Barcelo Ixtapa Beach Resort - All Inclusive

Perfect weather Dec 17-23, 2012, ocean & pool temperatures both absolutely to die for, outstanding staff, excellent service, great food -- Facility aging nicely

My first room, 402 need the air conditioning fixed, the refrigerator did not work (changed still not working) and when I took a shower the drain in the floor emitted sewer gases that stunk. My second room, 618, the air conditioning barely worked and the refrigerator was cool at best. The staff was great and apologized after every one of my complaints, but none were really fixed. The wait staff at the pool was extremely slow, but when I gave her a tip she started coming around more frequently. The drinks were not really cold as they are met to be. The food was poor, never really hot and the taste bland with all the meat over cooked. I have stayed at this chain before in another city and this by far was the oldest, poorest run and bad food.

The food has been improved since last year, rooms premium are very confortable and look new. The location of the hotel is good

Check in went fine. Room was okay, the bed was super hard, like sleeping on a board. We didn't sleep much between the bed and hearing our neighbors every move. Breakfast was awful, but lunch and dinner were okay. It just got old, because the same things were offered. Asked what the phone rates were, and were told one price. Came to checkout and price was tripled. Tried reasoning with staff, said they believed we were told cheaper price, but we had to pay the horrendous price and they would call police if didn't. Little too many dramatics for me, and very unfriendly staff. The language barrier didn't help either. Any month after March you will only find local families at the resort. So things are not geared for American visitors. Ixtapa is a beautiful place. But we will not go back, especially to the Barcelo.

Just returned from a husband/wife trip to the Barcelo in Ixtapa. Rooms are not as nice as pictured. We had a ocean view from the 9th floor. The a/c did not work very well and the fridge did not work at all. The bed was horrible as it was very hard. By far the worst bed of any hotel I've ever stayed in, ever. The only thing that was nice was the location, right on the ocean. The pool was full of loud kids and discrespectful families. Staff did nothing to control things. The food is hit or miss at the buffet's. They have 2 buffets, but all the food is the same at both. DONT USE THE ROOM PHONE TO MAKE CALLS. Was told by hotel operator of a certain rate for calls to the US. The actual bill upon checkout was 4X that rate. Staff was rude and unwilling to give the me the rate I was told, even though I was told I was "believable." (how nice). I plan to dispute the charge with my credit card company, but don't have high hopes of success. Lesson learned I guess. Staff does not speak English very well as a whole. I will not return to the Barcelo. Oh, one more thing. Be prepared for locals to harass you everywhere you go to sign up for their "trip, water activity, dinner, hotel, motel, souvenier, (you get the idea).

I was impressed with the hotel both inside and out. It was well maintained and clean. The staff was nice and attentive. The room was average but had a nice view from the 5th floor. The buffet food was good for a buffet. The single ala carte restaraunt had some good dishes and some not so good dishes, but a nice break from the buffet. The main complaints for us was that the pool bar was not easy to get to and closed too early (6:00 PM). They have another smaller pool with a bar but it was not open.

This was our 3rd visit to Ixtapa, 2nd time at this resort. Our last visit to Barcelo was much more enjoyable than this time. The mountain view room we had was very outdated and not the cleanest. The ocean front room we stayed in three years ago was very nice though. The variety of food is very limited. Two buffets offer same food everyday pretty much. The two specialty restaraunts were good but the staff did not make you feel very welcome. Noone let you know what the process of ordering was, what was included, etc... Very confusing. We asked the table next to us to explain the process. The pool and pool bar were nice. Poolbar staff didn't really get customers engaged in conversation. Most pool bars we've bellied up to, have fun, exciting bartenders who want you to stay and appreciate the tips. We will definately go back to Ixtapa but will chose another resort next time. I recommend a non all-inclusive place because there's lots of great places to eat within walking distance of almost every resort. Check out Franks for pizza and El Faro for a romatic seafood or steak dinner. Sunset cruise was awesome too. Our captain was from New York so he was very fun! Golf courses were over priced for the shape the courses were in, but that didn't deter us from going I guess. Overall, Ixtapa rocks, Barcelo was just average.

i was terribly dissappointed with the Barcelo... They put us above the disco. so all i heard was music all night and when i asked to move, they told me.. no .. i asked about an upgrade and said i would pay half.. Again they said i would have to pay full price of $60 a day extra... They said they had garden view rooms available but would not give me a credit for the extra that i paid for the ocean view.. it was very difficult to communicate because the majority of the staff spoke little english.. they gave us no information about meals. times. towels . etc We had to ask other guests to get info..i have been to Ixtapa 4 times and loved it.. i will go back to Ixtapa but i will never stay at the Barcelo..

Great place to go for a weekend or a short period of time.

This was our third time to the Barcelo Ixtapa-Zihuatenjeo. We keep coming back because of the excellent service from a very friendly and hospitable staff. We always reserve an ocean front room so we can hear the fantastic ocean waves at night. This year we had the Club Premium package which made our stay even more special. The Spanish Coffee at Don Quijotes is always an impressive show and great taste! The ocean and pool are the warmest we have found in Mexico. Ixtapa is not known for its night life which makes for a relaxing quiet vacation for us. And the nightly shows at the Barcelo are excellent, colourful and well presented.