Barcelo Ixtapa: Awesome beach, friendly staff, cold showers, pay wifi

I just returned from a week at the Barcelo Ixtapa Jan 23-30th, 2020. For context I consider myself a seasoned all-inclusive traveler and have stayed in several AI’s in different countries, I consider myself a 4 star kind of guy, my comments compare this resort to others I have experienced. To start with this hotel, like many on the Ixtapa strip, started life as a hotel 3 decades back when Ixtapa was being built as a planned tourist area by the Mexican government. With the advent of the a [... read more]ll-inclusive resort many of these hotels have been converted into AI resorts, as has the Barcelo. It’s not a sprawling resort, compact but efficiently laid out, space has been used well and all the normal amenities are there. It has an old world colonial Mexican feel to it with marble floors and decorative ceiling designs but still gives a bit of modern feel due to the more futuristic design employed when built. An older place but fairly well kept. Guest mix is pretty much 50/50 Canadians/Mexicans, seemed to be very few guests from other countries. Demographic is on the older side. Overall a good experience but as with any stay there are good points and not so good points … The good: • The beach is awesome. Tan sand, 3km from one end to the other so you can get a good 6km walk every day if that is what you are after. One note tho, the red flag is always up, more on that later. • Most staff are genuinely interested in you and genuinely appreciate the fact that you have chosen their resort and country to spend your time. Friendly, most front liners speak English fairly well. • Food, for the most part was good … again, mostly, more on that later. • The resort was not full during the week which meant there wasn’t heavy competition for beach loungers, pool space, bar seats, etc … warning tho, on the weekends the place does fill up with locals and does get quite busy. Super nice people, just busy. • Room was pretty standard, clean, the housekeeping was well done … bathroom was a bit tiny. The not so good: • Paid wifi? Seriously? Come on Barcelo, that fell off the resort scene a decade ago … and don’t think that signing up for the MyBarcelo account is going to get it for you free (as advertised) as only bookings made thru their official hotel website qualify for the freebie … and of course the rates are jacked on the official website. The rate was $40 US$ for 7 days and that was after application of the 25% off coupon you get when you check in, not a big amount just that you feel nickel and dimed … • Cold showers … yup, after a warm one on night 1 (so I know you can do it Barcelo) the rest were cold … went to the front desk every evening and reported that, the front desk clerk would get on the phone and tell someone about it, next day cold shower … this went on for 6 days and as far as I know ROOM 411 STILL HAS NO HOT WATER … ridiculous. • Red flag on the beach … which I am told is up 90% of the time during tourist season. And if you dare to venture out in the water prepare to get swamped, I did and I’m not a small guy, waves can be huge. If you are a pool person then this isn’t an issue for you but if you like to swim in the ocean you will find yourself seeking a calmer beach, of which there are a few choices easily accessible by city bus/boat. • Food is of good quality and well prepared however there aren’t the wide-ranging choices of a larger resort, you won’t lose any weight here tho. There are a few grumpy old men servers in the main buffet that you have to hunt down and ask for service (ie water or a drink) however the female and younger male staff are great … and yes I tried tipping them but it makes no difference, they need to be reassigned. • You have to book your à la carte restaurants individually, each morning with the concierge … again, really? That’s so old school … at least even let a person book the whole week at one visit. Oh, and once being told there is no room you walk past the restaurant at the time you were denied only to see many empty tables, I’d say someone is just trying to minimize the food bill. Of course, most places are what you make them, after a while the place grows on you. Overall I found my time at the Barcelo Ixtapa pleasant, the weather was awesome, the beach great, most of the staff friendly, the place was clean, daily room upkept nicely. Do yourself a favor and get up early, stand in line for 20 minutes to book yourself a dinner at the Italian restaurant, it’s worth it, awesome dinner.

Barcelo Maya Riviera: Heaven on earth

This hotel was like being in heaven. I would highly recommend this hotel and or all the Barcelo hotels in the same complex as it is the best location I have ever been at for a vacation. The food, the staff, the bars, the rooms where out of this world. Oops I forgot the pools as well

Barcelo Gran Faro Los Cabos: Very nice resort

We had a very nice stay at this resort. The food and service was excellent. The evening shows were not very impressive though. The location is great. You can walk down the beach for miles and just watching the huge waves was super relaxing. Downtown is just a short walk or busride away and the artwalk on Thursday is a must.

