Riviera Maya

We have never felt so relaxed. We don't do many All Inclusive Resorts and we Cruise alot. But the Valentin made us feel pampered and relaxed. We had things before we knew we needed those things.

Since the new merger of ownership all Loyalty Perks are gone - Black bands are gone. Prior they would have premium brands for loyal repeat customers like real Bailey's, Kahlua, etc. now they only offer plastic bottle off brands. (Nasty fire water) The main Buffet is terrible (zero out of Ten) and the restaurant at the pool where we used to go to for breakfast each day and order off their menu does not open until 10AM. So you must take the trolly to Akumal resort to get breakfast. We will pay a bit more going forward and go to a 5* (This hotel should not be rated a 4*) Very disappointed with this trip. But maybe we are just fussier than some people so you make your own decision While we were there we witnessed 4 fights - one of the domestic flights started at 1AM and finally ended at 3:45AM - We called the front desk and this should have been resolved when it started not 2 hours later. Overall pay a bit more and enjoy your vacation. This hotel is making huge cutbacks and it is at your expense.

This is a small and quiet resort but we had an amazing experience. Everything is close by, food and drinks were good..

Not typically an all inclusive person, but really enjoyed our stay at Barcelo Maya Riviera. Much less busy than the rest of the adjoining resorts, so good if you want access to beach chairs and some peace and quiet. Sargassum was a bit of an issue, but the resort had a dedicated tractor to remove it from the beach as it came in. Beach is a bit rocky getting in, but you can always go to one of the ones nearby if you want to swim in the ocean. Our room had a bit of a dank smell when we got there, but it cleared up. Notified front desk and they were ready to prep another room for us but we decided it was much better after a day.

Nicely presented & maintained resort. If you are a beach person, this is not for you. Although they do have a nice pier and beach bar/ grill and DO try to maintain the beach they have. Spa and services were magnificent!! Nightly entertainment- music was very good. Front desk service were unfriendly and ambivalent to any concerns. They would interrupt a guest speaking and speak to their counterpoint in another language which the guest was not familiar. This happened on 2 occasions with 3 different service reps. This service standard did not exemplify the right to *inclusion*.

My stay at Barcelona Maya Tropical Resorts was overall a pleasant experience with several highlights, along with a few areas that could use improvement. On the positive side, the front office team was very welcoming and made check-in smooth and comfortable. The resort offers ample space to sit, relax, and enjoy various activities, which adds to the overall experience. The food was amazing, with a wide variety of options and great taste throughout the stay. I also found the maintenance of the property to be good, and the staff were consistently friendly and respectful. Room service was prompt and reliable, which made the stay even more convenient. However, there are a few areas where the resort could improve. It would be nice if a wider selection of welcome drinks were offered. Additionally, having separate sections for vegetarian and non-vegetarian food would help avoid any cross-contamination concerns. In the room, the shower and taps were not in the best condition, and the sink was frequently blocked, which was inconvenient. The body wash provided also did not meet expectations in terms of quality. Overall, Barcelona Maya Tropical Resorts provides a comfortable and enjoyable stay, but addressing these smaller issues could significantly enhance the guest experience.

Due to a horrible experience at the airport and on the way to the resort to then arriving after hours, I missed ALL the platinum welcome amenities so I couldn't give you an honest review on that. I met family there but due to the fact of arriving 3 hours after schedule, I had to wait until the next day to see them.  The main buffet noise sounded like a school cafeteria, plates dropped and breaking etc. The sports bar couldnt make food if they tried, we aged waiting for the food. However, the restaurant by the platinum section was great so that's where we ate. Bars served below average drinks but platinum bar was well above par. The snacks in the platinum area were great as well as the staff.  Never used the private pool but did go to the ocean and regular pool. Walking into the ocean was horrible, you need work boots to handle all the rocks. We found out later that you have to go to a roped off section to get sand under your feet walking out. The pool by the platinum section and the ocean was met with a construction site. Wood saws and hammering was on most of the day. Sad! The staff were very helpful. The gift shop was way over priced.  I'm going to give this resort 3 stars as the noise was pathetic. I was recently in Holguin, Cuba before this resort and the Cuba resort beat this resort hands down. It was a 5 star resort and it showed.

