Barcelo Maya Beach Resort

thecuz · 03-06-2002

Has anyone stayed at this hotel or heard anything about it? We are looking at staying there upcoming December. My only reservation is that the Barcelo hotel in Punta Cana, D.R. was not as nice as advertised.....

cewles · 03-08-2002

I stayed at the Barcelo when it first open 2 years ago. It is very nice, typical of a 5-star resort. It's about 20 minutes south of PDC just past Puerto Adventuras. The Barcelo is actually two resorts (or at the time was) the "Beach" and "Garden"(which don't be fooled into believing that this side is in a garden, it is identical to the Beach side). The resort is an extremely large, probably one of the largest properties I've seen. Two extremely large pools with fountains swim up at one of them. The beach is expansive with lots of room, no crowding.
There were two resturants near the beach, one on the "Beach" side, one on the "Garden" side of the resort. During the day they served pretty much the same thing, pizza, chicken, burgers, salads, fruit etc. In the evening, each became a differnt type of resturant, I believe, one was a Steak and Seafood and the other (can't recall). In the evening the restaurant on the Garden side became the disco, and they had pizza, hotdogs and burgers late at night.
In the hotel itself, there are two buffet restuarants, each identical, one for the Garden side, one for Beach side. The guest rooms were quite tastefully decorated, I recall bathroom scales being in the room. (YIKES!)
There is also a Spanish resturant that you can make reservations at in the main building. The theatre, where the nightly entertainment was held was in the middle of the two resorts so both could share...and it was large as well. The one thing about this resort that stands out most, was the size, everything seemed large, everything was quite a walk, so if you are travelling with anyone who may have difficulites walking any distances, this resort is not for them. The Barcelo overall I would keep it's rating at a 5-star in my opinion. It was very very nice, the kids program was great (I had my 6-year old with me and she loved it). There were always activites going on, and the mini-putt (if still there) was a great break late in the afternoon, when you had enough sun and beach. The only draw back (and this is more personal than enything else) is you had to take a taxi anywhere you wanted to go. Not like being in Playacar, where you can walk into PDC either by beach or the road. The Barcelo was remote from anything, and there didn't seem to be too much around. You felt like you were stuck there...but again that's my personal feeling and others may not agree and prefer the seclusion.
Anyway, you will enjoy the amenties of the resort, food was excellent, place was impeccably clean and well maintained. - Enjoy!

thecuz · 03-09-2002

Hi Cewles, thanks for your response. We will have a car for most of the time we are there so the distance isn't as important as it would be to some. Is the beach good for swiiming? Are there any particular areas you can recall that we would be wise to look for room numbers in? We stayed in a large hotel, the LTI Sol de Plata, in Punta Cana D.R. this past December and our room was quite close to the beach which was nice. Have you stayed at other A.I.'s in the Riviera Maya tht you would recommend? Thanks again for your help!

cewles · 03-10-2002

The beach was in sort of in a bay and the water was very calm. At the north end of the beach there was a dock, where you could go snorkelling from and a very small island just a bit out where you could swim or snorkel to. Also at the north end of the beach it was quite rocky and lots of little interesting sea creatures scampering around the rocks. During the day when the tide was out this rocky area was smelly from the stagnent sea water pooling in the rocks. So if that bothers you you may not want to park you beach lounger to close. But trust me this is just such a small part of such a large beach area. Much further south past the sports hut is where those who wanted to be either topless or completely nude, parked their chairs. Very secluded at that end and less activity as well.
In terms of room location, the building sections were the names of the various ruins such as Coba, Tulum and there were about four three-storey buildings on each the Beach and Garden side, which housed many rooms in each (this resort accomodates over 2000 guests). I think we were in Tulum (on the Beach side) which was a perfect location. (First block of rooms from main hotel building) There are no rooms directly on the beach.
One addemdum to my previous note; there are two a la carte resturants, El Agave(Mexican) and Don Quijote (Spanish). They both required reservations be made in advance. And you can only visit each one once during your stay as you are handed tickets for these at check-in and must present when reserving.
I only go to AI resorts and have been to all of the Riu resorts in Playa except the Riu Playacar, but booked to go there in April. As well, have also stayed at the Iberostar and Rius in Punta Cana. - Hope this info helps.

