Beautiful resort, terrible check-in

Grounds are lovely + we'll manicured, pools + beach are amazing, food is excellent, Ala cartes are superior. It's a shame that the 1st day + a half was spent trying to get into our room! We got to the resort at 11 AM, given a room number + tags for our luggage + room # to book our Ala cartes. When we came back to reception @ 3PM as we were instructed they told us they gave our room away + assigned us another room but had to wait another 2 hrs to get into that room' where the door lock was broken [... read more] + the room safe would not lock! We called + were told we would be moved the next AM To another room but had to stay that night in a room with a broken door lock + we had to carry our valuables with us. In the morning we went back to reception to a long line up + very disorganized staff who told us we had another room but had to wait again til after 3PM to get the key. At 3 PM we were told the room was not cleaned + to wait 20 min. We were told this @ 3 PM + 20 min after that + 20 min again + again + still no room!! My ice pack for my insulin had melted + we asked another couple if they could put my insulin in their room frig as we had no room yet + guest services had no idea what to do! At 5:15 we got upset as it had been over 28 hrs since we checked in + still no room! We were given our room key + the bellboy took us + our luggage up to the room only to find the room still had not been cleaned. By now I was in tears + demanded I wait outside the room til the maid cleaned it. When we finally got into the room it had 2 double beds; not King which is what we had paid for!! Double beds. My spouse is 6' 3"!! We were fed up + wanted to just settle In a room so we stayed in the room with 2 double beds!! A horrible check- in experience + a horrible way to start our vacation. We had been at this resort 4 yrs ago + it was good back then but this was a nightmare so we will not ever return to a Barcelo resort. The check in process needs a total overhaul + we have advised our friends of our horrible experience.

Overall good trip has potential to be great!

Both my wife and I were at the Barceló Grand complex between April 24 to May 1 2017. We flew in with Air Transat from Toronto to Mexico. Unfortunately there was an emergency on the plane in which we had to land in the US for a delay. Once we finally arrived in Mexico we did take a long bus ride to the Barceló complex in which we were greeted by the front desk. As you could imagine we were both exusted and tired from our unforeseen journey. On the plus side one of the staffers did greet us [... read more] with a nice cool beverage at the lobby. We were scheduled to stay in the Barceló Maya Beach resort area but we were told there were no rooms available and had to be moved to the Barceló Colonial area. We had to take a small golf cart shuttle to the Colonial lobby only to find out that the key to our new room was not given to us from the previous lobby enterance in the Maya Beach area. At this point we were getting quite frustrated with all the shuffling around that we just wanted to get to our room and call it a night. Once we did get our key for our room, the bell hop man reassured us that it is a short walk and did not take our luggage to our room. It was anything but a short walk to our room but luckily we did not pack heavily to our trip! Upon entering the room, we did receive what we requested; a higher room with a king size bed (2 double beds combined). The room had a fridge stocked with all the major brands of drinks including beer and snacks. The room was also situated in the middle of the large complex which was nice. After a few days of settling in at the nice and large resort we hit another large bump in the road. One of the days, there was a loud banging being done just above our room. I did not think much of it and we continued with our day as normal and left the room. Upon coming back to our room, we immediately felt the A/C not running. This was not acceptable as to the heat was already in the high 20C’s to early 30C’s. I was reassured that compensation would be given to me for the troublesome night. I did get 2 passes to the Barceló Waterpark which my wife enjoyed and 2 small bottles of alcoholic beverages. However we were thinking I would at least get a relaxing massage that both my wife and I endured from the previous night. Positives - A+ Entertainment throughout the week – Very talented individuals that put on a great show every night. - Lots of things to see and do such as: Maya Mall, a 24HR Sports bar with Mini Golf and Bowling Alley, A Dolphin aquarium, large number of pools throughout the Barceló Grand Resort. - Very clean resort with friendly staff that greet you as you pass by, including 2 gentleman I would like to acknowledge that tried to smooth out our stay. One named Memo which is at the front desk in the Tennis area. The other gentleman named Tomas in the Colonial reception area. Both were wonderful to speak to and were very genuine and friendly. - Italian a la carte restaurant was great and highly recommended. - Large 2 decker bus that takes you throughout all 5 parts of the Barceo complex. This bus is free to ride and is a great way of seeing the large Barceló complex. Negatives - As both my wife are vegetarians, the only thing that peeved us was there were a lot of cross contamination at the stations. It would be nice if certain utensils were not being used for meat dishes. - More fish options or a fish station would have been a big plus. Other than our snags that I am sure a lot of travelers face when they do travel, the Barceló Grand Resort is a great option to visit in the Rivera Maya in Mexico.

