Riu Palace Riviera Maya vs. Barcelo Palace

[fox7777]

Hi,
We’re family of 3 (including 8 years old girl), planning vacation in Mexico this fall.
We’ve been to Riviera Maya multiple times; loved the place (Riu Palace Mexico, Iberostar Lindo, etc.) This year we’d like something new, but without degrading the comfort. We are debating between two resorts now, Riu Palace Riviera Maya and Barcelo Palace.
The important things for us would be:
comfortable clean quiet rooms, good food, good service, nice shady beach (we can’t stay all day on the beach without shade) We’re not “nightlife people”, but definitely would like day/evening entertainment including Kid’s Disco or something like that for 8 yo kid.
Could anybody please give us an advice?
[FONT='Calibri','sans-serif']Thank you very much![/font]

[Shammy]

With an 8 year old? Barcelo Palace - for the fantastic kid's water park alone! The Palace is beautiful, and the beach for the entire complex is lovely.

Check out the Unofficial Barcelo site for a ton of info and photos. Click HERE

[fox7777]

Shammy, thank you for the quick reply!
We looked at the photos and what concerned us was just few palm trees on the Barcelo beach. Do they have umbrellas/palapas or areas with many trees where we would find some shade?

[JWK]

We just returned from the Barcelo Palace on the 14th. I am a person that does not lie inthe sun and shade is a must. I thought that would be an issue at the Palace with no palapas but I never had any issues with shade. We sat under the palm trees and they provided plenty of shade. You just have to move your chair with the shade but it really was not a problem.
We too have stayed at the Iberostar Lindo, twice and we found that we like the Palace even more since the ocean and the pool were so close together. It was easy to go from beach to pool without having to pack your things to go back and forth. Service was great at the Palace as well. BTW, we are a family of 4, with 2 boys ages 8 and 11.
You won't go wrong at the Barcelo Palace, this coming from someone who loved the Lindo as well. Good luck with your decision!

[fox7777]

Thanks a lot! It was VERY helpful!
The decision is made – we’re going to Barcelo Palace!

[luis from Tejas]

spent a week there in early July. incredible place, and Shammy is right. the kid's water park looks like so much fun they were constantly running college kids out of it that wanted to use the slides

[Phil in Ottawa]

You can't go wrong with the Barceló. One of the best beaches in the area. And as others have said, the palms offer plenty of shade.

Your 8 year-old will love the Palace kid's water park:







And, if she gets bored with that one, she can try the one at the Colonial/Tropical

I have many other pictures from the Barceló in my galleries at the link below if you are interested. And as Shammy sais, check out the Unofficial Barceló website for all the information you could ever want (and more ).

Hope this helps