Barcelo Karmina

Our holiday was during the first week of April 2018. We booked a Junior Suite Deluxe Ocean view for two adults and two kids (one teenager, one toddler). Our shuttle from the airport was pleasant and upon arrival, we were greeted with a small, sweet beverage - it was quite a warm evening and it would have been great to have some cold water. Check in took place in a downstairs meeting room. We thought the process went pretty smooth; however, as this was our first all-inclusive, we wish there had been a little more information as to where we were meant to go for supper (answer: it's the buffet restaurant). We recommend that you attend the overview the next morning - a lot of information is given at that overview. Our room was really spacious. While the hotel is starting to show a few signs of age, it was comfortable and clean. The food at the buffet restaurant was consistently above-average. Tons of fruit at each meal time and enough vegetarian and meat options to make all of us happy (two of us are vegetarian and two are not). The a la carte restaurants were good. We really enjoyed them. Make sure to pack some dressier clothes for the a la carte options as resort attire is not allowed. The resort is very family friendly - but there are a few adult-only pools. We took advantage of the free 30 minute snorkeling gear rental and really enjoyed snorkeling in the little sound in front of the hotel. We did take the city tour excursion and found it really informative and interesting - lots of great photo opportunities. This is the first place in Mexico we've stayed at that is an all-inclusive so we didn't leave the resort other than this excursion. So it was nice to see Manzanillo. The housekeepers were great about re-stocking the mini fridge in the room. There is a teen room at the resort that we discovered on our own with a mini theatre, popcorn, soda...a pool table, foosball...our 16 year old had fun here the last day as he had to stay out of the sun due to a sunburn. We did wonder if we returned if we should upgrade to a Master Suite Premium and asked to tour a room. These rooms have a small kitchenette, a full deck and small pool. Two enclosed bedrooms each with a bathroom. We were really impressed. A few things I was disappointed with: there are no areas of the hotel with free wifi. It's $12 a day for two devices. I think in this day and age that it is reprehensible to charge for internet access. The second item was i think the hotel would really benefit from a small lounge or sports bar: it would be nice to have a place inside with TVs to watch hockey, soccer, football, baseball, etc to hang out in the evenings. There is free evening entertainment each evening. You can tell the staff work really hard to prepare the singing and dancing routines. [Details]

This resort offers a wonderful vacation experience. We have never seen such excellent service from friendly and helpful staff who are there to serve and help you in every way. The facilities and food are the best, what more can you want. Enjoyed most of the shows, Michael Jackson show was incredible. True, there is not much of a beach, but the beautiful pools make up for that. I would suggest that the resort offer free wifi as every other resort does. I recommend this resort without hesitation. [Details]

Great first impression and overall great resort, staff, food, drinks and accomodations! We had an incredible time! Great pools and private beach [Details]

Our 2nd visit (other in 2010). Operations have been scaled down in staffing and maximum selections in buffet, for efficiency. Bountiful over-the-top scale modified to still be MORE than average plus!! Hotel is slowly showing its age, previously 4.5 star to now 4 minus star. Pools and overall cleanliness is a big plus. Try to buy packages at lowest pricing for best overall value to avoid disappointment. [Details]

