Barcelo Maya Tropical

Absolutely fantastic experience at this resort. We've stayed at many resorts in the Mayan Riviera and this was by far the best resort we have been to. The food was great at the buffet - we had many restaurant options and chose 4 or 5 that interested us and we were very impressed with the quality. The resort had lots of things to do for the adults and also for the kids. The beach was great for swimming and snorkeling as we saw lots of turtles, stingrays and exotic colourful fish. We even saw a barracuda and a moray eel at the dock. The staff were very friendly and polite to us during our 2 week stay at the resort. We will be back for sure. Loved the Barcelo Maya Grand resort. [Details]

This is the second time at this property but the first at the Tropical. The property is immaculate and I don't think I've ever seen a property so well kept. The staff are amazing and very hard working. At times I wondered if more staff was needed because they never stop and occasionally have difficulties getting to everyone. I honestly believe the bartenders at the pool bar are overworked. They try their very best but sometimes it's obvious they're struggling to serve everyone and it's impossible for them to know who arrived at the bar first. This is not a problem in the a la carte restaurants.
There is coral on the beach but there are areas where you can get in without any coral. The beach is also very well maintained, and although there is a lot of shade, there could be more chairs. We had to get up early to place a towel on chairs to save in order to be sure to get one. I hate doing this but it's what everyone does so it's difficult not to. Never had this problem the first time I was here so it could be that it's a busier time. Guests saving chairs and not showing up is a problem too so the hotel can only do so much.
Same issue with the pool chairs. The pool is huge and there's even a pool for kids with water slides. Lots of places to swim without being crowded.
Other than the theater, there really isn't much entertainment. It would be nice to have more options in the evening.
Overall I would definitely recommend this hotel. The property is big so it may not be for everyone but we enjoyed it. [Details]

The quality we received for the price we paid is not good at all [Details]

My 4 cousins and myself booked our trip about 10 months before we left. The anticipation for our trip was extremely highly.
When we arrived at the resort our check in was quick, easy and flawless with a very friendly staff member.
They offered to take our bags for us but we took them ourselves. Our room was exactly as we ordered, clean, full of toiletries and towels.
We arrived at 10pm but got dressed and headed out.
We went to the sports bar that was opened till 3am.
It served buffet food and had really tasty drinks.
We were starving from the long day so the food was so appreciated.

The next day is when we really saw the resort in daylight! It was absolutely beautiful with lush green gardens, iguana's around the trees was an amazing treat. The walkways sparkled.
The buffet was great everyday and lots of options, never out of anything. The area was spotless.
We made 2 reservations to the steakhouse and Italian spot. The food in my opinion was outstanding.
The service was very classy and always friendly.
The beach was the best. Very sandy, warmish waters given it was their winter. 4 resorts around us from the Barcelo family were rocky, tropical was the best.

The pools were very very clean. The closed at at7pm.
We got chairs daily with no issues. We used the nexus tours in resort lobby to book our excersions and they were the best tours!! Had a blast.
The lobby bar is where we spent a lot of time and the drinks were delicious, bartenders were incredible and the waitresses were so sweet and quick.

The tequila room is a must visit!!
We had room service daily with no issues.
The entertainment was a bit lacking compared to other resorts. We did see two kid shows that were very fun!!
The Las Vegas show was very entertaining. Personally I found the speaker system too loud so you couldn't understand the words. I would have liked to see a bit more games in the beach and perhaps a beach party one night where dancing could have taken place.
We did a movie trivia game and that was fun.

The shopping at Barcelona resorts is the best I've experienced. I loved the market!!!

Overall it was a memorable trip and Barcelona maya tropical is a place I would return to tomorrow!! [Details]

Great service,
Very friendly staff in all facilities
Clean rooms and hotel [Details]

Had to get new keys 3 times in first 48 hr before we finally had 1 key card that would work. Many other guest have the same issue. huge resort, lots of walking, good food, lots of restaurants, lots of pool but was quite busy and hard to find a chair unless you got up at 7am and went and put towels on chairs. overall say about a 3/5 [Details]

