonderful with omelettes, crepes and papaya, bagels, lots of variety Lunches were a great variety at the Palace- hot and cold items Dinners at buffet were good but preferred the restaurants. Loved the Kyoto - Japanese that cooked in front of you with a show. French- Bassiere - lots of seafood, Caribe - seafood, Rodizio - Brazilian steak which was ok, Italian at Tropical was good- pasta Drinks all free at all bars. Bring own insulated large drink container Entertainment: Poor. Spectacular arena at the Tropicale was all in Spanish every night. At the Palace one night was Mexican dancers - costumes were great but same dancing for 1/2 hour. Magic show was good. The other nights were only karaoke. Shows started at 9:30 pm. Not much to do at night here. Kids had more to do at the Caribe in the evenings-dance parties, sports bar etc. Beaches: Fantastic. Bring water shoes as lots of rocks. Need a float or noodle for me for snorkelling. Bring snorkel. Walked from Palace to Adult Only every morning on sidewalk on beach - approx 6000 steps for both ways about 35 min to do both ways. Lovely walk in the morning at 830. Had to get up at 8 to get beach chairs on the beach at the Palace- put towels and clips on chairs. Palm trees for shade so had to move the chairs around every 30 min or so to get shade. Water was warm, first few days were rolling waves then last few days was calm no waves and clear water. At that time near the palace you could stand by the rocks and didn’t need to snorkel and we saw a sting ray, 2 turtle swimming next to us , and multiple coloured fish by just standing near the rocks by shore. Lots of water sports to do - windsurfing, wave rider $20US per hour, kayaking, catamaran- have to go early in AM to stand in line to book time in day to use. Other things you can pay for - jet ski, scuba, snorkelling trip. To Do: wave rider, skating, bowling, Mexican shopping mall - lots of stores to shop at inside and outside. Palace hotel also had lots of stores to wander in. Can take the free double decker bus around to all the Barcelo resorts. Swim with dolphins - 4 of them and the 15 min show is at 10:30 every morning. Cute show with jumps. Sport club screen to watch sports on, video- gaming screen . At pool areas had pilates, games starting at 2 pm dancing etc. Beach has beach volleyball. Kids water park at each resort and kids clubs at each resort with activities.

5 th visit to Barcelo

The resort is large and offers a lot of amenities to visitors. Nice pools including lane pools and gym. Large pools and really nice beaches especially in front of the maya beach. Food is pretty good we ate breakfast at the buffet and went to Ala cartes in the evening. Book your Ala cartes as soon as you arrive to ensure you get reservations. The only negative is the party crowd who pulled fire alarm two nights in a row and some noisy late night people coming home. Best server is Irene Sanchez a [... read more]t the Maya Beach pool bar.

We had a great time!

By day 2 we already knew we would come back. The food was delicious, the staff were friendly and courteous, and the beach was pristine. We felt very taken care of and it was a lovely place to relax and recharge!

One of the best we ever been so far

First of all I want to make this clear that we been travelling for a number of years with our boys who are 17 and 15 now and this resort we can say that is definitely one of the best so far. This resort was "Perfect for our family". A couple of downfall that I thing they should maybe reconsider and after speaking to several people on the resort we mostly all felt the same. Here is what I think they could easily modify or change and this would make this resort even more awesome. -We  [... read more]are in 2020 and we all know that internet is a big part of our lives, I don't understand why we still need to pay for internet. I know that there was free WIFI from 10 to 5 at the mall however what an inconvenience when you are sitting at the beach and you know you have to get dress to go up do just do your daily check up. -The need to have a parent to sign off to have access to basketball, ping pong, tennis racket etc. I understands that they need some kind of control however maybe the age of this could be reviewed. Every time they wanted to play a sport we had to walk over with them to sign off. - No enough bar close to the beach. We had brought a little cooler and we would fill it up with ice and put the beer we had in our rooms in it so for us that worked but I know some people they don't drink beer so I know that was another downfall of this resort. Those are just a couples of things that we feel if it would change this would honestly would push this resort another notched. The beach is one of the most beautiful I've seen so far in Mexico. One of our best experience was swimming with turtle at the Palace Beach. WOW what a great experience that was and I honestly can say this was one of the biggest highlight of our trip. We would definitely recommend this resort and I've already did recommended this to a few of our friends and they are actually looking to book this resort for next year. Would we go back just my husband and I no because it's very kids oriented and we prefer smaller resort. However I would definitely go again if my kids

Relaxing time

We arrive at the hotel around 11:30pm check in was a breeze, our room was in the 5300's so we were close to the beach on the third floor, room was nice food was great never crowded at the Buffet, never had to worry about a chair at the beach the pool is were we sat most days I faced the beach my wife faced the pool, the staff was amazing,

Expansive Resort

6 resorts in 1 large area. Lots of restaurants to enjoy, we ate at 6 theme and 6 different buffets. Beach area at Caribe/Beaches resorts were the best of the 6 resorts. Only issue they did not push the hand sanitizers on people entering eating areas during Coronaviros time frame .

