Hotel Barceló Costa Cancún

Decided to take a last minute early summer vacation down to cancun! Checked Expedia and this place came up as a more inexpensive resort than some of the others!
I admit I was a bit skeptical but I said if it saves $ 300 – 400 dollars off the other resorts than it’s worth a shot!
I flew all night and half the next day, and ended up at the Barcelo Costa cancun! The employees were fairly nice, I just wish I wouldn’t have had to have waited 3 hours for check in. (My fault not theirs)
I say my bags down, and headed for the bar (it’s Mexico, don’t judge!!)
It takes getting used to, to go with the all inclusive thing, but let me tell you, it’s amazing! More alcohol, food, and activities than I should’ve but it made for a great trip!
Yes, this is a more budget family style resort, yes it’s not super intimate, yes come with an open mind and a less than four seasons expectation and you’ll have a great stay!
The activities are super close, they have jet skis for rent on the beach at the hotel! (Fairly cheap and super fun).
Go sit by the beach bar in the evening, after sunset, the people are great down there, and it’s so relaxing and quite intimate!
I also quite suggest taking the Ultamar ferry, to Isla Mujeres, it’s an amazing island, lots of activities, great and super cheap day trip!
The hotel is very pretty, the drinks are great, the food is well, the buffet wasn’t super great. I suggest making dinner reservations for the restaurants early, they had good food!
Overall, I definitely recommend it, the people are nice, and so is the resort! Go check this place out! It’s definitely a great stay!
I hope to be back!!!

We stayed as an all-​inclusive package through Expedia. It was a less expensive than others. I gave it 4 as I felt it deserves better than average but here are my observations:
— the beach is small but clean and nice and you get to see some cool ships coming in and out every day
— the front desk is very helpful – Allejandra is WONDERFUL
— I was not happy that they pass you off to a salesperson trying to get you to listen to the timeshare spiel once you’re in the resort
— our room was nice
— we did not upgrade to a suite, and I was disappointed that our balcony did not have a hammock like most others did
— the buffet had nice selections with a different theme every night with a great waitstaff in all restaurants
— there is a fun show each night for free
— there are activities all day
— I didn’t like that it was so far from all the other things on the strip but live and learn
Overall not bad for the money.

We went for a bachelorette trip this weekend. The place was clean, had ample beach & pool space and plenty of food (and yummy pineapple margaritas). That said, wifi was only offered at additional cost (not unusual for a hotel, but when you pay for «all inclusive» you would think internet for 1 – 2 devices/​room would be included) and the service was poor. Before we arrived, I called to ask if they had an airport transport service and while they did, that department gave different instructions on the phone (which took 3 different phone calls) than what they would eventually tell me via email and took several days to respond to my emails; We eventually used a different service to pick us up from the airport. Several times I or one of my friends would ask a question and would be met with exasperated expressions as if we were demanding something or otherwise being purposefully difficult. Most of the front desk did not give clear information, either in English or in Spanish, but they certainly preferred to talk over me (despite my credit card paying for one of the rooms) in Spanish to my friends. At one point I asked the host at the buffet if we may be seated on the patio and he flat out ignored my question. When another friend asked the same question, he spun around quickly and gave a terse «No.» At the Mexico Lindo restaurant I ordered enchiladas with a «poblano cream sauce,» it turned out to be mole but was not labeled as such, which contains peanuts, something I’m severely allergic to. When I started exhibiting symptoms of an allergic reaction I asked if there were peanuts in the dish and the waiter literally shrugged and said «yes, it’s mole,» as if it was the dumbest question he’s ever heard. I wasn’t mad at him when I initially suspected something was wrong– these things happen sometimes – but that attitude in the face of a severe allergy was honestly the straw that broke the camel’s back. Then the hotel’s concierge doctor who looked me over after the incident essentially told me I overreacted in using my Epi-​Pen and spoke over me in Spanish to my friend as if I was not there. Very professional. I know good service exists in Cancun, because we experienced it on our excursions and through the airport transportation service we used, but it’s terrible at Barcelo Costa Cancun.