Although we have stayed at many all-inclusives on the Mayan Riviera, we found this resort as one of the best. Great food, endless amenities (for both adults and kids), huge swimming pools (including lane pools for committed swimmers), a well-manicured coral sand beach (a few rocky outcrops, virtually no seaweed), a superb gym, immaculate grounds, and hard-working, dedicated, professional staff that were always helpful made our trip a truly relaxing and enjoyable stay. The king-size bed was very comfortable. Rooms were all very quiet, none near any potentially noisy areas. Free wifi everywhere was an unexpected bonus (although signal strength was weak on the beach). Good entertainment was available every night (although the acoustics in the theater were not great). [Details]

This was our 3rd trip to Barcelo Maya in the last 2 years. The grounds are immaculate, the staff all friendly (with the odd holdout) and there is plenty to do onsite to keep you occupied, and quiet areas if you want to relax. Between the buffets and the beach grills, you won't go hungry. Highly recommend to both families and couples. The beach is big, almost a mile. There are both rocky areas and sandy areas. They can't control the erosion, but do their best to maintain. They do try to clean the Sargassum when it's in season. [Details]

4/5 experience overall.
Staff are nice and helpful.
Huge resort with lots of walking. [Details]

We spent 2 weeks at Barcelo Maya Tropical (November 24-December 7th).
We had a great time!
Beautiful resort, very clean and friendly stuff!!!
Food is excellent. We enjoyed the Kyoto restaurant (Edgar Herres) gave us a very entertaining night.
Every night we had great shows, live music and very professional singers and dancers (Humberto's smile was captivating)
You can walk a lot on the beach and between the 5 hotels.
Who doesn't like to swim in the ocean, they are a few pools to enjoy! [Details]

This has been the best vacation we spent at the Barcelo Maya Tropical in 15 years. The property is meticulously cleaned and the ground are carefully looked after. The staff are kind, doting and smile at all times. We had nothing to want for our 7 day stay. The reception staff was exceptional, if there was a question we had, they knew the answer. The room was well cleaned, the bed was comfortable, the air conditioner amazing. The food was incredible, always fresh and many, many food choices. We cant say enough how much fun we had, we had many laughs getting lost on the way to our room, many laughs while sitting at the pool. There was always good music and conversation at the pool, lots of entertainment each night. Not to mention the 3 other hotels near by, with a bowling alley, mini golf and a shopping mall, and go-carts. We felt like Kings and forever grateful for the wonderful hospitality given to us at Tropical. We had our favorite staff that we were sad to say good-bye to at the end of our stay. Overall, we highly recommend staying at this beautiful hotel, you wont need anything for your time spent, you will have it all at the Barcelo Maya Tropical :) [Details]

I spent 9 days at the Barcelo Maya Tropical and it is a gorgeous place. Extremely clean with a beautiful beach where you can snorkel and see lots of fishes. It is nice to be able to enjoy the other resorts within the Barcelo Maya hotel resort. My kids loved the kids' club and they will miss Sarahi and Susana that were such kind and loving persons. Also, at the buffet, Neo Lopez was an amazing server and so sweet; my kids were always looking for him and he made them feel very special!
A down point was that my husband has gluten and dairy allergies and almost no certified gluten free options were available for him. Despite that he had specific cooked meal for him, there were too often cross-contamination causing him stomach issues almost the entire stay. He had to eat only blank sandwiches with no margarine/mustard or salad with no dressing and some fruits. For me as a vegan, there were a bit more options, but no indication at the buffet on what was vegan. We both lost weight on this trip. We were no able to do the water sports as you had to wake up early to reserve your activity for the day and there was a long lineup. [Details]

The resort was very nice lots of amenities and things to do to keep everyone on your trip intrigued. However the majority of my family (22 in total) ended up with some sort of food related illness. All at different times throughout the trip. I spoke with someone on the shuttle home who also experienced 2 days of food/water related poisoning symptoms. Most of the staff were great except a few at the restaurants that push reviews on you and they get you to write them while they observe. It seems they spend so much time on the outside looks and the reviews they are lacking on specialized quality food prep needed in an all inclusive buffet style resort. [Details]

Very nice resort.
Good value for the price [Details]

Hi, it was our first trip to Mexico with family and we expected higher quality of the rest. First of all they gave us room with 1 bed for 3 people! Even though our travel agent requests 2 beds. Kid fell down from the bed at night several time, no one felt rested. It took a lot of efforts from me to arrange our moving to the 2 beds room. No one even apologized for that.
I also wish to attach photos of how dirty ventilation rack looked in our room: all dusted! It is definitely the way how hotel should treat their guests. And finally, there were used condos found just less than 1 m from kids water park and it was there for at least 3 days, nobody was checking the safety of the kids place! Horrible! [Details]

