This is a bit of a belated review as we went in March 08.
word of warning to any families, people looking for a romantic getaway or honeymoon etc that between march and may it is spring break and it gets very busy and load around the hotel!!!

The hotel was very clean especially the rooms, pool gets a bit dirty from drunk kids littering but its not too bad! Staff are polite and friendly, staff at the reception don't speak much english though. Great entertainment, kayak races, evening shows with dancing, water balloon fights (my favourite!) tequila volleyball, water basketball etc. Never used the beach. Food in the buffet bit repetitive but fruit was yummy! bar gets noisy in the evenings and beach bar is always packed! downtown cancun is wonderful definatily go to La isla shopping mall !! definatily do excusions like xel-ha and tulum brilliant! also get a catermaran over to isla mujeres it is a beautiful island you can visit it all in a day on a moped or golf trolley!!(you need a passport or drivers licence) also go to cozumel, great to go snorkelling at chankanaab!!

overall my holiday was fab! you should go to the hotels its wonderful! Viva Mexico!

overall

Really enjoyed our stay at the Barcelo. I don't understand where the complaints come from about the food as there was plenty of choice in the Buffet and the 3 ala carte restaurants were of a decent standard. Suspect the complaints come from the chips/fries with everything brigade. The staff in the hotel were very efficient and cheerfull . The only thing that put a bit of a damper on the holiday was the fact that there were too many ignorant, self centred, young Brits in the hotel which meant you didn't exist if over 30! Also the fact that you had to get up at 06:15 if you wanted a sunbed, bearing in mind there wasn't a single German in the hotel that puts a certain myth to bed!!!

Just got back from barcelo costa and am now very depressed! This was my second visit and i have to say that the people who say that this hotel is dirty are just weird. It is constantly being cleaned day and night. The pool was cleaned every day. The staff were fantastic - friendly and helpful. Special mention to Jesus and Beto at the Claraboya and Juany and Mary in the lobby bar. They made our holiday fantastic. Our room was lovely I spent an hour every afternoon in the hammock on the balcony - bliss! The entertainment staff were great - funny and helpful. The food was ok at the albatross and great at the claraboya and don quihote. am now trying to work out how to afford to get back next year.

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. !!