Old, smelly and depressing. There are some beautiful hotels in and around Cancun, and this is not one of them.
We usually stay briefly in Cancun, on our way to other Yucatan locations or on our way of of town. Cancun is not our thing, but a few places we’ve stayed in town have been very pleasant.
We needed a place to stay before an early morning flight, and assumed Barcelo was a good brand, and thought all-​inclusive would mean easy meals, wifi and off to bed. Instead, all-​inclusive meant a small, aged hotel with pay-​for wifi, an awful buffet and pulsing music that goes until 11 pm at night and some pretty undesirable issues on the service front.
We had a terrible check-​in experience and the check out in the early morning was awful. The night we checked in, we were cut off abruptly each time we tried to ask questions, put in the wrong room (a dank room with peeling paint and without a spare bed for three people?!?) and forced to return tired and defeated to the front desk to sort things out. We ate a middling dinner with truly awful wine –worse than any wine you might get on an airplane or in a box. I understand it was free, but we are talking truly awful. The worst part, I hate to say it, but there appeared to be several «girlfriend experience girls» at the hotel, and I say this because of how they were dressed, their age compared to their «dates» oh, and the fact that they were shimming and grinding with their dates while we were eating our meal, at dinnertime, in front of our kid. Yep.
We woke in the early AM to what we had been told was a 24-​hour food area and found that all the food had been left out all night, was absolutely congealed and unsafe to eat and disgusting to look at. The rooms were dank and smelled of mold. My husband was forced to go back to the room by hotel staff for a plastic key card (the kind you normally throw away) early in the morning while trying to catch a flight.
I feel bad for people who come here for their long awaited annual vacation. Believe me, you can do better.

3 and half stars. For the price it’s worth it. Buffet food isn’t too great but the Italian restaurant was delicious. Very friendly staff. I would come back.

I stayed in Barcelo Costa Cancun, I was there from May 17-​May 23. Stayed in a junior suite ocean view room 661. All the staff members claimed it was the best room in the whole resort.
In November, my wife and I tried to book the stay online because there was a great online sale, however, upon checkout, I forgot to apply the coupon code. As a result, I called their 800# which was really helpful. I spoke to Daniel, and he was able to get me an even better deal. Because of Daniel, I would book with Barcelo again. He was knowledgeable and courteous.
My wife and I booked 3 rooms, 2 double ocean front and 1 junior suite. The vacation was with family.
Come closer to our arrival, a reservation manager by the name of Jairo Too contacted us via email to confirm our reservation, I responded that we are still going. A few days pass, less than 2 days of the arrival he tells me that our room will not be available and that in fact the whole building will be shut off because of water issues. That was total BS. He offered a romantic dinner and bottle of wine and changed the reservation without my consent. He simply did this because the price was just too good for my room.
I called back and complained about his unprofessional tactics and all of a sudden, he said that the building will be fixed and our room will be fully functional in less than 2 days. I do not recommend this particular property, you really do get what you pay for. The only reason why I give this 2 stars and not 1 star, is because Daniel in reservations was really helpful.

I honestly don’t want to write a paragraph about the hotel I will keep it short and simple.
Pros
— great customer service
— friendly staff
— nice pool
— great variety of activities you can do (not included)
— spacious rooms
Cons
— Wifi here is horrible, I honestly wouldn’t recommend anyone purchasing it. Wifi only works in the lobby and near pool area and it’s not cheap
— rooms are outdated
— there’s a strong odor in some rooms (I had to switch our room twice)
— food here is flavorless in my opinion. I only enjoyed breakfast other than that I didn’t care for the food here but it is edible
— small beach

This was not one of the best hotels I’ve been to despite its price range. It had no wifi, we had to pay so we did not get the wifi but on the plus side, we got to spend more time with family.
Be careful with the alcohol though, because it’s free, I just kept drinking and drinking and we went on and around New Year’s Eve so there was definitely a lot of drinking. So if you like alcohol, this is your place. The surprising thing was that they did not ask for your age when you ask for drinks, my friend’s sister who is 16, got a drink pretty easily without any trouble. So if you have kids, be careful.
The beach and pool were nice but very small. And OMG the restaurants, worst restaurant I have ever been. The buffets are ok but the diner were absolutely a disaster. Don’t go, you’ll regret it.
Overall was bad, the staff weren’t friendly, all they wanted to do was to get money out of you, not the greatest experience.