We had a lot of fun! Beautiful grounds, beach and resort. [Details]

This hotel was well maintained and the rooms were very nice. The pools were great for wading and there was enough chairs for everyone. Towels were readily available. There was a towel card policy in effect. The beach was not as nice with many rocks. The buffet had a good selection and the food was good although keep in mind that the maximum number allowed at a table is 6 (there are a handful of tables for 6) and they strictly enforce a no moving tables policy. If you can, stay in Colonial (It's really the same resort), because it is more centrally located and closer to most of the facilities such as the mall, sports bar and Dolphins. [Details]

NOT RECOMMENDED: terrible service, highly understaffed, 3 stars at best

TL;DR:
trust me - look for a different resort. This resort, while listed as 5 stars, is 3 stars at best. I have stayed at Cuban 3 star hotels that are better. A good portion of the staff are rude and miserable; their rules are ridiculously rigid, and they are so understaffed, it's practically a DIY resort.

REFERENCE:
This was my 8th time to mexico, having stayed at 3, 4, and 5 star resorts (as well as having been to Cuba 8 times in the past for reference). We stayed at the Barcelo Tropical this time, but experienced the same thing at the other resorts (caribe, beach, colonial as well).

The BAD (what the resort can and should fix):
* There are far too many miserable and rude staff which makes for a very unpleasant experience - I have many examples, but will note just a few here:
eg.1: The towel exchange desk (which is supposed to be open 8AM-8PM, but we never saw anyone there past 4PM) - I arrived after 8AM, a girl arrives - I say "hola" - no response - she ignores me and enters the towel room. I wait few minutes, she never re-appears. I open the door and say "hola" again - no response. I repeat it louder - no response. I practically yell it, and she finally turns around and rudely says "hola". I ask "quatro toallas por favor" - she turns away and continues doing what she was doing. I had to take the towels off the rack in the back room by myself.

eg. 2: Six of us were sitting in the lobby bar playing cards and having drinks. The bar closes at midnight. At 11:30 they start packing up all the bottles and when we requested drinks, they told us we could only have beer. At 12:00, they turned off the lights and practically ran from the bar. I asked if they could turn on the lights and was told "no, we are closed". I said "okay, we aren't asking for drinks, just lighting so we aren't sitting in pitch black darkness". Response: "no, we are closed". I said: "if you have such strict rules about turning off the lights, wouldn't it be appropriate to let customers know that you are closing and turning off the lights and to maybe consider moving elsewhere?" - response: "we are closed, talk to my manager". The manager arrives and I get the same treatment - completely ignored anything I said and only responded with "we are closed". The bartender's name was Miguel Leon for reference - he was miserable every day - tip him and he takes it and turns away - never said thank you once.

I can understand if they were conserving electricity, but you won't any lights turned off anywhere else, even the buffets after they are closed. We had the exact same experience at the Mall lobby bar - lights off and get out of here!

That said, not all staff were awful - maybe 20%. Some were truly amazing: the sportsbar manager, Jonathan Neri, was exceptional - he was always ensuring tables were cleaned, food replenished. And you could see he treated his staff well, they were all always smiling and helpful.

* Rigid rules: the staff are trained and incapable of using any judgement (similar to the lighting issues above):
eg. 1: my two kids go to the grill bar by the pool and sit at a table for four. The restaurant is almost empty - maybe 5 tables out of 50 are in use. The waitress comes by and tells them to move to a table for 2 because they can't sit at a table for 4. I show up 10 minutes later, grab a plate of food, pull up a chair to their table of 2, again, the restaurant is empty. The waitress comes by and tells me I cannot sit there as it is a table for 2?!?!?! If the restaurant was full I could understand this behaviour, but it was empty!

eg. 2: at the mall bar, four of us are sitting playing cards. My friend arrives 30 minutes later, pulls up a chair to join us and is told they cannot sit there - "only 4 people per table maximum". Again, the bar was completely empty. Seriously, use some judgement. It's not like we were being loud and roudy our causing trouble. We were quietly sitting and playing cards.

* This is a huge resort - the only thing open after midnight is the sportsbar, and it is located in the mall, which was quite a trek to get to each night.

