Superbly high standards

The resort exceeded our expectations on many levels; the service was exceptional, with bartenders and waiters who were willing to accommodate all our needs -- we saw amazing shows, from traditional Mexican music to the Nutcracker ballet -- to facilities and conveniences that we didn't even expect, like free catamaran sailing, champagne cocktails, incredible steakhouse and seafood meals, and more. The resort is exceptionally clean as well. As a family with both kids, teens, adult couples and olde [... read more]r singles, we all had an amazing holiday!

Do not Swim with Dolphins

I'm giving a lower star review on the hotel based on the archaic and cruel practice of swimming with dolphins. These beautiful creatures are taken from the ocean and their family pods and used and abused for our entertainment. The mental stress and physical damage from the chlorine used to keep the tanks clean burns their skin and eyes. I hope in the near future there will no longer be a demand for this form of 'entertainment' at the expense of these beautiful dolphins. The hotel, grounds ar [... read more]e well maintained, the staff is very friendly and helpful and the food was delicious. I would love to return to Barcelo but won't as long as there is still a small pool with dolphins.

Excellent Resort

We are very pleased with our choice. Barcelo Playa Colonial lived to our expectations. We spend 9 nights at this hotel. In this time of Covid we were really pleased to see that the hotel has taken all measures to ensure not only the safety of their guests but also that of their employees. Guests are required to wear masks when approaching employees and the buffet food stations, which to us makes a lot of sense. There is hand sanitizer and a pad to stand on at the entrance of every buffet, rest [... read more]aurant and bar. Body temperature is also checked before you enter these rooms. Overall a good value for your money and an excellent family hotel Service at the buffets was a hit or miss Kids swimming pool was awesome Beach very beautiful, but rocky. If you don’t have water shoes you need to find a path to get into the water Food was great Our specific room had a very strong musty smell, but overall a good value for your buck

Great time

This is a resort that has it all. So much to do if you want to keep busy and a great beach if you don’t want to be busy. Just one tip to get your covid test. Do not use the shuttle bus. We waited 30 minutes to catch it. Then it took 20 minutes to get to the hotel with the testing site. It was a 5 minute walk along the beach ! So if you’re able just walk there.

Awesome Experience!!!

I had an awesome experience at the barcelo maya colonial. The service was exceptional. If you've been thinking about that vacation, this place is a must try. Enjoyed a great lunch at the steakhouse.

Home sweet home

The Barcelo in the Mayan Riviera, is a wonderful place to go to and the reason we, along with others, keep going back (9 years). 1. The staff is wonderful (front desk, servers, maids, activity staff). 2. Grounds are immaculate. 3. Rooms are great. 4. The food is varied and one can always find options. 5. One feels safe on the resort. If there is one wish is that the shows at night be updated (same overall for the last 9 years). The singers and band are so talented that they could [... read more] do more. Looking forward to returning in 2021. Outside the resort, Trip Central has always made it easy to get to our destination. Thank you very much. Stay safe and well Eva Sawoszczuk

Very Busy Resort

We were one of the first vacationers in 1999 when the first Barcelo opened on the Mayan Riviera, so we thought we would revisit, we usually vacation in Puerto Vallarta. It is now 6 resorts in a row and is very busy! Transport from the airport took approximately an hour. Check-in was fast and front desk employees were very helpful and always courteous. We were assigned a room very close to everything which we loved. The room was spacious and kept clean daily, some days though it was not cleaned t [... read more]ill 5. I actually had to go to the front desk and ask for it to be cleaned, we weren't impressed with that. We ran out of shower gel and it was not filled. We booked our a la cartes on arrival and at the same desk had our internet connection established, there is a cost for that, again, not impressed. The first 3 nights we ate supper at the A La Cartes and found them not to be what we like so the rest of our stay we ate at the buffet. There was always lots of food with a good selection, some nights better than others. I had one night that I was sick to my stomach, I assumed it was food poisoning because after my stomach was emptied I felt fine and got up the next day feeling O.K.You definitely will not go hungry, just be careful of what you eat. The only thing we did not like was that the buffet was very busy, we quickly learned for all meals to go early to beat the crowd. We spent most of our days on the beach, most days it was very windy, some days with sand blowing in our faces. The water was lovely and warm to swim in, you just have to watch where you enter as there are a lot of rocks. There were always loungers to be found there, the pools were a different matter, loungers were being saved the night before with people's towels and very crowded so we avoided them. There is a lot of things to do if you don't like staying on the beach like us. They have a bowling alley, small skating rink, mini-golf, go-carts, zip-lining, casino, shopping, and many off-resort excursions. If you like to be active on your holiday or have children you will really enjoy this resort. We found being an older couple that it was way too busy for us. With that being said we still had a good holiday.

