Barcelo Maya Beach Resort
Address: Puerto Juarez Km. 266,3
Puerto Aventuras, Mexico
Tel: (52) 987 51 500
Fax: (52) 987 51 501
Email: mayabeach@barcelo.com
URL: Barcelo Maya Beach Resort
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Type of Property: All Inclusive
Beach Location: Beach Front (Directly on Beach/Water Front)
Island: Mexico
No. of Rooms/Units: 612
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Summary of All Property Reviews
Ratings based on answers from a total of 18 reviews (All Reviews)
10 is best 1 is worst |
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| Feature |
Ranking |
Feature |
Ranking |
| Cleanliness of Property |
9.17 |
Quality of Property |
9.33 |
| Privacy & Quietness |
5.28 |
Quality of Service |
8.11 |
| Courtesy & Hospitality of Staff |
8.67 |
Accuracy of Website (marketing hype) VS. Actual Experience |
8.17 |
| Food and Dining Experience |
7.78 |
Price/Value of Property |
8.22 |
| Safety Factor (Did you feel safe at property) |
9.22 |
Quality of Beach (ranked closest beach if property is located off the beach) |
9.33 |
| Total Property Score: 8.33 | Average Star Rating: 4.39 out of 5 |
- 83% (15 visitors of 18) said they would go back to Barcelo Maya Beach Resort again.
- 83% (15 visitors of 18) said they would recommend Barcelo Maya Beach Resort to friends.
Overall Good experience; BAD service...
Traveler Review By: Ryan Padgett from Fairfield, CA
Date of Visit: October 2008
My Wife and I stayed at the Barcelo Maya Tropical(the middle of the 3 main hotels on the property)...First off, the good points...
Beautiful Property! Expansive, can find isolation if you want it, beautiful, well maintained beach, even wildlife seen throughout the property.
Food was great; wonderful buffets, great restaurants(book them EARLY! Oh, you can actually go to any restaurant you want to with your reservation tickets, but for some, you may have to pay a $15 US upgrade fee...the french restaurant was AWESOME! the seafood restaurant was OK...too small of portions, BUT the maitre-de really went out of his way to make us all eel welcome na dhelped us celebrate multiple special occasions(honeymoon, anniversary, birthdays)..He was great!...the japanese was pretty good; it was essentially your run-of-the-mill hibachi grill. Overall, staff was friendly, but it helps if someone in your group speaks spanish!
Had a very family friendly atmosphere without sacrificing the ability to have an elegant atmosphere for the adults without kids.
Only went to one show, but the circus show was great!
Now for the bad...and there were a feew SERIOUS bad ones.
TERRIBLE communcation....We tried to book in advance for a king bed(this WAS our honeymoon after all!), but all we ended up was with 2 full sized beds. We gave up after two days of trying.
We tried to book a breakfast in bed(comes with it in the honeymoon package)...they were supposed to leave a bottle of champagne in the room at some point, as well as breakfast in bed. We scheduled the breakfast in bed, rescheduled it then for our last monrning there, but it never came. Luckily we caught the buffet before we left.
The security WAS a little unsettling. It seemed like they were standing between hotels checking bracelets to make sure you were in the "right hotel"(all property is supposed to be open to all resorts)...Also, we could only order drinks at the bars in our hotel or "lower"(the "ranking" starts at the colonial, then the tropical, then the palace...we found out we couldn't use the palace bars).
SERIOUS PROBLEM WITH DISHONESTY!!!!
We left a tip for the maid service on the bed(about 2 dollars), and a separate tip for the mini-bar restocker(2 different people)...we came back one day after the restocker, but before the maid, and the restocker had taken his two dollars, as well as one of the maids dollars(left one)....we looked to make sure it didn't fall behind the bed). After that, we left "do not disturb" on our doors every other day until we needed it cleaned and new towels...and we double checked our valuable in the safe every day....felt like I couldn't leave anything out in the room.
DISHONESTY #2.(FOR ANYONE USING EXTRA SCUBA DIVING?SNORKELLING SERVICES!!!!!!!)
ADVICE....NO MATTER WHAT THEY SAY, have them charge your credit card is DOLLARS ONLY, even if they tell you so there's no "sales tax"(that's a lie)...I found out later that if they charge you in pesos, YOU have to pay a 1% conversion fee(used mastercard), but if they charge in DOLLARS, THEY have to pay it....
