I just got back from my stay in Cancun at the Barcelo Tucancun. I had done some extensive research before the trip on both the hotel and Cancun itself. I want to share my experience with you, because before the trip I was concerned about the hotel after reading a lot of the reviews. Here is the breakdown:

The Check In: We were a little nervous about the hotel before we went because of the reviews. While I would say 80% of them were positive, there were quite a few negative ones. However, when we got to the hotel, we did not encounter one problem. We arrived at 1pm and our room was not ready, however the wonderful staff at the main desk gave us our wrist bands where we were allowed to get ourselves lunch and enjoy the sunshine outside until our room was ready at 3pm. They watched our luggage for us as well until we were able to go up to the room. If you give the staff small tips (as you do at the airport and other areas) your generosity goes along way and they want to please you.

The Room and Hotel: When our room was ready we were very excited to get up there, put on our bathing suits and go lay out by the pool. Our room was on the sixth floor on the ocean side. The AC was very powerful and kept the room freezing if we wanted it. The showers were big and everything was clean. The whole hotel I felt was very clean and welcoming. There were a few annoying like 16 and 17 year olds that didn't know how to drink running around, however, the hotel seems to stick them in their own area. The older crowds, even the college kids, were better than they were. They were pretty annoying but you don't have to hang out where they are. The pool with the waterfall in it is more adult based, so they don't come around there much.

The Bartenders: If you stay at this hotel you need to find the two most wonderful staff members working there, Herve and Antonio. They will make your stay even better. Tip them well!!!! When you tip them, they will bring you drinks at the pools, whether your are lounging, swimming, or whatever. They won't let you get up. Also at night, in the lounge bar, when they work often, they are amazing. They give you all sorts of different drinks etc. The drinks were decent at the bar, not great, but these two made the best ones of all. We even gave both of them New York Yankee (we are from right outside NYC and love the team) hats and shirts.

The Service: The buffet service and all the people working at the hotel were all wonderful. I have no complaints. Also the buffet service will get you drinks etc.

The Food: The food at the Mexican Place was very good! The Tequila Shrimp are a must have. Also the chicken fajitas were very good. The rest of the food is ok, breakfast is very good, and the omelets are made right there for you. Its buffet, so you want to change up and go out. We ate one day at Senor Frogs, and we went to the mexican place on the main strip next to the mall, Sisal Hacienda. Try and make a stop there. The food is amazing, and their Pinot Grigio is top line. (when you need a break from the fruity drinks or beer)

**If you are looking for a five star hotel, stay at the RIU or another hotel like that. This is a good hotel for people that don't want to pay for a five star hotel. I would recommend this hotel to any one and I would stay there again if we decide to go back next year. It is safe. People all over had their Ipods and cell phones with no problems.

Little tips: First, if you have never been to Mexico, the plugs for electricity are the same as in the US, so bring anything you need (chargers for cells and Ipods). Also, cell phones, for us using Verizon out of NYC, we were charged a dollar a minute and text messages were 50 cents each. Its worth to have but be careful.

Market 28 is good. I got some great deals, just got to be careful, and not get hassled to much. Basically know if you show any interest, and even walk in the store, they are going to hound you till you buy something. Be strong, but know you will get good deals. The bus takes you there, get off at "downtown stop" past all the hotels, you will know when you hit the city. Its a little confusing to find, but look for Xcaret street. Take a cab out of it, its worth the 12 dollar price to get you back to the hotel zone.

Use Aquaworld if you are interested in excursions. They are wonderful and their tours are organized and the staff is amazing. Book at the Barcelo. You get better deals than online. We had 3 different tours for 138 total.

Visit Isla Mujeres and Cozumel if you can. Isla Mujeres is an amazing place, where if you like to shop you get great deals. The Aquaworld tour brings you to a private beach with volleyball, chairs, and you have the option to go on an outback golf cart to tour the island. AWESOME TIME. Cozumel has awesome snorkeling and worth the trip.

The KulKulcan Mall outside the hotel is ok, if you are looking for designer stuff. However, its no cheaper than here in the states. All the prices are marked in Pesos and USD, so its not a deal.

Over all it was a great stay, and I hope this review helps people!