First off I liked that we landed at a small airport in Manzanillo, you walk right out to your bus, I appreciated that once we approached the bus, there was a table by the bus so we can check in and received our hotel packages and towel cards, room keys etc. Saved so much time, on our way to the resort, our representative explained the package, so once at the hotel we went to eat, no lobby line ups. The rooms are very spacious, I thought I was in a premium room but it was standard. Large beds, living room section, dining area and very large washroom with 2 sinks, a shower and large tub, the rooms were very clean, I saw the lady clean and she really did a good job. Our fridges were well stocked with juice, beers, chips and nuts. Water bottles were left in the fridge, by the coffee maker plus 2 bottles in the washroom. Most rooms have balconies and not noisy at night at all, very peaceful. However we traveled with our kids and asked for 2 rooms next to each other, my kids were around 2 corners from us, I did speak to the gentleman in the lobby, he said he can look into it however the area of my rooms were in very good area with only one room between us, so because they are teens, I said fine leave it. Unfortunately my kids room did smell bad, like a mold smell, not even spraying Lysol helped, all their clothes smelled like it. I had to wash them several time when I returned home and air out the luggage outside. Their air conditioning did not work in one room, we packed to move to another room but than they said we'd have to pay for the upgrade so my husband said no worries, kids weren't complaining & next day air conditioning was working. We are the type that don't make a big deal because they are very nice people working there, just the smell was pretty bad. I was a bit thrown with the beach area at first. I was expecting crystal blue water, white sands but this isn't the case in the manzanillo peninsula, the beach is small however it was safe and clean, and no undertow and not crowded. There are other beaches near by walking distance, but this is fine, kids are in eyes view, with snack bars and drinks nearby. There are volleyball games and soccer games through out the day that my teens enjoyed. I took many pictures of the horizon, just beautiful surroundings. As we come out from the hotel the restaurants are to the left and pools in front, clean gym, store, spa, hair salon and entertainment to the rights. The size and set up is great. The resort caters to families with small kids, many kids around, many locals come to vacation during the Christmas time. I spoke to some families and they were from Mexico City and Acapulco, so Spanish is commonly spoken. The service on the entire resort was amazing, respectful and just wonderful humble people, staff and other vacationers we had no problems. One day we had no beach chairs and immediately 3 staff members went to find us 4 lounge chairs. we did not have to go get drinks, they came around the beach and pools asking us if we were ok and would like a drink. I never felt pressured to give them a tip, although we did, I felt they deserved it working in that heat. My kids liked the food hut on the beach. Throughout the day they would go in there and help themselves to nachos and cheese, burgers fries and all the ice cream you can have. So we didn't have to go get changed and go for lunch. Many activities throughout the day and shows at 9pm, were fun and enjoyable. I really liked that the shows because they were out doors, you could watch from the restaurant balcony if we were still having dinner or by the beach. made it more lovely with the outdoor weather. The food is very Mexican, buffet was fine, after 4 days it does get tiring, same items over and over. We did leave the resort a few times and felt safe, we went to the iguana zoo I think its called, so cool for people to see them, they are quite large, and so many around. On the same day we went downtown and than to Wal-Mart, you can do that all in a day with a taxi. Another evening we went out to dinner outside the resort because we wanted a lobster dinner, we went to La Toscana, fantastic! I suggest you make reservations & go before the sunsets because the restaurant is on the beach and its gorgeous to catch the sunset, loved it. Some may wonder if a resort is all inclusive why go out and eat... I wanted to see their city and culture,because most resorts look the same plus its very cheap. We went to the large Saturday flea market, I enjoyed that seeing the folks & their culture with lots of souvenirs there, I recommend going to the Saturday flea market & not downtown, nothing to see or buy downtown. We didn't buy tour packages from the hotel we just went ourselves with the taxi, the plus the taxi drivers also gave us recommendations. We would go out front in the lobby tell the service man there and he would call a taxi an tell them where we wanted to go. I did go to Walmart, just to look around, however we ended up buying Vodka and Rum very very cheap to bring home. The hotel put out a large beautiful spread on Christmas Eve, it was a buffet dinner, the food was all along the right left and behind us, beautiful decorated and set up, they kept coming with wines or whatever we needed. It was very special, it was outside over looking the ocean. The pool is very large with different sections, adults stayed in adult area surrounded by trees, their was a shallow area for kids and my kids are teens and played basketball in another pool and it was not crowned (and this was xmas season) Overall we had a very enjoyable relaxing experience at Barceló Karmina, very nice respectful staff. We all loved the weather and the people of Manzanillo. [Details]

Alright vacation [Details]

Just got back Feb 15th and cant wait to go back. Food Awesome lots of variety, great coffee, say hello to Margarito Alonso, server in the buffet - he is a real sweetheart. Sunwing rep Miguel was so helpful and we loved his presentation, very funny guy. Resort is beautiful so much greenery, staff is working hard all the time. Pools are beautiful. Beach is small and in a man made cove which is perfect as you dont get slammed by waves, kids can swim safely and many little fish hang out there for all to enjoy. Drinks are plentiful, with many bars throughout the resort with no lineups. This was the most relaxing holiday we had ever!!. Rooms are large suites, a tiny bit dated but spotless, comfortable and fully stocked with marble floors that are nice and cool after a hot day. There are little balconies on each room to sit on and overlook the resort. I will be looking forward to going back again. [Details]

