We have just returned from 3 wonderful weeks at the Barcelo Costa. These are are our views from two( young at heart) 50 year olds and our two teenage sons, aged 15 and 16. We arrived at the hotel and first impressions were that it looks as good as the photos
CHECK IN quick, porter took bags to our room and refused my tip (good start as i had read that they dont do any thing without a tip) . I had previously emailed the hotel about having a low room as i dont like getting in lifts. What do i find. We are on the 5th floor ! Back to reception,they said that they were very full but had a room that i could look at but was ocean view and large balcony room which was more money(15dollars per day, which for 3 weeks was £150). When i saw the room it was lovely and i felt well worth the extra. I think we had the best room and view in the hotel, room 203.The large balcony is well worth having, you get a large hammock, and to lay out on that at night and watch the ocean is bliss.Also I never tired of watching the pirate ships go out every evening at 7.30.
THE POOL is lovely, large and clean, and has no deep area, chest high everywhere so safe for kids. At the end of some days the water was a little cloudy, but that is down to everybodys sun creams,next morning always beautifully clean again. The music around the pool starts about ten with relaxing tunes, then they have aquarobics about 11, then lunchtime the music does get a bit loud ,techno stuff, i have teenagers and am used to noise so it didnt bother me , but it could be too much for some. Afternoons would be pool volleyball or qiizzes ,again bit loud and boisterous for some but for us we just found it great atmosphere,especially with two teenagers.
THE BEACH was lovely . The sea is very safe here, not as beautiful as further along Cancun strip ,but much safer . So i would say if you have kids this is ideal, but if you are a beach person and like a really beautiful beach stay further up the strip maybe at the other barcelo .There was seaweed but the staff continuously raked it. Yes there were dog ends on the beach, but whos fault is that,there were plenty of bins provided. The pirate ships are docked here which we loved watching, we never once smelt any fumes from them as some people have said .There are lots of sea activities e.g speed boat,jetskisbannana boat, kayaks.
THE BUFFET RESTAURANT was my favourite with the friendliest staff ever, just tip them a few pesos or dollars every now and then(they earn about £5 a day) and they will be so grateful for it.They work so hard to make you welcome. Carlos was our favourite, he gave my whole family a gift each when we were leaving,but they are ALL lovely in there. Dont forget to give a small tip to the hard working omlette lady who is over hot stove day after day making lovely omlettes. There is plenty of food to choose from,e.g fish, vegetables,chicken. steaks, rice, fruit, puddings. When i read people saying it gets repetitive, well when it feels like that you have 3 other a la carte restaurants to choose from so what are they moaning about. The other restaurants are air conditioned and some of the food i loved and some i didnt like as much, but the fact is your not paying so you can always get up and leave and go straight to the buffet resaturant and eat again. One thing ,you must book for the a la carte reataurants, try to book early in the day other wise you may not get the time you want.
HOTEL ENTERTAINMENT. I have to start this on a negative to warn you of the woman who sings EVERY night in the lobby bar, who sounds like a dying animal. That woman i swear is tone deaf. The guy with her is quite good though.But could they not find a better act than this in the whole of Mexico, I can sing better than her and my voice is bad enough ! There is a very proffessional international show each evening for about an hour, which isnt really my thing, but seemed very popular with many people there. Great dancing and costumes. The reps in the day worked hard entertaining, there were salsa classes, bike rides,quizzes bingo etc, and at night there were organised trips to bars and clubs,cant advise on this as we did not go.
THE ROOMS are spacious ,lovely huge shower. Soap, shampoo, conditioner, shower wash, all provided,in dispensers, nice quality as well.Towels/bed linen changed each day,room cleaned well. Mini fridge restocked daily with cans of coke and Fanta and bottles of water. Keep the air con on, otherwise the rooms get very damp from the high humidity there, and clothes etc get damp, also floor will feel damp. We had one night with no water for a couple of hours,and our remote for tv didnt work but just told reception and quickly put right.
TRIPS. we went on the pirate ship trip, its a must do for all ages, great night, good food. My partner and sons did the speed boat jungle trip and loved it. We swam with dolphins at XHelHa (pronounced shellha) and that was a wonderful experience. We did the catamarang trip to isla Mujeiras,which included snorkelling, lunch, photo holding shark, shopping and a terrifying adrenalin thing on the way back that everyone on the boat apart from me couldnt wait to do, where they attach you to a very high sail and swing you across the ocean and drop you from a great height into the water. Any way great day out. You can book trips in the hotel from a very helpfull man, or round the corner near the pirate ships which i think is bit cheaper. But we gave up one whole day to the timeshare sharks! that hang out in plaza isla and got our trips much much cheaper. But you do have to sit through a day of ridiculous hard sell where you feel you may never get away. As we were there 3 weeks it was worth it for the money we saved on the trips.
WEATHER. Perhaps we were just lucky but in 21 days we only had 2 x10 minutes of rain, when it comes down it really comes down but 10 minutes later its like it never happened. It is VERY HOT and very humid .be careful at first. my son and few people we spoke to had touch of sun stroke for a day which isnt nice. Some days there were a few clouds but not a lot.
THE SPA is something that I did not use, but the prices for the massages etc were too expensive,even more than in England, which is a shame.
OVERALL I would say this is a great hotel for young people and older people that like a place with a party atmosphere. They do weddings here, but i think if i were getting married and wanted real luxury i would choose maybe something more upmarket. But it all comes down to money, who wouldnt like to stay at The Ritz Carlton, thats great if you have a Ritz Carlton Wallet ! I think this hotel gave good value for money. If you want a quiet relaxing type of holiday DO NOT choose here. My teenagers had a good time, made lots of friends in a safe environment. It is situated a ten minute bus ride out of the main clubbing part of Cancun, so not good for people wanting to be in the thick of the action, which we did not.But the buses run 24 hours a day and are cheap and easy to get, hang on tight once your on though as its two bus companies in competition with each other and if youve ever seen the film 'Speed ' well thats what its like.
The grounds here are beautiful its lovely and clean, the food is plentiful, we are not big drinkers but the wine was ok and the lager was Corona, the water in the hotel is purified so the ice is fine but dont use the water in the rooms for brushing teeth , use bottled water.
Finaly although some people i spoke to at the hotel did get bad stomachs(and i do stress only some) I ate there every day for 20 dayswas absolutely fine. However on the second to last night i ate at The Hard Rock Cafe in the town and had a salad, and the very next morning became really ill and am still ill now back home 4 days later layed up in bed which is why i have time to write this review ! What I would say to avoid getting sick is avoid the 24 hour bar upstairs as food hangs about there. Stick to hot cooked food . Be careful about eating outside the Hotel,and do not eat salads outside hotel in case its washed in the water. Also the mosqitos can be a nuisance some evenings so dont forget insect repellent.
There is a really good photographer who comes to the hotel most days , and he will take the most beautiful pictures with lovely ocean backgrounds, we had 20 done and they are beautiful a real holiday memory.
I hope this has been helpful .And if you are lucky enough to be going to Barcelo Costa soon, have a great time, enjoy , like we did and tell Aldo(mexican entertainment guy) that Theo(my son) says Hi from England. !!

