The hotel itself is nice enough, but the staff was less than helpful at all times. Our phones were stolen right out of the safe in our room, which was locked. Some of the hotel staff have access to the safes in case a patron is unable to open the safe. After we realized our phones had been taken we alerted the front desk, this was at about 10:00 pm. No one came to our room until 12:30 am. One front desk employee along with two security employees came to our room and tore it apart making sure we didn't just misplace them. After they tore apart the room, we had to fill out security forms saying what happened, etc. We were supposed to hear back from the hotel within 72 hours after their investigation. They never got back to us and we checked back constantly and all they would say is "we will let you know tomorrow." Almost a week went by and we are back home and have still heard nothing. We had to get our travel agent to try and get us a copy of the security report so we could be reimbursed through our insurance company. It took them over a week to send him a copy.
The staff there do not care one bit about customer service.
Also they failed to inform us our flight was delayed and sent us packing only to show up at a deserted airport at 3:00 am. We spent the night stranded in Cancun with no phones, and no idea what was going on with our flights. Every other person on our flight was informed by their hotel that the flight was cancelled, and allowed to stay another night.
Nice enough resort, but take your money elsewhere.

I visited the Barcelo Maya Beach again this past January and was truly blown away by the service. I started out by emailing the hotel with a few questions and they were promptly and courteously responded to.
We were welcomed into our room with a welcome letter and a bottle of champagne and fruit (nice touch). We were in the Club Premium section and had a peek a boo view of the ocean and a view of the pool. We had access to free wi-fi and did not have any issues with it except for a couple of times in the room when the balcony door was closed but as soon as we opened the door it was ok.
Housekeeping was fabulous and kept our room very neat. They even left us a pink raft at our door when the room next door checked out and left it there (we passed it on to someone else when we left).
The front desk was extremely helpful as we had to go there a couple of times because one of my son's room keys kept deactivating and they were very nice and replaced it (although they didn't ask for any ID which was a bit concerning). Another time I had to ask them to help me use the printer and they just let me print to their printer and brought me that pages when they were done.
The food was very good and we always found something that we liked. Breakfast was a favourite as it is awesome to start your day with a Mimosa! We ate a 3 a la cartes...the Mexican, the Japanese and the Seafood. The seafood was our favourite.Lunch was almost always at the beach restaurants.
I had a deep tissue massage at the spa while I was there and it was really good. My son had a chance to use they gym facilities and he said it was great and it had everything that he needed.
Snorkelling was really good although I didn't see any turtles this time I did see a huge ray and a sea snake and lots of fish.
I loved our stay last year but the stay this year was even better it was 10 days as opposed to 7 and much more relaxing. I love everything about this hotel and can hardly wait to go back next year!

We just returned from a two week stay at the Barcelo Beach resort. Spent the first week in the Tropical due to overbooked Beach so up grade was nice surprise. Second week we returned to Beach due to hard mattress in Tropical.Excellent service and great staff. Very clean. Kitchen tour was very interesting.Will be returning next year with family

Barcelo has 5 complexes in Puerto Aventuras. I booked through cheaptickets.com. got a good deal for the time of year. Fly into Cancun airport. I recommend you book transport to and from the hotel when you call to confirm your reservation. You will save half the cost of other transports. The hotel is about an hour from the airport. We stayed at Maya Beach complex, the low end part of the complex with the Palace being the most expensive. We did not feel let down though. You get access to the entire bay. You just cannot wander into the more expensive hotel areas and restaurants. The bay is beautiful, calm and clean. The staff was wonderful and if you show the slightest sign of trying to speak Espanol you will be rewarded with smiles and great service. It is an all inclusive resort so you will wear the plastic bracelets for duration, but what I loved about this place was that tipping was included in the price. One bar is 24/7 and we enjoyed virgin piña coladas whenever we wanted. Many times we asked for drinks to go (they are put in plastic glasses for safety) take our drinks and sit at the beach in lounge chairs in the evening. Hardly anyone on the beach then. Food is plentiful and often, there is almost always some buffet open until 10pm. I highly recommend the pork dishes. They know how to cook pork! The souvenir shops are sparse in goods, but you can take the highway shuttle for about 20 pesos into Playa del Carmen(one way 23 miles away). and do all the shopping for souvenirs you want. High end shops are there too. You can get the ferry to go to Cozumel for 7 bucks one way from there. Tulum and Xcaret are only a few miles away (10 and 4 miles approx) and the highway shuttle can take you there too. We had booked this place as an afterthought when we had booked a one week cruise and wanted another week in the Caribbean. We were not disappointed to stay here. We enjoyed this more than the cruise. There is a nice spot to snorkel to the left of the pier where the first jetty of rocks is. The best snorkel trip is through the charter in the hut by the watercraft area. You can book a charter that will take you over to beautiful Punta Sur marine preserve at Cozumel. Highly recommend doing this if you are a snorkeler or diver. Make sure you take plenty of snacks. Food is not too good at the hotel they offer lunch in Cozumel. Also get a wetsuit at this hotel. No charge to use it. You'll be in the water a while and get cold. You can always take it off. We had long Lycra suits on but we still got cold. We went in December 2012. Many people come from all over the world to stay here. Very cosmopolitan! My only diss, the beds could be softer!