Cancun - Barcelo Maya Tropical & Colonial Beach

We were actually upgraded from the Colonial to the Palace. The resort was absolutely beautiful and the rooms were spotless and comfortable. The pool was clean and was not overly chlorinated which we have experienced in the past. There is nothing bad I could say about this resort. It was the bes .. More>

We were actually upgraded from the Colonial to the Palace. The resort was absolutely beautiful and the rooms were spotless and comfortable. The pool was clean and was not overly chlorinated which we have experienced in the past. There is nothing bad I could say about this resort. It was the best vacation we have ever experienced. thank you very much Apple. Gary & Marilou Mickle

this was our second stay here we had such a awesome time the first time we tried it again and we were not let down i would recommed this resort to everyone we are already planning our next trip .. More>

this was our second stay here we had such a awesome time the first time we tried it again and we were not let down i would recommed this resort to everyone we are already planning our next trip

Sorry but we were not impressed. All inclusive maybe but what a hassle if we wanted a better liquor. We are at a age that the "fu-Fu" drinks are not what we look for come evening. A good cocktail (scotch, vodka, after dinner) is appreciated. I guess we are too used to Sandals Resorts. Also we ha .. More>

Sorry but we were not impressed. All inclusive maybe but what a hassle if we wanted a better liquor. We are at a age that the "fu-Fu" drinks are not what we look for come evening. A good cocktail (scotch, vodka, after dinner) is appreciated. I guess we are too used to Sandals Resorts. Also we had some problems with getting towels for room. Almost everyday we had to ask someone for more face cloths or bath towels. Sometimes we got them and sometimes they ignored us. Food was pretty good in restaurants but the eves we had to eat in buffet it was just OK at best. Had a fairly nice time, however we will not be returning.

nice rooms. need more help at pool bars. great pools. great children's pool area. need more help in the dining areas of the buffets,once you were seated and given coffee and water, they never returned. food and service at specialty restaurants was great. would go back.. .. More>

nice rooms. need more help at pool bars. great pools. great children's pool area. need more help in the dining areas of the buffets,once you were seated and given coffee and water, they never returned. food and service at specialty restaurants was great. would go back..

This is the 5th time we have stayed at this Resort, 2 times colonial, 1 time Tropical and two times Palace. The only thing that fluctuates is the food. The food was good this time but some days there wasn't any bacon. The grounds are well maintained. All staff is friendly and neat. All in all t .. More>

This is the 5th time we have stayed at this Resort, 2 times colonial, 1 time Tropical and two times Palace. The only thing that fluctuates is the food. The food was good this time but some days there wasn't any bacon. The grounds are well maintained. All staff is friendly and neat. All in all this is excellent resort.

What a great hotel. The only fraustration was trying to get a chair at 9-10am in the morning. Every chair on the beach and around all of the pools had towels on them saved. Other than this dissappointment the hotel and staff were absolutly wonderful. .. More>

What a great hotel. The only fraustration was trying to get a chair at 9-10am in the morning. Every chair on the beach and around all of the pools had towels on them saved. Other than this dissappointment the hotel and staff were absolutly wonderful.

The resort itself was nice and the food was good. However, we were only able to get reservations at the sit downs restaurants 2 nights out of 7. The rest were completely booked and we tried to schedule the dinners within 24 hours of our arrival. the service at the restaurants, buffet and bars wa .. More>

The resort itself was nice and the food was good. However, we were only able to get reservations at the sit downs restaurants 2 nights out of 7. The rest were completely booked and we tried to schedule the dinners within 24 hours of our arrival. the service at the restaurants, buffet and bars was extremely poor. It took sometimes a complete meal before they even came back with our drinks or water. Average wait time at the bars was at least 10-15 minutes to get a drink. 3 of the days our room was never cleaned at all.

When we were there 3 years ago we were treated a lot better then we were this time. My daugters that are the ages 26 & 19 were treated like they were underage. .. More>

When we were there 3 years ago we were treated a lot better then we were this time. My daugters that are the ages 26 & 19 were treated like they were underage.

I would highly recommend the Barcelo Maya Resort. The beaches are wonderful, the staff is great, and it truly is a tropical paradise. .. More>

I would highly recommend the Barcelo Maya Resort. The beaches are wonderful, the staff is great, and it truly is a tropical paradise.

This resort is a must! If you're a family and you cannot have a incredible vacation here you should check youself. These peolple work endlessly to make this the best. The pools are out of this world, kids pool is nothing less than perfect. The white sand beaches and crystal clear ocean water looks .. More>

This resort is a must! If you're a family and you cannot have a incredible vacation here you should check youself. These peolple work endlessly to make this the best. The pools are out of this world, kids pool is nothing less than perfect. The white sand beaches and crystal clear ocean water looks like pool water. The beach is raked daily The resort is cleaner than you can imagine. I will be back, 5th Apple vacation and more to come! Hats off to APPLE and the entire staff at Barcelo. Thank you!

I have told multiple people in my family about this resort and they are in the process of planning their next vacation through Applevacations. .. More>

I have told multiple people in my family about this resort and they are in the process of planning their next vacation through Applevacations.

