My daughter and I just returned from 4 nights at the Barcelo Tucancun All-Inclusive Hotel. I had read numerous reviews prior to leaving and frankly was a liitle leery. However, we were pleasantly surprised with an oceanfront room which was very clean and bright. The staff was extremely friendly and helpful with the exception of the front desk personnel. I am not sure why they only have 1-2 people working at the desk at any given time. There was always a long line with people making dinner reservations,checking in/out and paying for purchases from the gift shop. I found them to be surly and curt.
The pools are very nice and the food was par for a 3 star all-inclusive. The beach was almost non-existent due to erosion but still very beautiful. If you are looking for basic food, warm sun and clean rooms and grounds this hotel will be fine for you.

The hotel is one of the last hotels on that part of the cancun peninsula. There is no beach left post-hurricane, the pictures are deceiving and pre-hurricane. The pictures suggest a good hundred yards of beach before the ocean, that is all gone. It is a 15-20' retaining wall with steps down. When the tide is out there is roughly ten feet of steep beach. The hotels on either side of it are boarded up and there are squatters living in one of them.

The hotel is nice, clean and the staff are very nice. The food is mediocre at best. I would not recommend staying on the first 3 floors - there is a disco on the ground floor and it is loud.

It was sunny and cheap - 500/person rt airfare from the NE included.

This was me and my boyfriend’s first trip so we were advised to go to Cancun because it's very modern and very easy to navigate around for inexperienced travelers.

We originally decided on the Palms Oasis Beach Resort in Cancun but due to an error on our travel agents behalf we were not able to stay there because of our age. Apparently a lot of the hotels and resorts in Cancun have a new very strict policy about students on spring break. My boyfriend and I aren't students however we're 22 years old and the rules are "No students or youths between the ages of 18 and 24". There was no getting around this even when the travel agent told them we were married! Since we had booked with Sunquest Vacations there was no way we could get a refund and look for another vacation package. We were then given the choice between what looked like a retirement home in the Maya Riviera or the Barceló Tucancun Beach in Cancun so we chose the Barceló.

The Barceló Tucancun Beach was very clean and the open concept of the lobby was very inviting. Our room was very nice with a balcony overlooking the giant mall in front of us even though they called it a lagoon view. We were also suppose to have a king sized bed but instead had two doubles.

The staff at the Barceló worked around the clock and we're very friendly. The service was very good at the buffet and at all the bars. The food was ok, nothing spectacular at the Buffet.

The Barceló also had three A La Carte resturants... Spanish food, Mexican and seafood. We tried making reservations but the time slots went fast and had to be in before 2pm so if you don't want to wait until 9pm to eat dinner then you should book days in advance! We didn't eat at any of the restaurants due to this and also because of my allergy to shrimp and because of health issues...

My boyfriend ended up with food poisoning our last night there. We weren't exactly sure what it was from but he was very sick!
He'd also had a tooth ache and was in a lot of pain the last few nights. Our last night there we'd gone through our 2 bottles of water they provide us in the mini fridge because my boyfriend was sick. When I asked for more water they told me to go down to the front desk. When I got down there the guy gave me one bottle and when I asked him for a second one he looked at me like I had three heads and proceeded to ask me what we did with the two we were given. I tried to explain that my boyfriend was really sick and he gave me a lecture about how only two bottles come with our package. I was so outraged and furious that I shouted and said that's fine and stormed off! I couldn't believe a bottle of water there was made of gold apparently! So my very sick boyfriend and I had to ration off of one bottle of water the rest of the night and next morning and when you're told not to drink the tap water in Mexico that becomes a little difficult. Water is only the number one basic necessity of human life!

On top of this incident, we were also skipped for house keeping a couple days and had to call down for clean towels and toilet paper. You were also not allowed to bring any food up to your hotel room from the buffet if you didn't feel up to dinning in, and there was almost always a long line up to get in for dinner.

We were told that The Barceló Tucancun Beach was a four star resort from both our travel agent and by Sunquest but even though we are by no means seasoned travelers we knew there was no way it was more than 3 stars. I say that because my mom and sister were in Cancun for two weeks just before we arrived and they even got room service free of extra charge at their four start resort. At the Barceló it was 40 pesos just for the service and the prices of food weren't listed. We ended up having pizza delivered to our hotel.

Our stay wasn't all bad; the pools even though they weren't heated were still very clean and well maintained. The pool side bars were excellent and the two shows that we went to were fairly entertaining. However it wasn’t enough to make us want to stay there again.

Because we got such a good deal, I honestly left with minimal expectations; however I was pleasantly surprised with many of the negative reviews that some other people have posted.

In theory, this hotel is no way close to a 4.5 star or to a 5 star resort...If you think you are going to book a cheap vacation, and find a 5 star resort..this isnt possible in Mexico. If you are crazy enough to rate this hotel a 3 star or 3.5, I think you are seriously delusional.

To the review...As it says in my header, take it from someone who has travelled to most caribeean resorts and has experienced the best...and the worst...Barcelo Tucancun ranks as one of my favorite vacations (despite the cold weather and rain...which is not the hotel's fault)

Beach: If you are a beach bum, who spends 8 hours a day solely on the beach...you may be somewhat dissapointed due to the 6 foot waves and the 8 feet of sand before the seawall. Beachlovers...look elsewhere...

Pools: Pools are great, all are well located and you can be at the pool with a drink in your hand within 2 minutes...depending on where your room is. From what I noticed, you can walk accross the entire resort in 3 minutes. Pools were clean and Chilly, my one complaint was that the pools werent heated despite their size

Rooms: Clean, great, shower was fine..read a lot of negative comments regarding pressure and temperature....everything was fine on my end. Got a great room in the villas, with an ocean view (and we paid for garden view)

Service: Fantastic...the mexicans are great, especially when you greet them like a civilized human being, smile and say hello. If you have already booked your trip, this is the most important piece of advice I can give you....

BE NICE, BE PATIENT, SMILE AND TIP..AND SAY THANK YOU OR GRACIAS...The service we had at the bars, restaurants, and with the waitresses were phenomenal and I honestly think it was because of our attitude towards them.

So many times, I saw so many ignorant and rude people yelling at the staff and bartenders. They approach the bars with their 1 pint thermos and they yell "Cerveza!!"..no please no thank you. If I were the bartenders I would have spat in their drink

Food: Good..not a huge amount of variety, but I rarely ate something I didnt like. If you like Mexican or spanish food..then you will have a good week. If you don't like Mexican food at all....move on, book elsewhere. The food did become a little repetitive, but I really thinkg it depends on your personal taste.

Location: Couldn't be better located...smack in the middle strip, 8 USD away from the clubs and you are facing a massive mall...which could suck, depending on where your room is.

All in all I would recommend this hotel highly if you are going away with your single friends or with your spouse. It is fun, clean, friendly and a great value. I wouldnt spend over 1100 USD for a week...however if you get a deal..BOOK Immediately!