Barcelo Puerto Vallarta - All-Inclusive

The Barcelo Hotel itself is beautiful!! My husband and I were celebrating our 8th anniversary. The rooms are huge with 2 tv's, a separate bedroom and living room with gorgeous views! It sits right on the beach with 5 pools and is incredibly kid friendly. However, they had the worst customer service I have experienced in a really long time. When we first arrived Adriana at the front desk checked us in. She was incredibly short toned, would roll her eyes when we would ask her questions, didn't care to be at work at all. Unfortunately over our 5 days, we spoke with her 3 times and she was the exact same way every time. She was very annoyed with her job and those she was checking in. She definitely took our excitement away from the trip the first day with her negative attitude toward us and in general. The second day, I called down at 8:15am to see if they could bring us up more waters and another coffee packet. By the end of the day (9:00 pm) and 4 phone calls later. I still had not received anything. 2 of the calls, they just hung up on me. Finally after informing them how many times I have called they brought it up at 10:00 pm. The third day, my husband and I decided to do a couples spa package. It included two one hour massages, 30 min relaxing in their huge bath tub afterwards, wine and chocolates. The massages were amazing! However when we finished our massage we went to get into the tub and there was broken glass all on the bottom where we sat down. The bath was filled with bubbles so you obviously couldn't see the bottom. As I sat down I placed my hands down first and It sliced my hand wide open and it began bleeding everywhere. We jumped out and come to find out it was broken wine glasses. For one, that's disgusting housekeeping did not bother to clean it before running the bath. Second, my husband or I could have gotten seriously hurt if we would have sat on them!! Luckily it only cut my hand. I got out and went and told them spa manager. All she offered me was a cheap bottle of wine! I went downstairs to speak with the manager on duty Yolanda and she was even more rude than Adriana at the front desk. She could care less and said sorry there's nothing I can do for you. So, you have me sit in a bath full of glass due to your staff negligence and there is nothing you can do for me? She said yes. Day 4, we had no power. It was extremely hot, no air conditioner, lights, anything. Day 5 we woke up and my husband was incredibly sick!! Come to find out we now have no water!! I began calling front desk at 8:30am clear until 11:45am with their response being we will call you back, we will call you back. No one ever called me back! I went down to front desk and said check out is at 12 and my husband is extremely sick upstairs he needs a bathroom, can we use another room just for an hour to shower and he can clean up. They said no, they had nothing available. They said, we will let you stay in your room until 1 and hope the water comes back on then. At about 12:40 the water came back on freezing cold, no hot available and straight brown and smelled awful! I tried letting it run to hope it would get warmer and flush out the brown, it didn't work. And at exactly 1:00 they were banging on our door to get out. We didn't get to shower. I have never had such horrible customer service! Day after day, it was something else. The hotel itself is beautiful, but because of the customer service I would not return. We mostly stayed there to check it out for a girlfriend who wanted to get married there. After this experience, I told her absolutely not. Very very disappointed a five star hotel staff could be so poorly trained on customer service! -The Richins

Everything was perfect! No complaints at all! Would definitely stay here again anytime!

Overall, the hotel was excellent. I only dined at the buffet restaurant, none of the reservation only places. The food was good. But sometimes certain foods were cold. Sometimes the scrambled eggs were cold and there was a beef dish at dinner that was left over from lunch. The staff, as a whole, were very good. There were two bartenders that I thought were very personable, I think Carlos was one (during the day on Wednesday) and the other guy was on Tuesday night. The pools were nice. I really enjoyed the volleyball pool. It wasn't deep and was perfect for swimming and cooling off when no one was using it, the same for the jacuzzi. The beach is rather small, so I didn't visit it but one day. And the water was cold. One thing that I found amazing and loved was the sunset! The hotel has its own cove and when the sun was setting it was beautiful!! The views around the hotel are amazing. And I had a huge terrace on the 2nd floor. The sun would rise over the mountains and it was beautiful. The room I had was a suite: a full living room with 42" tv, 2 closets, a big shower and a big bedroom/lounge area with sofa and dining table. And a 42" tv. Not that I watched tv much while there. I liked the stores at the hotel and the staff were friendly. One person I need to mention that I found most helpful and friendly was Cain the bellman. I had an issue and he was so kind and supportive. I really miss him. One other thing I need to mention: PLEASE TIP the staff. They are so good at their jobs and they don't make much money. Yes, its all inclusive, but they really go the extra mile. Please show them the gratitude they deserve.

My husband and I went for 5 days for a kid-free getaway. The hotel was helpful in providing easy-carefree airport transfers. The resort is immaculate, and the grand foyer sets the pace for the whole experience. The staff is friendly and helpful, ad the rooms are nicely appointed ad spacious. Comfortable beds, and spa-inspired bathroom made for a high-end feel. The grounds are well kept and clean, and the pools are well maintained. Food options were very good. The Spa was amazing... best massage I have ever had... not expensive. The concierge recommended a fantastic day trip- was MUCH more than described. Adventures Vallarta- included 8 ziplines, repelling, 150ft free fall, and more for around $100 per person. There's a neat area with locals down the beach a little ways, where you can dawdle over a glass of wine and people watch, or get to know the locals. There were families there as well, but never imposed on our romantic getaway. HIGHLY highly recommend it, and we will be back for sure.