Just returned from Barcelo- stayed for 6 days (January 25-31st). We had booked the Caribe/Beach section and were very pleasantly surprised to be upgraded to the Tropical section upon arrival.

After spending many hours reading through all the forums here I was a bit nervous about what to expect. There seemed to be a lot of negative reviews? We have a few minor complaints about the resort....but who doesn't?

The hotel grounds were immaculate...felt like paradise! Lush plants/flowers everywhere. Grounds keeping crews were always working to pick up leaves, cocoa nuts, trimming grass etc. Loved all the pools of water and the covered walkways from the buildings. Saw tons of iguana's on the grounds (all different sizes) my 8 year old son loved this.

Beach: Absolutely fabulous!! White sand that seemed to stretch for a mile. Tons of beach chairs available....never a problem to find open ones. There are some rocky areas in the water- bring along water shoes for sure. The beach in front of Beach/Caribe section was much nicer than Tropical/Colonial......could walk out farther into the ocean where the water was waist deep. Went out on the pier several times, always lots of neat fish swimming around. We never snorkeled around the pier....only in the beach part. Bring lots of sunscreen and a hat- got sunburned very quickly even with tanning before coming. Bring your own beach toys as the ones for sale at the resort are very expensive.

Pools: A bit on the chilly side...but we were hotter than heck most times we jumped in so they were very refreshing! Swim up bars were great! Seemed to get quicker service at the bar being in the pool than on the ground side. We had so many different kinds of drinks at the poolside bar...it was great. Alcohol was acceptable- could ask for anything you wanted. We are not big "hard liquor" drinkers so we could not comment on quality....we had no problem getting a good buzz going.

Buffets: Over all pretty good. There was such a HUGE variety of items to choose from that we pretty much had something good to eat every day (breakfast, lunch, dinner). Yeah- it's not the greatest quality...but what do you expect when they are serving 100's of people a day. I tried a lot of different things...such as rabbit and lamb etc. Tons of fruit, veggies, salads, bread to choose from. I was a bit disappointed that I could not find any strawberries or blueberries to eat. They are my favorite fruits and I eat them all the time! My husband and son enjoyed most of the desserts (they must have sampled 10 or 12 different things) ....I personally did not care for any of them. I would not say anything was totally inedible.....some things were just not for me. It was nice that they had a kids section too...with chicken nuggets, french fries etc...as we all know kids can be very picky. My son loved the guacamole and chips and he ate tons of that.

Ala Carte Restaurants: We ate at the seafood place and we enjoyed our dinner very much. I had the salmon...which was delicious....my hubby had the lobster....he loved it and I thought it was great as well. My son had the kids dinner (fish sticks/french fries) and he liked it as well. Excellent service here! We ate the steakhouse second and that was not so good. My ribeye steak was plain old gross (tough/fatty)! We are quite picky about our steak (we usually eat filet mignon at home) and my husband had the New york Strip. He said it was not so great either. No big surprise for me...we certainly didn't expect much. We had no problem getting our dinners booked. We actually had 4 nights of meals at the restaurants...but we only went to 2 of the reservations...we either got back to late from day trips or were too lazy/tired to get dressed up. Yes....we were very low key on this trip.

Rooms: We had a double room and thought it was plenty spacious for the 3 of us. The bathroom was nice with a big deep tub and shower. We could not get the sink/shower stoppers to function correctly...but no big deal. There could have been more towel hangers in the bathroom....and or located better...but not too big of a deal. I was very disappointed with the cheap little hair dryer. The low setting was pretty much useless...and the hot setting was so damn HOT that it felt like my hair was about to catch on fire. I could kick myself for not bringing my own hairdryer from home! My hair pretty much sucked (felt dry like straw) the whole time I was there....thank god for hats! The TV pretty much sucked as well. Certainly not HD- nothing in English but CNN news. It was small...maybe a 28" or 30". This was disappointing as I really just wanted to veg out and watch some TV late at night after a long day of walking all over (both at the resort and excursions too). I wish there was a clothes dryer in your room (even a community one would be nice) because it took forever for any of your wet swim suits/clothes to dry outside. We had several very thin tank tops/shorts (quick dry material) and they dried fast...but a thicker cotton t-shirt/underwear took 24-36 hours to dry. This is due to the high levels of humidity...hence a dryer would have been great! The A/C and ceiling fan worked great...my hubby actually got cold at night and we got him an extra blanket. The pillows were ROCK HARD- felt like a bag of cement! Bring your own from home. The beds were hard/firm.....but we prefer that. Loved the tile floors in the rooms.