Would just like to say having just returned from a 2 week holiday at the barcelo costa with my girlfriend I am wondering if in fact I was actually staying at the same resort as the other people who have moaned about everything!!!Firstly we are both young 20 and 21 and I have been on a club 18-30 holiday and i can assure you this is no where near that sort of experience.The pool is not dirty and i saw it being cleaned everyday before 8 am.It is open air so there is bound to be some stuff that gets in the water!the beach is swept every morning so there is very little weeds in the water unless you go quite far out. as for diesel fumes and oil in the water i sat on the beach every day for 2 weeks and never smelt or saw anything.The boats dont go out til 7pm and by then most people would be out of the sea anyway.The music that is played is not all garage and r&b although i would have been happy if it was. there was a lot of spanish and mexican music played aswell as a variety of other stuff.The staff were always arranging things to do throughout the day so even if you didnt want to take part in the notorius tequilla volleyball there is other stuff to do like beach football,table tennis,pool basketball,quiz etc.All the staff that served us were very friendly and didnt once ignore us if we didnt tip.As for our room everything worked fine and there was a nice large shower and a great beach view even if we could see the dreaded pirate ships.The food can be a bit repetitive but the a la carte restaurants offer a nice change and all the staff work hard to keep you happy.
All in all I would say that for what I paid I was very happy.Yeah sometimes it can be noisy but I wouldnt say this is a fault of the hotel more of the holidaymakers choosing to be loud.If you came here expecting 5 star luxury then maybe you will be dissapointed but im sure you are aware of what youve paid for and this place certainly lived up to my expectations.Just wish others wouldnt go on a hate campaign giving an unfair representation of this resort as it really isnt that bad i assure you.