thecuz · 03-11-2002

Hi Cewles, thanks for all the great information! Lisa and I love all-in vacationing and it would seem that you are a devotee as well...I see from some of your posts that you have stayed in a number of the AI's in Playa. We are actually getting married there. We will have a group of about 15-20. Given what you know of the resorts...which would you chooss for a wedding and two week stay?

cewles · 03-12-2002

Hi thecuz, yes I am a devotee of AI's simply because they are hassle free - and also being from Canada, you can't beat the price that we get for these (air/hotel/transfers/allmeals/drinks etc) packages. It's nice not having to carry cash around with you all the time for drinks or whatever, there's never a surprise at check-out either from having to charge meals or drinks to your room. I've done the non-inclusive once before and I guess because of our dollar it hits the wallet pretty hard. Ok- recommendations for a two-week AI (BTW -we always go for two weeks - and love it)- Riu's are great (obviously I'm sold on them)the Barcelo is nice, and from what I hear so is the Bahia Principe in Tulum/Akumal - similar to Barcelo. Another nice place is the Iberostar or Royal Hideaway. I guess really it depends on where you want to be - in quieter seclusion like the Barcelo or in Playa were there is always things to do close by. The only place that I did hear was not that great is the Caribbean Village and Viva Maya. It could be because these are only rated 3-stars (here in Canada) and I know from expereince that there is a tremendous difference between food, service, etc in a 3-star to a 5-star. With a group of 15-20 I would recommend a 5-star property and possibly the Riu resorts (either the Yucatan or the Palace) because there is lots of variety and you can wander between resorts and use the facilities of all of the resorts (except the main dining). Actually let me correct myself on this, if you are in the Palace you can use all of the resorts, if you are in the Yucatan, Tequila or Playacar you cannot access the Palace, but can all the others. - Possibly others in this forum can add comments on other good AI's. But my basic believe is your holiday is how you make it, if you look for the negative in everything quite possibly it won't be a good experience. And with a group your size it may not be possible to satisfy everyone. But if everyone is there to have fun and not worry about the small things, then you will have a terrific time no matter where you stay.

thecuz · 03-12-2002

Thanks again Cewles. Lisa and I (I'm Chris by the way)are definitely of the same mindset as you regarding AI's. Pay the bulk of your money at home in C$'s and you never have to worry about what the day to day things are gonna cost. Budgeting is so easy and you don't have to sweat about what this restaurant is gonna cost and "can we afford to do this?". We have stayed at two AI's, the Royal Decameron in P.V. and the Sol de Plata in Punta Cana D.R. and enjoyed ourselves immensely both times. We have also had a wonderful non A.I. vacation in Kona Hawaii, and though it was one of the best vacations I have ever experienced - it hurt in the pocket book when we got back! (and the C$ is worse now).

Any particular "can't miss" excursions we should plan in advance on Playa? I have heard that Xcaret is great and of course there are Mayan ruins eveywhere. Did you golf on any of your trips there? How about deep sea fishing?

Cheers, Chris

cewles · 03-12-2002

Hi Chris, (BTW - I am Chris too)
Excursions - Xcaret is great, lots of variety quite touristy..but fun, the snorkelling along the underground river is really neat. I took my 6-year old there and she loved every minute at Xcaret. I've done the Xel-ha and Tulum tour, excellent day trip worth the money, but do take bottled water or Gatorade on the Tulum portion. It is very hot and you become dehydrated quickly. Do go to a Cenote and swim/snorkel, I can't recall the one we went to but excellent. Do go to the town of Playa at least once and spend time there....it's fun, interesting, lots of good places to get a cold cerveza and sit back and people watch. Have not gone to Cozumel. I want to but we have watched the ferries head out and almost get sea sick just watching it bob on the waves. If you are the least bit motion sick, like me,you might not want to venture. Have not gone fishing either, but my husband may try on this coming trip. As for golf, I am an avid golfer here in Canada, but stay away from golfing while on vacation. The course at Playacar is beautiful and very well maintained from what I saw.

