Barcelo Huatulco - All Inclusive

I love beach resorts and am fortunate to have visited many in the Caribbean, Gulf Coast, and Mexico. This is the best and I am eager to return and include my kids and grandkids. The lush scenery and grounds are beautiful plus staff, food, services and all amenities are terrific. There are plenty of wonderful things to see and do in the area, and the nearby town is charming with friendly folks and fun shopping. Do not miss a boat tour of all the lovely bays and beaches with stops for swimming and snorkeling. Anyone, any age can expect a great time here!

Huatulco and the surrounding cities are absolutely beautiful. If you want to relax and are not a bit shopper or like to go out partying, Huatulco is not for you. The weather is constantly cloud –free and temperatures while we went were consistently 95 degrees plus. We used Grey Line Tours to pick us up from the airport and also for a tour of the bays. I would highly suggest taking this tour, specifically through Grey Line and ask for [...]. He was the best tour guide anyone would ask for. He constantly made sure we were having a good time and even took our group on a side trip to a Mezcal house to sample tequila from the region. He even took us back to the Mezcal house on the day we departed because we did not have enough money to purchase anything when we were first there. We stayed at the Barceló Huatulco Beach and at first glance, it appears wonderful. However, once you actually get there, it is a different story. The staff does not go out of their way to welcome you like other places that I have been (Cancun, Cabo San Lucas). They did not greet us with a welcome or hello…they simply asked our name and started the check-in process. We paid extra for the premium services such as higher quality liquor, use of the internet, best room, first dibs on reservations at the nice restaurants, etc. The only value to that service was internet use. I was used to Cancun where when you paid for that service you had a representative. We tried purchasing items in the gift shop and you either had to exchange money at the front desk or you had to at least have a $5 minimum charge to use a credit card while the little mom and pop shops across the street took American money. You also had to have your passport in order to exchange money-never heard of that before. We could have been told about this at check in. During the week, we only saw a waiter or waitress by the pool twice and the last time because they did not have the drink my friend wanted, they never came back. Only once during meals were we asked if we wanted something else to drink after our first one was finished and at times, we noticed that silverware that was set at places where people were sitting but had since left was re-used to set the table again. We also would sit in the lobby bar for sometimes 15 minutes before someone would ask us if we wanted a drink. The food was great and there was a lot of it and everything was pretty clean but there is something to be said when staff makes you feel like you are not welcome. I will never go to another Barceló anywhere after this experience.

The Barcelo Huatulco is nicely located, right on the ocean, with a great view and a lovely beach. The pool and the water amenities are very good. However, the hotel has obviously aged, and could use a new facelift and a fresh coat of paint, new tile in the rooms, etc. We booked here because it was competitively priced and the meals were included. Our first meal (lunch) was a disappointing buffet lunch. Breakfast was OK, and the Mexican night theme with the Mariachi band was well done. Overall, if you're looking for a budget / value all inclusive hotel and are not too concerned with the food or the newness of the facility, you'll be fine here.

This was a nice, not great, Barcelo Hotel. The hotel is smaller than some we have stayed in, thus fewer amenities and maybe the food choices were not a great as other Barcelo's we have stayed in. All in all, this hotel is perfectly situated, we had a great ocean view (3'rd floor) and encountered no problems. The pool is smaller however it is adequate for the hotel size. The ocean was rough and the flag was black or red our whole stay. The beach is slanted more than the Atlantic and harder to walk on but not really a major problem. We really liked the area, the people are very friendly, we would probably return to this hotel and area again.