Barcelo Solymar: Barcelona solymar

This was the most god awful resort I’ve ever been to. Every single bar does not have something, whether it’s pop or a type of liquor, so be prepared to walk to another one. There’s a disco that no one uses and is shit down at 12am. We had ice cold water for a week straight, front desk told us a mechanic was coming to our room and had us wait there for three hours, only to find out it is a hotel wide issue and no one was coming. We switched room four times due to cockroach infestation in tw [... read more]o different rooms. When we tried to contact the sunwing rep late at night, he did not answer. The manager at the front desk would not call for us, and told us we would be charged for calling from our room. The entertainment team does the least possible. We asked for music at the pool other than Russian jazz and were told we need to wait until 2:30pm every day. I highly recommend not going to this resort.

Barcelo Maya Grand Resort: 1st timer

It was ok, a lot of walking on concrete, rooms were breaking down (ie; cracking plaster, grout falling apart and blackening, rivets loose on sliding door lock, alarm clock broken, etc) Food very bland, and restaurant food no where near 4 1/2 star. Employees ignore you when they can't figure out what your saying, and they all want a tip "their life depends on it" Employees need training for how to treat people of different ages. 1st timers need to be given more awareness of all the "extra cos [... read more]ts", and you need to ask for everything or you don't get anything, meanwhile you don't know what to ask for. Felt we were being scammed by the Sunwing employee trying to get us to upgrade our excursion by lying about what time the bus left. Gabriel told us the cheaper excursion left at 6am, and the upgrade left later, but when we booked, the cheaper one all of a sudden now leaves at 9am. Just trying to get us to spend more money. A lot of waste every where you go, and no recycling. Language barriers annoying, especially the employees at reception and guest services. It was beautiful, grounds were nice and we'll designed, nice flow, mostly clean and we'll maintained. General staff mostly kind and polite. Free WiFi was almost useless, and 2 km away from our room. We were bored by day 4, probably will not do another all-inclusive.

Barcelo Huatulco: Ok Resort but...

Overall we had a good time at the Barcelo Huatulco but I have a MAJOR ISSUE with this hotel and many others who blatantly bribe guests with various offers of additional free wi-fi, etc. to post totally unrealistic 5-star reviews on TripAdvisor.We talked to one guest who took free wi-fi in exchange for the positive review and did not seem to worry about how unethical it was! Note: The resort givers you one hour free per day. These are easily spotted all over TripAdvisor. They typically are br [... read more]ief, include the name(s) of an animation crew member (who the resort encourages to obtain positive reviews) and include nothing but glowing comments on the resort. Travellers who are not aware of this practice can be duped into thinking how great the hotel is. TripAdvisor should not publish these reviews and take issue with resorts who follow this practice. It is so widespread now I don't know if anyone can trust reviews.

Occidental Punta Cana: Beautiful resort, Amazing beach

This resort is very clean, with a beautiful beach and sparkling clean pools. Rooms are spacious and comfortable. There is the main buffet and a buffet at the beach where we had breakfast every morning. The entertainment in the lobby bar each night was wonderful and the service we received from Myralargo was just the best. She took excellent care of our group all week. The animation team is good but their English was not always the best and at times hard to understand. Some of the activities be [... read more]come redundant as the week wears on. The food is good to very good. The steakhouse was our absolute favourite and on par with any you would find here at home. However in some of the other restaurants the service was really slow. This appears to be a lack of staffing issue vs the staff themselves. All in all we had a good vacation, but I would say it wasn’t up to par with other Occidentals we have stayed at in the past.

