Barcelo Maya Colonial - All Inclusive

Customer Ratings & Reviews

TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

11795 reviews

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  Disappointed Vacation

  A few years ago we went on an all inclusive vacation at Jewel Runaway Bay in Jamaica. It was wonderful; we enjoyed every minute we were there. We wanted to go back again, but unfortunately they were doing some remodeling and they would not be open again until the latter part of 2026. So we went to Barcelo Maya instead. This was a major mistake! Runaway Bay was ten times better. We had made reservations for The Colonial Hotel nine months in advance. It was late on Sunday afternoon when we arrived. Our shuttle brought us to the Colonial where we had been assigned. After we had unloaded our luggage we were told we had been moved to The Beach Hotel. Fortunately our shuttle driver had not left yet. So we loaded back up and went to the different hotel. We were tired and hungry. There was a buffet at the hotel which was very disappointing. We went to check on the two restaurant reservations that we wanted only to be told they were no longer available for the whole week. After an extensive conversation between my son-in-law and an assistant manager these were reconfirmed. I will say we had a great meal at the Japanese Steak House, but it was really the only good place. Meal presentations always looked good, but the main courses were not. The sea food had a chalky like texture with no taste. It also had not been purged. The fruit was the best thing offered. At Runaway Bay the ocean bottom was sandy with no rocks and the water was clear as glass. I loved snorkeling there. You could walk out up to your shoulder and drop down in a beautiful aquarium full of all kinds of sea life. Not so at Barcelo. The bottom had sharp rocks and coral plus holes you could sink into. The water was not all that clear. You could go down to the landing where the scuba boats docked. But then, along with the rocks, there was a current and waves that would push you against the concrete wall. I will say the swimming pools were nice. We also enjoyed the Mexican dancers and Il Divo as entertainment. I do want to mention the very friendly and accommodating wait staff and entertainment staff. Based on my experience two stars is about the best I can offer this place. Be sure you make several inquiries before you decide on an all inclusive.

  Jan 24, 2026
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  Large Family Resort

  Let me start with what a beautiful huge resort this is. The ocean was walk in temperature with ability to see and feed two types of fish we saw (yellow black stripe and grey white with black tail) bread or bananas I was told they eat right from your fingers. There was no seaweed in the water but was all brought up on shore. There are a few rocks but mostly rippled sand at your feet. Pool area at this tropical was big and kudos to the entertainers who worked happily to entertain everyone and engage children/adults in dancing with them. Food was great. Japanese restaurant our favourite the Italian was in the maya mall a bit of a walk. Food was excellent, however, the tables, were severely cramped. While we booked at the colonial our premium room was at the tropical right at the pool area our room location was fantastic and so was the room very clean, albeit, had two double beds and futon. I would have preferred one queen/king bed. The doubles were difficult to sleep two, we kept rolling in the middle too soft lol. Service was fantastic at lobbies and travel representatives were great. The tropical beach restaurant Palmeras did refuse (woman greeter name starting with R) us entry citing we had to dry off. We were damp being at the beach but not dripping. It’s the beach restaurant with many coming from pools and ocean all wet which she allowed in. We were frustrated. My husband walks with a cane and has a difficult time on sand. We tried coming back in from another entrance and she followed and tagged us refusing us again!!! One suggestion, we are there visiting to relax, have fun and visit the area. If the women would smile a little and be more helpful that would be amazing! We took two excursions; guided tour of Cozumel Island with snorkelling lunch and 3 hours on beach and the Catamaran Ride to Island Isla Mujures with lunch on catamaran, snorkelling and shopping. Both I’m afraid were a miss. The Cozumel, snorkelling happened at the beach and not from boat jumping in water to reef with anyone wishing to swim from ferry could, and while lunch on beach was good three hours was too much. We saw little of the island, just a lagoon with one crocodile, a humongous pink pig and a weather Myan ruin. The catamaran had no guided tour of the island,snorkelling cancelled due to weather(absolutely understandable), and the guide left until 4:00 pm leaving people at large to shop. The citizens were very aggressive trying to lure you into their shops. We managed to find a few quieter tamed outlets and did our brief shopping there. Had we known where the beach was we could have gone swimming. We wore our bathing suits for nothing. The drinks they were serving on the catamaran were served on plastic ware that was questionable for cleanliness. Disposable ware would be better. There was a photographer on board with a very good eye for photos to sell you on the return trip. The theatre was ok. The new Talum airport is absolutely fantastic and beautifully done. It is well run, open area, entertainment area for children and expensive eating areas. The staff were eager to assist you. We didn’t know where our transportation from airport to resort was but among the many people who want you to go with them and or book excursions, one did tell us go to number 4 for our ride. We did and no one was there with our name. We did find orange shirts outside and sought one out who had our names down for pick up. Overall experience was great and this resort is huge and very family friendly oriented and above all friendly and safe! Get up at 6:00am walk to the beach and wait for the magic hour of sunrise it’s gorgeous and breathtaking with beautiful hues of orange and red through palm trees! That in itself is your morning breath of pure deep reverence!!

