TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

This was one of the worst hotels I have ever stayed at. The food was awful, all the buffets were not good. If you go to the Barcelo buffets the food is all the same. Between breakfast and lunch they have really weird hours and will ask you to leave during your meal to go another restaurant. One night we tried making a reservation with our group and they confirmed the reservation and seated us but then removed us from our seats because they couldn't find our reservation after already seating us in the restaurant that was basically empty. The rooms also had small bugs crawling around, I found one in my toiletry case somehow. It was gross! After 10 PM there is only one option for food if you don't want to pay for room service. By the way, room service is paid at an all-inclusive hotel? So you have to either take a shuttle, or walk 20 minutes to a bar to have the same and even worse mediocre bar food! Barcelo has like 6 hotels on the property which means its usually insanely packed as that is literally the only option. The only good thing is that the staff are nice but you can easily tell management and ownership is out to cut corners. Do not stay at any of the Barcelo resorts, they are all literally the same.

They price gouge for necessities like sun screen or aloe vera if you forgot to bring some. They overcharged my 3x the retail price of the alcohol bottles I bought. They got me the wrong alcohol too when I asked for assistance to find a specific alcohol. Lots of miscommunications if you can’t speak Spanish. Daughter got Hand Foot and Mouth Disease from the kid pool.

We stayed at Maya Palace. Beautiful grounds and beach. Amazing snorkeling right of the beach, with colorful fish and sea turtles. Easy access to drinks and food. However, unless eating at a dinner restaurant, all buffets are mediocre. We never went hungry but also never felt like the food was very good. Palace buffet did seem slightly better (less bland and fresher) than buffet food at Caribe. The staff is very friendly and rooms are kept clean. Air conditioning worked great!

This was our second trip back to the Barcelo Palace. First trip was 2010 with the family. This time it was a couple's trip. Love everything about this resort. That is why we came back as we don't usually visit the same place twice very often as there are so many new places to see. We requested and received almost the same room we had last time. Ground floor with the huge pool with swim-up bar right outside our patio. So convenient to walk out in the morning and get chairs by the pool, with the beach just steps away and quick to run back to your room for anything all day long. Got in to all the specialty restaurants we wanted and all were fabulous! Great food and service. Especially the French restaurant. Snorkeled with the sea turtles most days right at the Palace beach. Loved visiting all the other resorts (except Adults Only) on the property for pools, dining and shows! All staff give outstanding service and are so friendly. Highly recommend this to anyone looking for a wonderful, tropical all-inclusive vacation!

Beautiful resort and excellent service! We were happy to tip generously along the way. The premium level was definitely worth it.