Every single member of our party (8 people) became ill with nausea, abdominal pain/cramping and diarrhea starting about Wednesday of our trip. The rest of the week required us to remain within easy access of a restroom. We are unsure of the cause of our illness but we did not consume any food or beverages from any other place besides our resort. When I arrived home very late on Saturday night I was running a low grade fever and had severe abdominal pain. This trip was supposed to be celebrating our wedding anniversary. It’s pretty hard to have a romantic getaway when you or your spouse are frequently running for the nearest toilet.
The main swimming pool at our resort was closed for about 36 hours beginning on Tuesday morning. We found it surrounded by yellow tape. The water was cloudy and covered with an oily, scummy substance and white debris that looked like threads in the water. We had all been in that pool on Monday evening and 2 days after we had been in that pool was when we all began to get sick. It is entirely possible that we contracted something from the dirty swimming pool. The rest of the pools were cloudy and not very pretty and after our experience with seeing the dirty main pool, we were a bit concerned about getting in the other pools.
My sister had problems with a male guest in the hotel who was stalking her. He followed us all over the resort all week long making crude sexual comments and attempting to touch her. We encountered him in the buffet restaurant and one evening we left that restaurant and went to the Spanish restaurant to get away from him, only to have him follow us there and then to the Lobby bar. We ended up going back to our rooms in order to get away from him. My sister and her husband complained to management at the Resort, but nothing was done to ensure her safety. She had multiple encounters with this individual over the course of the week both near the pools and in the restaurants and lobby bar and in every case he would approach her (usually from behind) and attempt to lay hands on her while making crude/disgusting remarks. We had to make sure she was never alone and were constantly on guard to keep this perverted man away from her.
My 19 year old daughter was accosted by 3 men in the lobby of the north tower while waiting for an elevator. She had come to my room in another building to retrieve a pair of shoes and was returning to her room. She was approached by 3 men wearing Barcelo hotel uniforms and who tried to lure her into an elevator. She said that she felt like their intentions were not good and so she refused to get in the elevator. One of the men got out of the elevator and tried to coax her to get in. Fortunately, another hotel guest arrived at that point and saw the distress on her face and intervened. Something truly horrible could have happened to her if that gentleman had not appeared when he did. This was also reported to hotel management to no avail. At no point during the week did we observe any security personnel or any attempt to keep guests safe from crime.
We scheduled dinner reservations for Wednesday evening in the seafood restaurant for 7:30 p.m. When we arrived for dinner, we were told that they only had a reservation for 4 and could not accommodate our entire group. The Mexican restaurant was also full and so we had to go to the buffet for dinner. We were assured that our reservations would be taken care of for Thursday night and not to worry. You can, I am sure, imagine our dismay when we arrived for dinner on Thursday night only to discover that they had once again failed to complete our reservation. Fortunately, they were able to accommodate our group on that evening and we had dinner. Unfortunately the food was terrible and half of our group had to go to the buffet because they were still hungry.
The drinks at the resort were not very good at all. As a general rule, my personal limit on alcoholic beverages is two. One evening at the resort I drank four blended margaritas and did not feel like I had had even one alcoholic drink. Under normal circumstances after four drinks I would have been quite tipsy. The fact that I was able to consume four drinks indicates to me that there was little to no alcohol in the beverages. So advertising that the resort was “all inclusive” is inaccurate at best. Alcoholic beverages were not included because there was little or no alcohol in the drinks.
The food was of poor quality and there was little variety from day to day. The same dishes were served every day at every meal and breakfast leftovers (like french toast) would show up at lunch AND dinner as "English Sandwiches" (basically ham and white cheese with french toast for the bread) in every restaurant. While we realize that we were in a different country and that the foods we would encounter would likely be significantly different from that to which we are accustomed, we did expect that the food would be of a higher quality. We did not expect to encounter hamburger patties containing fillers, artificial bacon bits, etc.
The shower temperature was impossible to control. You could actually turn on the cold water tap by itself and get a shower that cycled rapidly from icy cold to scalding hot. My husband and I had to take turns showering. When I was showering, he would stand and hold his hand under the shower head and when the water turned scalding hot, he would flip the shower head away so that I would not be burned by the water. I had to do the same thing for him. This was not a problem only with our room. All 3 rooms occupied by our family (in two different buildings on the resort) had this same problem. Not exactly conducive to a romantic anniversary getaway.
We were told by our representative from our tour company that she would leave a voice mail for us on Friday (the day before our departure) to alert us as to our pickup time. By Friday evening, we had not yet received any information regarding our pickup and so my sister went down to the tour office to try to find out what time we would be picked up. The individuals in the tour office (who were all wearing tour company shirts), as well as the front desk and the bell stand all tried to reach our representative on her cellular telephone only to discover that it had been disconnected. We were truly anxious at that point that something terrible had happened and that we would be unable to return home. Fortunately one of the other Tour company employees called Vacation Express’ local number and found out that our pickup time was scheduled for 11:00 a.m. and confirmed that our flight was at 2:00 p.m. My sister still felt uncomfortable with the way things were happening and so I called Vacation Express myself to verify the information. The next morning (the day of our departure) my husband and I were in our room and we received a telephone call at 9:37 a.m. The individual on the line asked for me by name and claimed to be the bellman at the hotel. He said that our transportation to the airport had arrived and that we needed to come to the lobby “right now” or we would miss our flight. I replied that we had been told by Vacation Express that our pick up was at 11:00 and that our flight was not until 2:00 p.m. and that we were not ready to leave the hotel. The “bellman” said he would put the driver on the phone. There was some muffled conversation in the background and then another man came on the line. He claimed to be the driver assigned to take us to the airport. He said he was with Vacation Express and that this was the only pickup he was making at Barcelo Tucancun that day and that if we did not come down immediately that he would leave us there and we would miss our flight. I told him that I was going to call Vacation Express and verify this information. At that point he said he was not going to wait for us and gave the phone back to the “bellman”. The “bellman” said, “Lady you better get down here! He’s going to leave you!” I said I was going to call Vacation Express before I did anything and for him to keep the driver there until I could find out what was going on. At that point he told me that the driver had left. I immediately called Vacation Express and was reassured that our pickup was at 11:00 and our flight was at 2:00. The woman I spoke with said that they had only one morning pickup at Barcelo Tucancun and that it was at 11:00. She had no idea who would have been calling me at 9:37. I went down to the lobby and spoke with the bellman. He denied calling me and said that there had been no one there that he knew of claiming to be from Vacation Express. I have no idea who called me or how they got my name and room number, but I am confident that had I went with them I would have been victimized in some way either by an extortion of money for the fare or something far worse. I reported the incident to hotel management, but they seemed unconcerned and didn’t take any notes or ask any questions or anything. I am left wondering how someone knew both my name and my room number as well as knew that we were due to check out the next day.
I cannot in good conscience recommend this hotel. I would actually recommend that you avoid this hotel. Should you decide to stay there, please, please, please do not allow individuals to go off on their own, carefully check the condition of the pool water before you get in the pool, and basically make sure you listen to your gut instincts. If something seems fishy or unsafe, it probably is.