  Jan 22, 2026
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  Barcelo Maya - Full Review

  My extended family - 12 in all - went to the Barcelo Maya resort from 1/1/26 - 1/6/26. Overall, it was a great stay. To put it in perspective, nobody argued the whole time! Not even once! - The weather was perfect. Warm during the day, no clouds, and not too hot or humid. - The grounds and facilities were clean and well kept. The whole resort is massive - I've never been to one anywhere close to this size. - The rooms are large and in generally good condition. The only issue we had was that our room didn't have any hand towels or wash cloths, but the resort addressed this quickly. I will say, though, that we spent very little time in our rooms. All our rooms were close, though. - There are multiple large pools with abundant chairs and hammocks. They even have a large kids pool that where we spent a lot of time. People do reserve chairs fairly early, but you should not have an issue getting a chair as long as you get there before 9 or 10 am. If you reserve a chair with your pool towel, the "reservation" is generally respected. If you reserve it with an empty water bottle or a flip flop, good luck. Sorry, but using a piece of trash to reserve a chair isn't going to work. - The beach is HUGE and perfect - it extends for around a mile. Beach chairs do fill up faster than pool chairs. The snorkeling is great, especially the area in front of the Palace. We went snorkeling every day and always saw sea turtles and stingrays. - The drinks they serve at all the bars are good. They use middle shelf liquor at the pool bars and top shelf (kind of) liquor at the indoor bars. The service at all the bars is great, but don't forget to tip a little. - Finally, the food. The food at the Colonial buffet was always awful. Usually just a bunch of trays of stewed meats. We ate there the first night and checked in a few other times, but it was always the same. The buffets at the Beach and Caribe were much better. We only had meals there or at the pool restaurants after the first night. - The a la carte restaurant system is actually worse than what other reviews have stated. We were only able to get two dinner reservations, one at 9:30 pm and one at 7:30 pm at our 4th and 5th choices, even though we offered to split up our party and times, and we had to wait and work with the Customer Service desk for 90 minutes our first night just to get those. Once you go into the restaurants, you see why - they are tiny and there is no way the a la carte restaurants could host anywhere close to the number of people who stay there. Barcelo Maya should invest in an online reservation system and give every room a certain number of reservations. Despite the issues with the dinner reservations and food, it was a great and memorable stay. In the end, the food didn't really matter; it was a very small part of the trip and wasn't why we came. Everything else was great. We would definitely consider returning.

  Jan 17, 2026
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  Family Vacation

  Warmer pool water please.The pool water was a bit too chilly for us to use. The rest of the resort was excellent.

  Jan 11, 2026
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  Great stay and value!

  We just returned from a trip to Barcelo Colonial. Overall, the resort is great and the service is wonderful. The food and drinks were great, especially the a la carte’s that we booked. The resort layout, pools and outdoor spaces are some of the best we’ve seen at a resort, and having activities like the Maya Mall, bowling, mini golf etc were all a hit with the kids. We really loved the fact that the whole complex was built with the mindset of moving in between the resorts. The walking pathway and shuttles that take you between resorts were great to use. Lastly, the ocean had some of the whitest sand out there, and yes, there were some rocks and coral in some areas but it didn’t bother us at all and actually held a lot of fish to see when snorkeling. The only downside that we found were that the rooms were very humid and difficult to sleep in sometimes. A trick for this is to keep your AC unit and fan on all day and you should come back to a less humid room. It would be helpful for the resort to install bathroom fans in the units as well to help with keeping humidity in rooms lower. Great stay! Definitely recommend.

  Jan 10, 2026