we stayed in this hotel for 5 days and it was great. I wish we could stay longer. we highly recommend this hotel to stay.

We booked this trip about a month before we wanted to go and got close to the best price we could find after looking for a month before and the days leading up to the trip. Not sure upgrading to Premium would be worth it. That gets you Premium lounge access , free wireless , room upgrade , and unlimited a la cartes. They serve premium liquor at every bar on the resort for all guests , who wants to be attached to their phone all week, 3 a la cartes is lots, the buffet was delicious every meal we had there.Some of the people we travelled with got a wireless password for 24 hours to face time with the children they left behind. There was a minimal charge for that.
The resort itself is located outside Puerto Vallarta in the village of Mismaloya. Right beside the resort are a lot of the residences of that village. Nicest people you will ever meet. We went snorkelling on day 2 with Ralph and Rolando and along the way the told us about the history of the area and also caught a puffer fish for us to hold and get pictures with! On the 5th day we went out fishing with Javi Lopez and is godson Chawi. Best day ever! They are so gracious and friendly. He packed us sandwiches and snacks along with beers and other beverages. All from his family restaurant that they run on the beach beside the hotel. For 5 more USD they will filet and cook your catch if you wish. I can't say enough good things about our experience with Javi . Ive been on the big fishing boats organized by the resort and you don't get to do any anything compared to Javi. If you get a fish you are bringing it in or you are losing it.He would show us the basics of trolling and jigging and then we chased some yellow fin tunas.Saw whales out there as well , one came up literally right beside the boat!!! If we had an extra day i would've went out again.
The only thing i didn't like was the beach in front of the Barcelo, it was small and the sand felt more like rocks i would spread on an icy sidewalk. I cit the bottom of my foot first day playing beach vball and could barely walk the sand after that. The sand fleas were insane as well. We all got at least 2 extra bites per day. Kinda like mosquito bites but a little bigger and itchier. I wonder if the fogged in the mornings if it would help.

We stayed at Barcelo for 7 days in January as a family vacation (Myself, my daughter, son-in-law and grandson). We reserved a 2 bedroom family suite with 2 king-size beds. We got one room with a king bed and one with two twins. They said they didn't have 2 kings available. The location on floor 7 of tower 2 was great, so we dealt with it. While the rooms were sufficient, they lacked the wow factor I was reading about in the junior suites. Simply beds and one room with a desk. No sitting areas, no extra space, disappointing. The grounds were very clean and well maintained. The pools were heated which was very nice, always able to use them, although they could have used some cleaning under the shelf seats along the sides of the pool. Staff in the restaurants, maids, etc., GREAT. Staff at the front desk . . . not so great. Food was pretty standard for all-inclusives, only had one night that I struggled to find something that looked appealling to me. The beach was small and the sand was course, but the locals offered great deals on side trips. We went whale watching (very successfully) with Alonzo and it only cost us $100 for all four of us! There were, unfortunately, some of those no-seeum bugs we were warned about and I am still scratching almost 3 weeks later. That's just a reality of the area, not a comment on the resort. This trip represented a place in Mexico we had not yet been to and while I enjoyed it, I would not return to Puerto Vallarta . . . personal preference, I guess.

We stayed at the Barcelo for 10 days in mid January. Between the 2 of us we've stayed at 15+ all inclusives and have been on 5 cruises; we're in our late 40's and are both professionals. Bottom line: we would recommend this resort to our friends and family.

I don't think it's necessary to go into details about the grounds as all the positive reviews are right on. The highlight of our trip was the service, it was top notch; not perfect (but it will never be) but overall a 4.5 out of 5.0. It shocks us that people criticize the staff for not speaking English as our experience was this was the most English fluent staff we've ever experienced (although why would you expect them to speak English as the the official language is Spanish????) Nonetheless, overall the staff were very fluent and very attentive accommodating. The buffet is standard 4.5 - 5.0 fare; we've had better but we've had much worse. Having brekky or supper by the sea is amazing!!!!

Do yourself a favor and go to the zoo, it's amazing IMHO!

The beach does face almost north and the sand is very course but we sat around the pool all day and enjoyed ourselves immensely.

Get a massage from Paradise massage down the beach; 2 people for an hour at $50 for 2 of you; amazing!!!!!

The house band at the Cantina is good; not the best we've had but good.

We also did the ATV tour and the Eco tour including snorkeling and whale watching; we did not regret either.

We had no difficulty booking a la carte reservations and were very pleased with the food in all 3.

In summary, based on our experience, we disqualify the bad reviews and don't understand how someone could not be satisfied with the Barcelo? No resort is perfect, but overall we would definitely return (one couple we met have been here 6 times and that in and of itself speaks volumes).

All things considered, this was the best vacation we've been on; we didn't meet a single person, and we met tons of people, who didn't share the exact same experience.