I literally just returned back, yesterday from Cancun, and felt so compelled to write this so that I can warn others about this hotel. A group of us girls, in our late 20's, decided to do a "Girls Trip" and selected this hotel for its price and its all inclusive package. We we're able to get a pretty good deal considering I work for a Travel Agency and that it is their low season right now. To say the least we definitely got what we paid for!!! There were a total of six of us so we booked two rooms. Whenever we booked the trip we requested that the two rooms be connected or at least on the same floor and if possible ocean view rooms and were told it shouldn’t be a problem since they still had many rooms available meeting those criteria that weekend. I had read past reviews on Trip Advisor and was a little concerned about those that I read which complained that the front desk workers were rude and unhelpful, and that some people had problems with the accommodations there. Well… after our three night stay I cannot agree more and was just appalled at the level of customer service we received!
Upon check in we learned that our two rooms were on completely different floors and our view was of the back side of the mall located across the street. I asked the front desk if there would be any way of getting our request met so that we could all be close to one another, and if possible get an ocean front view. We were told to come down the next morning and that they would get us switched. The first night in our separate floor rooms, the room I was staying in with two of my other friends, electricity went out, we had to wait for at least 30 minutes until someone from maintenance came down to fix it. We also had all bought AT&T calling cards to call home and weren’t able to use any of the phones at the hotel, unless we wanted to dial collect or use a credit card and pay a ridiculous amount of money. We were told the pay phones down the street would work… but they didn’t. One of my friends called down to the front desk frustrated since she needed to let her husband know we arrived safely, and was told they could call AT&T for here and would have them connected to her room shortly but we would be charged about five dollars for the connection fee but then we could enter our calling card number and would not be charged per minute, which we were so happy about since they had been telling us repeatedly that we could not use our calling cards at the hotel. Our room phone rang and she was connected to AT&T where she was able to finally use her calling card. Well when I went down the next morning to discuss the room change, I asked to see a copy of any charges we had since we had called the front desk multiple times. Well her 7 minute conversation was charged $37 by the hotel! When I complained to the front desk and explained that they had connected us to that number they acted as if I were a liar and was told they do not have the ability to do that! I don’t even want to know what the bill would have been at the end of our trip if I hadn’t asked the next morning and continued to have the front desk connect us. We ended up getting a $5 internet cards that was good for an hour’s time to email our families for the remainder of the trip. As for the room situation… our power goes out AGAIN and none of our outlets work, I let the front desk know this and was told we would be switched to two ocean view rooms on the same floor but that they weren’t ready so to just pack up our things and leave them in the room and come back in an hour to get our new rooms keys and the bell men would transfer our luggage for us. So we all repacked our things and packed our valuables, money, passports, etc. in our carry on bags just to be on the safe side so we figured we’d go down to the pool for an hour until our new room was ready. An hour goes by and I go up to the front desk and was told it still wasn’t ready and I needed to come back in another hour. Let me also say we were planning on going into town to explore the city that day but kept waiting around because we didn’t want to carry our additional bags that we had brought along with us. Another hour goes by and I go to the front and am told that unfortunately there is only one ocean view room available for us now as opposed to the two we were promised and had been waiting on all day! Although the one they said they did have was on the same floor as one of the rooms we already had, it was the room with no electricity. I had to speak to Hector the manager, who to say the least is a COMPLETE jerk, and does not know the first thing about customer service. I explained that all we wanted was to be on the same floor and be in a room that had working electricity. I mean seriously is that too much to ask?!? He said all he could do was the one ocean view room and have our rooms electricity fixed, again. I have no idea why we were told that we had two rooms and needed to wait on them to be cleaned. Hector tried to say that we were never guaranteed the rooms; we were just told it was a possibility… huh?? So at this point I am so frustrated that I am ready to check out of the hotel but I wanted to talk to the girls about what we should do, and told Hector I would let him know what we decided to do. We decided to take the one new room and have them fix our electricity so we’d at least be on the same floor and could be finally be done with dealing with this whole room situation crap so that we could actually enjoy our vacation. I went back to the front desk and told one of the reservation ladies that we’re just going to take it and am told it will still be 30 minutes but to come down at 4 with our bags to get our new keys, etc. At 4 we go down suitcases in hand and are told that the room is no longer available and has been booked!! At this point I am livid! I demand to speak to Hector again and am told that I never confirmed with him directly that we wanted the new room, even though I had told the front desk girl who had been standing there when I originally spoke to Hector and obviously knew the situation at hand. But apparently I was only suppose to go through him and since I didn’t tell him directly that we wanted that room, it was supposedly booked, which I am all most certain was a complete lie. It was so ridiculous!! Why would they book out a room reserved for us? It was poor communication on their part that had caused this. I asked him about transferring us to a Villa room that they have that sleeps six which would accommodate all of us and solve the problem completely. Hector said he could let us stay in the Villa but we’d have to pay an additional 100+ a night!! Being in the customer service industry I was completely appalled and shocked at the way we were treated. We paid good money to enjoy our vacation together and they showed no concern what-so-ever in making things right. We lost an entire day of our trip carrying around our luggage, adjusting our plans based on what we were told from the hotel. After wasting our day and at the end of this entire ordeal we were back in the exact same rooms as we had started with. I will say that they did fix the electricity, but seriously shouldn’t that be a pretty normal expectation to have in a hotel room??? The front desk staff was so rude that I will never in a million years go back to this hotel. Not only were we put through all of this we were repeatedly hung up on whenever we would call up there to find out about various things like bus schedules etc. We are not a needy or demanding group of girls; we just wanted to be together on the trip we had planned for months and have a room that at least had electricity, and most importantly to be treated as a guest!
On the plus side, the rest of the staff is great especially the bartenders and the wait staff. Very friendly and helpful! Yes there is pretty much no actual beach out front of the hotel but we ended up walking a little ways down and were able to find a place to layout. If you’re looking to go out do the Party Hopper trip and take a night to go to Coco Bongo. Our guide for the Party Hopper trip was amazing! He was always checking on us making sure we had everything and were having a good time! And Coco Bongo is a BLAST we had so much fun that we went back again our last night! We were promised T-shirts from our hotel rep that we booked through, which we never received. We were told excuse after excuse as to why we hadn’t received them; even saying our rep had car troubles and couldn’t get to Coco Bongo to pick them up. I would have been more then happy to go get them myself but that wasn’t an option. It was the principle of it all, we were told we would get something and come to find out it’s a lie. This basically was the story of our entire stay at the Barceló Tucancun. All in all once we were away from the hotel we had a great time, other then that it felt like there was one thing after another. The Barceló Tucancun needs a serious course in customer service, especially Hector!
