TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

I wanted to give my good and not so good feedback regarding our trip to Barcelo Maya Palace. We traveled with our family of four that included two teenage boys, age 14 and 16 the week of Thanksgiving. The good: the grounds are lovely and the beach is perfect for families with small children. The water is very calm and children can swim with the turtles right in front of the Palace volleyball court. Also everyone working there was super friendly, especially the waiters at the specialty restaurants. they went above and beyond the level of service that was anticipated. Our experience with the tour desk was very positive- they were very helpful and listened to what we were looking for and recommended a great tour for us. We also thought the dive shop on the property where we rented jet skis was top-notch. The not so good: our biggest issue with the resort was the availability and accessibility of food. The resort does not allow food to be taken out of the restaurant (for ecological reasons which I can appreciate) but that means every meal had to be eaten in person in a dining room . With two teenage boys, we were always on the go and are used to having poolside food and drink service, especially for a snack in between meals. This was not possible at Barcelo so we often found ourselves hungry between breakfast and a late dinner. It would’ve been nice to just have a taco stand option during the day. Additionally, the process for booking the specialty restaurants is completely outdated and broken. The only way to make reservations for the specialty restaurants is to talk with one person in the booking office. There was always a line to talk to her, which was a big waste of time and we were unable to get dinner reservations prior to 9:30 PM. I felt bad for the woman at the desk, but in this age of technology they should find a better way to manage this. I saw one person yell at her because they just arrived and couldn’t get any dinner reservations before 9:30 PM and they had small children which is unacceptable. Overall, I can see why people return to this resort year after year, especially if they are traveling with a large group. But for us, it just wasn’t a fit and we will likely not return. As a sidenote, if you have teenagers, you must go to the XCaret parks. We went to Xel Ha for a full day and Explor Fuego, which is the nighttime waterpark and both were the highlights of our trip. Both are about a 20 min ($45 US dollars) cab ride away.

We have been at the Palace many times (at least ten or more). We enjoy our stay but the quality of the food has regressed. The buffets are fine but there is nothing “special” or new to offer. As for the speciality restaurants, the Caribbean and French restaurant have had the same menu for years and we would appreciate something new. The Brazilian restaurant’s steaks are not very good…somewhat tasty but tough so we stopped going to it. The Kyoto and Tower are fun with freshly made items on the grills.

The hotel could be great, if they fix the issues. Great location. The water at the beach is warm and calm most days.

Best host and hostess !!. So much appreciation. So honest, helped us with our Spanish, and served delicious drinks at El Cielo bar at Barcelo Maya!! We love Jorge Ruiz and Lidia Ramirez !!!

Make sure you get a confirmation when booking anything thru email. I was scheduling a romantic massage and I never received a confirmation because staff just decided to ignore my last email. Come to find out the day of that nothing was booked. Also while scheduling our transportation if I don’t respond with an entry email after being ignored I don’t think I would have gotten a confirmation for our arrival.