The Barcelo Costa hotel was a small and great stay for us. The staff always went above and beyond for any request we had, the food was great and came with many different ethnic options. We enjoyed the warm tranquil feeling of the pool and felt that the beach was serene despite its small size. If you go make sure to find Alfredo who was our favorite server in the buffet area. My man Raul at the beach bar will keep the your shot glass filled with tequila (he’s dangerous… in a good way). I only really have two areas that I wish were different: having to wake up at 7:00am to make dinner reservations in one of the 3 specialty restaurants was a drag, who wants to wake up early when on vacation? Also, I’m not sure if all rooms are like this but for some reason the air conditioner blows directly onto the bed while your sleeping. Its so hot in Mexico therefore you need the AC but we would have to sleep with the comforter over our heads to protect us from the cold stream of air. Outside of that we really enjoyed our time there. Oh I forgot, paying for internet in an all-​inclusive hotel seemed counter-​productive. Don’t let those issues stop you from enjoying yourself at this hotel.

Poor customer service at the front desk. We reserved an ocean front room (paid almost $ 500 extra for 5 nights) and were offered a room in the 5^th floor with pool view at the check in! The manager John is not helpful at all. It appears that they sell the ocean front rooms at reservation for more money and change it to a regular room claiming they don’t have any available. No refund were offered and no apology was given. I guess they don’t like repeat customers. Wi-​Fi cost over $ 12 per day and it hardly works.

I was really disappointed with this hotel for various reasons. This wasnt a cheap reservation that I made to stay here so I expected much more than what I got. 1^st, the check in process is very stressful. It is supposed to be an all inclusive resort. I had to pay $ 30 for 5 days of wifi, and even when I did — it did NOT work. I was probably connected to wifi for 5 minutes each day. The wifi is so horrible. Next, guests are not allowed to make dinner reservations at any of the restaurants on the day of arrival. In addition to this, reservations must be made between 7am-​9am each morning for that day because they will fill up and you are not allowed to make reservations in advance. This was SO ridiculous. We were there for a bacherlorette and needless to say no one was awake before 11am. Eating times are restricted and a puzzle to figure out where you can go when and we basically had to beg for reservations each day and the 1 night we did have reservations — the restaurant was empty at prime dinner time so i really dont know why they didnt allow us on other nights. Lastly, we were 8 girls in 3 rooms and they gave us reservations all over the resort — not even remotely close to each other which really sucked. They claimed that they were at capacity but everytime we looked outside, it seemed pretty empty. Luckily for the resort, the employees are amazing. The towel people, the bartenders, the waiters, the pool entertainment, EVERYONE was amazing and made it fun and friendly for us. Liquor as good and the hotel provided us with VIP packages every night — most of which we were able to negotiate a bit since we were 8. Club options were good and they did really good about telling us which clubs were good each night. STAFF GETS 5 STARS.

Gorgeous and hospitable resort to stay — especially if you want to go the All-​Inclusive route!
I spent 7 nights here last week on Vacay and would return. In a heartbeat. Staff was consistently friendly (without pestering) and got to know me and my family so well, we were doing the traditional Latin kiss-​cheek greeting and are Facebook friends! True Story.
Grounds are simply amazing. Lush greenery, well-​manicured Bermuda grass, and tropical flowers. Every-​where! Ashtray sand is white coral sand from the sea with a freshly stamped «Barcelo» mark made every morning. Nice touch as I recently picked up the nasty nicotine habit again. Sigh…
Rates were fair but included a lot! Of course, free dining, drinks (alcohol included), as well as ²⁴⁄₇ access to concessions. It also included access to water sports (limited) like kayaks, intro to SNUBA lessons. Also, resort had FUN nightly events such as Michael Jackson show (he was actually quite good — excellent dancers!) and Casino Night, etc.
Food quality? Frickin off the chain for a buffet style, folks. Truly. We ate at Albatross a lot and they are rad. Servers were all peaches. Shout out to Carlos! Loved him!
Also, resort had full service gym. I did work out 4 of 7 days too! Equipment was fairly up-​to-​date and in good condition. They had a spa but I didn’t use. I did surprise my mom and sent her to 30 min facial and 30 min massage. She reported back happy and limp like a noodle — good sign! :) Aracely was so cool at the spa too!
Room was a tad on smaller side but clean and nice décor. Cleaning staff did great job, but didn’t consistently stock our free mini-​fridge. We called and resolved, but still… :)
I was a tad crestfallen to learn we had to pay for WiFi. Shouldn’t this be free and included?! I dunno — no biggie.
Overall — excellent stay and would definitely be plugging this hotel to my friends/​family. Great job/​buen trabajo!!!

Excellent customer service. Downfall is the hotel rooms. AC damaged prior to arrival (was fixed), ceiling fan only had one speed. Other than that it was an ok all inclusive hotel. Beautiful beach, within walking distance to ferry, helicopter tours, panorama tour, jet ski rentals.