My boyfriend and I stayed in Cancun for 3 nights for a little vaca. We stayed at the Barcelo Costa Cancun Hotel. Ok, let's start with the room. Our room was on the 4th floor and it was amazing. I had a balcony with a hammock, a huge/comfy bed, great bathroom, and a great view. We had a mini bar stocked everyday and it was part of our all-inclusive. Now the property, the pool/beach area were amazing and the staff was always attentive, always smiling, and nice. Even the guests were nice we mingled with people from all over, everyone was enjoying themselves. Best of all I was impressed how clean EVERYTHING was! Last but not least food and drinks. We always had a drink in our hands :) The bar can make any drink you want or their specialty drinks. Food was a hit or miss. Some things were good, others didn't look appetizing, and you can always ask them to make something to order for you. But one thing for sure there was always food and we were always eating and drinking :) Bottom line I would recommend this hotel and I would stay there again! P.S. A tip I picked up on here, Tripadvisor, is to get a room on the 4th floor or higher. The reason being you get a view and privacy.

Stayed at the Barceló costa in Cancun from 15/01/12 to 29/01/12
The hotel from the outside looks very clean the room we stayed in was 234 and it looked like a 2 star hotel room it needs updating we went to the buffet and the food was bearable there are 3 other restaurants but you have to book from 7am to get in it is one mad rush at that time all the hotel staff are very good and courteous at all times 10 out of 10 for them this is the first and last time I will stay at a Barceló hotel .the Riu palace is more like a 5 star hotel this would be a better choice to stay in Barceló should sack the saxophone player he is dreadful

the bus service is 24 hours and costs 8.50 Pesos per person as far as you like to go the biggest shopping place is La Isla shopping mall the only thing I wrong was no one was carrying any shopping bags the price in the UK is about the same if you live in Essex and have been to the outlet village Freeport in Braintree then you know what the shopping malls are like in Cancun I think that Thomas cook reps are on commission if you go to Cocobongos the rep will charge you 55 USD if you go La Isla shopping mall it is 45 USD the flee markets are all the same all selling the same thing all the shop owners want your custom so ask you to have a look round this gets boring keep saying no all the time One thing you must do when you are in Cancun is take a bus downtown to Market 28 bus number R2 or R15 the market is so much better and the prices are a lot cheaper and there is a Wal-Mart
Cocobongos is fantastic
You will need about 950 pesos per person to get out of Mexico but it is free if you are a Canadian or American

Went on a family vacation with a 2 1/2 year old, my husband and a 6 month old baby. First room we checked in to was dingy, overlooked the very noisy main road. Very dark, dirty, musty....almost left the hotel. One hour later and $175 USD we were in a large, spacious oceanview room on the beach. Well worth the extra cash. Food, facilities, amentities were excellent. Note: This is not a large resort, does not have a swim up bar and would be more suited to families, older couples or people looking for a quiet week. This resort is also located right at the end of the strip so it takes a good 35 mins to get there from the airport. Food variety is average but is hot and plentiful. Staff were more than helpful. Over all, pretty decent.

My girlfriend and I stayed here last July. Had it not been for the terrible staff and terrible food, I'd rate this place a 3 out of 5 because the rooms aren't bad and the pool and beach area are nice.

The Food: I got sick twice in a week by eating at their terrible buffet restaurants. On the last day, while in the buffet line waiting for a cheeseburger I saw the cook do something that any food service person should realize is wrong. She had a pile of cooked burgers on the grill that were warming up. While she was doing that, she put raw frozen patties on the grill and on top of the cooked burgers that were warming. She then proceeded to take the cooked burgers from under the melting frozen patties and put them on buns to serve patrons. I couldn't believe my eyes and after trying to communicate with her I just walked away. This place is hopeless.

The Drinks: The drinks are beyond awful as well. They are very sugary and just don't taste all that good. Plus the bartenders are awful. You'll wait to get a drink for no reason at all.

The Staff: The front desk staff is awful as well. I sustained a head injury while on the XPLOR excursion. I was treated on site and sent back to the hotel with my head wrapped in a bandage. I was instructed to have the front desk bring a medic because i would need stitches. When i approached the front desk with dried blood on my face and a bandage around my head asking for assistance, I was told by the front desk employee to wait until they finished a currency exchange. Seriously? Who does that! Oh and they say they have onsite 24 hour medical staff, but they don't. The medic office doesn't have anyone in it.

I'm not the kind of person that demands staff to cater to my every need. I don't like being difficult and I don't like causing problems. So it's not like I got bad service because I had a bad attitude. I also eat a lot of fast food and other types of food that are not considered "gourmet". So when i critique the food, I'm not comparing it to something it shouldn't be. Hell, I ordered Domino's Pizza 3 times in a 1 week stay.

To give you an idea of my true feelings for this place: if they offered me a free one week stay with airfare, I wouldn't take it. Seriously, you couldn't pay me to go back there and eat that food and deal with that staff.

When I read some poor reviews before booking this place, I just figured that the person writing the review expected too much. I was wrong.