Occidental Nuevo Vallarta: We will return! 14 fabulous days!

From the moment we checked in until the moment we checked out, we were impressed! We had asked for a quieter room, higher level, king sized bed. Upon checking in, they said they tried to accommodate all our requests, but could not get a higher level floor. We were given room 246. It exceeded our expectations! The room was spacious, so clean, so bright, with a huge deck overlooking the Royal Pool AND the ocean! (We did NOT upgrade to Royal). It had two chairs and table, plus two loungers!  [... read more] It was so quiet at night, the air conditioning worked perfectly. The only thing with our deck was that it was too hot to sit on it from about 3-7 PM. The floors above us had covers but we did not. The pool bar shut down around 8 PM, so there was never any issue with noise after 8. We could see the shows from our deck! All staff were friendly and helpful. The buffet food was scrumptious and huge variety! We ate breakfast every morning at the buffet, and three nights at the buffet. Lunch was always at the Mariachi, and always lots of choices! We tried each a la carte at least 2-4 times and loved them all! The service at each a la carte was exceptional! To make a reservation for an a la carte you go to the lobby each morning about 8:20 and line up. You can start reserving about 8:45. The times are 6, 7, 8, 9 and I believe 10. It is a pain to do this every morning, but it is also a nice way to meet people from around the world! They used to allow you to reserve a few days in a row, but because people would reserve then not bother to show up, they had to change to one day at a time. Reservations can be made between 8:45-4. Please help them out by cancelling your reservation if you do not decide to go. That allows someone else to be able to use that time slot. The shows were from 9-10 PM each night and very professional! They had many activities, water aerobics, Zumba, yoga, fun games and activities and so much more! I could go on and on. The one small thing that could be improved upon, (but could be a staffing issue) is the beach and lounger area. It would be nice to see it raked and cleaned up a bit better, and the lounge chairs and tables cleaned more. There are so many people to thank, so here are a few, as some I didn't get their names. Eric (helped us with Spanish) Puk (funny, friendly, terrific service) Ana, who helped us with Spanish, Irene (fabulous! (Beach server), Stephan - so personable! (reservation man), Jose, (Esther and Jabier at the shopping shack) Raphael and Alberto at the Italian, Blanca our maid, fabulous! Fania, Francesco at the buffet who helped us with our Spanish! Valeria and her Harris hawk, Sahara. There are so many to thank and I feel so bad I didn't get all their names. The young ladies at the Lobby Bar at night were also fantastic! The two activities men! This resort is a 4 min walk to the Riviera Farmers Market every Tuesday from 9-2! We noticed ramps everywhere and there are elevators if anyone has mobility issues or uses a wheelchair. Paradise Village Mall is a 2-3 minute walk from the resort! The beach is lovely and flat to walk on! If we had any issues, for example, we were out of our room every morning before 9. We asked if it would be possible to have our room cleaned before noon, not late in the day. It was done! We had a couple of days when we did not get coffee or water. We went to the front desk, and it was brought up immediately. We just asked politely, and any issue was taken care of! We will return! Mucho gracias to all staff who made our stay so memorable! I had hoped to post photos along with this review, but it did not give me that option! Covid protocols were met in all areas. Hand sanitizing and wearing of masks entering restaurants and leaving but not once you’re at your table. You didn’t have to wear a mask walking around the lobby or hallways unless you were too close to another person.

Occidental Arenas Blancas: Gorgeous beach, very close to downtown

The hotel itself is very worn down. 3.5 stars at best. There were more Cuban visitors than i have ever seen before, few Canadians. Food options were very limited if they weren’t sold out. Beer ran out fast, meats except ham were sold out at the 24hr snack place. At the pool bar, if you don’t speak their language, you won’t get served as fast.. need to be pushy & aggressive. It was also my birthday & i was hoping to be entertained but everything closed before midnight? Even the pool  [... read more]table closes by 5pm 🤷🏽‍♂️ We didn’t realize parties continued downtown at the locals bar until last couple days! A positive was the excursion to Havana, which has changed & reminded me a bit of Montreal. This resort also gives you access to the resort next door. The service is a bit better along with the food👍

