Barcelo Maya Colonial - All Inclusive

Customer Ratings & Reviews

TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

11443 reviews

• 

  Save your money!

  We booked this hotel as it was rated a 5 star hotel. There were some mixed reviews but more positive than negative & I am usually very easily satisfied with all inclusives. Well not this time. The staff at this resort was the most unfriendly staff I had ever dealt with. Nobody said good morning. Nobody spoke English. Nobody went out of their way to help you. A smile goes a long way and you were lucky if you got one. I know you can’t please everybody but as I stated, I am usually very satisfied with all inclusive resorts because that is how I like to travel. This was the worst experience. The food was so so. Not only did I see three guests use their own hands to pick up food from the buffet when there were tongs and spoons available, but I saw the actual chefs using their bare hands to prepare food! I think gloves and hairnets should be required when you are prepping food. The alcoholic drinks that were included in our had basically no alcohol. I’m not a big drinker at all, but I would like to relax while I’m on vacation and their drinks just tasted like pure fruit juice. There are not enough waiters and waitresses walking around the pool or beach area and there certainly aren’t enough bartenders at the bars either. Tipping was included in our package however we always tip extra for better service and as much as we tipped the service never got any better. Our first full day there I went to go make reservations at some of the specialty restaurants and I was told only one restaurant was available at 9 PM the entire week we were there. I’m sorry, but we were two people in our party and I found it completely unacceptable that they could not get us in. That was until I went to the front desk and asked to speak to a hotel manager. She did help and got us into four restaurants at normal dinner time hours but when we got to our tables at these restaurants, we noticed that there were numerous empty tables throughout the restaurants. I don’t understand why we were told we couldn’t get in until 9 PM and they were booked all week. We saw plenty of availability. The room we stayed in was musty smelling. The AC only had a high, medium low and off setting. You could not actually adjust the temperature to make it warmer. Most times we just shut it off because it was too cold even to keep it on low. The bathtub had paint peeling in it. It also had hair in the drain. We had to call every 2 days for more towels too. Overall, not a pleasant experience & I would not recommend.

  Mar 29, 2025
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  Great holiday

  An excellent vacation for our 4th time there with a 2 week stay. The weather was great with just a few small showers one day. We love the sun but actually had to seek shade at times. We switched rooms after the 1st day because of the dampness in the room but were located in the area of the Colonial we like close to the pickleball courts. Thanks to Max the bellhop who made the switch so easy ( a great staff member ). Our room was always kept clean. Getting reservations for the a la cartes was easy thanks to Lupita ( another great staff member ). Getting chairs by the beach or pool was the most difficult part. Thankfully, my wife who is an early riser would get a chair for us between 5:30 and 7 (although beach chairs were impossible to get most days at 7 ). Some days we would notice people putting things on chairs and when we left at 4 p.m. to play pickleball the chairs were still not used and other people couldn't find a chair. We met many very friendly people from Canada and the United States. A very enjoyable vacation!

  Mar 29, 2025
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  Great resort and amenities but better service and security needed

  Overall lovely resort. Service at the check in desk is very slow. Maintenance don’t even come to my room when our shower broke. Amenities are fantastic! Lots to see and do. Buffet is ok, restaurants are great if you can get a reservation. Don’t order a taxi from the bell hop. They will rip you off, at least they did my wife and other family members. If you’re going in spring break, and you don’t let your kids run around at all hours of the night acting like idiots then be sure to ask for a central room not one on the casino side. We were woken every night we were there by numerous kids yelling, and fighting.

  Mar 28, 2025
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  Never go during Spring Break... unless you like mayhem.

  If I had known that over 1300 grade 12 students were going to be there during my stay, I would NOT have come to this resort. There should be a way to forewarn guests that this is happening. I went to relax and had anything but a relaxing trip. Getting up before 6:30 am to get chairs by the pool or beach should not be a thing. People should not be able to reserve chairs like that. The longest we were ever away from our chairs was to grab a quick bite to eat. Some people would reserve chairs at 6 am and then not come and use them until noon. It's maddening. The bed in the room was very comfortable. The only reason for giving sleep quality a "poor" was because of the students yelling and screaming outside our room each night. I had to roll up towels and shove in the crack of the door just to dampen the noise (and it didn't work well). Also, having to get up so early to reserve chairs was also ludicrous! When on vacation it is nice to be able to "sleep in" a bit. If you wanted chairs, that was not a possibility. The resort was beautiful, but I wouldn't come back. Also, the rooms were so musty, that I've had to wash my clothes several times since I've been back just to remove the smell.

  Mar 28, 2025
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  7th trip to barcelo

  This was our 7th trip to Barcelo. We stayed at the colonial which we have before. The actual hotel does not play a factor into our trip. This was our first spring break experience and we knew it would be busy. We arrived early (1:30 pm) and knew our room would not be ready until 3:00pm. At 3:00 we approached the desk and was told to return in 15 minutes, then 30, then 1+ hours. Eventually, they gave us a different room. We had to bring our own bags up (not really an issue but they bring everyone else's up...) upon entering the room, we found the safe and fridge to not be working. We went back down with our luggage and were finally placed back in our original room. This is now at 5:30pm. Things definitely went up from there, the food was decent as always, you can always find something you like. We were able to get our dinners booked. But the resort was packed and so understaffed. The bartenders and waiter/waitresses worked so hard to try and keep up. I felt terrible for them. The beach was lovely per usual and the marenostrum, Capri and Kyoto were delicious! Overall, I think we will venture somewhere else next year.

  Mar 28, 2025