We stayed at the Barcelo Costa for 2 weeks from 13th-27th July. We are 2 girls both aged 22 and we found this hotel to be perfect for us. It was everything we had hoped for. I do agree with some of the previous reviews, this is definately not a place for families with young kids or for anyone looking for a relaxing and quiet holiday. We booked with Thomas Cook and it actually states in the brochure that it is a LIVELY hotel suited to young couples etc. this being the reason we chose to stay at the Barcelo. Please dont worry about the bad reviews on here, if you are not fussy and one of these people who complain about anything and everything then you should have a brilliant time. I could not fault the place but everyone is different.

AIRPORT: After a 10 hour flight from the UK we then had to que for 2 hours to get through the immigration at Cancun airport. Absolute nightmare when your tired but once that is over with the fun begins and you forget about the whole experience.

ROOM: We stayed on the 5th floor which looked out to the pool area. The maids clean the rooms daily, they really work hard and were always smiling and polite when we saw them. Some people have said that they had things going missing but we never once had a problem with this. Huge shower, enough room for 2. Shampoo/Conditioner & Shower gel provided. The fridge is re-stocked daily with beers, water, soft drinks, peanuts and mexican chocolate. We found the beds to be fine, not too hard at all. We had 2 kingsize beds which was brilliant as a few people had the same but with 4 sharing 2 beds.

POOL/BEACH: If you are pool people like us then be prepared to be down at 6.30am to get a decent sun lounger. Unfortunately there is only one pool so it is very busy and you will not get a bed unless you are down there at the crack of dawn. There are always activities going on around the pool during the day, tequila volleyball, salsa, water aerobics but again nothing for kids and yes the music is very loud and aimed at the younger crowd.

There are waitresses around the pool area who bring you drinks all day long so some days you do not even have to get up and go to the bar. Absolutely brilliant, i have never stayed anywhere before that provide this service. The waitresses were always smiling and happy to please.
The beach is small but very nice. You do get alot of seaweed but the staff try their best to clear it several times a day. If you are a beach person then i would not recommend the Barcelo as the beach isnt great. This didnt bother us at all as we preferred being around the pool. We didnt come across any oil spillage in the sea nor bad fumes from the pirate ships docked next door!

FOOD: There are 4 resturants to choose from. Mexican/Spanish/Seafood & Buffet. We only tried the Mexican and the buffet as we are easy eaters and always found something to fill us up. The mexican food was lovely, the staff really go out their way to make it special. The Buffet could be a bit repetitive some days but if your not a fussy eater you will find something to eat. Yes they do have stew and bizzare meats etc out for Breakfast but you are in Mexico and they cater for everyone not just people from the UK and America. There was always a wide selection to choose from. You could always get fresh omlettes made, fried/ scrambled egg, bacon, sausages, pancakes. Fresh fruit and youghurt and a selection of cereals. Staff were always pleasant in the buffet area apart from the odd one or two but that could of been due to the long hours they work. One thing we found really annoying in the buffet resturant was that they would always take you to your table first. For what reason i do not know, totally pointless. I thought buffets were all about serving yourself. Beware of the 24 hour food bar, we ate in there after a night out (around 3am) and the salads/cheeses/fruit were crawling with tiny ants. I think this was due to it being left out for too long. You could also get pizza and hot dogs here. That was the first and last time we ate there. They say it is 24 hour self service to alcoholic drinks but i believe they closed the bar at 5am. We never found this a problem as on one occasion we managed to get it round the clock. There is also the beach bar which serves club sandwiches, burgers, chips etc around lulnch time which wasnt too bad.

DRINKS: We never found the drinks to be watered down. The lobby bar is usually very busy in the evening so sometimes it can take a while to get served. We never tipped at the bars but always got served. You probly would get better service if you did but do not feel obliged. In the second week we went over to the Buffet resturant for drinks before we headed out as you never had to wait. Ceasar was brilliant, he always sorted us out with champagne cocktails and variuos shots, mmm.... delicious.

