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Just back from a week at Barcelo Maya Beach resort, South of Playa Del Carmen. The place is big, with two big pools, a nice beach, and OK rooms. We upgraded to a jr. suite, which they tried to charge us US $50. per person for the privilege. Fortunately, we had secured a faxed copy from our travel agent on Barcelo letterhead indicating this could be had for US$15. per person, which they ultimately honored.
ROOMS:
NO ROOM at this facility provides the stunning Caribbean view we desired. Though it is waterfront, on a secluded bay, the hotel is set back, with palm trees planted obscuring view. There are 5 buildings, and rooms are numbered thus: building, floor, room such that 3201 would be building 3 (in the middle), floor 2 (of 3), room 01. Jr suites would be rooms 1-12 in each building, with true suites residing in the middle of those blocks. If you want daytime quiet in the room, stay away from building 3, as it looks out over the pool where daytime activities take place over a PA system, and the same three music tracks are played into the ground (BeeGees, etc). We understand at night that music from the disco annoys ocean –facing rooms in buildings 4 and 5. All other rooms face other buildings like a massive apartment complex. The Jr suites all have 2 full size beds, hard as rock, and no feather pillows are available-so bring your own. Also, unless you want to pay US$3. each time, bring a small water pot (about 4 bucks at Walgreens), and per cup ways to brew coffee—be sure to ask for an electrical adapter when checking in, as the polarized US connects with one wide prong will not work. There was a hair drier in our room. Bring your own shampoo and soap, unless you prefer industrial-strength stuff as a gel. The soap—I swear-smelled like AJAX. There is a decent safe in the room. Use it, as various people have access, including pest control people to fight the sugar ants. Also, We had heard of problems with the AC being inadequate, we did not find this to be the case—however, we always left one of our room card-keys in the gizmo by the door which is required to operate electricity in the room (It cannot be used to open the safe once you have programmed it). Also, if you open the sliding door, the AC automatically shuts off—even with the key in place. All in all the room was adequate, and seemed worthy the $$.
PEOPLE
The staff is friendly, and even an attempt at some Spanish goes a long way. An occasional tip does as well. There were many Canadians, Germans, Spanish, Israelis and fewer from the US during our stay. The age mix ran the gamut, many retirees, lots of couples (w/no kids), and a few families. Our biggest complaint with regards to other guests was loud conversation intruding upon one’s space on a quiet beach under a palm with a book—I guess people can be assholes anywhere.
FOOD
Maybe we are food snobs, but all in all, the food here sucks. There is no shortage of it. At the buffet, we strongly urge you to go early—not because there they run low on food or selection, but, coming from the food industry, food is only safe for so long….In general, the beef in Mexico is lousy, the only edible exception we have found is burgers—make sure they are well cooked. We essentially lived on chicken and burgers for lunch and dinner. At breakfast, order and wait for eggs—the scrambled ones already made are lousy. The produce seems safe enough—none of us got sick in any case, and all of the water and ice is filtered. Try as they might, the pastries are pretty unspectacular, too. And ice cream? Well, I guess we are pretty spoiled here in the States. As for the ‘premium’ restaurants, we were under whelmed. Service was friendly, and atmospheres OK, but the food comes from the same kitchens as everywhere else. There may be good food in Q.Roo, but it’s not here (nor in most places we’ve been in Cancun or Cozumel—best we’ve had was in a place in Cabo San Lucas called the trailer park—years ago). In short-if it’s a gastronomical feast you seek, we’d avoid the all-inclusives in Mexico).
DRINKS
All inclusive? Yes. Best advised to request ‘mucho ron' in those Pina Coladas or they are pretty virgin. And the booze they use is not exactly top notch. And prepare to wait at the bar. We recommend you do what we did, go to Walgreen’s, and spend about US$4. and get a little dispenser igloo to reduce trips to the bar. This is a better plan than the previously suggested insulated mugs.
RECREATION
We skipped the horseback riding and 4-wheel tours of the jungle (although were told to bring OFF or other mosquito repellant). The hotel offers sea kayaks which seemed popular, and we took one of the tired Hobie ‘Wave’s out for a spin. These little boats can be fun, however, the rudders do not lock down as designed, making for a tiring trip. The staff pleaded ignorance to this issue. The pools are fine, and the beach is cool. Where there is sand under the waves, it is luxurious, but rocks creep up all ’round under the shallow bay waters. For tender feet, wear water shoes.
TRAVEL:
We were in Immigration for more than 1.5 hours, aside from being annoyed by drunks from Pittsburgh who kept trying to cut in line, most folks were friendly, though as annoyed as we were. We will not fly in on a charter again. The process on commercial flights is much quicker in our experience. The people from Lomas travel were good, except we would have been out of immigration and customs on the return if they had kept their word and brought us non-stop to the Cancun airport.
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Pages Updated On: Fri Jan 09 2009 - 00:00:06
