Where do I start? I guess I will start with Thank You!! Thank you to this board and all the members. I didn't know much about Barcelo until I found this website, using a link from TripAdvisor. I am so glad I found it. The information you all provided was invaluable and so accurate. It made our trip so fabulous! Thank you so much!
I'll list the pros and cons and then what we learned. Be patient with me, I'm still in beach mode!
Cons:
Music at the beach could be very loud at times. We didn't have hot showers 2 out of the 4 days we were there (but I knew there was a risk taking showers at peak time so I'm not mad, just warnings others!) Hate getting to the airport so early and then not having many choices for food at 6 am once there.
Pros:
Everything else!
Our flight was on time, even early. Finding and dealing with the FunJet (Lomas) folks was great. Had a non-stop shuttle to the resort which, after getting up at 4 am, was a God-send. Check-in was a breeze. They served us two drinks, while we stood there and waited at the counter. I called last week and the day before to see what room we had been assigned. On the phone, they said they would note it. From the email, I got a reply asking for my reservation # but then never heard anything. Anyhow...while checking in, I requested a different room, something close to the pool after I explained that I called ahead to try and pre-arrange it. What a wonderful lady! She moved us to 3301, a corner room on the top floor, king sized bed. Fabulous! Room was great, view was great and we loved having the big balcony with the hammock. Yes, the beds are hard, but we were so exhausted (and usually tipsy) to even notice. We slept great the entire time and didn't bother asking for the foam mattress even.
Our room wasn't ready so luckily, we packed swim suits in our carry on (thanks to your advice). Dumb me, I forgot sunscreen and didn't go back and get it. We got fried! Totally my fault. The great thing is that we had a half day on the beach, just by bringing our swimsuits with us. We headed back up around 4 and our room was ready. We showered and changed and headed to dinner. I was amazed at the food and the selections! OH MY GOSH. I've stayed at other all-inclusive beach resorts in Mexico but nothing prepared me for this. I'm a total food snob and I have a hard time believing that someone couldn't find something they like. We didn't even make reservations at the fancy restaurants. Why? The buffet was fantastic!
The nightly shows were great. (What's with the concert movies showing before the show starts? Madonna and Britney Spears? Yikes.) We left early on the last night, during Dreams, because we wanted to walk on the beach a little before leaving. The bars in that area were great. We were served quickly and with a friendly smile each time. In fact, we didn't have any trouble with the service the whole time we were there. They were never too busy to get to us or indulge our special requests.
We basically layed in beach chairs every day so no report on activities from me. We never smelled any weird smell like I read from other reports. The weather was gorgeous and we loved the padded beach chairs at the pool. In fact, we usually spent the morning at the beach, the afternoon by the pool where we would nap on those lovely beach chairs and then head back to the beach around 3:30/4 to finish out our day. We brought cooler-mugs so we didn't have to make so many drink trips and they were more than happy to fill them, even suggesting new drinks to try when we didn't have any preference. The water in the pool was pretty chilly but felt good after sitting on the beach all morning. The beach water was great, of course a little chilly in the morning but clear and warm after that. We had a great ocean breeze every day that was lovely.
I tried to order a Mayan coffee but they were unable to make it. They were out of one ingredient or something?? Anyway, can someone please tell me what it is since we didn't get one???
The grounds...where do I begin? They are breathtaking, beautiful, serene, well-kept and pictures will not do them justice. Just walking from our room to dinner or the pool was amazing. I've never seen so many gorgeous plants and flowers. They do a great job!
We had some rain yesterday afternoon. We headed in early, around 3:30. I know that doesn't sound early but we love sitting on the beach until 6 or so because we love that dusk beach time. The good news is that I had a hot shower that night! So we spent the rest of our afternoon, sitting in our robes and slippers that are provided, on our corner porch, drinking and talking and relaxing. No worries about the bad weather, we had a great porch to watch and enjoy that fresh rain smell.
The cleaning crew did a great job. We had fresh towels when we asked for them and she even arranged a towel person on our chair. They resupplied our fridge often with no problems. And I'm so glad we brought my library card like it was suggested. We never had to worry about our AC being on or not when we went back to our room.
Check-out was easy. Our shuttle was waiting for us this morning, right on time. Took 2 minutes and they had us loaded up and heading to the airport.
I just can't say enough about it. We had a great vacation and we are total beach snobs. I was really worried about whether it would stand up to our liking but it did. And it superseded our expectations even. We've already decided to go back again soon. I can't believe how long this report is. I'll finish up with what we learned from this week.
1. Be relaxed. They move at a different pace than us Americans. Be patient, kind and smile at them. They are working their butts off.
2. Tip, tip, tip. It makes all the difference. From our meals to our drinks to the cleaning crew. They deserve it so be generous. Bring lots of small bills. I brought $70 USD in ones and fives and came home with $5.
3. Prepare for your trip. Read this message board, ask questions, take notes. The more prepared you are, the more relaxed you can be right from the start.
4. Enjoy each moment. It flies by and then you find yourself sitting on the plane to come home.
5. Make friends. Everyone there was friendly and interested in getting to know each other. They had advice and stories to tell. If you can speak some Spanish, that helps.
6. Bring more clothes than you think. I'm a light packer but I found I didn't have enough t-shirts or casual clothes for getting up to go to breakfast most mornings. My bad.
7. Bring drink mugs. You will be so glad you did.
8. Drinks lots of bottled water while there. Even if you don't think you need it, drink it. You will stay hydrated and won't get sick from being in the sun.
9.Have fun, take pictures and tell everyone you know about it. Those folks do a fine job of making that place great and they deserve so much credit. Tell everyone you know to go and enjoy it!
That's all for now. Whew. Thanks again for all the advice. It helped tremendously!
If I can answer any questions for anyone, please post them. When I get my pictures uploaded, I will share.
Thanks!