This is the letter that was sent to our travel agent, Vacation Express, Barcelo.com -
I am writing regarding my recent vacation I scheduled through Vacation Express for June 15 through June 21, 2008. This was my second vacation I have booked through Vacation Express. The first trip to Barcelo Tucancun was in June 2006. We had a wonderful time in 2006. So my sister wanting to celebrate her wedding anniversary and not having been on vacation for 15 years decided to go along with us on a return trip to Barcelo Tucancun June 15 to June 21. Since I had such a wonderful experience she wanted to take the opportunity to visit Mexico for the first time. However we had many issues and many disappointing and some very frightening encounters while there and I honestly do not feel like we have been on vacation at all.

1.Every single member of our party (8 people) has come down with nausea, abdominal pain/cramping and diarrhea starting Tuesday night or Wednesday morning. I had planned trips with Elite tours but it required us not to completely enjoy the tours since we had to remain close to a restroom. Since arriving home I have schedule myself and still am trying to get the rest of the family an appointment to see their physicians. I had to return to work Monday, since I do not have the time to take off from work. So I am in severe pain with abdominal cramping and have been unable to eat without getting sick to my stomach. This has been going on since June 17th.

2.The main swimming pool at our resort was closed the majority of the time, surrounded by yellow caution tape. The day and night before we were in the pool and there was a white material in the pool that resembled threads. The water looked like someone had dumped a few gallons of milk in it. You could only see to the second step down into the pool. This was not how the pools were before at the resort. They use to sparkle with clear beautiful water. This I feel is where we encountered our stomach bug. The other pools were just as cloudy and after becoming sick we choose not to take any more chances and had everyone stay out of all pools.