Occidental Punta Cana: Great to be back on vacation

The Hotel is nice and clean, the grounds are well kept , staff is friendly , they even helped me learn a few words in Spanish just for fun. It’s our 10th time in Punta Cana over many years , so we have a reasonable idea of what’s available in the area . Rooms were nice , room was cleaned well each day . We are not picky eaters but we found the food to be “just ok”. I think it’s as much to do with ramping back up after a long haul during COVID , so we are happy to give them a break whil [... read more]e they get back up to full speed and staff. We love the beach, and the long daily walks we were able to do, over 3km each way and each direction on the beach each morning . We enjoyed going in the Ocean , and about 50’ in being able to just float with waves while able to still touch the bottom. On Good Friday the local residents are able to come and use a day pass, that day was very busy , and loud , but still family oriented, just be aware it changes the feel of the resort for that day greatly. The worst part for us was the amount of vendors persistently pushing what they had to sell, from sunglasses , to clothing, parasailing, etc etc etc . Also the constant attempt on the grounds to upgrade to a higher level area , that was more than we were willing to accept , and might be a deciding factor whether to even return or not . Some people seemed to enjoy the bantering with the vendors, I’m in sales myself , but on vacation I just want to not have to deal with that .

Barcelo Maya Colonial: Ok Resort

Resort was clean, breach was nice. I had to go to the front desk at least 5 time for a new key card. Some staff were awesome, but some were just "there". Buffett, pretty good service, Jose was awesome during the suppertime seating. Buffet food was the same pretty much every night, no theme nights, just pasta, thin steak, chicken and pork, served the same each night. They did have a rotiserie chicken that was really good!! The a la cartes, hard to get a decent time we had 2 at 5:30 and the other  [... read more]was 9pm. The food was ok. Only 2 serves at the beech bar, ment for a long wait some days. The main lounge out front.....very dated. I've been to a number of Barcello properties and they were great, this one was not great, but it wasn't 4.5stars in my opinion. The Beach Buffet, we had a family of 9 the Manager would not allow us to sit together 'Max 8" he said. we would have been ok with this if he could have explained why...he could not. Every other place we ate on the resort...no issue, they always made it work, but we had to fight every day with that guy, otherwise 2 kids would have to eat at their own table. It made no sense why this was only happening at the one buffet. oh, and the buffet was usually less than half full, this really pissed us off, day after day.

Barcelo Maya Colonial: Amazing Resort

This was our 2nd time at the Barcelo Colonial and enjoyed every minute of it. It is a beautiful resort and the grounds are very well taken care of. The workers work very hard to make this happen. Barcelo is very family friendly and have lots of stuff for kids. They had a mask mandate of wearing your mask to all buffets, ala carts, going inside shops or any indoor spaces which made us very happy to see. This resort is very large but for some reason it doesn't feel to big and it is very easy to ge [... read more]t around. It has everything you will need here without leaving the resort from swimming with turtles, seeing fish on the reef and much more. For an extra cost you can go bowling, zip lining and to the flow rider. We are already planning our 3rd trip back next year. Thank you

Barcelo Bavaro Palace: Fine beach

Enjoyed the exercise routine The a la carte restaurants were good. The sandy beach was great for walking. There was a bit of a problem with the toilet running on. There was water leaking onto the balcony from above. Sort of fixed

Barcelo Maya Colonial: Great family spot

This hotel was great for our young family with lots to do for two kids - 2 and 4 years. It was a large resort and we could never have done it all. Beach was the highlight for the kids. Food was good at buffets. Disappointed we could only get one a la cart reservation at a ‘decent’ dinner time - we went to make reservations as soon as we arrived and could only get 9:30pm options. Hotel was almost fully booked but not staff accordingly. This didn’t affect our stay but you could tell the staf [... read more]f were run off their feet - certain services were slower than expected - drink service at meals and around the pool were especially slow. Not service in the beach at all. Our only other complaint - and not sure if this was COVID or just the resort rule - you were unable to take food from the ‘beach grille’ to the beach or pool side so we had to pack up our kids for a sit down lunch every day which was tough for them. Overall great stay and we will try it again.

Barcelo Maya Riviera: Wonderful

We loved our stay at the Barcelo Riviera Maya- Adults only. The hotel was fabulous, clean and very impressive. The Covid "policies" were masking when you approached a bar, front desk staff, walked around the buffet and being escorted to your seat in a restaurant you were to wear a mask. When walking around the hotel masking wasn't required. The resort bus also asked that people masked. The property was huge given that you could access all 6 hotels and amenities, impossible to do in a week.  [... read more]We intend to go back.