Barcelo Bavaro Beach: Very enjoyable escape

The staff was very good...wonderful beach and pool....the food was quite enjoyable and varied...A very nice room. The only con with the resort was that it took two days to get the tv working. Another negative, nothing to do with the resort, but the sun wing rep was worse than useless...we were not impressed with sunwing this trip

Barcelo Maya Riviera: Amazing New Resort

This hotel was wonderful. From the minute we checked in we were extremely satisfied that we chose this hotel. Hector checked us in and when we told him that it was our anniversary he upgraded us to a swim up room. The room was excellent. The bed was perfect. The buffet was huge and had an endless choice of dishes. The al-a-carte restaurants were amazing with excellent food. The resort was extremely clean and well taken care of. I would highly recommend this particular hotel to anyone.

Occidental Caribe: Great staff!

Resort overall very nice and well laid out. Rooms showing their age. Staff were very! helpful and supportive especially during our medical emergency. Lots of help and support from Medical, customer relations, security and front desk staff while arranging and executing ambulance pickups.

Occidental at Xcaret Destination: Great family vacation!!!!

Overall very good hotel. Check in was not great. Too long, incorrect information. Corrected by building information desk. No internet, money grab in this day of connectivity. $45 US per week per device. Not really an all inclusive in this regard.

Palma Real: Planning to come back

The staff and the atmosphere of the resort was amazing. Non stop things to do. Whether you are dancing by the pool, getting a drink at the beach bar or hanging out in the lobby. Location is amazing and perfect.

Barcelo Maya Riviera: Amazing adults only!!

This brand new resort was absolutely amazing!! So clean and fresh. The food and drinks were amazing (and we have pretty high standards)! The hotel is very modern and the rooms and grounds were always kept very clean. The hotel is situated on a gorgeous beach front with no seaweed!! The service at the restaurants and bars were very good! Everyone was so friendly :). With booking this resort we had access to all of the barcelo resorts on this beach strip (there were 5) which was nice to walk ov [... read more]er for a change of scenery or have dinner elsewhere! The only downfall (which we didn’t mind since we go to bed early) is the nightlife was not very good! If you are a big partier that loves night life this resort probably isn’t for you... mind you we didn’t walk over to the other Barcelos at night which could have had better entertainment and been more lively ? Would strongly recommend!!

Occidental at Xcaret Destination: Wonderful resort

Resort was beautifully lush, lots of palm trees and other foliage everywhere and paths throughout the forestry. Monkeys, iguanas, deer, agouti’s all over. You really feel you are one with nature. Along with this lushness also comes extra mosquitoes at dusk and some insect bites but use repellant in evening and all is good. Rooms were very nice and immaculately clean every day. Every single staff member went above and beyond to help and make sure you had a good time. Super friendly and fun. [... read more] Large resort with lots to do. Buffet restaurant was very good and 5 a la carte restaurants were also great especially El Pescador seafood restaurant. Highly recommend this resort.

Occidental Caribe: Nice resort - a little dated

The buffet was good. The Japanese restaurant was excellent. The staff were very helpful. The hotel itself is ok in many respects but the bathrooms need upgrading. We had a great room with high ceilings on the 4th floor. Room 7411.

Barcelo Solymar: wont be coming back

food no good couldn't digest nothing (im well aware of the food in cuba been there had better) , elevator wasn't working half the time, ac was barely working like almost asking me for help, patio door impossible to open unless you bench 200lbs daily, room was humid?, got a superior room and no king size bed only 2 double...great deal?, barely any chair at the beach... exchange rate at the hotel was a total rip off (usual but not by tthat much).. all and all I would go somewhere else. I was with  [... read more]friends so I had fun at least!!

