Heaven on Earth

Beyond belief, a breathtaking view of ocean, beaches, pools, bars, theatres, mall, restaurants, clean comfortable rooms. The food was excellent with numerous choices and selections at the buffets. The food in the restaurants was perfect and served as you requested. The staff was excellent and a total pleasure to interact with. Nothing was left to the imagination. Thanks for making our dream come true.

Amazing and Beautiful Resort

We were very impressed with the cleanliness and incredible organization. The staff are competent and friendly. The grounds are immaculate. This resort is wonderful for the elderly (wheelchair access) as well as couples with young children. Beautiful mini water slide play structures. The food was delicious and abundant with loads of variety! :)

Loved this resort!!

From the moment we checked in I was impressed by the organization, order, cleanliness and overall welcome we were given. Check in was a breeze and we weren't forced to wait in line with 40+ other guests, Barcelo's staggered arrivals made this so easy. The food was awesome, recomment the a la cartes but the buffet was fantastic also. The beach was a little rocky in parts but nonetheless beautiful. Pools were clean and well maintained and our room was lovely. The staff was courteous and helpful. I [... read more] will definately return!!

Absolutely Fabulous Resort

We have only great things to say about this resort. Our only wish is that we had gone for a longer duration... 8 days was simply not enough time. We are looking to return as early as next spring. The food was delicious and so much variety at all the restaurants and grills by the beach. We tried something new every day. The grounds were always perfectly manicured. Our accommodations were well appointed and always cleaned on time. There were numerous activities to try. We loved working out in the  [... read more]morning and afternoons with Lynn and Jennifer our "Swedish Trainers". We also enjoyed the Zumba, stretching and water aerobics classes. If we had not done some of these activities on a daily basis I think we would have gained a lot of weight from all the terrific food. We would like to thank Karol Charez for recommending this resort to us. It will now become one of our favorites.

Great beach

A great resort. Excellent service and food. I appreciated the fact there were covered walkways so even when there was rain at night we were able to go to restaurants without getting wet! Also there were lots of chairs on the beach so there were no towel game being played.

Fabulous food!

The room was great, the beaches beautiful and the grounds well maintained. We thoroughly enjoyed the excellent selection of restaurants and were pleased with them all. Our only disappointment was the ocean availability; there was really only one small area to swim and although the beach was long, for the most part, we couldn't enter the water because of rocks. However, the pools were numerous and great fun. I did enjoy the water aerobics as well.

Great family resort

Love this place. Superb place for families with young children. Been there twice will probably return again soon. Splash pad and amazing pools is what keeps us coming back. Food is above average. Beach really nice too. No walking everything close.

Very nice resort

Overall the facility was well kept. The rooms need some work but they are spacious. The beach had numerous lounge chairs and the pool was clean. The food was very good at the restaurants as well as the buffet. The staff was friendly.

Great Vacation Spot!

Very clean facility. Staff was friendly and helpful. Plenty of seating at pool area and lots of fun activities. Plenty of variety at restaurant buffets. Beach was well groomed. Be sure to book water activities early.

Amazing vacation

We were there in march for a week and it was an absolute amazing trip. The resort was great. The grounds were extremely clean, the staff was friendly, there were always chairs by the pool, the food was great. I can't say anything bad about the resort at all.

Something for everyone

A very comfortable and enjoyable stay. Very family friendly though barely aware of the tykes. Great food and exceptionally great staff. We felt very much at home and well taken care of. A definite return destination.

EXCEEDED MY EXPECTATIONS...PLEASE READ!!!!!

