Barceló Aruba - All Inclusive♡

Casi perfecto, salvo el aire acondicionado

10.0

Todo el edificio funcional

− El aire acondicionado de la habitación muy fuerte.

Depends on your preferences…

8.0

This is truly a mixed review… Location - 5 stars, great proximity to shops and food. Excursions are easy to get to and the beach was gorgeous. Amenities - 4 stars. Towels, food, and drinks were easily accessible. Hard to get a chair by the pool if you don’t get up early and put a towel down. (Some guests are also pretty sassy about this) Rooms - 3 or 4 stars. Really depends on what room you get. Some are either super humid or super dry (to the point where we were coughing because of dry air). The front desk was accommodating with the changes needed, but honestly the whole place could probably do with some updates. Noise - 3 stars. Again, depends on where you are and your preferences. We could hear the party music most of the night and the pool music was pretty loud. Didn’t disrupt us much, but definitely not a quiet place if that’s what you are looking for. Cleanliness - 4 stars. Pretty clean, but pool gets a tad dirtier (floating trash on the edges) towards the afternoon. They do a good job keeping up with it all though. Food - we got really tired of the buffet by day 3… the seaside buffet was slightly better, but it was all the same food. Nothing really felt fresh, but that wasn’t incredibly surprising for all inclusive. Ex: OJ from a plastic jug (think Tropicana) and French fries poured out of a store brand freezer bag right in front of us. - 3 stars. There were 5 restaurants with limited reservations allowed (depending on length of stay and royal status). The two that were exceptional were Mexico Lindo and Kyoto. The service at both were incredible and Kyoto’s food was phenomenal! Huge shout outs to Lina, Jazon (our new favorite person), Manuel, and Edmundo. They would be the reasons we’d return. So really it’s up to your preferences. It’s definitely a family friendly and safe resort if that’s what you are looking for. If you are a foodie and want a quiet stay with updated amenities… maybe not so much.

Great time celebrating our 30th anniversary

10.0

Excellent week! The food was amazing!!

The Palm

10.0

The Palm is a really good buffet, amazing staff especially Mary Jean, our hostess for evening dinners. The food here is really good and also includes several options, even some for picky eaters. Lots of seating too and close to the pool.

Mexican dining at Barcelo

10.0

We went to the Mexican restaurant tonight with my entire family. We did not have a reservation but they were able to get us in for dinner. Captain Rodell and Karina were taking care of us. They were very friendly and accommodated our dietary restrictions very well. The service and food were fantastic. I would highly recommend coming here.

Terribly Disappointing

2.0

I do not usually write reviews and definitely not while actively on a trip. But this warrants that. We take an annual family vacation with 20-35 people consistently. We have traveled to the Bahamas, various places in Mexico, DR, Jamaica etc. We actually we excited about Aruba. A family member did an entire presentation and research on this place. When we arrived--shuttle was great De Palma Tours--no wait, nice driver, very helpful. Resort is 20 minutes from the airport. As soon as we arrived, there were issues with the rooms we reserved with their partner AAA. There were not enough accommodations for the rooms we reserved. But more importantly, the customer service around this was subpar. The staff is very unhelpful and their disposition is as if we are getting on their nerves for requesting what we paid for. Patiently we waited--two rooms were to be rectified the following day and a 3rd possibly by day 3. Again, I need to emphasize, we are patronizing this resort having paid and purchased for over 10 rooms. At the time of arrival and after a non seamless check in, it was about 5:00pm and no food as a part of the all inclusive package was available--except for snack in the Beach Club. Snacks included random finger sandwhiches, salads, hot dogs, and melted ice cream. The room was basically empty and the staff seemed annoyed by the entrance for the only food available from 5-6pm. Rooms-small, plumbing out dated. Any pros to the room--good temperature and they don't have a dank smell. But nothing special--for this price --no way. Buffet--almost nothing good. An international buffet is almost always hit or miss--this is just a miss. The 6 restaurants on site: not always open and you have to make reservations between 9:00am and 5:00pm in the lobby. On day two, we tried to do this and was met with "there is nothing available." After several circular conversations we were able to get two days of dinner sporadically reserved. The Birthday dinner we paid an additional 350 dollars for them to accommodate us even though the request was days ahead. But again, the service--terrible. Lisa was annoyed --she did not want to make our reservations. She clearly had disdain for us and our requests. Her manager, Richard Director of Guest Services, tried to tell us that the only way we could have a reservation for our family was to do an special event for the amount of 1-2,000 dollars. *Remember, these are the restaurants included in our individual prices for all inclusive--32 people at 400 dollars or so a night :) He remedied by only charging 400 additional dollars and giving us a fixed menu. Gee, Thank you. We had to eat out several nights so the all inclusive was not worth it. Rooms had to be changed twice--plumbing backed up. I had to request bath towels after day one--literally not extra--just regular amount of towels--room was cleaned and none was left (how do you shower after a long day at the beach and pool?) Had to call concierge--no towels after an hour. Walked down to just get them myself--would not give them to us. Had to wait more time. Again, terrible service. Entertainment=2/10--saxophonist is talented --the rest? nothing even remotely good. They offer on the QR code menu that hamburgers and hot dogs are served late night at the lobby bar from 11:2:30am. There were hotdogs, sandwiches, and bananas left out on the side of the bar- semi buffet style. And it was all gone by 12:30am and when asked if staff was going to replenish the answer was no. So, what about room service then? The line stayed busy the whole night and it is not included in the all inclusive package. This place is awful. But again, the worst part is the staff is completely unbothered. Safe your money and your time, go to a Marriott or something. I really regret not booking the Hilton next door. This place is 1000% not worth it. We learned the very most unfortunate hard way. Only has one pool. And it was not that clean. The activities are the most boring of any resort I have ever been on. The best staff member, kindest, and just doing his job was the young man who I rented the bed floatie form in the souvenier shop. DO NOT COME HERE.