First of all let me say that I have visited Cancun 3 times and Isle Mujeres once and this was by far the worst of them all. Every resort I have stayed at in the past has been very quick to please their patrons. The Barcelo however left a lot to be desired. We arrived on Thursday Oct. 9 and right away at check in I asked if our room was the one requested by our travel agent. I was informed that to get the room we requested it would cost us an extra $50 per night. I should add that we had booked our trip in March of this year and were told that our reservation was for "run of house", which you know means that we are all inclusive and that if a ocean view -balcony room is available we would be put in there. Well we were told that there weren't any available, but if we wanted to pay more there were some available.Double talk!! When we got to our room it was actually quite clean, (housekeeping is definitely not a problem here) but our view was of the rooftop of the Mall across the street. Our window only opened about 3 inches(to keep people from jumping I assume) and there was a generator or something right below us that hummed along all night . If it weren't for the Fabulous bartenders and their generous shots of Tequila we probably wouldn't have been able to sleep. We did eventually get the room we had requested, after a long distance call home to our travel agent and several complaints at the front desk. Our second room was exactly what we had asked for. Not only did it have a balcony and ocean view, but it had a wrap around balcony which was particularly lovely. The only problem with this room was that the ceiling leaked pretty bad when it rained, which it did every day that we were there. Not all day long or anything, just enough to get some really awesome pics of the waves coming in and some cool skies. Back to the ceiling..... We didn't complain to the staff about the water. We just used our beach towels at night to soak it up and exchanged them the next morning. I need to add that I truely am not a complainer. Normally I take things in stride and just play the hand that I am dealt to the best of my ability. I believe that you make your own fun and can't depend on others to supply it for you. This trip for me was a let down as soon as the staff treated us so rudely. If it weren't for the wonderful people that we met and our gracious bartenders I would have gotten on the first plane back home.Honestly! One of the girls in our group had a problem with the food, I personally didn't. Everyone's tastes are different. Like I said, I have been to Mexico before and knew what to expect. If you are thinking that you're going to be eating Taco Bell your entire trip then you will be really disappointed. I think that the food was standard. Not exceptional, but it wasn't bad. The meals served in the Lindo restaurant(reservations needed) were very impressive. The Tequila shrimp was wonderful. Do not allow the hotel concierge to talk you into doing their 90 minute time share tour. It is actually 5 hours long. I knew better than to do this, but our Apple rep was unavailable to book tours through so we tried to save a few bucks. Duh! Still trying to figure out the total cost of that one. So after all of that I would still have to say that the resort is Beautiful, the sand may be gone, but the water is still there. The bartenders were very attentive and good at their jobs (Antonio and Jesus were my favorites), housekeeping did a great job, the entertainment staff were a blast( Fabo and Pokemon), and the nightly entertainment in the theater was pretty good. Like I said before, the food is all about taste. Don't set your expectations on fine quisine and you won't be disappointed. The reception staff are the major let down in this resort. Unfriendly to the point of rude. I don't think that they realize just how many resort options are just down the road. If you treat people badly they will not return! You can see from my review that I had a Really good trip all-in-all, but I don't like being treated badly by the people who are supposed to be working to make me feel comfortable and relaxed.

Stayed two weeks at this hotel and loved it most of the time. Rooms were very good ,however on the first day I reported the balcony door lock not working an two weeks later still broken. maid service very good, no need for irons, hair driers or towels. All the staff in the restaurants/bars very friendly and helpful. Martha, Ivan an Antonio in the lobby bar were great. Entertainments team of Angel "Dick van Dyke" , Fabo "whos your daddy, Pokemon & Vanessa were all brilliant and put in a lot of time and effort day and night, and sometimes very late at night always had time for us. Can not give them enough praise. Beach had been washed away by hurricane but could still swim in the sea. At busy times restaurants struggled to cope but most of the time they were fine. I would recommend this hotel , but disabled guests would struggle getting to the pools.

after reading some reviews i was a bit wary but no reason to be,this hotel was fantastic ,
CHECKIN/ROOM: after been given the keys to our first room 5th floor only to find someone elses suitcases in there, back to the reception, 2nd room no sheets the workmen where still there,back to reception given a room on the 8th floor facing the lagoon only we couldnt get in there either ,back to reception i decided to sit untill the actually opened a room door as we had just travelled 10 and a half hours from the uk we were shatterred ,but the rep was great she advised that we get a free upgrade toocean view, which did happen 4days later ,but too be honest we had a better view facing the lagoon,but trooms are lovely and maid woke us every morning at 8.30,spotless
food :we booked the mexican restuarant twice and the spanish twice but too be honest they werent that busy and the buffet restuarant did us fine as the food is fantastic and we had 2 teenagers who are very fussy, who were never hungry.
POOL AREA:all pools are great especially the entertainment pool which my 16yr old had a ball playing volleyball,football,and he won the flipflop contest ,the entertainment staff are all great ,FABIO,POKEMON ,VENESSA AND ANGEL, also all the american which were so funny ,but if you want to sunbathe then use one of the other two pools for more piece and qiute.you only get a little slime on them round about 5pm after everyone going in with suncream on only to be expected but the staff are cleaning them all day.
BAR STAFF:what can i say these people are so friendly ,you never see them without a smile ,and whether you tip them or not your not treated any different ,but we did as these people couldnt do enought and get paid very little for the hours they do ,and the always remember what your drinking.
TRIPS:captain hooks pirate ship is a must,well worth $66.00 entertainment from the minute you step on the boat untill you come off 3hours later and the steak and food were delicous,cant stop talking about this as specially as my husband was doing pole dancing on there ,so funny also done the dolfin swim but dont do it at wet and wild as dvd and pics are exspensive do the other one more value for money, and finally
NIGHTS OUT:went to DADDY Os then don equis fantastic these mexicans know how to enjoy thereselves alway my 16and 15yr olds were a bit embarrased being with us but i will end with saying you wont be dissapointed with cancun.

First time to visit cancun and we had a good stay at this all-inclusive hotel. The restaurants have good food, but requires a reservation. The buffet is average, but good enough for us.
It's not cheap to eat out. The location is good and there's a mall infront of it, though we didnt even go 'coz we're too busy going to
our excursions. Easy access to the bus and it's cheaper than the taxi, just get an exact change.

This hotel is recommended if you want to stay in Cancun only.
If you plan to do a lot of excursions (Chitchen Itza, Tulum, Xel-ha, Xcaret, Cozumel, etc. ) like we did, you might as well stay in Riviera Maya or Playa de Carmen, so you wont commute as
much.