Nice resort

Well kept grounds. Friendly staff. We were a bit disappointed with the beach. There is no shade. Tall skinny palm trees don't provide any shade. Therefore we would park our stuff by the pools where the shade is minimal and walk to beach to swim. Why are there no palapas? I have never been to a resort with no palapas.

Top Notch Resort

My wife,Diane and I thoroughly enjoyed our stay of 10 days at Barcelo Colonial. Beautiful, long beach with many pools and lots of chairs. We enjoyed good food at the buffet and two of the three a la carte Restaurants. .. Not the seafood as we were pushed to buy expensive wine and were rushed.. The Japanese and Italian were excellent! Eight of 10 days were sunny and hot. On the two cooler, cloudy days we were able to find many things to do besides shopping (there are a lot of shops) There are t [... read more]wo large theatres where we enjoyed several performances, a dolphin show and several other activities both inside and out that could be enjoyed by a wide range of ages.We would place this resort at the top of our list of several resorts we visited .

So much to do.

The resort is massive, yet you have everything you need close to you. We stayed at the Colonial but you have access to the other hotels. There is a lot to keep a family busy or you can sit and relax doing very little It is clean and service is excellent. You can get chairs in the shade at any time and the beach is great. The sea is warmer than the pool, which is too cold. I only managed to get in it 3 times! Al a carte restaurants are very good; lots of choice and good food. The buffet is a us [... read more]ual one with lots of choice although. An amazing place for families and adults alike.

Comfort that is world class

This was our seventh trip to this beautiful resort and it is consistently a paradise experience. We went with our family and we wake up to beautiful sunrises with palm trees sparkling with rays of sunshine, glasses of fresh orange juice with an abundance of tropical fruits, passion fruit and pineapple, family favorites, to a medley of buffet foods for everyone’s tastes. We love the cortado coffee ☕️ that makes us smile as we then relax before hitting the beach or pool. We play  [... read more]paddle ball every day and games as a family, botche ball or basketball are family favorites, and of course some jenga. We head every day to the sauna and ice pools and steam room to unplug more before getting ready for a family dinner. There are many restaurants to choose from and we always live the Japanese restaurant for the entertainment and the food is excellent. The Spanish is another favorite as the Lambchops are always delicicious. If you are a big dessert fan you may find the sweets are not always the best , but a steady diet of fresh fruits 🍉 is more than enough. House wines are ok but if a wine buff spend the extra $ for a quality wine. We love their margaritas so a week in Mexico drink their drinks instead and you will be happy. Beers are good to with Coronas with lime: our sons go to. Are we going back? Absolutely next year is year 8 or maybe 9 : have to check but this is a spot our family calls our Mexican home. The staff are always helpful and responsive: customer service and keeping the resort clean are top priorities for health and safety. Bon voyage: you won’t be disappointed!

Second time here and love this place

It is a beautiful resort with lots to do. grounds are very clean and staff is excellent. all the restaurants are amazing. we had an ocean front suite and it was spectacular. the beaches are beautiful and very clean. the night time entertainment was great and atmosphere is fun

Good Resort

The hotel is nice and decently clean. There will be little things here or there wrong that may bother you the first day but once you ignore the small things, it is actually a good hotel. One of those little things is that for example we booked with Colonial but when we got there the sent us Tropical. After talking to a few people that have travelled there, we found out that it is actually a common occurrence. Overall though it is a nice hotel specially for families with small children. My 1 y [... read more]ear old had a great time at the pool and the fact that there's a clinic on site for us was a bonus. I won't say this is one of the best hotels you'll ever go to but I will say, you will have fun.