ALSO, DO NOT PREPAY FOR ANY TRIPS, no matter HOW MUCH THEY tell you THEY NEED YOU TOO!!!Pay just before you go out!!! We had to cancel a dive trip, and they made us get a DOCTORS NOTE before they would give us any refund! (I called my doctor and had him send me an email for free, but otherwise you would have to pay $100 or more to get seen by a local doctor and have them give you a note)...when we finally DID get a refund(after we provided the note), they ran the card manually(i.e. the old slide and carbon paper, circa 1987), even though they had the same machine they ran the original charge on right in front of us. PLUS, the WILDLY OVERCHARGE for diving(even for a RESORT)...to get 2 tanks in the cenotes(for two qualified divers WITH ALL EQUIPMENT save first stage and tank), they required my wife to take a "check dive" in the reef(at another 65$ for each of us), THEN a 75$ or so "excursion fee" per person(supposedly to pay for lunches brought out and gas to drive to two different cenotes...they're 5 miles away)..all in all, they ran 6810 pesos (about $510 US) for 3 dives each...INSANE!!!! My advice...if you plan to dive cenotes, book the trip with a local dive shop..(from Tulum, playa del carmen, etc(they're all wihin about 15/30 miles of the hotel...you can catch a transient taxi service to anywhere you want to go for about $3 US/ person each way)..they're totally safe, and basically run like a mix between a taxi and a shuttle service....
IF you plan to dive COZUMEL, book the trip with a cozumel dive shop, then pay $10 to catch the ferry over to cozumel early in the morning and $10 back...the hotel will charge you $135 US /person "excursion fee"(diving NOT included..that's still 65$/person per dive) for basacilly lunch and the ferry(they take the same ferry)....
Not to leave on a bad note....My wife and I had a great time all in all, and we'de even like to go back. Overall experience was great, but now knowing what we know, we'll go back with a little better planning and experience...hopefully this will help you all out! Have fun! feel free to email me if you have any other questions!
Property Review
10 is best 1 is worst
Would you stay at this property again?: ... Yes
Would you recommend this property to your friends?: ... No
In your opinion, how would you classify the "style" of this property: ... Family Oriented
Possible Anwswers: Family Oriented, Couples Oriented, Mixed/Diverse in a Good Way, Mixed/Diverse in a Bad Way
Property Service Rankings: (Average Ranking = 6.30)
- Cleanliness of Property: ... 6
- Quality of Property: ... 8
- Privacy and Quietness: ... 0
- Quality of Service: ... 4
- Courtesy and Hospitality of Staff: ... 9
- Accuracy of Website VS. Actual Experience: ... 3
- Food and Dining Experience: ... 9
- Price/Value of Property: ... 7
- Safety Factor (Did you feel safe at property): ... 7
- Quality of Beach (ranked closest beach if property is located off the beach): ... 10
Destination/Island Review
10 is best 1 is worst
Would you visit this destination/island again?: ... Yes
Would you recommend this destination/island to your friends?: ... Yes
Destination Rankings: (Average Ranking = 8.38)
- Cleanliness of Destination/Island: ... 8
- Options of Activities in the Area: ... 10
- Ease of Transportation (air, taxi, bus, shuttle): ... 7
- Quality of Beaches in the Area: ... 9
- Courtesy & Hospitality of Locals: ... 10
- Safety Factor (Did you feel safe in the Area): ... 8
- Local Restaurant Experience/Options: ... 8
- Price/Value of Destination (Does your dollar stretch?): ... 7
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Snorkeling and Scuba Diving Rankings:
Did you
Snorkel during your trip? ... Yes
Did you Scuba Dive during your trip? ... No
10 is best 1 is worst |
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Snorkeling Ratings |
Scuba Diving Ratings |
| Water Clarity ... 6 |
Water Clarity ... 0 |
| Health of the Reef ... 6 |
Health of the Reef ... 0 |
| Overall Experience ... 7 |
Overall Experience ... 0 |
| Would you recommend snorkeling here? ... Yes |
Would you recommend diving here? ... N/A |
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