Really enjoyed the layout of the resort as it offered many things for all ages but it didn't seem crowded at all. All the staff were wonderful. [Details]

The grounds of this hotel are beautiful. The staff were very friendly. The pools look lovely. We did not go there as the music was very, very loud. We could even hear it at the beach. Definitely bring ear plugs!!! There is a beautiful beach that one could walk...no palapas or lie- lows on this beach. We chose to spend our days at the little beach. Unfortunately, the lie-lows were too close together in two lines...so very little privacy. Would not go back. [Details]

The grounds: quite nice and well kept (previous posters mentioned a decline in appearance, yes there was some upkeep to be done but they were in constant maintenance - but not noisy). The location of this resort is beautiful!! The design of the resort was very well thought out. It didn't seem very busy when we were there which was great. We had no trouble finding loungers by the pool or the beach. The group is a more mature group which worked just fine for us! No crazy drunken rowdy people all during the night.

The food: it was okay. The buffet was smaller then we've been used to but this is also the smallest resort we've been too. The selection wasn't large but we managed to stuff ourselves regardless. We were disappointed in the fruit as we were expecting better tasting, especially the pineapple. We ate at all 3 a la cartes. A few notes, the Italian restaurant was not open every day (disappointing as we wanted to go back!). They prebook your reservations (3) when you check in (which was nice!) but you can get more if you go to the concierge desk after 4pm to see if there's any openings. The downside to the prebooking is we noticed the a la carts were always half empty! The Japanese restaurant was very good. Mexican was hit and miss but very well prepared food. The Italian again hit and miss. My dishes weren't fantastic but my partners were amazing! Avoid the tiramisu for dessert.

Night life- Not great. The shows are good to kill time. The dancers look like they're working hard but the shows are lacklustre and mostly in Spanish. Between 10 and 11 there is only one bar open and not a lot of seating outside to gather. We made it to the disco one night and it was okay. They had a live band which was quite good.

The resort is definitely geared towards locals and they are the majority of the guests. We did run into a few instances of a language barrier but our fault for not learning the local language!

We walked off resort a few times and felt safe. We hit up the Walmart and the liquor store as there's no duty free at the airport. If you're missing home, there's also a Starbucks, Carl's Jr, Diary Queen, KFC and Pizza Hut.

The beach: rocky but the snorkelling was awesome! Walking out about 1.5ft deep the fish swarm you!

We got upgraded to a room on the 4th floor with garden view but you could still see the ocean. Very nice!

Overall this resort was very nice. The food and entertainment could be better but the location was beautiful! [Details]

wonderful facility great food and awesome layout. clean and highly recommend it Our daughter and husband will visit our location next week for a long awaited honeymoon thank you [Details]

Great!
Very friendly staff! [Details]

The location and beach are great! Good snorkelling right from the beach, lobby is spectacular but the furniture is in despair ate need of new cushions and upholstery. Club Premium not worth the price. Front desk service not good at all. Italian restaurant is very bad. Food selection at buffet has gotten smaller. Service at beach and in bars is terrific. Italian and Mexican restaurant service is awful. Japanese restaurant is exceptional. [Details]

room was fantastic, pools a bit choppy, deep pool freezing cold, spent most of the time in the jacuzzi, nice place to hang out and meet other travelers. the beach is not the ocean experience, just a cove however saw some cool fish, need water shoes. service was excellent, disco played too much Mexican and not enough dance disco music, nobody there because of this!? got sick on the japanese alcarte, thank goodness for elevators, a little mold in shower! [Details]

Spent 2 weeks which would have been way too long but spent half the time with family staying in the area.
3-1/2 stars [Details]

Overall a very nice resort. Very clean, large comfortable rooms. The only drawback was the rocky beach and one could not easily walk the long stretches of beach outside of the property. [Details]

This resort is beautifully located with breath taking views of the mountains and the ocean. Our family went for a 7 day trip and enjoyed every day. This resort is in walking distance to a variety of shops including Wal-Mart and a very quaint mall. The al la carte restaurants were good with the exception of the mexican one, which I think we were there on an off day because when asking other guest's they seemed to enjoy it. I would recommend the italian, the pasta was amazing and so was the sea bass. The staff was very attentive weather you were on the beach and needed a drink or lounging by the pool. I have stayed at the Barcelo in the Mayan twice and absolutely loved it and I feel the same about this resort. [Details]