Amazing resort

People where great, food was excellent, my only problem was I could have flown from Victoria, and not Vancouver, I thought travel agent knew where I lived, and we asked for 2 beds and only got one.

Good resort overall.

The first room was on the ground floor and it had a very strong moldy smell and the second one was almost the same but at least I was able to leave the balcony door open all the time being on the second floor.The room service did not clean the balcony for the entire week and it was full of bats droppings. For this reason I gave one star for the room. Excellent service at the buffet and great food variety.

Terrific Resort!

We have been to the Mayan Riviera several times, each time the resorts were fantastic (which is why we continue to return). We chose the Barcelo Maya Colonial to try as the resort grounds looked great, the reviews were good and the beaches looked especially nice. We were not disappointed! A very well run, secure, clean and organized resort. The food was outstanding, the staff professional (and patient with some ridiculously demanding guests), and the grounds were superbly kept. If I had a criti [... read more]cism, I'd say our bed was less than great, one side was kind of broken, we propped it with a pillow and towels. But if I'm honest, that was really the only issue. I had asked the front desk to solve it, but a day later it wasn't fixed, so we just dealt with it. Overall, there were many, many things that were very good about this resort. We especially liked the way it is connected to several other resorts so you could go to the beaches and restaurants of the others freely. And a note: one of our group was really snake phobic and we chose this resort because the grounds were a good mix of beautifully manicured but not overly jungle (snake environment). We saw nothing remotely snake like or spider like during our whole stay. We have at other resorts. Eeesh!

Beautiful Resort

it is a great resort all combined it is a very large resort We would go back to this resort food was great and everything was very clean from the rooms to the pool to the beach There was lots to do around the resort if you were looking for activities

Bercelo Maya Colonial

This was our third time to this resort since 2014. We have found that since that time there seems to be less and less service after each subsequent visit. The towels in the rooms feel like sandpaper rather than the luxurious towels we had in 2014. They seem to hang on to the towels until they're ready to fall apart. The food at the pool was somewhat boring as the same offers were available day after day. We stayed at the Colonial but the food at the Caribe seemed to be much better with more vari [... read more]ety. The staff was generally friendly except for a few who seemed to be having a bad day. After this recent experience, I doubt we will return for the fourth time. One good thing about the resort was that all the a la carte restaurants were very good.

Good Resort

The Barcelo Colonial was a decent hotel. The grounds were well kept and the beach was exceptional (probably the highlight of our trip). White sand and lots for the kids to see and do (including snorkeling and seeing turtles). The waves were a lot of fun for the kids to play in. The pools were huge and well kept and the kids really enjoyed the water park. I would rate the rooms as just OK. You can tell it is an older resort and had some mildew/mold in the rooms at times and musty smell. I  [... read more]found the beds uncomfortable. The food was just OK. Breakfast having the most variety and best meal of the day. They do no offer anything but bottom shelf alcohol which they claim they are a 4/5* resort. Some of the waiters and/or bartenders were not as friendly as others (whereas some went above and beyond) and felt it was a hassle to serve you. Overall the kids had a great time, but probably would not go back to this resort again.

Fabulous resort

Just spent a week at this resort and we loved it! I have been to many resorts and this one is definitely one we will return to. Room was clean maid was very good. Grounds are beautiful staff was friendly and always helpful. Pools and beach amazing. Resort has everything you would need for all ages .. The entertainment was good ! One thing I was impressed with was the buffet was always clean and if something was getting lo or all gone it was restocked immediately! We stayed here during super bowl [... read more] and the resort celebration was fabulous it was streamed on big screen tv in the theater and they provided plenty of fun theme food that was plentiful. We stayed in the colonial section that was nice because it’s central to everything we took the time to check out all the section and they are all beautiful definitely we will return!!