My only tip, and not to offend anyone here, is we have always found it cheaper to do many of the trips on our own instead of booking through the resort. But you really have to check each and every excursion out beforehand. An example, is when we were going to Xcaret, the hotel was charging $75US/Adult and $50/child. We took a taxi, $10/each way (from the Barcelo) paid $35/adult to get in and no charge for the child.

thecuz · 03-13-2002

Hey Chris, (cool name btw!)

Because we will have a vehicle this trip (for part of the time anyway) I don't imagine that we will be buying too many "packaged" tours. Lisa and I have been on a few in the past and though we can't complain about the value we generally received it is gonna be fun to "make" our own tours!

I am so looking forward to swim/snorkelling in cenotes. It sounds like such a unique thing to do. Can we rent snorkel gear in town or is it likely to be available at some of the sites? And most definitely we will be spending some time in Playa del Carmen. One of the reasons the area appealed to us in the first place is the fact that the town itself will be part of the trip. We don't mind the solitude and self=containedness of resorts like the Sol de Plata we stayed at in the D.R. but Playa sounds like it is the right sorta style and size.

When are you guys going on your next vacation?

Thanks for all your advice,

Chris

jesdela · 03-13-2002

Chris,
Might want to try the following link for very detail info on the Barcelo-Maya:
http://www.unofficial-barcelo-maya.com

...jes

thecuz · 03-13-2002

Hi Jes,

Thanks a ton! Karen has done quite a thorough job for an "unofficial" site, she must be a fan. Thanks again for the link.

Chris

cewles · 03-14-2002

Hey Chris,
Re: the cenotes - when we went on this trip we were supplied by the tour group with snorkels, fins etc as part of the cost. They also provided a great bbq lunch with beer and beverages etc.
Our next trip to Playa is in 4 weeks (April 14th) - we are counting down now. Staying at the Riu Playacar for two weeks.....can't wait. :grin:

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03-06-2002	#1 (permalink)
thecuz beachaholic Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Vancouver, Canada Posts: 433	Has anyone stayed at this hotel or heard anything about it? We are looking at staying there upcoming December. My only reservation is that the Barcelo hotel in Punta Cana, D.R. was not as nice as advertised.....

03-08-2002	#2 (permalink)
cewles toe in water Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Toronto, Canada Posts: 57	I stayed at the Barcelo when it first open 2 years ago. It is very nice, typical of a 5-star resort. It's about 20 minutes south of PDC just past Puerto Adventuras. The Barcelo is actually two resorts (or at the time was) the "Beach" and "Garden"(which don't be fooled into believing that this side is in a garden, it is identical to the Beach side). The resort is an extremely large, probably one of the largest properties I've seen. Two extremely large pools with fountains swim up at one of them. The beach is expansive with lots of room, no crowding. There were two resturants near the beach, one on the "Beach" side, one on the "Garden" side of the resort. During the day they served pretty much the same thing, pizza, chicken, burgers, salads, fruit etc. In the evening, each became a differnt type of resturant, I believe, one was a Steak and Seafood and the other (can't recall). In the evening the restaurant on the Garden side became the disco, and they had pizza, hotdogs and burgers late at night. In the hotel itself, there are two buffet restuarants, each identical, one for the Garden side, one for Beach side. The guest rooms were quite tastefully decorated, I recall bathroom scales being in the room. (YIKES!) There is also a Spanish resturant that you can make reservations at in the main building. The theatre, where the nightly entertainment was held was in the middle of the two resorts so both could share...and it was large as well. The one thing about this resort that stands out most, was the size, everything seemed large, everything was quite a walk, so if you are travelling with anyone who may have difficulites walking any distances, this resort is not for them. The Barcelo overall I would keep it's rating at a 5-star in my opinion. It was very very nice, the kids program was great (I had my 6-year old with me and she loved it). There were always activites going on, and the mini-putt (if still there) was a great break late in the afternoon, when you had enough sun and beach. The only draw back (and this is more personal than enything else) is you had to take a taxi anywhere you wanted to go. Not like being in Playacar, where you can walk into PDC either by beach or the road. The Barcelo was remote from anything, and there didn't seem to be too much around. You felt like you were stuck there...but again that's my personal feeling and others may not agree and prefer the seclusion. Anyway, you will enjoy the amenties of the resort, food was excellent, place was impeccably clean and well maintained. - Enjoy!