The resort itself is great! But, the front desk that?s another story. 1. We made our reservation with a famous travel website. They however did not honor the Itinerary. . We paid for a king size... More>

The resort itself is great! But, the front desk that?s another story. 1. We made our reservation with a famous travel website. They however did not honor the Itinerary. . We paid for a king size bed and they did not have it. They said they reserve the right to give you what is available. Well! That is nonsense, so they asked unless you upgrade, we don?t have anything else. We wasted two hours at the front desk arguing with everyone available. Well, they finally gave us a room with a king-size bed... the view was horrible, well we had no view, the trees were taller than the balcony there for we were not able to see anything but the trees. I called and asked if they could get us a room with a better view? They said, you get what you pay for.. The nerve. In the evening the air went off and we called maintenance, they came, check and said that there was a problem with the A/C.. We called the front desk and they said they were sorry but had no other rooms, they claim they were full. I explain to them that my husband was a cardiac patient and was not able to be in the heat all night. They said if you upgrade at 80 dollars a night per person, we could move you to a better room. Next day we asked if they had another room, they said no we only have a double bed. So we had to upgrade, we had a better room within 5 minutes! After we upgraded, we notice that you get treated much better and even get some respect. Too bad you have to upgrade to get them to treat you like a valued costumer.. Other than that we had a great stayed, so if you want to stay here and be treated premium, yeah you got it, upgrade to premium..

Very nice resort.. the resort is maintained very well there was always maintained going on though discreetly so it wasnt always noticeable, constantly saw areas that were paitined white being touched... More>

Very nice resort.. the resort is maintained very well there was always maintained going on though discreetly so it wasnt always noticeable, constantly saw areas that were paitined white being touched up to keep it looking fresh, The service in the bars, and restraunts was great all the staff was great, got fresh bath and beach towels every day. Pool is amazing very large big swim up bar however chairs are an issue people are always reserving chairs early in the morning and half the time none of them are in use but you cant find any unless you go reserrve them at 7 am .. The rooms are very nice well maintained, clean with the mini bar restocked daily with corona, coke fanta, sprite diet coke water juice and other things. Restaurants are great at this resort however it is hard to get a la cart reservations would recommend booking them as soon as you arrive otherwise you willl not get any Though food at the buffet was never disappointing The biggest grunt I had with this resort was the front desk, when we checked in they gave us our keys and said we had a room with a king bed as we reserved, we get to our room to find that it was not a king but two doubles, so we called front desk to no help they said to call back later.... later they said there was nothing available tonight check tomorrow and that happened every day so we ended up keeping the two doubles, also there was no beach towels in the room upon arrival so called front desk and they said no problem we will send some up... never arrived finally after waiting in the long front desk line ( always a long line) we were given cards to go get towels. Overall I would return again however if my accommodations arent met next time i would never return after that

I have stayed in Mexico multiple times thinking that this beautiful resort was going to be great. The only portion that I found good was the beach, since I was able to take my daughter swimming with... More>

I have stayed in Mexico multiple times thinking that this beautiful resort was going to be great. The only portion that I found good was the beach, since I was able to take my daughter swimming with the sea turtles, sting rays and other types of tropical fish over the coral reefs right off the beach. The pool was ok, but the service was horrible. In the morning for breakfast, there was not enough staff to get you drinks or clear your plates. I had to get my own drinks and pretty much find my own tables for breakfast and lunch. When I first got there I waited 45 minutes to get checked in. The front desk person called someone and said your room will be ready in 45 minutes, so we went to the Coral grill to eat and gave them 1 hour and 15 minutes, then made the 1/2 mile walk to our room in Oaxacana and when we got there they still had not cleaned our room. They finally got someone to come and they told us 2 more hours. We pretty much sat there and wasted 3 hours of our time waiting for them to clean our room over top of the time they had previously told us. I was mad. Then I get into the room and the door handle on the bathroom is broken on the floor just pushed in some corner, so I walked all the way to the front desk to tell someone and the front desk man gave me an attitude. My first impressions were not off to a good start. I then went to the On Da Radio entertainment with my wife and daughter. The singers were horrible. I could not understand a word they said. The dancers were awesome and i felt bad for them, since they were pretty much holding up the show. Then we saw Lev Jackson. The dancers again pulled this one through, Lev barely put any effort into his Michael Jackson impression, which made the show bad. The show that really stuck out that was great was the Circus show. These men and women have some serious talent and should be commended on their effort because they kept the crowd wanting more. Ok, so back to the hotel. The pool was ok, the kids pool was great for my 7 year old daughter and the girls from the kids club were very nice and made sure to always come by even though my daughter never stayed with them to make her a balloon animal or tell us how beautiful she is. A downside to this resort is smoking is permitted everywhere, so there is no smokeless area's anywhere. The scenary is beautiful at this resort, but the resort is so big you really never get to do everything. We tried the putt-putt golf with my daughter. It was ok, and the mall had a really entertaining man making spray paint art. I did though find that the prices were rather high at the market compared to my previous trips to cancun to purchase merchandise. The best restaurants on this resort #1 French Restaurant, its awesome and has the best service. #2 is the Brazilian restaurant, don't eat here unless you are ready for a food coma. I ordered the skewers and it just kept coming and coming. It was delicious. The Tokyo was not authentic to me for a japanese sushi restaurant and i did not feel to hot the day after I ate there, so not recommending this one. Also the shuttle when taking it you must pay attention, I found that they never follow the same road or path and you have to pay attention to where the shuttle is taking you or you will be walking. As for what others say the buffet is the same everyday, not many choices.

