It was our first trip to Mexico and we were a bit weary that this trip would not be as good as our previous destination of choice- Jamaica. It was a bit of a trip from airport (about an hour-and-a-half) but the moment we and our 5-year-old stepped onto the property, we were amazed at the sheer beauty of the grounds and this was just the beginning! You feel like you are walking in the beautiful park and every new turn is bringing something new and unexpected- cudos to the property planners!

The staff was extremely helpful, the rooms were very nice and clean, the food selection was at least on par, if not better, with outher 5-star Caribbean resorts. Although we did not get a chance to visit all the restaurants, buffet and snack bar offered sufficient choice for a family of 3 (even admitting that it's all-inclusive, how many salad/ open bar/ desert choices one can go through, really?)- everything was extremely fresh and presentation was great. Seafood is amazing!

I was very careful about choosing the resort as spend a lot of time on the beach and I surely made the right choice- this property has everything for everyone, tranquil waters with fish swimming close to the beach (kids are having a blast feeding it (please buy fish food from the store as the bread from the kitchen can be noxious to little fellows); a bit of the rocky formations that can be explored; snorkeling is definitely, a must! Adult pool is a nice touch, too.

Activities for kids: this is somthing that deserves it's own chapter- starting from the great water park for kids, already mentioned beach where even the shyest kids can find friends and can be introduced to swimming without fear of the waves, and going to Barcy club where there are activities for kids of any ages- it's great to see kids from various backgrounds interacting with each other from the get go (pinatas, face painting, arts and crafts, soccer, supervised waterpark play, you name it...)

Yes, there are parties, but that is the reason people go on vacation- to relax, have fun. I am more of the opinion that this resort is more geared towards the family and somewhat mature audience, rather than wild partygoers and that was a nice touch, too, since we do fall into that category.

If you want to have additional tours, they are available in abundance so no one will be left disappointed. We will be coming to the same resort in the future.

The Hotel looks nice.Nice beach.Very close entertainment.You can hear laud music up to 2pm.Food can be better.Every day almost the same,except restaurants.But most important uncomfortable bed and pillows.We could not sleep at all.Never will go back.

We have two kids, 3 and 5 and we spent last week at this hotel. We were just overwhelmed by the immensity of the Barcelo complex. The Palace being the most expensive one to lodge, truly put the emphasis on the landscape, cleanliness and service. The hotel is just awesome, service is to it's upper most standard, the beach is great and lots of activities for kids, but... FOOD. I was not really impressed. Breakfast buffet was good, lunch buffet were simple and recurrent. Restaurants a la carte were very disappointing except for the Caribe (fish and sea food) which was very good. Still throughout, service was flawless. I had a burger at TGI Friday at the Cancun Int'l Airport on our way home and it was great. So, I wandered, why couldn't we have this simple yet tasty food at a hotel that cost 5.5k per week.
One other comments is the wifi Internet which is not free. 12$ per day... This is a rip off. But thinking about it, it kept me away from my email for the entire week... But it could have been free.

Otherwise, I strongly recommend this hotel

This was our second visit to the Barceló Palace and we would definitely recommend it.

The resort is huge but we found it easily walkable if you aren’t in a rush, you’re on vacation so you shouldn’t be. There is also a trolley system, however we never took it because we didn’t feel like waiting for it (you never knew when it was coming).

The resort is beautifully landscaped with lots of wildlife, we even saw deer on three separate occasions right outside our room.

The rooms were nice and clean although they can be a little noisy in the morning, you can hear people walking and talking by your door and the walls are thin. The rooms were stocked daily with pop, ice tea, beer, and snacks.

The beach is excellent and the water was always calm and clear. There are lots of loungers and palm trees for shade when it gets too hot. For a resort, the snorkeling is excellent. We saw sea turtles everyday and there is a great variety of fish and we even came across a stingray.

The pools are huge but there wasn’t anyone using them when we were there, at least at the Palace, however, there is a separate kids play pool and it was always busy.

November is a great time of the year to visit as the resort was only 59 percent full so there was never a problem getting a good spot on the beach or getting a reservation at the a la carte restaurants.

The buffet restaurants are good (we recommend getting the chicken fajitas at lunch as they are the best we’ve ever had). The a la carte restaurants are mostly good, however I’d stay away from the Brazilian restaurant at the Palace unless you like dry meats (except for the chicken that was excellent). Santa Fe and Kyoto were our favorite restaurants.

There are many bars throughout the resort which are great, including the bartenders. If you want to meet people just sit at the bar, everyone is very friendly. Drinks were excellent, alcohol was not watered down like other resorts and there are plenty of premium brands. Tips were appreciated but not expected. Even though we stayed at the Palace, we always went to the Colonial lobby bar post beach/pre-dinner because it was open air. There are TVs in all the lobby bars (mostly playing soccer with the odd football game) and light snacks. The only knock on the alcohol was the house wine. The one glass of white wine I got was not drinkable so I didn't order it again.

Internet access was the biggest disappointment. You have to pay for it which was disappointing for a “premium” resort. At approximately $12 a day or $45 for 7 days it wasn’t worth it for us.