Mayan Riviera, Barcelo Maya Beach Resort

Great resort, friendly and warm staff. Food was fantastic, would absolutely recomend this resort.

There is nothing you could want more in a resort than the Barcelo Maya Beach Resort.. excellent food, excellent service, clean and nice rooms and bedding, great drinks, all access beach grill open all day, swim up bars, beautiful grounds, hot sun and warm white sand. You will not go wrong if you chose this resort. I was there from December 19 - 26, 2009. They went all out for Christmas including passing out champagne and amazing dinner.. even Santa in the lobby. I especially enjoyed relaxing in the big chairs in the lobby bar after a whole day on the beach, munching on popcorn and having a few drinks before going to the room to get ready for dinner. The disco is a lot of fun too, unlike some resorts. Bonus: They have pour your own Corona beer stands and make your own Tequila drinks stands everywhere throughout the resort. Never wait for anything. I would recommend this resort to anyone considering the Mayan Riviera.

I would NEVER recommended this hotel as the staff was extremely rude and unaccommodating and made the stay VERY UNPLEASANT. I was there for a family wedding with 35 guests who all spent a fortune at the hotel for the wedding. Despite a wedding planner from the hotel, we were not able to have a rehearsal dinner, even though it had been arranged months in before. Once we arrived, they said sorry there are too many of you, even though at the time the restaurant was empty and set up waiting for all 35 of us. The manager, Fransico was absolutely disobliging at the Capri Italian restaurant and he was enough to set off the entire trip and represent the entire hotel franchise very negatively. He was not the only rude and unhelpful staff member. As we were setting up the reception we were greeted by staff members yelling at us because we complained about the heat in the room. The food at all the restaurants and buffets were below par and I found hair in my food twice. In addition, the front desk was very ineffective as when we would call and ask for help, they would agree that they would send someone, BUT no one ever arrived. For example, two rooms had broken safes that beeped and opened continuously for three days, and no one ever came to fix it. Furthermore, several of us experienced lizards in our bedrooms. On top of that, it is probable that a staff member stole gold bracelets from my aunt's room. Overall, it was not a great experience, and I would NEVER RECOMMEND this place to anyone ESPECIALLY FOR A WEDDING. I only have two good comments regarding this entire hotel complex: they offered a variety of water sports for free and they had nice pools.

Stayed at the tropical during February vacation and had a good time. The pools are very large with plenty of room to swim. The food and types of food was very good. The hotel room and grounds are very clean and maintained. We booked an ocean front room with "sea views" I have been at a different beach resort for five years and a row and the views at this hotel was the worst. If you are like me an require a good view of the ocean, this hotel is not for you. The hotel is set back from the ocean and is only three stories high. The property has tons of palm tree that block any possible view of the ocean. The waterpark is for children 7 years and younger. My 8 & 10 year olds were too old for the water park. Not much night events for children unless they can stay up too 10:30 US time. Unfortunately our kids crashed by 9:30PM so we did not see any shows during the week.

Barcelo Maya Beach Resort, Mayan Riviera, is spottless, and wonderfully laid out. Snorkling just fine for beginners. Food was great. Staff was friendly. Lots to do for activities..Pools were beautiful. Wanted to get away for a special vacation...looking for heaven on earth....and except for the fact that you put weight on for the food you ate....it was just that....What a wonderful time, location, and resort....Get up early...and watch the sun rise from the ocean.

ps...walk to the road..short walk...and take the Collectivos for going to Tulum and Playa.....not taxis...its much cheaper, entertaining and Very Efficient.

The Maya Beach section isn't the highest end of the resort, but we were very comfortable and had a wonderful vacation. The grounds were beautiful and well maintained, and all of the staff were friendly. We would recommend it without reservation.

All in all, we had a great vacation despite the weather. Suggestion would be to have some activities when the rains hit.

We could not watch the show at the Beach Resort as the theatre was ungodly hot. The ceiling fans were of no use. We ended up taking tram (sometimes having to wait up to 40 minutes as there was no room on tram) to Palace Hotel and enjoying the shows in air conditioning without the noxious smell of cigarettes.

Resort very clean , service outstanding, great drinks. The beach was alot better at the Maya beach resort, less rocky in the ocean areas.

For a 5 star resort, I expect to be waited on for at least one meal and not have to pay additional fees to go to one of the other restaurants. Of course, you couldn't get reservations to any of them anyway, we were a group of 18 and no one could get any kind of reservation anywhere, so it was buffet food for 7 days! No one came around the pool and beach areas to offer us drinks. There was only one lounge and we waited for 1.5 hours to get a Vodka Martini. When I asked for it, their response was sorry no Vodka, we continued to ask for someone to get Vodka and finally, after 1.5 hours, I was served a Vodka Martini with coconut milk! We were a group of 18 who made our reservations months ago and were assured that rooms would be together. That is until we arrived and they changed all our rooms to accommodate others. They were overwhelmed and overbooked was their excuse, excuse me but that is not our problem.

All in all, we enjoyed the people we were with, along with the beach and pool but I definitely would not recommend the Barcelo Maya Beach Resort to anyone.

Beautiful, wonderful spot to go to if you want a nice and hot place to go.