Overall the resort was really beautiful. The rooms and resort were kept clean, the staff were friendly and its a great place for families. They have a kids pool with waterside, and a kids club with babysitting which was great (although we did not travel with our children). The food was delicious as well and the resort had lots of little animals running around. We did notice a few downsides. One, the shower door stuck. It was glass so you needed to pull it really hard to get it to shut or water flooded outside of it which was a bit worrisome as I didnt want to break it. There is only really one buffet restaurant which they do rotate the food constantly and was good, however the other restaurant if you want a nice meal didnt take reservations so it was up to an hour wait if you wanted to go. The hibachi was an additional charge so we didnt go there which was frustrating as it wasnt advertised to not be part of the all inclusive. If you plan on drinking cocktails, you are better off ordering an extra shot with every drink as they are severely watered down. And if you plan on sitting by the pool, make sure you get their early. Other guests will get 3-4 towels each so they run out quick and most just throw them on chairs and leave for the day so getting beach towels or a spot to sit is almost impossible by 11am. It would be nice if the staff walked around and cleared chairs they have noticed haven't been used for hours. We sat in our chairs the whole last day and counted at least 15 that no one went to for a good 4-5 hours. They also harass you to do a timeshare presentation for coupons. The only usable coupon is the $200 off a excursion or resort cost.

To be honest my expectations going to this resort were VERY low. When I originally started looking at resorts Splash was at the top of my list, then I started reading reviews, and reading more reviews, nothing good or above 2-3 stars. From there I took it right off my list and started looking else where. Due to the timing of our planning, traveling as a family of 7 with a minor and time of year we were travelling, our options were getting slim. So on a family members opinion my parents decided this is going to be our choice, I was not happy about it, but was out numbered, if it was as bad as I expected, it wasn't going to be my fault. We arrived and first impressions, i was impressed! Beautiful, bright, open & spotless lobby. Bell hops everywhere were right there as we got off our bus ready to help us navigate to the proper place for us to check in. We upgraded to diamond and it was SO well worth it, not a ton of extras, but enough that it just took our stay to the next level. There is a private lounge where we waited our turn to check in. The lounge itself had a small buffet with snacks, a bar and lots of comfy seating. Check in was quick and simple, then we waited for our butler to take us to our room. Now this is probably the only REAL NEGATIVE to our stay, we were approached while waiting by Alexandria, who started showing us all these specials and coupons available to us being diamond members for our stay. We told her there were a few we might be interested in but had to consult with the rest of our group who were arriving later. She then kept pushing, even after being told MANY times we were not committing to anything at this time. She ended up booking us a "complimentary" breakfast with her the next morning. At that point is when we realized that those were not coupons for us to use, they were a way to entice us to go to this breakfast, then you would be their stuck sitting through the sales pitch for you to sign up with them, THEN you would get the coupons. To top it off, that night when we got to our room, she had a bottle of sparkling wine and a reservation reminder with the WRONG names on it! Did not leave a good taste in our mouth, felt super slimy, made us really uncomfortable and question our choice of resorts. Be upfront, let us make the decision, if we are interested, let us seek you out, don't try and trick your guests. At this point our butler Alonso saved us! He took us to our room, showed us around, went over all the amenities we had available to us, and helped us get set up with the app we needed to keep in contact with him. He also informed us that we would have a 2nd butler on hand when he was not working. That was Christian. We have stayed at other 5 star luxury resorts and hands down the service we received from these 2 men was ABOVE & BEYOND anything we have ever received before! They checked in with us every time their shift changed, visited us every day at the pool, but were never overbearing or pushy. They were polite, very professional, yet at the same time very personable and times down right funny. They were the absolute cherry on top of our holiday. Any question we asked, issue that came up or request we made was dealt with asap, no questions asked. As far as the rest of our stay - everything, our room, pool area, poolside bars, the grounds themselves, staff, restaurants & food were top notch. The sales people who go around asking about you about the spa & excursions were respectful, if you said no, they moved on, they did not push or try and change your mind. Like other resorts, especially if traveling in a larger group, reserving your dinner reservation times is a must, but if you don't their buffet restaurant is massive with tons of options for pretty much any ones tastes or food restrictions. Side notes - the mini fridge/snacks in your room - are disappointing - there is no microwave, fridge is restocked daily with drinks, but if you are looking for snacks like at other resorts, they give you a tiny box of a few options & once they are gone, they do not restock those - so if you are craving chips or things of the sort - bring your own, or you are paying a fortune for the ones at their store! - AVOID the Cave restaurant - its unique inside - but food is bland and what you are think you are ordering is not actually we you get, sometimes not even close to what you thought you were getting - we left hungry, very confused and disappointed. - lunch time can get a little crazy - especially if its rainy! We were there over march break - so we expected things to be busy then normal, but one day of rain and they were not prepared! Restaurants that served lunch had line ups that were beyond excessive, including the food trucks. The take out pizza place ran out of dough & pepperoni - and they still had a line up that snaked around a large area. Room service had a wait time of 2-3 hours and even the cafe ran out of cream and some other items. That day there were A LOT of very hangery people walking around super frustrated. - we were travelling during march break so we expected it to be busier than normal, but it did seem like in the diamond section they may have over booked - but still not to the point that it put a damper on our stay. - the play center where the arcade/laser tag/arcade looked really fun - we never made it there. - the waterslides are huge and look really fun for those into that - again I an not so I just appreciated the enormity of them - splash pad area - really big and spacious, everyone enjoying it seemed to be having a blast - there is no shortage of nightly entertainment - hours of different shows or events - lots of fun for everyone of all ages & for the adult night owls, the Cave had a disco that started at 10:30pm All in all these are the stand out points good and bad - I could probably go on but the take away is this. THIS RESORT IS AMAZING! As a collective family there is no question we will return & depending when, we would definitely try and request Alonso & Christian to be our butlers.

