I think the whole point of this website is to give an honest report on the hotel you are staying at. So with that in mind i wont waffle on for hours talking about the resort or the trips (all of which we did were fantastic by the way)
Like many others, upon reading recent reviews before myself and my girlfriend went i had started to have reservations about the hotel and the quality of the food etc. We were ther for 2 weeks 4th Aug - 18th and heard of nothing from any one of any food complaints. Neither of us were ill and we ate some amount of food!!
I would have to say though that none of the restaurants are 'a la carte' They are however decent, run of the mill hotel calibre food. On a personal note i was quite disappointed in the Claraboya (seafood one) however not all options will suit all taste buds. We did end up eating out on a few occasions but trust me this was not because the food was terrible, it was just the monotany of eating buffet style. This is not a slant on the hotel or the food quality, as i say if you cant find something to eat in the buffet then im sorry but there is something wrong with you and you should never go on holiday on an All Inclusive basis. Lets be honest if you shovel beef stew, chicken, re-fried beans and beer etc down your neck for breakfast then there is every chance the toilet will be your best friend for a couple of days!!

The room we had was fine. Spacious, clean, well maintained and mini bar stocked up daily. Bathroom was large with a big shower. Only had a French balcony but to be honest didnt bother us, as the time of day we would consider sitting there the sun was going down the other side of hotel anyway. Think it is probably just your luck if you get one of the even bigger rooms with balcony/hammock etc. They offer the upgrade for $15 per day, and i would say its a personal choice. Having paid what we had already for our holiday i wouldnt have said it was worth it.
Was kept clean daily by the maids.

Tipping!!: Well what can i say here? Your choice what you do and how much you leave!.... I dont see what tipping staff in a buffet resaurant for instance is going to benefit you? after all its self service! In and around the bars in the complex, fair enough, maybe the odd dollar/peso's here and there may benefit you if you are spending your evenings only in the complex, but i dont think anybody should feel pressured into tipping just for the sake of it. I appreciate these guys are probably poorly paid compared to British/American standards so a few tips here and there wont hurt your spending money!

Entertainment. Was ok. Cant say too much more. During the day there was activities at the pool and at night time they had there shows. They try hard to keep you entertained! I can understand previous reviewers comments about the music. Even though im 32 i still consider myself to be young enough to appreciate good dance/house/techno music i do think they need to turn it down a notch or 2 during the day. The pool is supposed to be a leisurely/relaxing place and i cant imagine the poor chaps that had sunbeds right beside the speakers will be that chilled out!

Brings me nicely to the next point. Sun loungers!!!.. People, people, people.... what is going on with this. Not once in 2 weeks did we get to lounge at the pool! Dont know what people were doing but im sorry having every lounger taken by 7.30 am (this was the earliest i passed them on way to breakfast) is completely not acceptable. No doubt the beds are all gone quicker as heard some say they were down just after 6.00!!!....The hotel needs to do more on this eg pool staff check any beds not in use for say an hour or 2 and then chuck the towels off. There were plenty of people making make shift beds on the concrete of towels/li'lo's etc just to be by the pool. on a personal note preferred the beach anyway so was of no great loss to us but im quite sure there were many people slightly annoyed by this...
The beach is great (bit small, so bit crushed at places) maintained well with regards the seaweed (which is actually just reeds/grass) and the water was amazingly warm. Pirate ships next door are not an issue and those who complain about them are just being pedantic and have probably been annoyed by something else.

Overall this was a good resort. I would say 3 stars poss pushing 4 if the 3 a la carte restaurants were better. Ultimately it will depend how much you paid for your holiday i guess (overhear 1 chap saying he had paid over £3k for his family and was slating it) as to how you will rate it.
Location is fine....... lets be honest we would all cry out for a bus service like Cancun's back home.

Would i go back to it?..... Yes i prob would but i would look elsewhere first.

Oh ps Cancun is great. Shopping, nightlife etc is all good...... Regardless of age you do need to see the show at Coco Bongo's

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.