3.We decided to take a couple of tours. We were told not to book any tours on the streets because of the possibility of getting ourselves either in a unpleasant situation with going on time shares or not getting the quality of tours Elite Tours promised us. So we booked two tours. One to Isla Mujeres, and One to Chitchen Itza. The trip to Isla Mujeres as suppose to be an “All Inclusive” trip. However after boarding the boat for our “FunDay” trip we were told we would have to pay extra for the snorkeling equipment. We told them this was a mistake and gave them Diana our represenitive with Elite Tours cell phone number that she had given us the day we arrived. However, her number had been disconnected. After much persuasion and not being able to enjoy the view of the sea from the main land to the island because of this matter, they finally told us not to worry about it when we docked on the island. After getting off the boat they quickly ushered us on the boat to the reef. Not having my bathing suit on, I told the snorkeling boat operators that I did not have my bathing suit on. I showed them the bathing suit, and they said, “Don’t worry there is a place to change out there” So after being on the boat 5 or so minutes. They told us that we would have to change on the boat. We were in a group of 8 people, 4 teenagers, and 4 adults. No one in our group felt comfortable changing in front of the families with small children or the boat operators. They kept saying, “This is Mexico, no one cares”. However we cared and one of the men with us demanded they turn the boat around and take us back to the land for us to change. They “allowed” us two minutes to change. After returning to the reef our trip was shortened to 30 minutes, because of the need to turn around. After arriving back to the Island we decided to take a few pictures with the group on a very nice elevated pier. While taken pictures a worker with the “FunDay” tours approached us and demanded our cameras. When we refused he said we had to delete all the photos on our cameras. After refusing and demanding to speak to a Manager the worker said, “I’m just joking”. I will include a photo of him that was taken after he had said he was just joking. Up to this point we were having a better time on the Island, after the snorkeling ordeal, we were actually starting to have fun. So we decided since the mood was spoiled we would go elsewhere. At this point of leaving the pier, the same worker approached us and asked if we would like our pictures taken. Of course we all agreed, since it was by a very large plastic shark hanging upside down. After asking us to pose, the main turned and ran with our cameras. Had not my nieces boyfriend had not been so athletic, I do not believe we would have gotten our cameras back. Since the worker was running in and out of buildings and ran well over 200 yards or more. Since he disappeared, we are clearly not sure how far he actually ran. This worker actually came back and said, “I was just joking”.

4.I personally had problems with a male guest in the resort and my boyfriend and I had went to the front desk and asked that they deal with him. He was making crude, sexual remarks to me and kept touching me inappropriately. But, nothing was done to this guest. I had to have someone with me at all times, and even then this did not help. I could not even go and eat at the buffets because he would show up and try to grab me. I had made several trips to the front desk but nothing was ever done and nothing was ever said to this guest. He finally left on Friday. We left on Saturday.

5.We scheduled reservations at the Seafood restaurant for our party of 8. We had been eating at the Mexican restaurant. But, when we arrived at the Seafood restaurant our reservations had been for a party of 4 and they could not accommodate us. We ended up eating at the buffet and reschedule the party of 8 for the Seafood restaurant the following day only to get to the restaurant and were told they did not even have us on the reservations. However, they did accommodate us, but the food was very poor and we all ended up returning to the buffet after dinner.

6.The food was of very poor quality and all the dishes were the same in all the restaurants, expect for the Mexican one. We did make most of our reservations there for a nicer dinner. But still the food was not of good quality, but it was different.

Our representative told us from Elite Tours (Diana) that she would have a voice mail for us on Friday (the day before our departure) to alert us as to our pick up time. By Friday evening, we had not yet received any information regarding our pickup so I had went down to the front desk, and the bell stand. No one had any information on our pickup time. So they referred me back to the Elite Tours stand. When I arrived there, there we approximately 6-8 Elite tour representatives sitting around talking. When I told them that our representative Diana’s phone had been disconnected and we have not received a call or anything telling us when our pickup time Saturday was. All the representatives started laughing and talking in Spanish. However, one gentleman got up and took me off to the side and called Vacation Express and gave me the pick up time of 11 am on Saturday, June 21st. I still however had a very uneasy feeling about the whole situation and went directly to my sister’s room and told her what had just happened. I told her I felt as if something was just not right about the whole situation. My sister then made a call to Vacation Express and confirmed our pickup of 11 am on Saturday and fight departing at 2:00 p.m. Saturday morning my sister receives a phone call at 9:37am from “Vacation Express” stating our ride was there and we needed to leave. My sister said our pickup was at 11 a.m. This person said that if we did not leave right then we would miss our plane and that "Vacation Express" would not pay for another plane ticket. To not bother checking out to leave right now. At this time I was at the Mall exchanging my money from Peso’s to Dollars. When I arrived back to the resort, she told me what had just happened. I asked Gonzalez at the bell stand what had happened and he checked his paper work and told me that Vacation Express had one pickup and that was at 11 a.m. He then took my paper and called Vacation Express to verify and assured me he would make sure my whole family would be in the right van. This gentleman was someone we had met on our first trip to Barcelo Tucancan. If my sister and her family or our whole family of 8 had fell for this I honestly do not feel we would be writing you this today. The front desk at Barcelo either gave out this information, or it was a represenitive of Elite Tours that put my families’ lives in mortal danger. I have been to this resort before and loved it. That is not the case now. I will never return to Barcelo Tucancun. PLEASE BE SAFE AND DO NOT FALL FOR THIS.. It could cost you your life.

I thought this was great.Me and wife and kids had a great time.Food was good room was clean.Drinks were great the people we met were all so nice from all over the world.I can not tell you how beautiful the ocean is waves were great spent more time in the ocean then the pool.We loved our trip so much we are going back in october for 7 days.We went for 4 nights 5 days just not long enough.So if you read negative stuff some people are just to picky. If you are going this october 10 thru the 17 hope to see you there.