Barcelo Aruba - All Inclusive

Customer Ratings & Reviews

TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

10889 reviews

• 

  Kids club

  Marilyn at the kids club is so amazing and sweet. She was so attentive with my son and made him feel so special. We’ve been to this hotel many times but it was my toddlers first and we can’t wait to be back with him next year ! So impressed and grateful for our experience !

  Mar 11, 2025
• 

  50th Birthday with large group

  The furniture in the rooms, lobby, bars and beach chairs need to be replaced. They are well worn and have large indentations from compressed foam. The bed was very firm and the pillows were flat. The furniture made it feel old and dated.

  Mar 10, 2025
• 

  Jorman- Cocktail Waiter Pool&bech

  We had the best visit to the beach because of Jorman. He was so welcoming, accommodating, friendly and kind. He made sure we were taken care of the entire time we were on the beach, always with a smile. Thank you so much, Jorman! You’re the best ❤️

  Mar 10, 2025
• 

  Worst resort on Palm Beach

  This was the most disappointing experience I’ve had at a resort. My boyfriend and I are two of the most laid back individuals, so the fact we were this frustrated and disgusted by our experience says something. From the moment we checked in, we were met by unfriendly staff that always seemed to be inconvenienced to help you. We arrived and were told reservations for the restaurants were “encouraged”, however the reservation desk was closed for the day and we could try to walk-in at any of the restaurants. That evening, we tried to walk-in at each of the restaurants (Mexican restaurant was closed) and were told they had no availability, meanwhile there were visibly open tables. Noted. We went to the buffet that night for dinner and to put it simply, it was disgusting. We got there within 30 mins of them opening and food that should be served hot was all cold. The next morning I went to the reservation desk to make our reservations for the week - for a 6 night stay, I was told we were only able to make up to 3 reservations - meaning we would need to eat at the buffet the remaining nights. After experiencing that the night before, we knew that was not an option for us and we made reservations off property. Breakfast - buffet is manageable if you want to eat an omelette each day. Lunch - buffet is disgusting. Not one appetizing option. Even the burgers were gross - they are boiled before and sitting in water when you go to ask for one and then quickly thrown on the grill to warm them up. To me that’s simply unacceptable. We ended up eating breakfast and lunch off property each day after our experience at both. For the restaurants- Mexico Lindo - Our server Gerald was a sweetheart and made a below average meal more enjoyable. Kyoto - very small portions, average food. L’Olio - the best food we had at the resort and still not great. Our server Umberto was amazing. He was the one server all week that anticipated our needs and never let our glass be empty. We never made it to the Aruban Seafood restaurant. It is worth noting, during each of our meals at the restaurants, there were numerous open tables. I’m not sure why getting a reservation is so difficult. Rooms are fine. However, shampoo and body wash dispensers do not work. Room lacks basic necessities such as body lotion or conditioner. Every other service member seemed to do the bare minimum - I felt like I was inconveniencing them just simply asking for a drink at the bar or a refill of water at dinner. So weird, especially with this being an all-inclusive. I understand not wanting to over-serve guests but asking for second drink at dinner and being met by an eye roll or a sigh is bizarre. The one redeeming quality of the resort is the beach, however you can get that at any of the neighboring resorts. The beach is also ruined by the broken system of “securing” beach huts/palapas. Each morning you need to be on the beach between 4am-5am if you even want a chance at securing one of these shady areas. The few memorable staff members of this resort are the gentleman that work on the beach moving chairs. Antonio, Vladimir and the rest of the crew were fantastic all week. I wish I had gotten everyone’s names so I could give them the credit and recognition they deserve. The nonsense they deal with each day of upset guests not knowing how early they need to be down to reserve a hut, to guests fighting with one another for these huts is insane. There are a few drink runners that work the beach, Nate, aka Nate the Great, was awesome. Such a friendly guy and gave some really good recommendations for our time on the island. The cherry on top of the trip was calling Room Service on our last full day. We called for fresh towels and water bottles for the room. After 45 mins, we called again being we had yet to receive them. After another 30 mins, I went downstairs to the front desk to ask a third time. Overall, it took 2 hours and 3 asks to get the towels delivered to our room, water bottles never made it. Beyond pathetic. If you’re looking for a stay on Palm Beach, I suggest looking at any of the other hotels in the area. Maybe we were spoiled by all-inclusive resorts we have stayed at in the past, but I don’t think we are unreasonable to desire a certain level of customer service and quality when booking an all-inclusive. The value just simply isn’t there at the Barceló.

  Mar 10, 2025
• 

  Lack of sleep

  We really enjoyed the resort itself. Were a bit worried about the reviews on the restaurants and food at Barcelo Aruba but we found no issues there. There was a good variety of food and it was always pipping hot. No problem reserving seats in the restaurants either. We found all staff to be amazing and friendly. The big issue for us was the loud, music every night from the bars across the street. Loud music went anywhere from 1:00 am until 3:00 am on the weekends. Ear plugs didn't work because the base actually vibrated the room. We work hard and look forward to a vacation that is both fun and relaxing. We are not exactly early birds but excessive noise late every night was just too much. We mentioned it to the front desk staff over the week on more than one occasion but they only shrugged. Said there was nothing they could do. Too bad. I would give this resort a rating of 5 if we would have been able to sleep!

  Mar 10, 2025