The well needed getaway was awesome! As we have traveled to resorts before, much was the same. The hotel was clean....the food was great and the staff was adequate with 2 exceptions.
We were served by a truly amazing person. Cesar Arevalo is the most remarkable server we have EVER encountered. During our first encounter, we found him courteous, respectful, attentive and charming!! He talked to like us as though we were old friends. I wanted something particular for dessert...Baked Alaska... but Cesar informed me they were out of it. I joked with him throughout the dinner requesting the same dessert...just giving him a hard time...and his good nature allowed him to play along but I would soon find out HE would have the last laugh.
The next day we had lunch and was blessed again to have Cesar take care of us. I found out a few minutes after we left the restaurant that my daughter had left her school book at the table but the way I found out amazed me. 30 minutes went by when I felt someone tapping my shoulder while getting some drinks. It was Cesar...with school book in hand...and a warm smile on his face...telling me someone might miss this soon!! Looked for me until he found me to return the book!!!!!
Our last evening at the resort...New Years Eve....found us having 1 last dinner in one of the great restaurants. To our surprise, Cesar was there to take care of us again and after another wonderful dinner we were told dessert was on the way. A little intrigued, since we had not ORDERED dessert yet, we anxiously awaited for Cesar to return. So what did he have up his sleeve?? Although it wasn't on the menu for the evening, Cesar came out with Baked Alaska!!! He was told by the manager of the restaurant that we would be there for dinner that evening and he made the dessert especially for us!!!!! Words could not express the way he made us feel that evening!
Oh yea...his manager....Obdolia Zamudio....Another AMAZING person!! She visited with us during our first time in her restaurant and again, we were treated like family. But what she did later that evening made possible our last night in the restaurant. After dinner we spent some time by the beach then relaxed at one of the tables near the bar. After what I'm sure was a long day and evening for OB (Her nickname) we saw her walking in the distance. She saw us and changed directions so she could stop and chat with us which we would ultimately be SOOOOO thankful for. At the end of our conversation she asked which restaurant we would be eating at on New Years Eve and we told her hers. She asked if we had reservations and we told her that we were told by the hotel staff we didn't need reservations. She could not believe it and went BACK to the restaurant and made a reservation for us!!!!
I'm 53 years old and have NEVER been more memorable encounters with ANY service staff than the ones we had with Cesar and OB.
I'm sure we will return to Barceló in the near future and truly hope to see them once again. IT WON'T BE THE SANE WITHOUT THEM!!!!!

WOW! If you want to be in the heart of Cancun, walking distance from great shopping and eats, and the prettiest stretch of powdery white sand with a crystal clear turquoise ocean, look no further!! Blown away by how awesome this place was! Now for those used to the Riviera Maya area, this is not as jungle-like and unpopulated. There are LOTS of people and LOTS of action. It never sleeps! Night shows and bars are great, and more if you walk out of the hotel! We had an awesome 7th floor corner ocean front room....probably the best view and location of anywhere we've ever stayed. The staff here was SO SO friendly....probably in the top 10% of places we have ever been. Food was great...definitely reserve at the specialty restaurants (we did Italian and Seafood; service was out of this world and food was so amazing). Nice to walk down the beach and check out the other hotels...we still thought ours was the best! A few fun notes: the elevators were super fast! There is a nice library area to borrow/give books! There are 2 gift shops with a variety of low-priced items and souvenirs! Front desk was always so helpful. They had a sensational magic show....and I also got to help the magician's assistant (if you read my other reviews you'll see I was also chosen to help in the magic show at the Bahia...seriously a coincidence but I was thrilled!!!!!). Bring a candle as our room had smokers in it before us. Used the dive shop to book a 2-tank dive; please let me know if you want more info on that. They had an adults-only pool and bar! Nice! The pools were a bit chilly though (not unusual it seems). Notes: no free wifi. No free room service. The front desk/lobby area is VERY windy. The bartender at the lobby bar named Antonio is the BEST bartender ever!!! And actually, this is the first resort we've been where our glasses literally were NEVER ever left empty...they were topped off before we even had to ask. We've been to other Barcelos in the past as well. This only makes us sad to say that Occidental is buying them up...not that those resorts are not wonderful, but it's a different vibe with a time share vacation resort. Goodbye, Barcelo, we loved you; tears!