* The resort is highly understaffed.
- Each bar often had only one bartender, sometimes two - but never the necessary third person to restock cups, ice, etc - which meant the bartenders were often disappearing to do so.
- There was only one person walking around the pool to take drink orders (and never anyone at the beach) - for a resort of this size, with hundreds of people around each pool, that meant you will almost never get a drink brought to you - we never did even once.

* There is no beach bar. If you want a drink and you're at the beach, you're walikng a few hundred metres each time.

* "All Inclusive": If this means food and drinks, sure. If you want anything else - you will pay: want to use the "water park" (two small slides and the flow-rider) - $20 USD/day (at moon palace resort for example, this is all included). There is bowling - $15 USD per person, per game! In Canada, bowling is about $20 CDN for six people to play! Mini-golf - pay (again, free at moon palace - a real 5 star resort). Zip line - closed permanently. catamaran - only two 3-person units for the entire complex. Unless you line-up at least one hour before the desk opens you will not get a reservation for that day - but "if you want to pay extra, we have a bigger catamaran, it's only $160USD for a trip...."

* Restaurant reservations: I attempted to book the moment we got there - all the restaurants were booked for the first 3 days (unless you want to eat at 10:30 at night, which doesn't work if you have young kids). That meant we had to eat the buffet for 3 days straight (see my comments on food below). How about leaving some reservations available for people just arriving? Moon palace for example doesn't even have a reservation system - you show up at any restaurant, they give you a buzzer and you'll be notified when your table is ready and you can spend your time doing something else. This is what a 5 star resort would do.

* Soap: washrooms were routinely out of soap or the dispensers were just simply not operational. I would say the men's washrooms had soap less than half of the time.

* Lack of chairs: Very difficult to find beach or pool chairs unless you get up at 8:00 AM and run out there with towels. I talked to a woman there that was had been to this resort more than 20 times (and she said the past few times have just gotten significantly worse). She said when they added the new adult only resort, rather than buying more chairs for that resort, they instead took some from each of the other resorts to fill the need. I guess that is their choice if they are cost-saving, but a 5 star resort wouldn't play these games.

* The beds: the beds in the tropical are old and well worn. There was at least 3 inches of sag just by looking at it, as soon as you lay down it drops right down. Pillows are very flat, but they do give you four per bed.

* Towel cards - if you lose it, $300 USD charge to replace. Really?! For a $10 towel? Be reasonable - nobody is going to steal overly used resort beach towels - why place such a threat? If you want to charge for lost towels, sure, but be reasonable.

* The stupidity: go to any of the gift shops at the hotel and experience a massive markup: bag of lays chips? $12 USD! They will go stale before they sell them. I can't understand this logic - sell them for $5, still a massive markup, and you will make money and move the product. Need sunscreen? $50 USD. Pool floaty? $30 USD. Why not just make your money on the original charge for the resort and make it a pleasant experience for people?

The UNFORTUNATE (what the resort cannot fix):
* The beach is very rocky - lots of large rocky areas, and about 10 feet into the water, lots of small sharp rocks, so be careful getting in and out of the ocean.

* The entire beach area, where the chairs are is about 60 feet wide - 10 feet closest to the ocean is proper beach. The other 50 feet closest to the hotel seems to be solid bedrock over which they have placed very little sand (maybe less than 1cm of sand, small rocks and shells). The hotel could definitely add a foot of sand on top. It is very hard on the feet, especially when you step on a sharp piece of shell - on a normal sandy beach the shell will sink into the sand. Here it cuts into your foot.

The FOOD:
* The buffet has a good selection, but doesn't vary much each day - I have had better buffets in Cuba. It wasn't bad here - there is always something to find, and the food is good, but it could definitely be better. The breakfast buffet was quite good and their best offering.

* The a la carte restaurants were mediocre. Again, moon palace is my 5 star benchmark here, and this wasn't even close.

* The ice cream machines were quite good :)

* didn't see any gluten free options identified anywhere in the buffet for those that need it.

* The restaurants were very good about asking about allergies and making sure that good was cooked separately (though someone my son met did have to go to the hospital for an anyphalactic reaction to nuts in something that wasn't supposed to have nuts, but I am not sure if this was at the buffet or a restaurant).

