Overall, I was quite impressed for a 3-night girls weekend. If you are expecting the Ritz, you will be disappointed. However, you are not paying Ritz prices either.

The food was decent and the restaurants were air conditioned (no flies all over the food). I could see the food would get a little old after 4-5 days. But hey, it's MEXICO. What do you expect? Those of us that are well versed in Mexico travel know what to expect I guess. We did not bother eating at any of the reservations only restaurants, so I can't give you an opinion.

Rooms were well appointed with a fully stocked frig. Tipping did not affect the maid service in this case. A/C was great! Word to those who are light sleepers: Bring earplugs! The doors and hallways are loud by design, but never heard our neighbors. Beds were not your typical "sleeping-on-the-floor" hard.

Spa was fantastic. I got an 80 minutes relaxing message for about $115. It was worth it.

Beach: The beach was very disapointing. Wilma took all the beach with her when she left. The ocean comes right up to the hotel retianing wall. Therefore, there will be no beach lounging at this resort. Sorry.

Overall: The food was average, service was great, rooms are comfortable and clean. The bar service was excellent (you will have to get up and get your own drinks) but bring a big mug and you make less trips to the bar. I would return again for a weekend getaway but probably not a long vacation.

We got an all inclusive package with a free upgrade to an ocean view room with balcony for 1050$ - that was a steal of a deal. We had the best vacation of our life so far. The service was excellent and staff was very warm and entertaining. The food was good and there was plenty to eat and drink thoughout the day. Hotel has three wonderful swimming pools with exciting activities conducted in the adult pool. The bartenders are energetic and wont let you stay dry. A la carte restaurants had elegant ambience and served a decent menu. The inhouse entertainment included a sports bar(open till 2am) and theatre with live shows every night. It was definitely a place where you could spend the entire vacation without the need to go out. There is a shopping mall (kukulkan plaza) right infront of the hotel where apart from shopping you could try you luck in a small casino or roll the pins in the bowling alley. You could take a ride to the party center of the city in a cab for 50 pesos(~5$) or take a ride in the bus to any part of the city for 6.5 pesos (~60 cents). Room service was punctual and very neat. Hotel staff was sincere with their routine and the quality of service was never dependant on tips(propinas). You have to pay for internet and if you are wifi savvy then u may find it a bit difficult to get the best speeds even if you are a yard away from the reception lobby, but thats manageable because you dont want to spend your vacation browsing the web. Overall it is a place that makes your vacation truly affordable and relaxing. Me and my girlfriend loved Barcelo and we are definitely gonna stay with them whereever they are in the Carribean!

we were a bit worried about the barcelo after reading some of the reviews on here before we went. We didn't have much to worry about!

Check In / Room
Check in at 5pm was quick and easy, although i ran off the bus to get to the front of the queue! perhaps if i had been at the back of the queue i wouldn't be saying that! When we got into the room i couldn't beleive how amazing it all looked! We were room 4004 south tower and had a corner balcony, views of all pools and the ocean, which is just incredible! The room was big and spacious, we never had a problem with the bes or pillows... they weren't smelly and were comfortable! Toilet was fine too, very clean, massive walk-in shower and plenty space for doing make-up and hair etc! (girls... dont take a hair dryer, no point as doesn't work and you get provided with a perfectly good one!)

Food
Breakfast 10/10... couldn't grumble. choice was huge wether you want cereal, fruit, pancakes, fried food, toast.... i personally recommend the pancakes! mmm mmm!!
Lunch same again... we always ate in La Claraboya and had hotdogs, burgers, pasta, pizza etc! we loved lunches the best i think!
Dinner... well a few nights we chose to eat out and try new places as the dinners were a bit poor. not much choice, but i am a picky eater, my boyfriend however would try everything but could never find much to eat. 1 night i had really bad sunburn and didn't want to go down to buffet for diner so we asked reception to phone for a dominoes take away! got deliverd to the door!!

Pool area
We loved the daytimes! we never had to get up early to reserve subeds... we went down at 9 and got pick of beds and always got an umbrella (which you need!). pools were amazing, none of them are very deep. By 3pm they are like baths, they get really warm! we never went to the 'wild' pool as it didn't look like our thing, we were more than happy by the family pool and the quiet pool! Staff are constanty cleaning the pool but we sometimes did find it to have a layer of dirt on the top, especially late afternoon... but when people are smoking and drinking in them then it's no wonder it's going to happen!

Trips
We done the isla mejueres (not sure how to spell it!) trip with thomas cook... it was the best day of our lives! catamaran was awesome except i got a bit sea sick on way out! garafon park is out of this world! swimming with dolphins is a must and i would highly recommend going to isla m. to do it. they seemed to have bigger enclosures in sea water and looked like they were well looked after! Had a great day!
also done parasailing which was a bit scary but cool all the same.
went to coco bongos... great night out! unreal!
senior frogs... great fun! the staff make it what it is! great food too!
cambalaches (forum by the sea) great place... food was amazing! highly recommend it! staff lovely too!

Can't think of much else to write think I've covered it all! any questions feel free to ask!

Loved Cancun... Loved Barcelo. Will defo go back but we would never go back to same hotel as it might never be as good and we would want to try somewhere different. we wouldn't go back to any hotel twice! Will be back in Cancun but maybe not for a few years yet. I felt it was still being developed!

contrary to some reviews about this hotel regarding the standard of food and service we had the most amazing time. The food is exceptional especially the breakfasts. Staff are very friendly and courteous and could not do enough for us. The room was lovely and spacious. Cleaned every day. Wonderful hotel and wonderful place thouroughly recommend it.