Overall this was a great resort with great amenities and fabulous staff! My review reflects this stay compared to previous all-inclusive experiences... BEACH: It wasn't possible to go into the ocean or walk along the beach during our stay due to excessive weeds - well beyond the control of the resort. They worked steadily to clear it away but it just kept rolling in. The beachfront was significantly smaller than in resort pictures as a result. Some die-hards chose to sit on the beach but the odor was quite strong, so I did not. DINING: The a-la-carte restaurants were fabulous, especially Sensei and Blue Moon. Italian restaurant left a bit to be desired on the day we went, and we didn't attend the Rodizzio. The main buffet was good, but could have had more 'North American style' cuisine. I love various cuisines, but found the options to be limited and only once saw someone behind the 'pasta made your way' counter. Line-ups are to be expected in a resort of this size, but some quick 'to-go' options especially at lunch should be considered. The Ocean Burger Shack by the activities pool was a line-up to get in and a minimum 45-50 minutes to get your food. Hamburgers, chicken burgers, fish burgers and fries shouldn't take that long - especially when you see they pre-cook a big pile of hamburgers and the rest are deep fired. A true 'snack bar' style with 2 staff members would be better here. Was also a drag to have to cover up and/or dry off to go sit inside at lunchtime. ACTIVITIES: The poolside activities were fun and the staff were great about getting people to join. Sometimes there were 30 of us doing water aerobics and other times only 10. Evening programs were great and varied: particularly enjoyed the Circus, Fire and MJ nights. Couldn't attend some nights due to dinner reservations, and was typically exhausted from the full day in the sun to participate in the 'late night' events. CLEANLINESS: Resort throughout was always clean and well-maintained, but don't expect fancy towel folds in your room. Told housekeeping staff the first day that we don't drink pop or beer, so they kept our mini-fridge stocked with extra water. The pools were clear and pretty clean, but by the end of my stay, it could have used a good vacuuming - this might have been a result of their maintenance schedule because the bottom was fine every other day. BARS/DRINKS: The staff pours generously and are creative when asked for drink suggestions - never had a bad drink and stayed away from tequila drinks upon request. They were great at ensuring everyone was served - those who stayed along the bar and those who walked up when a drink was needed. LOUNGE CHAIRS: Even though they say no saving, people still do and nobody removes the towel after 30 minutes. There are a LOT of chairs, so almost always able to get one, and strategically placed to get sun or shade as needed. We only had one inquiry about us removing a towel and we assured them we had not. There had been a big rainstorm and the staff went around collecting all towels because they were drenched - they left people's personal effects though (tshirt or wrap for example). They understood and the day progressed. GENERAL: The public bathroom stalls throughout are narrow. Have to almost straddle the toilet to get in and close the door. The bathroom by the activities pool sometimes didn't flush or was stuck in flush mode, but wasn't a big deal - tell staff and they attend to it promptly. The Wifi was frustrating. Purchased a Mexico and Caribbean roaming package with my provider but often didn't work in some areas. Couldn't get their wifi to work on my phone at all, but it worked on my friend's ?? There are a few stray cats roaming in the trees - likely to keep rodents at bay and some koaties (basically a daytime raccoon) and people keep feeding them because they're cute and friendly, despite signage saying not to. They are scavengers and they will find it on their own naturally - when you feed them, they are less likely to be able to fend for themselves when tourists aren't there. You aren't doing them any favours. Would probably say this is closer to 4 stars than 4.5 rating on expedia etc.