Awesome experience - highly recommended for couples/families

Great: Resort was incredibly clean. Staff incredibly friendly. Facilities well-kept and beautiful all around. Everything was at our finger-tips and people tried hard to accommodate any requests or concerns. My hubby found there to be far too much walking (other resorts this size have golf carts you can jump on and off of to get around more easily). This resort has busses that run along the back from one to the next... but they're not very convenient. I would definitely prefer a smaller resort  [... read more]in the future. The food was fantastic and there was always lots of selection. The Japanese Chef should be absolutely commended for his performance and I was surprised at how much I loved the food there (not having liked Asian food in the past). I don't think I'd change a thing about our trip if I could really... best beach I've stayed at along the Mayan Riviera (having stayed at four other resorts previously). Not-so-great: The excursion-coordinator failed to mention to us about all of the hidden/added costs when we booked one of our excursions. We elected to go snorkeling at Xhel-Ha and were told about all of the wonderful things we could do there... but there was no mention that after paying a huge amount to get into the park, all of the activities over and above snorkeling would be extra. We'd only brought $$ for photos and souvenirs and having no credit card with us, we missed out on several things we would have liked to have done. The front desk is absolutely terrible. The employees who work there speak very broken English compared to others we encountered, making every interaction with them frustrating and slow. At the airport and amongst other resorts, this resort has a reputation for terrible service at their front desk. I had to wait nearly an hour to get some American money changed into Pesos and check-in and check-out were very painful experiences.

If you like LARGE.....

This resort is among five others, under the Barcelo name. Each has their own uniqueness. The Maya Beach has arguably the best beach of them all, with warm water, lovely white sand & lots of beach chairs. The pools are clean, with no shortage of towels and have a different mood & age group at each. There are many premium liquors on hand, you just need to ask. The rooms were moderately up to date, but clean & well appointed. There were no issues with water pressure or lack of hot water. Cleaning s [... read more]taff always did what was wanted... just a few tips goes along way. Our king bed had great support & the pillows were fine as well. Having been to the Dominican several times, I was hopeful that the food would be a step or two above. But I was disappointed with quality. While I didn't starve, it was a pain having to eat relatively the same items each day. Although the three ala cartes we attended were a welcome change & the food was hot and well prepared.....namely the Italian, Mexican & the Japanese were a treat. Being limited to only three reservations should most certainly be extended. If there was one strong complaint, it would be the check-in process. Each and every traveler only wants their room in a timely fashion, after which in our case, consisted of being on the go for eight hours, before reaching the resort. And to then have to stand in line until finally getting our keys, which was well over an hour.

Great Resort

Hotel was very nice, Rooms were clean, well maintained, great shower. Some noise from other patrons late at night. Grounds are well maintained. Our room in the 4000 level was centrally located close to the pool, beach, buffets. The beach in front of the Maya Beach Resort was great, well maintained, lots of chairs. Great selection at the buffets, but no fresh mango. A la carte restaurants, Japanese was the best. Front desk service, check-in and check-out was adequate but could definitely b [... read more]e more efficient. You would think that large resorts like this, with many vacationers coming and going, would have this figured out.

Barcelo Maya Beach

We had amazing days in this resort. Everything was perfect. Just a couple issues, I couldn't sleep at night because the hallways was noisy every night by some drunk people 😉And the second issue was about room service, the wet towels was in our room after they clean our room. And our fridge didn't full every day. Thank for everything Colleen.

Amazing trip

This resort was so big and beautiful. Everything was very organized, clean and well managed. The staff was so friendly and nice. Nothing but great things to say about it. The check in was very slow but other than that there we're so many people and things to do we were never bored! Also gorgeous beach!!

Great Resort

This is our first time at this resort thanks to Michelle Turco, Trip Central and we thoroughly enjoyed it. The food was good - we ate mostly at the A La Carte restaurants - Italian was my favourite - Mexican not so much! The grounds and pools were very maintained, the staff very friendly and helpful. Our room was good but the tub needed some work due to mold around the edges. The buffet was also good for breakfast as well as the Rancho Grande for lunch. One negative was the difficulty getting fa [... read more]ce clothes?? It was great weather and a great holiday. I would definitely go back!

Wonderful Beach!

Great beach! The resort is very well maintained. The rooms were very comfortable and lots do do. We really liked the adult pool and service was great. The buffet was could have been a little better but not horrible. Very well maintained and breakfast was the best.

Great Beach!

The resort is well maintained, great pools, basketball, tennis lots of things to do. The spa is very good and nice to be able to get a workout in. We stayed at Barcelo Maya Beach and everything was great but: 1) Food was average at the buffet and the a la carte was not a big step up. 2) Bar service was great when you could get it. They needed more bartenders at the pool and on busy nights. The beach is the best part of the resort. Had a great time but would probably try another option next [... read more] time we travel to Riviera Maya.

