Barcelo Huatulco Beach Resort Hotel

I just got back from my stay at this hotel, and was very pleased indeed. The hotel is immaculately clean, staff very nice and the food was not bad at all; Beach area is great and not too crowded. I was pleasantly surprised not to find crowds of children everywhere, it was definately a more middle aged resort. Don't go if you want to party as it's very relaxed and quiet. Huatulco in general has the best weather, sun is guaranteed and be prepared...it is hot!!

I agree with everyone else that the Hotel has very nice rooms but the food and entertainment is definitely not deserving of a 5 star hotel. Not much Mexican quisine I thought either. We travelled Jan 21 - 28, 2005. Half way through the week almost 1/3 of the hotel guests came down with some terrible stomach/intestinal virus - this everyone fears when going to Mexico. I happened to be fine until departure day when I awoke at 5am feeling very ill. Being it was my first trip anywhere in Mexico I was very careful what I ate but still ended up with something intestinal. It's 5 days later as I write this and am still not feeling up to par. If this Hotel wants guests to return I would suggest the management sneak in and check out the Gala Resort next door as I have not heard of any of these problems over there. People are correct about the beach palapas at the Barcelo - you definitely have to be out there well before 7am to reserve your spot or forget it. I too, found it very loud in the pool area all day long, so we opted for the beach as it was much quieter. A beautiful spot though. A few nicer touches, better control of the food choices and the overcoming any food or waterborne illnesses of their guests would make this hotel a favorite.

I also travelled to Huatulco the week of Jan10 to 17,and I have to agree with most of the things mentioned in the previous review from travellers that were there when we were. This resort does have the potential to be 5star as it is perfectly situated on the beach,it's clean and very well maintained. The service was fairly good,they really try to please,but lets face it, nobody is in a rush in Mexico. So yes sometimes they were not to quick to clear your table or serve you coffee. Your coffee might just take an extra 10 minutes, but I was not in a rush, I was on Mexican time. The biggest beef I had with this resort was that in all my travelling experience,where to eat was never a problem. Most resorts give you options,whether it's poolside,beachfront or main building. Here there was only 1 place to eat lunch and the same for bars, all day long! The problem was that they had the facilities to offer more,they just didn't. In all fairness the food was good and I never had a problem with hunger,but it did lack in variety. I highly recommend the Mexican ala carte,it was fabulous! We ate there twice. I will return to Huatulco again as it was the most beautiful area I've seen but I will most likely stay at the Gala next door. I would not have a problem staying at the Barcelo again if it meant saving $500. If you're travelling on a budget and $500 is a big deal,stay at the Barcelo,it's still a very nice resort and you're in Huatulco,the most beautiful place I've seen (south that is) so far!

Barcelo rates this Huatulco property as a 5 star 'Premium' brand resort. The tour operator we travelled with rates it as a 4.5 star. I would not give this property more than 3 stars. In all the 25+ all inclusives I have stayed at over the years, the Barcelo Huatulco had one of the worst food and drinks..and if I remove the 3 star properties from this list, then the Barcelo has to be THE worst so called 4 or 5 star property, period. Why? Well, let me count the ways: - Just try to find a shady spot near the pool or beach after 7:30am..good luck! - Noisy. All day, all night. You can hear the drunks partying until the wee hours of the morning. So much for peace and quiet, and isn't that the reason one chooses Huatulco in the fist place? - The watersports boil down to a few snorkels, half a dozen kayaks, and one laser-type sailboat that probably dates back to when this hotel first opened (and that would be 1988). - What 5 star resort serves "Carlo Rossi" wine from jugs, regularly waters down the already bad white, and has no wine list in the a la carte's???? Barcelo Huatulco, that's who. - Besides the beer, the other drinks were rocket fuel and undrinkable. - What 5 star resort serves cocktail weenies, pogos, soggy floured calamari and beef stomachs in tomato sauce as part of their main supper buffet menu? You guessed it...the Barcelo!!! - Service in the a la carte's was so bad it was embarassing. They routinely ran out of menu items, even though one had to make reservations in advance. I do not blame the poor overworked staff. The blame must be put on management who obviously have no idea how to properly staff and train their employees. My apologies to the poor maitre'd at the Don Quixote restaurant, he was running ragged trying to help wait and bus the tables when it was clear the restaurant was continually understaffed. The Huatulco area is lovely and I do plan on returning. Thankfully, there are many other hotels and resorts around this area so I never need go near the Barcelo ever again! Don't waste your money and time on this over-hyped, understaffed and noisy hotel. Email me if you have further questions.