It was a last minute choice and it turned out to be awesome in every aspect. We will definitely recommend this resort to family and friends. [Details]

The hotel was very big but very clean and well-kept. Staff were easy to locate if needed and always willing to help. They were friendly and wanted to make our experience the best possible. They were also extremely accommodating with dietary needs which can be crucial for some travellers with specific requirements.
Great job! [Details]

If beach means anything to you don't go, pools are ok , lots of elderly people , only 1 child pool, that people go sit at even with no kids! bars are boring, staff is very nice , food good, town is quiet , commercial town with lots of container ships porting. [Details]

Beautiful grounds,great restaurants,awesome staff,clean rooms but needs rooms need renovation. Great for families, loud for couples. [Details]

Disapointed that I payed extra for ocean view and was put on the second floor and had to stand at the edge of the balcony to see it, were as other guests booked later then me and got the 5 floor without paying extra. Was very disappointed in the un fair treatment. Shower in the room was keeking. Had to put towels on the floor every time. Also the maids were not consistant with supplying us with towels and face cloth. [Details]

pools nice, food average, staff great, beach poor [rocky], Question..would I go again....not for $1800 dollars. Was maybe a 3 to 4 star resort. [Details]

Nice resort, the beach is a bit small and really needs more umbrellas. There were 2 rows of deck chairs but only umbrellas on part of the back row. The front row was mostly empty during the day due to the heat. Also, similar experience throughout the many pool areas, lots of seating, but minimal umbrellas. Every morning it was a competition with all the other guests to claim a couple of chairs before all the umbrellas were taken. Also, midway thru our 1 week stay the resort decided to switch from free wi-fi to $7/day. Lots of complaints were heard from other guests. We managed to get a code for free but I can see how it would be very off-putting to pay unexpectedly. The food was very good. Recommend that you try breakfast and lunch at the Italian restaurant and sit on the patio instead of going to the main buffet. Dancing at the Mexican restaurant (11:30 to 02:00) is vibrant and having several professional dancers on the dance floor keeping the guests engaged adds energy to the night. A dedicated band, dancers and singers entertain 6 nights. This isn't a big resort. Not a place to go with older teens since they will likely get bored. Great relaxing resort for couples and young families. There are water sports available but you will need to sign up and book your seat on the resort's two small boats (scuba, snorkelling, whale watching.) There is also a sea-doo for rent. The Saturday flea market in Santiago is good and a great place to buy cheap silver jewelry. Taxi from the resort is 5 minutes and only 50 pesos ($5). [Details]

Nice hotel. Loved the pools and gardens. Beach not best for snorkel. Awful internet if you need it. I didn't. Ended up with ground floor room. Nice room but felt exposed. Would have preferred any other floor with a balcony. Modern safe. Short walk to town with everything you need. Safe to go at night. All inclusive Mexican food mostly which is to be expected. Small buffet compared to other resorts like Riu. Hot sun, bring sunscreen even if you don't normally need it. Lots of red tourists. Iguana mating season. They were everywhere but not aggressive. Loved it! [Details]

Have been there 5 times over the years.
The resort is as stunning as ever.A water leak in the bathroom was not handled very well.That aside the food was very good(no lobster)This resort is not for people with mobility problems. [Details]

Had an amazing time! Love Manzanillo - love the resort. The beach is not amazing but it's shortcomings are well made up in other areas. Watching the golfers was a hoot. Yoga every morning was awesome and the pools were spectacular. Service was very very good and the friendliest guests I have ever encountered. Overall we rated this vacation a 9 out of 10 with the beach being the point deduction. We would return in a heartbeat. [Details]

just got back from barcelo nice clean resort,water slide is crazy fast got to try it should be drunk first, hot weather, friendly staff, good food quiet resort for couples i recommend for a nice change go to dinner at the marina grill five minute taxi ride away. Down side pools are cold, lots of stairs, entertainment was terrible not much to do at night. [Details]

Barceló chain of hotels is our 1st. choice. It's meets our expectations in cleanliness, plenty of food and drinks. Plenty of staff. Buffet selection and quality is better than the a la carte restaurants. [Details]

This is our second time at the Barcelo Karmina Palace and we enjoyed ourselves again very much.
The staff are very friendly and accommodating.
The grounds are very nice and well maintained.
Definitely will be back. [Details]