We did not ever go to the theater or disco...we were too tired by the end of the day. We could never find the mini golf course....no big deal. Plenty of sports activities to do- basketball, ping pong, shuffleboard, etc.

Shopping at the Mexican plaza was OK. Prices are quite high...better deals to be had in Playa Del Carmen. Enjoyed the kids show where there were the staff was all dressed up in traditional Mayan costumes and my hubby got in on a game of "hit the ball through the rock disc" type (don't recall what it is called). Had to leave for a dinner reservation before they lets the kids break open the pinata....my son missed out on that.

All of the staff were very gracious and attended to our every need. Overall we had a great time and would most definitely consider coming back!! Not everything was 100% perfect...but what do you expect?

We stayed in the Yucatan building...room 7444 ground level. I actually liked the ground floor because you could see all the iguana's and other wildlife right there from your patio.

If I forget anything I will come back later and revise my review.

was upgraded from Caribe when we (a group of 7) arrived for 6 nights, Tropical was great! large open spaces, rooms were clean and kept tidy. Food was good quality, variety plentiful, warm and cold as needed.
we went to Italian, Steakhouse, Seafood, Spanish and French restaurants and enjoyed all very much.
Entertainment was mostly variety shows which we did not prefer, Circus was good, wished there were more music options like piano bar in Colonial (which was only open short hours).
My room mate and I both required to eat gluten free and found plenty to eat. Language issue a little problem when trying to explain "no trigo" (no wheat).
Staff were wonderful always trying to make your holiday better. went diving in cenotes with on-site dive center (great!), and Chichen Itza arranged thru hotel (long day but well-organized). no meaningful complaints this property is stunning and more than we expected. Beaches and pools all great!

My boyfriend and I stayed at the Barcelo Maya Tropical January 19-26, my parents and a few of there friends stayed at the Palace. We wanted to stay at the Palace as well, unfortunately it was sold out. However...when we got to the resort we were more then pleased. The property was beautiful and well kept, the rooms were nice, the food and drinks were great. My one and only complaint is that we ordered room service one day and it took an extremely long time and then we did not get all of our food, however this issue was resolved by a manager immediately and our room service charge was removed. On our last day we did not want to leave. I am already looking into planning a trip back next year! I have traveled all around the world and stayed in many different resorts and hotels, and I must say this is by far one of my favorites! Some of the reviews made me a little nervous but I will now say those people are most likely complainers! If you have any questions feel free to ask me! :) If your thinking of going...GO!!

We have just returned from a 7 day stay at the Tropical and were very satisfied with this resort for the following reasons:
1. The Beach: Long, clean, flat, white sand. If long beach walks are important to you, this beach fits the bill. Many lounge chairs are available, so we did not have the towel game stress to deal with.
2. The Snorkeling: We snorkeled off the beach every day, including during a rainy day. We saw many turtles, rays, and a decent variety of fish. We saw the people who paid for a snorkel tour getting dropped off and swimming into the area to snorkel. We have stayed at five different
resorts in the Mayan Riviera and this was the best snorkeling we have encountered off the resort beach.
3. The Staff: Their friendly, helpful manner began with check in. We got all of our room requests (king sized bed, floor location) and also were able to switch the room of family members who had not yet arrived. We also used all our dining bookings as well as booking at the Palace in the French Restaurant (the extra $15 per person was well worth it). The person who did this went out of her way to give us all our time requests.
4. The Grounds: Beautiful landscaping, attractive walkways, very clean.
5. The Piano Bar in the Colonial: Good bartenders, efficient servers, comfy chairs, and live music.
6. Big Bath Towels: Seriously, they wrap around easily (we are not big people) and stay in place. We travel a lot and these are nice large towels. And we had face cloths everyday.
7. Location of Fitness Centre: Open air feeling, not in some basement or back room. Natural light, decent equipment. Clean.

The following were just average: The buffets and snack bars were fine but not amazing, but then, this is not the most expensive resort option either. Maybe you get what you pay for! We easily found something to eat though.
The beach bars are average, standard beach bars. The rooms are average. Very clean, but not 5 star decorating. However, we did not pay 5 star prices. We found the bed firm but did not bother to pull out the mattress topper. We slept extremely well, but it could have been all the fresh air and activity. The spa was okay. I had a manicure and pedicure. Nice treatment, good price compared to home, but fairly average.

We would consider returning to this resort if we were looking in this price range and in this part of Mexico. We had a lovely vacation.