03-09-2002	#3 (permalink)
thecuz beachaholic Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Vancouver, Canada Posts: 433	Hi Cewles, thanks for your response. We will have a car for most of the time we are there so the distance isn't as important as it would be to some. Is the beach good for swiiming? Are there any particular areas you can recall that we would be wise to look for room numbers in? We stayed in a large hotel, the LTI Sol de Plata, in Punta Cana D.R. this past December and our room was quite close to the beach which was nice. Have you stayed at other A.I.'s in the Riviera Maya tht you would recommend? Thanks again for your help!

03-10-2002	#4 (permalink)
cewles toe in water Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Toronto, Canada Posts: 57	The beach was in sort of in a bay and the water was very calm. At the north end of the beach there was a dock, where you could go snorkelling from and a very small island just a bit out where you could swim or snorkel to. Also at the north end of the beach it was quite rocky and lots of little interesting sea creatures scampering around the rocks. During the day when the tide was out this rocky area was smelly from the stagnent sea water pooling in the rocks. So if that bothers you you may not want to park you beach lounger to close. But trust me this is just such a small part of such a large beach area. Much further south past the sports hut is where those who wanted to be either topless or completely nude, parked their chairs. Very secluded at that end and less activity as well. In terms of room location, the building sections were the names of the various ruins such as Coba, Tulum and there were about four three-storey buildings on each the Beach and Garden side, which housed many rooms in each (this resort accomodates over 2000 guests). I think we were in Tulum (on the Beach side) which was a perfect location. (First block of rooms from main hotel building) There are no rooms directly on the beach. One addemdum to my previous note; there are two a la carte resturants, El Agave(Mexican) and Don Quijote (Spanish). They both required reservations be made in advance. And you can only visit each one once during your stay as you are handed tickets for these at check-in and must present when reserving. I only go to AI resorts and have been to all of the Riu resorts in Playa except the Riu Playacar, but booked to go there in April. As well, have also stayed at the Iberostar and Rius in Punta Cana. - Hope this info helps.

03-11-2002	#5 (permalink)
thecuz beachaholic Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Vancouver, Canada Posts: 433	Hi Cewles, thanks for all the great information! Lisa and I love all-in vacationing and it would seem that you are a devotee as well...I see from some of your posts that you have stayed in a number of the AI's in Playa. We are actually getting married there. We will have a group of about 15-20. Given what you know of the resorts...which would you chooss for a wedding and two week stay?

03-12-2002	#6 (permalink)
cewles toe in water Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Toronto, Canada Posts: 57	Hi thecuz, yes I am a devotee of AI's simply because they are hassle free - and also being from Canada, you can't beat the price that we get for these (air/hotel/transfers/allmeals/drinks etc) packages. It's nice not having to carry cash around with you all the time for drinks or whatever, there's never a surprise at check-out either from having to charge meals or drinks to your room. I've done the non-inclusive once before and I guess because of our dollar it hits the wallet pretty hard. Ok- recommendations for a two-week AI (BTW -we always go for two weeks - and love it)- Riu's are great (obviously I'm sold on them)the Barcelo is nice, and from what I hear so is the Bahia Principe in Tulum/Akumal - similar to Barcelo. Another nice place is the Iberostar or Royal Hideaway. I guess really it depends on where you want to be - in quieter seclusion like the Barcelo or in Playa were there is always things to do close by. The only place that I did hear was not that great is the Caribbean Village and Viva Maya. It could be because these are only rated 3-stars (here in Canada) and I know from expereince that there is a tremendous difference between food, service, etc in a 3-star to a 5-star. With a group of 15-20 I would recommend a 5-star property and possibly the Riu resorts (either the Yucatan or the Palace) because there is lots of variety and you can wander between resorts and use the facilities of all of the resorts (except the main dining). Actually let me correct myself on this, if you are in the Palace you can use all of the resorts, if you are in the Yucatan, Tequila or Playacar you cannot access the Palace, but can all the others. - Possibly others in this forum can add comments on other good AI's. But my basic believe is your holiday is how you make it, if you look for the negative in everything quite possibly it won't be a good experience. And with a group your size it may not be possible to satisfy everyone. But if everyone is there to have fun and not worry about the small things, then you will have a terrific time no matter where you stay.

