TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

I stayed at Barcelo Maya Tropical from June 4th-11th with a group of friends (6 girls total). Overall we had a good time, but the experience could have been much better. I rate this resort a 3 out of 5. Food Rating: 5/10 We ate at the buffet and snack bar most days as we had many excursions and didn’t want to be tied down by a la carte reservations. The buffet was a hit or miss, some days it was mediocre and some days it was amazing. Food was never horrible. Utensils and plates were always clean, easily accessible, and the Frappuccino’s were my favourite at breakfast! They had a dish called “pork in mushroom sauce” and it was amazing. Every time I had the corn on the cob from the buffet it was really sweet and crunchy which was nice. They also had a pasta station where the chef would whip up a freshly made white or red sauce pasta. We tried two a la carte restaurants: the seafood, and Italian. Seafood was a 7/10 as there was a wide selection and everything tasted fresh and amazing. The only thing that slightly disappointed us was the fact that they had a lobster option on the menu, but didn’t have any in stock. We also tried the Italian restaurant, which was a 7/10 as well. The buffet style appetizer selection was great, and the dinner/dessert menu had a wide variety of options. I had the Calamari in mushroom sauce and it was good, but I thought it could use some more mushroom sauce as it was slightly dry for my liking. I had the profiteroles and vanilla ice cream for dessert and it was the best sweet treat I had on the resort! Drinks Rating: 3/10 We were very disappointed in the alcoholic beverages. On our first day we tried the mango, peach and strawberry margaritas and they all had a bit of an odd aftertaste. They have a drinks and shots menu on their website, but when we would request one, 90% of the time they said they couldn’t make it or didn’t know what we were talking about. If they were able to make a really good drink, it was because we had to experiment with it and tell them to modify it. For example for the margaritas, we would add an extra shot of tequila and extra salt (or tajin if you like spicy margaritas). I fell in love with the mango margarita after we learned how to modify it to our liking. One time we asked for a purple rain and one of the servers looked at us confused and took 10 minutes to make the drink and it was awful! We also asked for the “sh*t in the grass” shot and had two rounds of it. The shot tasted great the first round, but totally different during the second round which was disappointing! We enjoyed the scoobey doo shots, and the Mexican candy shots (rimmed with tajin ONLY from the lobby bar). We also liked the mango tango, Bahama mama, espresso martinis, and blue Hawaiian drinks. I personally thought the blue Hawaiian had an odd aftertaste, but one of my friends loved it. We also enjoyed the Paloma’s, and mimosas at breakfast. Overall it was a matter of experimenting with what drinks we didn’t like and how we could modify it to enjoy them, and realizing that the drinks we ordered never really tasted the same consistently. Beach Rating: 6/10 I absolutely love a good beach and would choose the beach over pool any day, so I spent most of my time there. Pros include that the water was clear enough to see the fish and there were heaps of them! Different kinda of fish and they were so beautiful! It was easu to snorkel in shallow water however most fish were over the super rocky parts of the beach which resulted in many of us snorkeled getting cuts on our hands and legs from the rocks. I also loved that there were waves as I love wave jumping. Most of the days the flag was yellow so the waves were safe and bearable to play in. The water was also never too cold! It was always the perfect temperature. There was never an issue with getting beach chairs no matter the time of day you go to the beach which I loved. Cons include the fact that there were rocks on the ocean floor! They weren’t so big to the point where you couldn’t go swimming without water shoes, but some areas had more rocks than others and so you wouldn’t expect to hit one. I got cut twice pretty badly from tripping on the rocks so I recommend water shoes! With the water shoes I had no issues :) Another issue was the seaweed! Oh lorddd there was seaweed for daysss! It causes a nasty smell on the beach if the seaweed accumulates too much. But the good thing is once a week they have a truck that clears the seaweed so most days the seaweed was bearable and didn’t bother me. Once you’re far enough out in the ocean the seaweed isn’t an issue, for most people it was a problem getting into the water simple because it grossed them out. Personally I don’t mind because it wasn’t scratching me in the water and the staff cleaned it up really well. Pool Rating: 8/10 If you’re a pool lover, you’ll love this resort because the pool was extremely huge and very clean inside. The water was always a descant temperature and the servers near the pool were always available and provided us friendly service. The pool bar was also nice, but I will say we had to get out of the pool and walk around to the top half of the bar to get drinks in a descant time frame because the pool bar service was kind of slow. There was also never an issue getting pool chairs. Service Rating: 4.5/10 The main issue we had with the service is that 90% of the workers did not understand or speak English. Asking simple questions such as “what flavour margaritas do you have?” was difficult for them to answer. They tried very hard to understand us and helped as best as they could, and were friendly, but I wish they had understood us a bit better as this would have made the experience more enjoyable. The restaurant servers were pretty good as they would greet us, and check on our table promptly. They consistently refilled our water glasses, and returned with drinks we ordered in a timely manner. If we asked for condiments, they would give them to us fast as ever. They also accommodated us at the buffet a couple nights when I arrived three minutes before closing time. They still provided excellent service and made us feel welcome although they were all probably exhausted from a long day. The cleaning ladies for our rooms were good as they always left us with many fresh towels, and we never had to request for our rooms to be cleaned. They always cleaned the tub area pretty well. One thing I would say is they fail to do a proper cleaning of the sink and toilet which is frustrating because there were three girls using the bathroom and we had to clean them ourselves. The front desk was also helpful as we requested that three of our friends have a room near us even though they were arriving two days later than us, and they were able to give them a room right below us in the same building! It was also one of my friend’s birthdays and the staff left a mini cake in our room for her. The staff also sand a the birthday song during dinner at the seafood restaurant on the night of her special day. Also, if we called and requested water bottles/towels/extra blankets they would send them up within ten minutes. Room Rating: 2/10 The rooms were definitely not what I expected as a resort rated 4.5 stars. First of all, the superior room was extremely small and offered double beds rather than queen sized beds. The bathroom was small and did not have a fan, which really bothered me as we had many people to one bathroom without proper ventilation. The bedsheets were not warm enough for my liking, and when we requested extra blankets, they arrived promptly but the staff had sent us bed sheets rather than comforters (which goes back to the issue we experienced of the staff failing to thoroughly understand English). Another issue that bugged me was the fact that the bathroom design was so outdated and rusty. The tub had lots of rust and there was no stand up shower! It was a bathtub with an overhead spout. For a 4.5 star resort we expected a shower that was at least not rusted, and expected it to look more modern. The final issue we had was that our balcony door was excruciatingly difficult to open and close. It needs to be oiled because I had to put all my strength into sliding open and closing that door. Cleanliness As mentioned, the pool was very clean, the rooms were pretty clean however if there were notable stains on our bedsheets, the house cleaning ladies wouldn’t change the sheets. The beach was clean, and so were all the plates and utensils at the restaurants. Jaguar Club Rating: 5/10 This nightclub is located at the Caribe resort in the Barcelo chain, which was located beside ours. It was walking distance and they had shuttle busses every ten minutes that would take people staying at any resort in the Barcelo chain to any of the resorts within the chain that they had access to. This club was lively, had some good performances, however the music was mediocre. I personally like my popular Latin music, dancehall, pop, hip hop, rap, and soca and there wasn’t any of that. The drinks service was okay, definitely hard to get a drink when it’s busy, but that was to be expected. The drink they made me was good, as I asked for a Shirley temple with vodka for the whole night and it was consistent. Gift Shop Rating: 6/10 The gift shop actually had some unique pieces that I wouldn’t find anywhere off the resort for a decant price. For example, they had these little Starbucks themed Mexican keychain cups which were only found at our resort. They had these mini purses that were beautifully designed and weren’t stupid expensive compared to the shops in the city. They also had snacks, jewelry, magnets, water shoes, hats, shirts, snow globes, statues; anything and you name it! The issue is that some things were severely overpriced such as sunscreen (which is expected I guess) and that they only accept payment in card or by room charge. This was inconvenient because we brought USD and pesos to tip and purchase souvenirs. Sales Representatives at the Resort Rating: 8.5/10 The representatives were very helpful. Alix was our rep, and she was very thorough when explaining the excursions. She was able to get us discounted prices for coco bongo and the Ruins/cenote excursion, as well as the ATV/zip line/cenote/tequila tasting excursion. We were also able to get a bus ride into the city for free! We did some shopping and got some authentic Mexican food which was absolutely amazing! Included in this free bus ride was a stop at Matias Jewelry store where we were given a personal tour of the different types of stones/silvers/golds they offered. We even got to participate in free tequila tasting! Let me tell you, I’ve never done any type of alcohol tasting in my life and I never loved tequila. But after this fun experience, I must say I love tequila and I ended up buying a few bottles lol. In fact I would say this tequila tasting experience was better than the one included in my excursion for the ATV and zip line because we were able to try different creme flavours, original fruit flavours, and each of the four classes of tequila. I’d 1000% recommend spending half a day on this free tour. Overall I had a great trip, and would recommend this resort if you’re just starting to travel to all inclusive resorts and want to test the waters. If you’re someone who has been to a 5 star all inclusive resort in DR or Jamaica, I would not recommend this resort as it is likely not going to be as high of a quality as your previous trips.

I loved all the food, amazing service, beautiful location, great entertainment and super friendly staff

This was our first time in Mexico and if I base my experience on this stay, we will never return. 1. We slipped on water in our room and realized we had a leaking refrigerator. Took them about an hour to address that. 2. My entire family had diarrhea midway into the trip. The only food we ate was from their restaurants. 3. Our toddler threw up on the sheets due to the gastroenteritis we all had. After 3 phone calls and a stroll down to the front desk it was changed almost 4 HOURS LATER. 4. They tried charging us for the entire bedding set, saying it had stained. Service is way below the mark. Based on our experience WE STRONGLY DO NOT RECOMMEND!!!!

Don't leave arrivals sitting for more than 3 hours and past check in time while giving rooms to new arrivals. Bend your rules in the restaurants so family can sit together .

Great resort with great service. The buffets were delicious and the restaurants too. Some upgrades are due but overall it was worth the trip