Palma Real: value for money

We have visited the Palma Real 8 times since 2009. There have been minor changes over the years. Certain bars and restaurants have been operating some years and not other years. The washrooms in the main lobby have been upgraded to a first class standard. The pool deck continues to deteriorate. The lovely grounds are well maintained and seem to be even better cared for lately. We have stayed in all 4 buildings and have always had basic but clean hallways and rooms. The hot water supply has of [... read more]ten been hit and miss and safes are not available in all rooms. We have never had anything stolen. The buffet food is plentiful but does become a bit tedious after a few days. The Barbecoa is an option and now the beach bar has an attractive full service restaurant with a varied menu. The "by reservation only" a-la-carte dinners at the Piazza and the International are also a nice change. There are numerous good restaurants off site. We treat the staff with respect and courtesy and have always received the same treatment in return. Unfortunately not all the guests of the Palma are courteous, polite, or caring and this is no fault of the hotel. We love the location of the Palma Real but being in our 70's now, do not always appreciate the noise, smoke and "party central" atmosphere which can be annoying at times. However we can usually find a quiet place on the property to relax and meet new friends when we want to hang around the resort, which is not that often with a world class beach and Varadero main street a short walk away. Being avid cyclists, we always bring 2 used bicycles with us, ride them for the duration of our stay then leave them with two of the locals. For the cost of a decent used bicycle ($0 - $50), and $30 shipping, you can enjoy bike friendly Varadero and the surrounding area in a new way and really make a Cuban's day with the gift of a bicycle - all for a relative pittance by N.A. standards. We highly recommend doing this. In short, we will continue to stay at this familiar home away from home as long as we are able, and to enjoy the many amenities and friendly people of Varadero. Would we recommend this hotel to friends? . . . difficult question. Definitely yes to some, not necessarily to others.

Barcelo Maya Colonial: Great relaxing holiday!

The beach at the Barcelo Maya Grand complex is HUGE! We never had a problem finding a lounge in either the sun or the shade. There are some hidden rocky areas entering/exiting the ocean so use caution and watch where you’re walking. Alcohol isn’t available in the morning so it was disappointing to miss out on mimosas and coffee with Bailey’s at breakfast. We found that the Colonial/Tropical buffet was better than Caribe buffet for breakfast. There was always something to satisfy  [... read more]for lunch at Mariachi or Captain Morgan beach/pool buffets. We ate dinner at 5 of the a la carte restaurants (Mexico Lindo, Santa Fe, La Trattoria, Kyoto, Mare Nostrum). Our favourite was Santa Fe (steakhouse/meat) – the beef tenderloin was DELICIOUS! Our least favourite was La Trattoria (Italian) – the same disappointing, paper-thin crust pizza served at the buffet. We also really enjoyed the wings, ribs, jalapeno poppers and mozzarella sticks at Strikers. Service at the restaurants was prompt. Drink service at the bars was sometimes slow when only one bartender was working. Theatre shows were OK – we only attended two (Michael Jackson & Magic/Circus) as the theme of the other shows didn’t appeal to us. Something this complex lacks is LIVE entertainment. There are two piano bars (Colonial and Beach) where a pianist played two sets at night (7:30-8:15pm and 11:15pm-midnight) – we saw posters for 3 different pianists during our one week stay. Aside from that, there was very little going on in the evening – no singers or instrumentalists in the lobbies, no mariachi band at the Mexican a la carte, etc. The “live DJ show” at the mall wasted a stage that would have better suited a full band. For being such a large resort, we found it was surprisingly compact and easily walkable from Beach to Tropical (we have no mobility issues and enjoy the exercise). I would recommend this resort.

Barcelo Maya Palace: Quality is slipping

Rooms, grounds, general upkeep, pool areas, impeccable! Room fridge restocking was hit and miss, checked in Sunday, fridge not done until Tuesday. Then missed on Friday and Saturday. After checking in, went to guest services to book a la carte meals. The first booking we could get before 9:30 was Thursday, then Friday. As this was our second visit we were not interested in any of the a la cartes at the other resorts. So, we were relegated to eating all other meals at the buffet.  [... read more] Hot food should be hot, cold food cold. The only hot food was if you got it directly off the grill. Most was room temperature. The staff everywhere were excellent. Well, the front desk staff had their moments. Ask a question and you could get as many answers as was behind the counter. Beach is hard. Snorkeling is fair, silt gets stirred up. Many people drift up from other resorts, and take up space at the Palace. Lots of walking! Used the coffee the first day. Never replaced! Had to drink it black. No sugar or (ick) whitener.

Allegro Cozumel: Great Family Vacation!

We had a great time at Allegro! We were a group of 3 couples. 6 adults and 4 kids ranging 5 months to 7 years old. Everyone enjoyed the pool, beach, drinks and food. We all thought they put a lot of effort into the food and enjoyed it. We spent a day driving around Cozumel felt completely safe and loved the different sights. Overall great trip and we would return for sure.