All you need in the Mayan riveria

Great amenities! as an athlete the gym and pools provided great workouts. Great staff like Irene Sanche at the beach pools. Comfortable rooms Would recommend to anyone. This was our 4th visit and hope to go back again

Amazing resort

This resort was excellent, I always felt safe, security cameras in place, the restaurants were delicious, anything that you would like to eat, the grounds were beautiful, with maintenance upgrades, painting, lawn and garden care going on all time. The staff were vey friendly and helpful. Lots of activities, mini golf, bowling, sports bar, casino, shopping mall, Mexican market, go carts, zip line, kids pools, lots of swimming pools to choose from, beautiful beach area, and you could walk from one [... read more] section of the resort to another under covered walkways, you never had to leave the resort. The things I was disappointed in was the extra costs for some of these activities, I wouldn't mind paying a reasonable price, but some of the prices were extremely high, and therefore most people didn't use them, if they had cut the prices they would have been used instead of being left empty. We had purchased the Elite Plus, which gave us Priority Boarding, but when boarding the plane, even though we were waiting to board, they allowed other passengers (20 -30) to board ahead of us, these passengers were not travelling with children or had no sort of disability, we even asked some of them if they were priority and they said no. When we pay extra for this service, it should be given to us (as they had the same chance as us to pay the extra) and the others should be told to wait until their sections are called. Overall I would recommend this resort.

Beautiful Resort

Had a wonderful vacation at the Barcelo Caribe, however we were disappointed with how expensive the extra amenities cost. We don’t have an issue with paying extra for activities but what the Barcelo was charging for bowling, go carts and zip line was unreasonable.

This was amazing resort

This resort had everything lots of restaurants with good food lots of pool and beach chairs great for walking The only bad thing was they charged way much for the extra activities (bowling go carts Ziplining ) and nobody was using these because of that . If they would lower the price on these activities they would make a lot more money from these and there guest would be lot happier that they are there

Good choice for family getaway.

Very well kept. Lots of activities for family with children and grandchildren - including the pools and waterpark and beach, recreational options and evening shows. Great choice of restaurants and buffets.

Barcelo Caribe

Overall, my family and I really enjoyed this resort. Rooms were nice, fridge stocked daily with water, snacks and beer. We were located close to the buffet and Mayan mall so it was super convenient. So many pools including kids pools made it easy to find a chair. Water warmed up in the afternoon and there was both quiet pools and then those that had entertainment and activities. The only negative here was that the no smoking in the pool rule was not enforced which was gross, especially for us  [... read more]with young children. The beach is a little rocky but it didn’t bother us as we prefer the pools. We found the food mediocre compared to previous experiences at other Mexican resorts. That being said, we still enjoyed our meals and we really enjoyed the teppanyaki a la carte. We did enjoy all the activities on the resort including the arcade in the sports bar as well as the merry go round and skating in the mall. We ended up spending more money to do these things but it did keep our kids entertained. Loved the dolphin experience although was concerned by the lack of space in the pool. We didn’t see the night shows but there was something happening daily. Overall, it was good resort with lots to do for our family. We had a great time.

Fantastic time

The hotel was very clean and well kept. by far the best sleep I have had on a vacation the mattress was very comfortable. Food at buffet was decent but the Ala carte food was amazing. Pools are very clean ocean is warm but bring ur aqua Sox’s lots of Coral

Amazing resort

This was the cleanest resort I’ve ever been to! Every night they tore apart the restaurants and cleaned EVERYTHING! They were constantly cleaning floors everywhere and the place just sparkled. The staff was all very friendly and although they could have used an extra bartender at every bar we visited, the service was friendly and fast enough to keep us happy. The a la carte’s That we are at were delicious (seafood, Japanese and steakhouse), but we had a hard time getting reservations w [... read more]ith our group. They do not cater to large groups (we were 10). They would tell us that they could not accommodate us all, and then when we split up and went at our given time we would find many tables empty so that they could have definitely fit us all in. That was the only frustration of the trip. The buffet was great for buffet food.

Nice Accommodations

Overall the hotel was good. The rooms were nice and clean and the food was great. The service at the bars was pretty slow but there was 7 weddings during the week. The only other thing to remember to take would be a pair of water shoes for the ocean as there is lots of coral patch’s which will do a number on your feet. Great place to go for family’s with small kids and teens.