This review short and to the point. Stayed Nov 30 - Dec 5 2012. The place and surroundings are immaculate. The pool was well maintained and the beach was nice not great (Bring swim shoes).The staff was very friendly and dedicated. The nightly shows were pretty good. On the negative side is why it gets only 3 stars
1. Food at the Buffets were terrible the only above average meal was at the seafood specialty restaurant. The steakhouse was a joke and did not even have a steak knife to try to cut thru the meats.
2.Drinks were low quality and in my opinion the bar staff may need to brush up on their skills. 2 bucks a drink for top shelf. Bought our own alcohol to the beach (No beach service)
3. Rooms were nice but the beds and pillows were like rocks
All in all three main criteria food,drink and bedding were subpar. I would advise to spend a little more for better quality (Palace Iberostar or Riu Resorts)

I stayed at at Barcalo Maya beach resort for 2 weeks in November with my husband and kids 7 and 4.we had a great time.There was so much for kids to do , water park ,kids club,kids disco,movie night and the Mexican pinata night. Simona at the kids club was amazing with dancing,cookie decorating ,face painting.my kids wanted to cry when they said good buy to her. we have done a lot of travelling to different tropical destinations ,this was the first time I felt totally comfortable leaving the kids at the kids club .The food was awesome the lobster at the seafood rest was a favorite .wait staff was helpful every where we went to eat. the beach was beautiful we did alot of swimming in the pools as well.we got to see sea-turtles make there was to the ocean and there lots of lizards and birds around the hotel.the kids liked the mini golf (bring bug spray) and my daughter went to the kids spa (so cute) .we are already planning our trip back. you will have a super time here,great drinks .one thing i would change ,when I was at the pool I would want a bottle of water and would some times need to wait 15min to get a drink ,I think the bars outside could use some more staff to cut back on wait times.I did find the beds hard but nothing I could not deal with and the TV's in the rooms where small and older.If you stay here you will not be disappointed.

I stayed at this hotel in October for 10 days with my Mother for a family Reunion. Our family was getting together to celebrate a birthday !!
From the moment of arrival I got an instant headache. I had booked our rooms 5 months in advance and the hotel put us in the Barcelo Colonial because they had no more rooms left in the Barcelo Tropical.
We did not fight with them on this as we had just come all the way from Australia !!!
As their was 22 of us when we booked the restaurants for dinner they were not very helpful with seating us together. However while staying at the hotel their were 2 conventions for over 2000 people. The hotel closed down half the beach for them and allocated certain pools for them. One night they had a show on in the theatre for them which went on until 1am in the morning and they called this a family/children friendly hotel…. The noise was so loud we complained 3 times.
By the way this hotel has NO FREE WIFI, not even in the lobby!!!
The food was very much the same day in day out and for lunch and for dinner.
One last thing…. customer service at this hotel is crap they only take notice of you if you have money! But don’t get me wrong we met some nice waiters here, who were very good!!
Over all i would not rate this a 4 star hotel , its not even close!!

There are 5 resorts here; we stayed at the Tropical which is close to the Colonial sharing a buffet etc. The Palace is a step up and set apart. Overall an excellent resort, clean with friendly, hard working staff. Some of our favourites: Christy, Larissa, Anselmo, Marcy, Paula. The clock in our room didn't work and it was replaced quickly (after we figured out which department to tell...not the bell man, chambermaid or front desk). We knew to just keep telling everyone until we got it right (the concierge). Decent a la carte restaurants, especially the Italian. Beautiful beach, its own small reef so great for snorkeling (we took our own gear and used it every day we weren't on an excursion), good pools and activities. Lots of excursions and things to do in the area.