We spent a week at Barceló Maya Palace in May 2013. With so many great reviews, there isn't really much I can add in terms of reviewing the property itself, so I am going to focus on the restaurants... More>

We spent a week at Barceló Maya Palace in May 2013. With so many great reviews, there isn't really much I can add in terms of reviewing the property itself, so I am going to focus on the restaurants instead. There are 4 of them: Japanese, Caribe (seafood), Rodizio (Brazilian) and Brasserie (French). The Japanese restaurant occupies the snack bar area when the snack bar closes for the day. All seating is outdoor, no air-conditioned area, which was fine with us. My husband and I have a rule to never eat at an al a carte restaurant that functions as something else during the day, but we decided to give the Japanese restaurant benefit of the doubt and I am glad we did. You get a starter (sushi or sashimi), a soup, a main course and a desert. In my opinion, ordering sushi is a bad idea because you get a huge lumps of rice with a translucent slices of raw fish on top - not very edible, but this is what you can expect to get in Mexico all-inclusives, for some reason they believe too much raw fish is not good for you. But sashimi is fine (due to absence of rice), which was what we ordered. The fish was fresh and tasted good. The miso soup is miso soup, and it was fine too. The main course works like this: they have a standard set of garnishes plated in advance, and add the protein of your choice when you place your order. You have a choice of various seafood and meat options. We chose snapper and swordfish, and both were cooked just right - juicy and firm, not dry. The desert was fried ice cream, and it was very, very good. Rodizio pretends to be a Brazilian restaurant, but it feels more like Italian one due to the massive amount of various kinds of pasta on the menu. For the starter you get either a buffet bar with below average choice of appetizers, or you order from the menu. We ordered salmon carpaccio (which was very similar to the sashimi in Japanese restaurant) - good quality, nothing to write home about. We skipped the soup because nothing on the menu looked attractive. The main course was steak for my husband and ravioli for me. Both were edible, but the steak was overcooked (very well done instead of medium-rare) and the ravioli was over-boiled to the state when it was hardly holding together (never heard of al-a-dente?). I can't remember the desert, but it was probably nothing too spectacular either. If I were back to this resort, we would not go to either the Rodizio or to the Japanese restaurant again, but opt for Portofino restaurant and Santa Fe Grill restaurants from the Colonial/Tropical section of the resort. Both Caribe and Brasserie have outdoor seating area and I would recommend going there instead of sitting inside. Their patios are sea-facing and you can relax and listen to the waves instead of loud people and fussing children. The outdoor area can be hot, especially if you are dining early, but overall in my opinion it is worth it. We liked Caribe and ate there twice. This is the first restaurant in my Mexico al a carte dining experience that is able not to overcook their lobster and to deliver consistent quality time after time. My husband had lobster both times - nicely done, although a bit on a chewy side, but I understand this is just how the local lobster variety is. I had salmon - cooked to perfection! - on my first visit and lobster on my second visit. The appetizers were fine and the desert was quite good, too - can't remember exactly what we had. I must praise the Brassserie, because it is not only the best restaurant on this Barceló property, but the best al a carte restaurant among the all inclusive resorts we stayed at. They can deliver very, very good quality across the board (appetizer - main courses - desert). This was our third time at this restaurant (we ate there at our previous stay at Barceló Tropical), and each time was excellent! The soups were a bit strange, and I would recommend against the French onion soup - I tried it and it is quite wrong although edible. But the rest is perfect! And did I mention great, attentive and knowledgeable service? they have that too. Final tip I would like to give you is: bring your own wine if you want the best dining experience. The house wine is not good and the wine list is very pricey. You are allowed to bring 3 litres of wine into Mexico per person, so if you want to pair the food with your favorite wine at reasonable price, bring your own. They will open the bottle for you and put it on ice if you request. This is what we did and it was a good decision.

Been to the Barcelo Palace many times. This visit was different . It seems like I went to the poor 2 or 3 star resort. Everything is downgraded, very visible. Service hardly exist. Housekeeping... More>

Been to the Barcelo Palace many times. This visit was different . It seems like I went to the poor 2 or 3 star resort. Everything is downgraded, very visible. Service hardly exist. Housekeeping, even with the tips given became substandard. .Food...well.It was a shame, minimal choices, same every day, poor quality. The food poisonings became a big issue in the resort, many fellow travelers kept complaining on it, I know the travelers who were sent to the hospital because of it.. Beach was not clean enough, many rocks over there. Service at the buffet restaurants also downgraded, seems like servers hardly can see you. It hard for me to write such a review, but everything was on the decline course during the visit.