Barcelo Ixtapa - All-Inclusive

Customer ratings & reviews

TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

9411 reviews

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  Towel Wars

  Before 7:30 AM from our balcony when I looked out, I could not see an available chair and I believe most of them were gone on the beach. At 9 AM 95% them did not have anyone in them. In Jamaica Luxury Runaway Bay. All towels were removed from the chairs before 9 AM unless you were there. Guess what. They're always seem to be seating for everyone in the were no issues. People didn't leave towels and go on excursions or the buddy that comes down and throws 20 towels out for his friends was not an issue. Otherwise this place is good great location, good food and nice service. Good rooms. If you don't mind laying on the sand in your own towel or staying in the pool with no place to sit or eat.

  Jan 22, 2025
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  Best Ixtapa experience. It was my birthday and cake and champagne was sthe room, signing waiters at dinner.

  Very good experience from the first person I met at the reception desk: Erika. I explained what kind of room I wanted which was different from the one that was selected for us, and no problem the room was changed. She was very pleasant, spoke English and smiled all the while. Next was Paulina, concierge whom I met there on a previous trip. See too was very accommodating and set us up with dining options other than the buffet. Then Karen our housekeeper who kept making towel characters daily, room always tidy and stocked.

  Jan 20, 2025
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  Family Trip

  This hotel has good location and the city of Ixtapa is very clean, the beach is clean with good water temperature.

  Jan 06, 2025
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  Quality of food and room maintenance were poor

  Though the employees were friendly and beach beautiful, the quality of food and shabby rooms were surprisingly bad. If you are visiting from outside of Mexico, you may find that the communication about dinner reservations and beach/ pool chairs is very confusing.

  Jan 03, 2025
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  December 2024 Family Vacation

  This is the second time we've stayed at a Barcelo resort. The first was Barcelo Puerto Vallarta in 2023. WARNING 1: I booked both experiences on Barcelo.com. .com. In Puerto Vallarta, this automatically placed me in the premium category. In Ixtapa, it did not. This is important because at no time during the booking of the Ixtapa experience was it explained that a 7 night stay only provides access to 2 a la carte dining options, with 2 buffets and a snack bar being the only other options. The pool side snack bar became a "fine" dining seafood restaurant at night. The buffet food was decent but repetitive. In short: The dining experience at Barcelo Puerto Vallarta is superior to the dining experience at Barcelo Ixtapa. PV was excellent, Ixtapa was okay. WARNING 2: I booked a "Superior Family Villa" which is described as a "privileged location next to the pool. Bar and Beach Service to enjoy as a family." They don't tell you that it might be 3-4 flights up. I could not explain the difference between a Family Villa and Superior Family Villa if you asked. WARNING 3: Water. I believe our family was provided (3) 650 mL bottle of water each day. You can request more but it is carefully policed. We bought our own from the OXXO across the street, but the point is for the amount we are paying (especially over Christmas), we shouldn't have to. Find another area to make your profits. PRAISE 1: The resort is very clean. Rooms are clean and our villa had lots of space for our family of 4. The flooring decor is tile so hard to update but a good choice. (Caution: The sliding glass door don't work very well and I saw the same in a video from years ago. Should probably address this) PRAISE 2: Paulina, the concierge, saved our vacation in many ways. She deserves extremely high praise. A heartfelt thanks. NEUTRAL 1: Service. The resort was very busy and service was inconsistent. Even with tipping, it could be difficult to get a refill on coffee / alcohol. I believe this may have been because the staff had too many responsibilities to develop personal relationships. NEUTRAL 2: Chairs. My goodness the politics around location and claiming poolside chairs and umbrella are interesting. If you like to sleep in, you're in trouble. This is not a fault of the resort, it's the tourists (like us)... PRAISE 3: Location. Beach and location to water is beautiful. Gorgeous sunsets. Great access to tourist shopping. The cyclopista is fantastic for runners, walkers and bikers alike. NEUTRAL 3: Entertainment / Shows. Same crew each night, but they did a fairly good job changing the themes for a different experience. Language barrier likely contributed but we don't consider this an issue for the resort. When in Rome... Be aware of: Even though Ixtapa / Zihua are safe, it is in the state of Guererro so there are fewer English speaking travellers. The predominant language is Spanish and English as a second language is not as predominant. We appreciated that (and like it), but it was different from what we experienced in Puerto Vallarta and Riviera Maya. This can influence things like pool activities and entertainment. Last but not least: Avoid raw meat, even at the a la carte restaurants. I'll spare you the details. In short: Our family had a good time but will not be returning. It was my impression in this experience that the profit margins were being carefully guarded and this should not be the case when you are spending around $1000 CDN per day for our family of 4. This experience has made me more willing to try other resorts outside of Barcelo.

  Jan 03, 2025