GREAT EXPERIENCE

FOOD WAS EXCELLENT, FRIENDLY HELPFUL STAFF,VERY CLEAN GROUNDS PLAN TO GO BACK. The trip was flawless from beginning to end. Entertainment was good. Of resort activities were a bit expensive. Do not take the tour that includes visiting the jewlerly factory. they are on you like vultures and they full you full of lies.

Very nice resort

Beautiful resort. Impressed with beauty and cleanliness of the grounds. Loved the palm trees on the beach and throughout the resort. Solid food and generally friendly staff. Two big thumbs up from the entire family including kids.

Very large resort

We found the reception area needs to be better staffed as it's always so busy. That was the only thing but it is the first impression so that's why we felt it was important to mention. We were a bus full of people arriving at the hotel and reception was not fully staffed. We stood in line to get checked in for approx. 20 - 25 minutes to get checked in. People with children were getting as kids were antsy. They did not give out room keys but told us to come back in 30 - 40 minutes to get them [... read more] (that was fine as we went to enjoy a cool drink and a bite to eat). They said it would be fast just handing out the key to us later. About 45 minutes later we went to stand in line again to get the key. Once we got to the front of the line the staff person who was giving out the keys just walked away without saying a word. After a few minutes all of us in line started wondering what happened was he sick, did he go for a break? Finally, we asked a supervisor that was just standing there the whole time if someone was coming back as there was still a line up to get our room key. It was only then that he said something to a staff person and she started handing out the keys. The hotel was clean, we had a very nice room with big bathroom. The hotel grounds were beautiful. We loved the gym and the exercise classes. There was lots of selection at the buffet all the time. The beach was beautiful.

Barcello Maya Beach Resort

We found the Hotel far too big and the staff was not very friendly at all. The maid that cleaned the room either forgot to leave coffee or water to make it. We would not recommend this hotel to anyone.

Fantastic Experience

This hotel is absolutely stunning. The grounds are amazing, super clean, staff is friendly, rooms where nice, again, very clean, beds comfortable. There was a lot to do, you could just hang by one of the many pools, you can choose to enjoy the beautiful beach, lots of loungers, never a problem to get a seat and usually where you want to be. Lots to choose from for the kids, kids club was convenient and available any day, water sports available, great team of scuba diver instructors, very help [... read more]ful, friendly and passionate! Food was good, many options for ala cart or buffets.. All around a great vacation, will definitely go back there!

Fantastic March Break

This was a great resort for our group. 3 adults and 4 teenagers. The rooms were spacious had balconys, air conditioning, everything you need. Mini bar that was stocked daily with water, etc. Plenty of towels at the room and at the beach. No problems getting beach chairs at all. This resort is 5-in one. We stayed at the Beach, which had the best beach, a great buffet for breakfast/lunch/dinner. It was close to the gym (which is amazing. Ask for the fitness schedule, if your into that. I did yo [... read more]ga and a spin class) Age restriction for the gym is 18. pool, kids club, activities, theatre for nightly entertainment. Walking from one end of the resort to the other only took 15 minutes on the beach, with lots of other ways to go. There is a open air bus that comes into each lobby, every 10 mins and makes frequent stops. There is a water slide Park, surfing park, swim with dolphins, water sports, mall for shopping, both a high end area, and marketplace for souvenirs. Lots of daily activities. Almost forgot to mention. The food and service are fantastic. We loved the a la carte restaurants. Our favourites were, Spanish, Japanese-Kyoto, Italian-at the Tropical. Remember however to book these ASAP when you check in, as they are in high demand. Also the adult only pool area, after 4pm, was a nice way to end the day, before getting ready for dinner

Great resort with lots to do on site!

Stayed at Maya Beach Resort and the beach in this section is better than at the Palace. Beautiful pools especially like the Adult only pool for a late afternoon cocktail. Lots to do on the resort especially good spot for teenagers. Swimming with the Dolphins a huge hit with our girls. Service was very friendly and food is very good. Only issue it was difficult to get good reservations at the a la cartes. We'll be back!!

Amazing Resort

This was by far the best resort I have ever stayed at everything was terrific, if I had to make one complaint it would be that the free WiFi is only available 10.00 to 1.00pm located in the mall, other resorts have had free WiFi in the hotel lobby in the evening, but to be honest it was really nice not be on cell phones the whole time and we had a famous week. The Japanese restaurant was awesome.

Beautiful beach

We loved the beach. Food was good and enough options. Rooms were clean, beds were comfortable but decor was tired. Pools were large and plenty of chairs around pool and beach. Enjoyed having a balcony off room. Smaller bars offer better quality drinks.

Just amazing!

We've just arrived home from a weeks holiday. What a wonderful week it was! Everything was perfect. The staff, the rooms, the food, the beach, the whole environment was just wonderful. We will definitely return!