ENTERTAINMENT: Was non existable. Two rubbish singers in the lobby who finished up at 11pm. There was a show on every night but this finished at 10pm so there is literally nothing to do after that if you are a family with young children. Now for the younger crowd, the hotel entertainment staff arrange trips to different clubs every night. $45 per person and that is for a coach there, VIP area in the clubs and free booze while your in there! What more could you ask for. Kiko, Omar, Alexandra and Tono are the night staff and they are brilliant. It wouldnt be the same without them. They really look after you and make sure you have a good night. We covered most of the clubs. The shows in Coco Bongos were very good to watch. Our favourites were Bulldog and the Ultra Lounge. The U.Lounge is the only place in Cancun that plays house and electro so prepare yourself for lots of R&B and Hip Hop.

TRIPS: We done the day trip to Isla Murjeres which was a nice day out. The beach is amazing, pure white sand and clear blue water. Just how you expect Mexico to look. We also done the Pirate ships. This is a must do, such a good laugh. If you tip your pirate he will bring you drinks all night long so prepare yourself to get slightly tipsy. I think i paid around $90 and that included the lobster dinner.

WEATHER: We were really worried about the weather before we went as the BBC predicted rain everyday. Do not listen to the predictions as they are absolutely rubbish. The weather was beautiful, 35c and sunny every day. We had 2 days of torrential rain which was due to a tropical depression which passed into Texas but overall the weather is very good. You will def come back with a nice tan. Make sure you use a high factor for the first week at least as the sun is so strong. We saw lots people who had to avoid sitting in the sun for a few days as their sunburn was that bad. I have dark olive skin and very rarely burn but i stuck to factor 15 for the first 7 days and come back with a lovely tan.

Overall Cancun is a beautiful place and I would definately go back one day. The mexican people are so friendly and they do not try and rip you off like alot of places abroad. We found it to be fairly cheap outside the resort and easy to get around.

Please do not let bad reviews put you off, you have to experience it for yourself. It is a lively holiday in paradise :@) Go and enjoy.

We just got back from our 2 week stay at Barcelo costa and we absolutely loved it!
It is definitely value for money, if you want 5 star.....pay for 5 star!!!
Cancun on a whole was amazing. The weather was fantastic, there is so much to do and see.

Location: Not in the centre of cancun like it says in the brochure. It is in the hotel zone, and a 5 minute bus ride (which costs around £0.30p) will take you from 1 end of the hotel zone to the other. There is a bus stop right outside the hotel and coco bongos is 5 minutes away. The bus itself is a great experience.

Hotel:Couldnt fault it! When we arrived, a bell boy took our luggage straight up to our room for us. The standard rooms are very spacious, with a huge bed, big telly, and fridge with beer, drinks and snacks that are stocked daily. There is a small french balcony and the lucky ones get a bigger balcony with a hammock. Bathroom was lovely with a huge shower, hairdryer was brill, and the air con was great.

Pool area:Huge pool and own private beach. Only bad thing, you had to get up at 7am to get a sunbed round the pool or you were limited to the beach (which is lovely anyway and there are always loads of sunbeds). There are always waitresses walking round the pool filling up your drinks, there is a bar on the beach with shade where you can sit under and have a drink. THE PIRATE SHIP WAS NOT A PROBLEM. Round the pool every day there was always games such as Tequila volleyball, pool basketball and beach volleyball.

Restaurants: There is the albatross restaurant which we mostly ate at, they had lovely food everyday with lots of different varieties and lovely deserts. There is also a mexican and spanish restaurant and a 24 hour snack bar on the 2nd floor.

Night entertainment: There is always a show on at night and then singers in the lobby. We didnt really stay in the hotel, as the hotel staff arrange a trip everynight to 1 of the nightclubs. i recommend going with the hotel as you get a VIP area in coco bongo's ect.

Trips: we did Pirate ship which was fab and i wouldnt say it is directed towards children as they get adults involved for games. Jungle tour (not a tour of the jungle) - you hire a speed boat which you can drive, and then park up for a bit of snorkelling. Xel Ha - if we did isla mujures before this trip we wouldnt of booked xel ha as they are very similar except isla mujures is 10 times better. Isla mujures - the best trip EVER! its fantastic. we went to this ater park where we went down a zip line, snorkelled and kyaked, then we went swimming with sting rays, sharks and the dolphins is a must do its amazing. then they dropped us off on another island for shopping and then we headed back.

Nightclubs: Coco bongos is brill, the city is the best nightclub we went to over there. Hardrock cafe was great as well.

On a whole we had a brilliant holiday, if youre 18-30 then i would advise going to this hotel.