Please take the time to read this if you want to stay at an amazing resort! I'm long winded...but I'm passionate about good service, food, and value! My wife's co-worker and her husband stayed at Barcello Maya Colonial, and it was reccomended we stay there. Having never been to Mexico before...we took their word it would be safe, fun, and affordable. They raved about this place. I cannot say enough good things about Barcello Maya!!!!! The moment our shuttle arrived to the beautifil open recepti [... read more]on area...that warm moist air, the fresh smells from all the plants...I felt like a king! The staff were amazing...always attentive...and always welcoming...right down to the moment we left...they did not stop being friendly!!!! I had read some reviews about bartenders not paying attention to you...but we found that only once...and that was just my wife and I being, "typical tourists"...so I get that. Once we started to feel the flow of the people...this never happened again. Rookie mistake on our part. The beach was out of a movie...white sand...no sandels needed...soft on your feet...even in the ocean! Fish swimming around you. There are a lot of free things to keep you and the kids busy...we have a 13 year old boy...and he was never bored once! I reccomend the full day execration to Tulum...where you do have a day at Tulum...and the other half snorkling over the second largest reef in the world with Sea turtles so close you could touch them (but don't)...and you swim right over the reef...AMAZING!!! Be prepared to swim at Tulum ruins....you only get 30 min free time after the tour in tulum...but worth it! Wear shoes to the Tulum tour...but bring sandals for the snorkelling. I liked this excertion because it was fast moving...never bored...you leave by 8...home by 4...lots to see...they feed you at an amazing restaurant...a lot of value...and youre out in the sun all day which is nice....but by water so you can get wet! We were told it was safe to take a Celetivo 'City bus" into Playa del Carmen. Being from Canada...and hearing the news...I was nervous about my familes safety. In the end...we had a great time...always felt safe...and will be making another trip via the bus this year when we return this Oct for our second trip back to Barcello!!!! The food was out of this world...lots of choices...a la carte's were high end...bring some nice clothes...no shorts allowed there. I wore jeans...some people chose to dress sharper...just no shorts.

Always a great time.

This is our second time going to the Maya Colonial Beach, and we have nothing but great things to say about the facilities and the staff. Great pools, great beach, great people and great rooms! Love the fact that as there are no palapas (palm leaf umbrellas) on the beach that you don't have to get up at 6am to reserve a chair! We went during the high season and there were always lots of places to sit on the beach.

Barcelo Maya Colonial Beach

While this is a huge resort they manage to keep the entire grounds pristine at all times. The staff here are top notch and willing to go above and beyond to ensure their guests enjoy a memorable vacation. Snorkelling here is better than anywhere else in the Mayan Riviera.

Great resort

The Barcelo Colonial is great resort the service is excellent the rooms are getting up there in age but are still good the food is great very wide assortment the pools and the grounds are very attractive and we would go back in a heartbeat!

Staff & beach amazing, extras are lacking

The staff were amazing (housekeeping incredible, buffet staff awesome) but huge negative of this resort is that it now has dolphins in a tiny swimming pool and that's just cruel. I've been to barcelo 4x's and because of the captive dolphins we will not go back. Also the "extras" of barcelo are no longer offered - nighttime kids activites are basically nonexistent, and you can only eat in resteraunts (no snacks allowed up to room) and no severs by the pool or beach. Bonus was that we saw wild mon [... read more]keys outside our room :) Overall we will not be going back but this is not because of the staff or beach/pools, but cause morally seeing captive animals on your holiday is not for us.

Couldn't have picked a better spot!

Everything was above expectations. The service is spectacular. No bugs to worry about at all. Just fun in the sun. The food was great and plenty of it. Will definitely be returning to this resort someday.

Fantastic Resort

This resort is part of a 5 hotel complex and has a "train" you can take from one to the other. However, I feel that the Colonial is THE BEST. Rooms are very clean, pool is terrific(has a kids park) as is the beach and food and special restaurants are wonderful. It would be VERY hard to find a better place.

A week in paradise!

We had an absolutely fantastic stay at the Barceló Colonial resort! The grounds are beyond beautiful and immaculately maintained. There was a bit of confusion at reception about meeting our room requests which took 1-2 hours to sort out but they got it right and the rest of the trip was absolutely perfect. We were traveling with 3 kids under 3 years old and the facilities were perfect for them. The kids splash pool is at Colonial and guest were coming from all over the resort to use it so if th [... read more]at's what you are interested in then you definitely want to stay at the Colonial side. I'd say its perfect for kids up to 7-8 years old and they just could not get enough of it. Also the resort is so big and well played out that even at max capacity you never felt crowds anywhere. We always got the same pool chairs section and they all have awesome hammocks too.. incredible addition! The beach is picture perfect despite some rocky areas and also there are no huts or umbrellas at the beach so if you need shade because of the intense sun then you're a bit out of luck. There are lots of tall thin palm trees but the shadows move every 30 min so you just need to move a bit or stick to the pool.. First world problems!! All in all we loved the resort and have already been recommending it to everyone we know. You can't go wrong if you book here.. Hard earned vacation money very well spent!!!