03-12-2002	#7 (permalink)
thecuz beachaholic Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Vancouver, Canada Posts: 433	Thanks again Cewles. Lisa and I (I'm Chris by the way)are definitely of the same mindset as you regarding AI's. Pay the bulk of your money at home in C$'s and you never have to worry about what the day to day things are gonna cost. Budgeting is so easy and you don't have to sweat about what this restaurant is gonna cost and "can we afford to do this?". We have stayed at two AI's, the Royal Decameron in P.V. and the Sol de Plata in Punta Cana D.R. and enjoyed ourselves immensely both times. We have also had a wonderful non A.I. vacation in Kona Hawaii, and though it was one of the best vacations I have ever experienced - it hurt in the pocket book when we got back! (and the C$ is worse now). Any particular "can't miss" excursions we should plan in advance on Playa? I have heard that Xcaret is great and of course there are Mayan ruins eveywhere. Did you golf on any of your trips there? How about deep sea fishing? Cheers, Chris

03-12-2002	#8 (permalink)
cewles toe in water Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Toronto, Canada Posts: 57	Hi Chris, (BTW - I am Chris too) Excursions - Xcaret is great, lots of variety quite touristy..but fun, the snorkelling along the underground river is really neat. I took my 6-year old there and she loved every minute at Xcaret. I've done the Xel-ha and Tulum tour, excellent day trip worth the money, but do take bottled water or Gatorade on the Tulum portion. It is very hot and you become dehydrated quickly. Do go to a Cenote and swim/snorkel, I can't recall the one we went to but excellent. Do go to the town of Playa at least once and spend time there....it's fun, interesting, lots of good places to get a cold cerveza and sit back and people watch. Have not gone to Cozumel. I want to but we have watched the ferries head out and almost get sea sick just watching it bob on the waves. If you are the least bit motion sick, like me,you might not want to venture. Have not gone fishing either, but my husband may try on this coming trip. As for golf, I am an avid golfer here in Canada, but stay away from golfing while on vacation. The course at Playacar is beautiful and very well maintained from what I saw. My only tip, and not to offend anyone here, is we have always found it cheaper to do many of the trips on our own instead of booking through the resort. But you really have to check each and every excursion out beforehand. An example, is when we were going to Xcaret, the hotel was charging $75US/Adult and $50/child. We took a taxi, $10/each way (from the Barcelo) paid $35/adult to get in and no charge for the child.

03-13-2002	#9 (permalink)
thecuz beachaholic Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Vancouver, Canada Posts: 433	Hey Chris, (cool name btw!) Because we will have a vehicle this trip (for part of the time anyway) I don't imagine that we will be buying too many "packaged" tours. Lisa and I have been on a few in the past and though we can't complain about the value we generally received it is gonna be fun to "make" our own tours! I am so looking forward to swim/snorkelling in cenotes. It sounds like such a unique thing to do. Can we rent snorkel gear in town or is it likely to be available at some of the sites? And most definitely we will be spending some time in Playa del Carmen. One of the reasons the area appealed to us in the first place is the fact that the town itself will be part of the trip. We don't mind the solitude and self=containedness of resorts like the Sol de Plata we stayed at in the D.R. but Playa sounds like it is the right sorta style and size. When are you guys going on your next vacation? Thanks for all your advice, Chris

03-13-2002	#10 (permalink)
jesdela sandflea Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: California Posts: 2	Chris, Might want to try the following link for very detail info on the Barcelo-Maya: http://www.unofficial-barcelo-maya.com ...jes

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03-13-2002	#11 (permalink)
thecuz beachaholic Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Vancouver, Canada Posts: 433	Hi Jes, Thanks a ton! Karen has done quite a thorough job for an "unofficial" site, she must be a fan. Thanks again for the link. Chris

03-14-2002	#12 (permalink)
cewles toe in water Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Toronto, Canada Posts: 57	Hey Chris, Re: the cenotes - when we went on this trip we were supplied by the tour group with snorkels, fins etc as part of the cost. They also provided a great bbq lunch with beer and beverages etc. Our next trip to Playa is in 4 weeks (April 14th) - we are counting down now. Staying at the Riu Playacar for two weeks.....can't wait. :grin: