We loved our stay at the Barcelo Maya Riviera! This hotel is fairly new and clients were raving about it, so I decided it was finally time for us to go. The hotel is about an hour south of the Cancun airport, between Playa and Tulum. It’s close to the eco-parks if you want to get out for the day.
The hotel
The Riviera section is the adult section of the Barcelo Maya Grand which has three other family properties: the Beach/Caribe, Colonial/Tropical, and the Palace section. If you stay at the Riviera section you have access to all restaurants and amenities, if you stay at Palace you have access to all except the Riviera section. There is a double-decker shuttle that runs throughout the property and there is a path along the ocean if you want to walk.
There are lots of chairs and palm trees on the beach. Areas at the other hotels had volleyball and water sports activities set up.
The beach is gorgeous! Lots of sand and you can walk out into the water quite a ways.
The room
Swim out is our favorite room upgrade and we will always book this room type if it’s an option. The room was huge and very modern. There was lots of storage and huge drawers that our small suitcases fit in to get them out of the way.
Premium Level is highly recommended. Barcelo hotels limit the number of sit-down restaurants you can eat for dinner unless you have Premium level. That means on a 5-night stay you eat buffet for dinner 3 times without it.
The swim out here is only available in Premium. We had a great location right behind one of the bars.
The view from our pool. You can kind of see the ocean way back there.
The main pools
There are three large pools with two swim-up bars and fountains and hot tubs in the center. The pools are infinity edge with a great view of the ocean. There’s a walkway to the beach between the pools.
There are lots of chairs around the pool but we noticed the chairs under the awnings usually went pretty quick in the morning. Service was good around the pool but sometimes we grabbed our own from the bar. Like many hotels in 2021, they are still hiring, dealing with low staff and low occupancy. It wasn’t a big deal for us and certainly didn’t ruin our trip.
Barcelo only serves Pepsi drinks, so if you like Coke or anything else you will want to grab that at the airport or make a trip to the convenience store. They do have a really good mango margarita!
Dining options
The Riviera section has four sit-down restaurants and a buffet. The a la carte sit down are open for dinner: French, Italian, Peruvian-Japanese with Teppanyaki option, and Mexican. We got to try them all! The French was our favorite, it usually is. But the Italian had a really good lasagna. For Premium level guests you make the dinner reservations at check-in with your concierge.
I did a lot of eating my food and then remembering to take a picture for the blog. Oops.
If you don’t have premium level then you have the option to choose a buffet at one of the other sections of the hotel. There are several buffet locations.
The main Maya Grand has a bowling alley, a casino, shopping, and a large spa and gym. The Riviera section has a small gym as well. One night we went to the casino, it’s small but it was fun for an hour. The slot machines are in Spanish, fair warning on that.
At night there’s music, dancing and a DJ some nights in this open area. It’s a big area, with lots of seating and overlooks the ocean.
We stayed at the Barcelo in Puerto Vallarta in 2018, and the service and food are consistent. We will definitely be back for another stay and I highly recommend this resort. The Palace is a great choice for families and groups since it has activities for all ages and there is an adult pool there as well.
If you are interested in the Barcelo Maya Riviera, or any other options, I’d love to earn your business. You can reach me at Lake Pointe Travel at sarah@lakepointetravel.net or 469-698-4071. This is my personal lifestyle blog but I’m a travel agent by day.
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