First of all we had a great time in Huatulco, you could not find a better place to stay in Mexico. The weather is amazing and the area very clean and friendly you will not be dissappointed at all. Now about the Barcelo, first of it is a very nice hotel, well landscaped all around and the rooms are quite spacious and very clean, everything works in the rooms, they even have a mini bar in there that they fill up daily, this was a real nice touch especially getting bottled water, the pools are clean and well maintained. The beach is amazing with no rocks in the water. Ok I am well traveled, I have to say this is NOT a 4.5 star hotel .... I will give it a 3.5 at best, the food was not great. We were there january 10th to the 17th and let me tell you it was not up to par, I talked to many people staying that week and they all said the same thing, the main thing was there was no variety, by day two you will have this figured out, the outdoor buffet was the worst, out of 15 hot trays you might find 4 you will like, we had dinner at the steak house!! ...lets just say the steaks were not good, very hard to cut, but we did have a ok steak at the higher end restaurant, and speaking of the high end restaurant ..... only half the food was available on the menu, so if you are going here for great food think again ... you will not get sick from the food but like I said by day two you will know what I am talking about. The hamburgers and Pizza were quite good on the lunch menu. The service was ok to poor depending where you were in the hotel, this was the only resort where I can remember when you tip the staff and it does not make a difference!! In service we had to clear our own tabe for breakfast in the morning!! ....but you can't blam the staff for everything here .....the resort is very understaffed for the amount of people staying here, some of them really do try hard. Well that is the good and the bad of it ......if this hotel wants to maintain a 4 star rating or better the managemeant better look hard at what they are doing, this place has great potential to be a 5 star if they get the service and food moved up. Would I go back to Huatulco ....... Yes in a heartbeat, but I would stay at the Gala next door next time ..... GO TO HUATULCO .... YOU WILL LOVE IT!! P.S If you want a good chair by the beach or pool .... you better get up around 5 in the morning....lol.... there was a lot of chair WARS going on the week I was there..... lol....

We had a great holiday at the Barcelo and could find nothing wrong with the hotel, service, food or entertainment. It is a comfortable resort to be at, not too big and impersonal, but big enough to have all the facilities you need. The service was always friendly and accomodating, we found no trouble comunicating with staff and front desk. The food was good, with a nice variety of choices, fish was readily available and done either steamed or poached or lightly fried. Everything was clean and well maintained, not a thing to complain about unless that is your manner, to pick apart whatever little thing that happens to be different than what you expected. Some people complained about the a-la carte restaurant, not liking what they chose to eat that evening, ours was excellent, and our service could not have been better, the piano player was wonderful and the ambiance was exceptional. All in all this is a nice hotel and does definately rate a four star rating. When on holidays in a beautiful place, enjoy.... do not spend your time looking for things that might not be up to your standards. Spend more and go to a five star if you so wish and then see if it is perfect... not likely!!!!

Have just returned from another 14 days in paradise. My wife and I stayed at the Barcelo and thought everything was just great. This was our foruth trip and we intend to return next year.

A premium hotel with a great location. Recommend that the all inclusive deal is avoided as the buffet dining experience was a bit of a scrum, the food was very average and there were queues at peak times. All rooms had sea view balconies and the pools etc were superb.

The weather in Huatulco was great in February when we went.The staff tried very hard to accomodate. The food quality and variety left much to be desired.Would go back to Huatulco, but not to the Barcelo Resort.

We have been to Huatualco 10x, and have stayed all over, I do not recommend the Barcelo,Why? The food is terrible, 95 percent of the guest agree with this, all 3 meals a day are the same food, reminds me of pig slop. The resort it self is very clean and nice but you need food to survive and they don't serve this. The staff is also very slow and don't care about your needs. If you want to get up @5 am to get a chair by the pool and bad food then this is the place to go. I must add that we did try this place 2x to see of this was just a bad innicedent it was not. We were down their over Christmas our charter flight had 2 people going to this resort at the end of the trip they said they will never go back to the Barcelo because of food and service. In my opion save your money and check out one of the many fine resorts Huatualco has to offer.