Resort Details
Customer Ratings & Reviews
TripAdvisor Traveler Rating
10554 reviews
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Apr 09, 2025There are too many great places to stay in Mexico, don't waste a stop here
After much research, I thought Barcelo would be one of our new favorites and unfortunately, not even close. We've stayed at 5 AI in the last 12 months, Rui's, Dreams, Royalton and now Barcelo Maya Caribe. At each of these, we've always chosen the highest level, Diamond, premium, preferred, etc and followed suit here. I'm not sure what the extra $350 a night got us. Arrival went smooth and as a premium guess you have a lounge area you check in at. We were the only guests at this time so no delays but after us more were arriving and is was now taking time as there was only one person. Standard counter I'd assume would be quicker when busy. Premium lounge was nothing special and a huge downgrade from all other resorts I mentioned being at, ever. As the days went on, I was in here daily to grab coffee and water when the machine worked or water was in the fridge. Everyday I was here and everyday the same rude waitress would demand to see my wristband. Not s big deal and I get they want to ensure you're part of the club but the attitude was hands down the worst I've encountered. Even worse when I was ask her to grab something that should have already been there, like a bottle of water! Arrived early so we did not have a room until 4pm, no big deal and not out of the ordinary. We expected this and were prepared. Beach gear on, headed for a snack down at Captain Morgan's before Flowrider fun. Hit snack bar only to find some of the worst food I've seen. When an 11 and 13 year old can't find a burger, hot dog, anything, I should have known we were in trouble. Thought, we're in between meals, don't over think it, breaky, lunch and dinner will be great. Off to the Flowrider. Flowrider was the main reason this resort was chosen. I personally like that they charge extra from this as it keeps the crowds smaller and I'm happy to pay. They run the following schedule, 9-5, first hour open, second hour lessons, repeat. You pay $20 person for "All day" access and then another $15 per person per lesson. Get here for 9am and you will enjoy the first open hour but after that, the open is so busy you might ride2-3 times. Whatever, we paid for a few lesson a day, 6 people max and that was well worth the money. The instructor, Kareem (sorry if I spelt it wrong) was awesome. He is what makes and experience great. What a beauty. Overall, Flowrider was worth every dollar. Time to eat dinner and sadly it got no better. The buffet is the second worst we've had only to be beaten by Sando's Eco and is comparable to Cuba IMO (been to about 50+ AI over 20 years). Everything is a stew, marinate, jambalaya and just bad. All I wanted was fish and rice, keep it simple and healthy, good luck most the time. Once again, when kids are not able to find food, you know there's a problem. Brutal buffet, period. If buffet is bad why are you not hitting the ala cartes? We tried booking them on our first day and was able to get one for our last day that was not at 945pm. Once again, premium what?? Any other resort, you get the best time at any restaurant everyday. Here, you get told we're too busy and cannot accommodate anything. Why are you selling this option them? The food at Tokyo was actually very good even though we could not get a table at the grill. Whole family enjoyed this meal. Kind of upsets me to know there was actually potential here. The service here is almost worse than the food. I'm not sure if Barcelo doesn't pay well but I've never encountered this many unhappy Mexicans. We usually hand out hundreds of dollars in tips and may have left $30-40 total. The room was ok, better than a standard but far from what you get at other places. It's advertised as a ocean front suite. I'd describe it as a pool front, partial ocean view slightly bigger than standard room (Room #5311). Even though I'm complaining, I'd do this room again as it is way better then the standard but so far below what other places offer at this level. The wide open bathroom is a pain. What family wants to see their parents naked and I'm sexy AF, lol. Beds, blanket and pillows were all great. Location of it was perfect from me with the gym within eyesight and you can hear the ocean waves. The ocean and beach for this area are below average at best. Most the beach is rock hard and 3/4 of the ocean has coral so you cannot access. There were incredibly high winds over our stay so seeing turtles and sea life was not an option but I'm told it's pretty awesome. Obviously the wind is not Barcelo's fault but I do feel they mislead you into believing this area is much better. To conclude, at almost a grand a night, there are so many better options. I saw another post mention a lot of reviews being bought or resort generated and I have to agree. A lot of them are one off's and there is no way there should be this many 5* reviews. I spoke with many people that felt the same as us. I just wonder, is it not bad enough to write a terrible review so people say nothing? I'm a Canadian and we love everyone and thing so you know if we're complaining, it must be bad.
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Apr 07, 2025Beautiful property and great service.
This was a beautiful property and the service was amazing. Lots to do for family of four with teenagers. The room was a bit tight for a family of four. The restaurant reservations were hard to come by and that was an annoyance. Also we were not told logistics, like where to pick up pool towels or how to do water sports.
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Apr 07, 2025
I wouldn’t waste your money!
Our rooms were switched on us when we checked in so we had to stay in the older units that had poor maintenance done on them. Food would receive 0 stars. Buffet and Restaraunts were low quality food
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Apr 07, 2025DON’T WASTE YOUR MONEY!
Entire staff was rude and unhelpful The food was inedible at every restaurant. We spent a fortune to go offsite to get food because we couldn’t eat anything here. We booked at Colonial but at checkout they informed us we were moved to Caribe. It was a dump. Dated and dirty. Pools don’t have enough chairs and the ones they do have are very uncomfortable. We were so disappointed in our stay here. DO NOT waste your time and money here. Reviews that are good must be paid reviews because there’s no way anyone would be happy with their stay here.
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Apr 06, 2025
Less than impressed
I was really hoping for more with this resort after seeing such high ratings but left disappointed. My kids always look forward to the kids club but the one at Barceló Maya caribe was underwhelming, not interactive and used the TV’s as a babysitting service. There are 3-4 TV’s running all the time and kids in front of them while the workers rest their heads down for a nap. I was expecting great things after an amazing experience at the grand Bahia principe Coba resort which had an AMAZING kids program. This kids club is so bad my kids didn’t even want to go back. Also, there are so many extras that are NOT included in the ‘all inclusive’. They advertise bowling, pirate water park, games etc but it’s all extra and not worth the money. The pirate water park is $20usd per person. Not worth it. The staff are all friendly except the front desk which doesn’t care to help you with anything. The rooms are small and our bath tub was so plugged the water would accumulate to your ankles. The a la carts book up regardless of how quick you try to make a reservation. The only times they had were 8:30-9pm which doesn’t work with kids. I wouldn’t come back