The Hotel was very nice. It was however, the only one in the area without a security station at the entrance to the hotel. The specialty or a la cart restaurants were nothing spectacular. The Sushi bar - just stay away from it if you are a real sushi lover. Phone calls were Very expensive. The upgrade to the premium room ($210 USD) had no additional perks without an additional purchase of the premium services pkg which was another $210 USD. The premium service pkg nets you nothing unless you like going to the a la cart restaurants nightly. The room view and location however, was exceptional. It was a very nice place to relax. It was a well kept, well staffed and a friendly place to stay. The Beach is absolutely beautiful and the outdoor staff worked tirelessly all day and night. The water sports hut was closed a good deal of the week. The nightly shows, well 2 of the 3 nights we did go to the show (we stopped going half way through the third show) amounted to little less that a strip club act. That was very disappointing. The kids had talent but were forced to use it in a most inappropriate way. Many guests stopped attending for the same reasons.

We arrived to find out the water was not working at that time (but would be soon). Our room air wasn't turned up and when it was it was cool at best, no ceiling fans in rooms to help with air. 2 Days maid service cleaned our rooms and took our towels and forgot to replace them which we didn't notice until we needed them. The Pool seemed to have a lot of "stuff" floating around in the water and don't wear white in the pool it will turn yellow likely from the chemicals. Upon check in we didn't receive our comp. drink or our safe key or directions to where our room was located (but our parents did later). The Buffet is small compared to all the other resorts we stayed at and the variety doesn't really change so by day 4 we were pretty sick of the food. On a good note, the people were pretty friendly and the view was beautiful. There was a nice breeze most of the time so the sun didn't seem so hot. If you are anything other than Mexican, I wouldn't recommend going there between June-August since we were one of only a handful of Americans there, and, if you like to be around a lot of kids then this is the resort for you. I wouldn't recommend it for people that like to be around just adults. All in all it wasn't bad but I won't be back it was to boring!

Average experience. As a group this was our second stay at this resort. We found the bar service to be lacking and the consistency of drinks to be in need of attention. Same drink from 3 different bars, all different drinks. Food services were also lacking attendance, many times trays were empty and no refills. Many of us went for breakfast and on numerous occasions had to wait or get a waiter/waitress for coffee. People saving lounge chairs and then taking off for the day without using them was a constant problem. Hope these issues could be addressed. We probably would look at another resort next time as we did not experience this the first time. Too bad because we like the location.

The hotel is wel located but the personel makes a lot of noisy outside the rooms. My room had the bathroom water indicator in a contrary way: red signal for cold water and blue point for hot water. The servibar did not have the key so I had to ask for someone to open

We drove from Oaxaca City to Huatulco. If you're driving, I would recommend leaving very early in the morning to avoid morning traffic. The trip took 6 hours but we all enjoyed the scenic views of the mountains. We stopped about halfway at a small mountain restaurant San Jose del Pacifico cabanas. It has fantastic Oaxacan hot chocolate! I recommend it highly! When we arrived at Barcelo, the staff was friendly and helpful. The rooms were great but the beds were a little firm for our comfort. But all else was fine. Views from the rooms are very pretty especially at Christmas! The beach is clean and the water beautiful. Snorkeling was very fun and relaxing. The nightly shows were awesome! The lounging area was relaxing and the music wonderful. The food was fantastic! I would recommend making a reservation for dinner at the Don Quixote Spanish restaurant. Beautiful ambience and wonderful service! And at this restaurant, I recommend ordering the paella. Riquisima! Wonderful shopping located in small towns not too far by taxi (expect to pay around $3 for the ride). La Crucecita is very pretty but expect lots of tourists. There is a smaller town just down from La Crucecita that I recommend highly. The shops are not as crowded and there is one shop located beside a small parking lot on the main road that I recommend. A very helpful gentleman named Solomon will be very happy to help you!

This hotel is in a great location just got back on 1/3/10. The staff is very friendly, the food is good with a great selection. They had a great New Years Eve party, with great music and food. The beach is very clean but the waves do get heavy at times it is best for kids above 7. There are 2 other bays that are great for younger children one is La Entrega and the othe San Augustin. I definietly recomend that you take a tour to either of these two bays.My only complaint was the rooms they are are a bit dated. The pool area was great with lots of room they have a water volleyball court and a small water polo court. and a great kids pool.