TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

I would've left 4* but New Year dinner experience reduced it. We were so disappointed that I was ready to give 1* purelly on New Year dinner experience but it would've been unfair because the hotel and surroundings are good and worth good review. Last night of the year we ended up waiting outside the restaurant to be seated for 1 hour and 30 minutes. When we got seated food was cold and ended up eating left overs. Bearing in mind we paid approx. 750 bucks for that day (double than all other days) we were deeply disappointed. I wrote a complaint to Barcelo directly, but of course we had vague reply with promise to look in to it and try and improve in the future, which doesn't help us - we will not be returning there again.

I planned a family vacation to Mexico with the sole purpose of visiting Chichen Itza and Xcaret Nature Park. I chose the Occidental at Xcaret Destination specifically for its close proximity to Xcaret Park. The resort setting is exceptional. There are water choices for everyone between its many pools, the lagoon or the salt water pools. There is no direct gulf access, so if you are looking for waves this is not the resort for you. If you like beach access and salt water without a rogue wave knocking you over or have a phobia that a shark will bite you, then this is the perfect option. The resort grounds are unique as it is situated in a jungle setting with spider monkeys, deer and agoutis running around and the Macaws in the lobby. Word of caution - DO NOT leave your balcony sliding door open even if you are in your room. On two occasions, I saw a spider monkey enter a room through the open door and one of those times, the person was in the room! The Occidental has direct walking path access to Xcaret Park. It is extremely convenient. You can spend the morning in the park, come back to the resort for lunch, and then go back to Xcaret afterwards (provided you purchase the all-access wrist band option for Xcaret. The end of evening Mexican cultural show at Xcaret from 7 to 9 pm is a MUST see show. Okay, now for the not so good. I had read many reviews about this resort with respect to the room maintenance and the food. I can confirm that when we checked in, our room AC did not work properly and there was a mildewy smell in the room. After a call to complain, that was addressed by the next day. The shower did not drain well so you were standing in a basin full of dirty water by the end of the shower and it took hours to fully drain. The room decor is quite dated but honestly you should be spending most of your time outside the room enjoying the beautiful resort. The beds were really comfortable. Beware there are five ala carte restaurants but depending on the length of your stay you might not be able to visit all five. Our stay was 7 days and we were able to reserve four of the five, If you have a large party, you need to reserve these restaurants right away after you check in because they are quite small with limited in seating capacity AND you MUST reserve prior. And you can only frequent one of each. We ate at the Mexican, Italian, Asian and Fish ala carte restaurants. The most disappointing was the Italian. By far, the best was the Fish restaurant.

Great property! Huge but cozy. Lots of pool area shade and sun. Plenty of food choices. Comfortable beds, clean rooms. Friendly staff. Xavier First Club bartender... he is a machine with the patience of a saint. Xcaret is worth it. Going back for sure.

We just returned from the Occidental at Xcaret and had a very pleasant experience. We stayed in the Junior Suite the first few nights and then transferred to Royal for the rest of the trip. The standard rooms can be a little noisy, but everything was clean and beds were comfortable. Royal is fantastic. We found the food to be very good for an all inclusive, particularly in Royal where everything is made fresh. The standard buffet is also good and they have a variety of choices. The hotel grounds are hard to beat with a wide variety of pools and plenty of seating. The hotel was full during New Years and we had no trouble finding pool chairs and the food was always plentiful. There are several small Mayan ruins on the property and plenty of wildlife to watch. Winter seemed to be an active monkey season. Drinks are also good across the board. Most were made fresh including my favorite, mojitos. Fresh mint and limes were used even in the standard pool bars and buffet. They are also accommodative to children and made them alcohol free drinks like pina coladas and mudslides. Overall it is hard to beat the mixture of location, pools, beach lagoon, and food. We found the staff very friendly and helpful too.

In general, the experience was good, and the facilities were really nice. The food was also fine but a bit repetitive. The only downside was the staff at the bars, where there is a clear priority given to foreigners, likely because of the tips, even though I was also tipping. For example, at the beach bar, the waitress was only taking orders from the foreigners and never approached us. This didn’t ruin the experience, but it doesn’t feel fair