Occidental Tamarindo: Highly recommend

We truly enjoyed our 10 day stay at Occidental. The staff are courteous and work diligently to keep things clean and attractive. Masks are still mandatory to enter buffet in lobby and basically any staff interaction. A fact of life right now so no point getting upset about it. a 2 km walk to downtown and as much as we loved the action and shopping there we were happy to have the distance from the noise and activity. Absolutely no complaints about the food. Nicely presented and again due to COVI [... read more]D precautions the buffet was picked for you by pointing out what you want. Lines moved well and enough staff to help you with it. Great tours in the area and surfing lessons were fun. Will definitely recommend and hope to return someday.

Barcelo Maya Beach Resort: Excellent Stay

This resort exceeded my expectations all around. the property was clean and well maintained. The grounds were perfect. The food was beyond delicious, always lots and great variety. The entire experience with the TripCentral and Air Transat staff was very easy and enjoyable. We had a wonderful time.

Barcelo Maya Colonial: Excellent resort

Beautiful site. Good service. Clean room. Great food. Lots of activities on site. The beach could have a little more sand on it and it’s better to bring water shoes if you want to do more intensive water sports (rocks in water).

Barcelo Maya Colonial: Clean resort

Just returned home from a 14 night stay at the Barcelona Colonial. First and foremost, the resort and amenities are spotless ! Our lovely cleaning lady (Wilma) was amazing, and always left little towel statues to surprise us. The friendly staff are continually cleaning and reinforcing masks to enter the buffet as well as during plating. The evening entertainment at the theatre is very well done, however there is music lacking (nonexistent) in the lobby bar as well as around the pool. The Be [... read more]ach….TERRIBLE ! Not a resort if your a lover of the beach. Very rocky in the water with only a few spots to enter safely. The resort itself, there is lots to see and do with the mall, bowling, hockey rink, mini golf, wave runner, zip lining, parasailing and the market. The resort was a typical North American Resort lacking Mexican Vibes.

Occidental at Xcaret Destination: Great Resort and Vacation

Occidental was a great resort. Lots of places to swim, eat and get some nice drinks. There wasn't too much soliciting, which was something that came up a bit in other reviews. The shuttles from the aiport to the resort are difficult to navigate and they appear to wait until they have enough passengers to make it worth the trip, so that is something Westjet and Tripcentral should look into. But the resort was great, we will be back again.

Barcelo Maya Beach Resort: Beautiful Resort

The hotel was fantastic because it was so central to everything we wanted to see and do. The entertainment was excellent, but I found it to be a little too short, as the hour flew by. The chicken at the Italian restaurant was the best I'd ever had. Overall, the food was good

Barcelo Maya Beach Resort: Barceló review 👎🏽

We have been traveling to Barceló maya since 2001 2 -3 trips a year till Covid started so for the last 2 years we haven’t been. This trip was horrible, the hotel is short help and it reflects it. Service was bad, all washrooms around the resort were not taken care of, food was ok… management is aware of the situation and can’t do anything about it. Pools were also dirty, beach was ok…We will not be returning for a while with hopes they correct the issues and not let the resort fall apar [... read more]t.

Occidental Nuevo Vallarta: Wonderful resort

Hotel accomadations,food,entertainment were excellent.we would return again to this resort.the food was very diversified always a variety for everyone.the entertainment was very professional as the pool area always had something happening

Barcelo Solymar: Too much change.

Beautiful beach and great view. 80% locals in resort hogging the food and leaving messes everywhere. I will Not return to Cuba. Was my 6th time. Food shortages and way too much change for me. Mexico next time.

Barcelo Maya Colonial: Beautiful and clean .

We totally enjoyed our stay . Will come back for sure . Cleanliness was amazing . Grounds kept very well .Restaurants were excellent . Food excellent . Buffet excellent . Pool bars were very good , Pools were very clean. Bravo Barcello. We totally enjoyed our stay . Special thanks to our Trip Central agent Karol who recommended we return to Barcello Maya after 8 yrs. of going else where . We loved it !

Occidental Cozumel: Wonderful Resort

This was our second time and never disappoints. Beautiful beach, very clean, super friendly, lots of food options. Our westjet rep was great and helped us with a tour to the Tequila Factory. Upon arrival our room was ready.

Occidental at Xcaret Destination: Paradise!

This is one of the most beautiful resorts that I have ever been too. The staff was so friendly and couldn't do enough for you. The hotel property is lush with vegetation. We got to see monkeys, iguanas, and other cute animals on the property. This property is located right next to the Xcaret Eco park and we did the add on and so glad we did. So worth it!!