SUMMARY: This is a decent resort, but nowhere near a 5 star resort - 3 stars at best. Look elsewhere - as I said, Moon Palace was exceptional, Royalton was also very good. [Details]

Resort is very clean and safe. Everything you need is there! [Details]

We had a great week at Barcelo. The pools are great, beach is nice but not the best in riveria maya and the staff are all lovely. There are a couple things that would have made our trip perfect. First is if there was a coffee bar. You literally could not get coffee until after 7 am when the buffet opened and even then it was the smallest cup ever. The lobby didn't have coffee until after 9 am. It wasn't a huge deal but sure would have been nice to get a good coffee in the morning and stroll on the beach.
The second thing was the absence of soap in the washrooms. It was a recurring problem across various locations on the resort. [Details]

It was good overall [Details]

Lots to do at this hotel, including activities for children and teens. Pools are beautiful and proximity to the beach is super convenient. Overall, a wonderful resort. [Details]

From the moment we stepped off the shuttle from the airport, we were blown away by the beauty of the lobby and the hospitality of the resort staff. The bellboy took our luggage off the shuttle and checked our names and pointed us to the premium level lounge to check in, and to come back when were ready and they would take us to our room. The receptionist greeted and asked us to take a seat and if we would like a drink. The server took our drink order and was back in no time. There was alot of information to retain at check-in. They also took the liberty in making our ala carte reservations for us as the resort was at 70% capacity. I asked if dining was still available after check-in was completed(we arrived to the resort 8:30 pm, check-in complete at 9:00pm).The buffet was open until 10 pm so we made our way over there. It was delicious. We made it to our room and it was perfect, a king size bed, four seat Fulton, sliding doors to the bathroom on the right a rainfall shower seperate from the bathtub which also had a handheld shower. To left of the sliding door was the toilet with a sliding glass door. And the sink/vanity was in the middle. Our room was on the first floor, we had a view of the pool but not the ocean. The people above on the second and third level had an ocean and pool view. The pool was 20 feet from our room and the beach about 100 feet. Most of our time was spent at the crystal clear pool(s). The beach was always packed, you had to get there early to save your lounger. It was just easier for us to walk across and save our loungers by the pool. The rooms are cleaned and the mini fridge is stocked daily with beer, soda and water. Now, let's talk about the drinks and food. If you are premium level you get to have premium alcohol in your drinks, but you have to tell the bartenders other wise you get bar stock which in my opinion is just as good. Also be prepared for a strong drink as nothing is measured, it is free poured [Details]

We had such a wonderful time tonight during the storm!! Karina Cetz was a attent Be, well spoken and funny sever - thank you!!!! [Details]

One of the very good hotel to relax and spend time with family in Cancun. Just relax and enjoy life. [Details]

Nice resort, as long as you do not shower to often (no hot water). Buffet average at best. Long lines at time in buffet [Details]

The hotel is very grand with beautiful decor and fountains pools throughout. There are many lounging areas to sit and relax. The rooms are very clean,quiet with everything you would expect to need. We found the beds very comfortable and slept very well. The large variety of food was very tastey. We never left the buffet or A la Cartes hungry, always very full.If you leave hungry,you are probably very very spoiled. There is plenty to do during the day. We are early risers, so did not explore the night life. Most staff we could communicate with easily, and when unable to do so, the helpful staff would engage another person if necessary. We found the people to be very friendly. I felt safe at all times on the resort, and also felt very safe during our day excursions away from the resort to Tallum and Xel Ha. We would definitely come back to this resort again. [Details]

Great long white sand beach for walking, snorkeling, and sailing. Very tropical. Friendly staff, always cleaning and smiling. Undrinkable white wine, good red wine. No wifi and paid for internet rarely working. [Details]

I have been in this complex many times because of the huge impeccably maintained park-like grounds with rain forest sections, and the truly amazing pools.

All of the staff is hard working, friendly and doing a great job.

The sandy beaches and pool areas are well maintained and there are always enough lawn chairs/chaise-longues available.

Due to storms a lot of seaweed was brought ashore this time. They are removing it - but it is a big chore at times.

The shore water at the Tropical had a lot of stones. It was somewhat hard to wade through that without some pain in bare feet. One could easily trip.

I found the Internet access (from Business Centre) frustratingly slow. The food displayed there was covered, but the flies found their way in and were hovering over the plastic covers. The new full bottles of liquor were left at display unopened, despite several complaints about this. You need a knife to remove the wrappings, but there is no knife.

I did not watch any of the shows because they were at 9.30. But I am an early riser and like to go to bed soon. [Details]

Very pleased with resort. No major complaints. [Details]