Barcelo Puerto Vallarta - All Inclusive

Customer Ratings & Reviews

TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

10335 reviews

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  Our HOME away from HOME

  This was my wife and I’s 7th stay at Barceló Puerto Vallarta. This trip we brought along 15 friends and family members. We had an incredible 7 days. The staff at Barceló PV always take such great care of us. The rooms are beautiful, and all rooms have a pool/ocean view that can’t be beat! Of course we have several favorite staff members that have become our favorites! Caesar Lopez in the VIP lounge, the best Bartenders in the world are at the pool bar with Alfredo, Juanventino, and Ricardo, and Oscar is by far our favorite Breakfast attendant! Only thing I would change is the Pool Bartenders uniforms! Tuxedos are way too formal. We are looking to have fun at a pool bar. Allow them to look the part of a pool bartender! The entertainment crew around the pool are super casual why aren’t the bartenders in the pool? 🧐

  Mar 11, 2025
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  Not Exclusive Hotel

  Hotel has a nice location and great food. The rooms are not pleasant to stay in. Our bathroom was very molded and smelled.

  Mar 10, 2025
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  A Full and Long Review of the Resort and our Experience

  Our (long) Barcelo Review from March 2-9 2025 My wife and I are now home from the most incredible stay at the Barcelo Puerto Vallarta and are already planning a return trip at the end of the year. Staying at the Barcelo on Mismaloya Beach is such a unique and special all inclusive experience. We have stayed on the east coast numerous times but there is something so special about this location and the resort. It truly feels like an authentic and safe Mexico experience. We ventured off the resort property numerous times during our week stay. We visited the Oxxo across the street, tequila tasting at Mama Lucia, went to the Zoo, walked the Malecon at sunset, and had an incredible birthday dinner at the Mismaloya Grill. Puerto Vallarta feels so incredibly safe and the locals are so welcoming. We never felt nervous about leaving the resort or constantly feeling like we are being scammed like we’ve felt in Cancun and Tulum. About the resort- The room was very large and well kept (for a Mexican AI). Every room has an incredible view over the pools and views of the ocean. We stayed in Tower 1 and had the afternoon shade on our patio- Tower 2 will give you beautiful afternoon sunshine and views of the sunset. Rooms were cleaned and bedding changed daily. There was a whole front TV sitting area that we never even used since the room was so big. There were two closets and two dressers so lots of room for clothes to be hung and put away. We did enjoy 3 Al a Carte dinners during our stay. The plated dinners were the best we have ever had at an all inclusive. There was no limit to what you could order and meals were actually prepared to order. I’m convinced other AI’s they are just plating from a buffet table in the back. Mexican dinner was amazing. We had the lamb and steak which were delicious . Service was great and we were impressed. We tried the Italian and it was great but was our least favourite of the three we tried. Food was nothing special and our server wasn’t very attentive. The Steak House was also amazing. Started with the incredible ship cocktail, warm Cesar, then 2 ribeye steaks. Our only complaint we have about the Al a Cartes in general is you can never get a ‘good’ glass of wine with dinner. Buffet was decent. We have reasonable expectations when it comes to AI buffets. Breakfast gets a little repetitive but fresh omelettes or fried eggs are great. The fresh fruit each morning was amazing and the pastries are delicious. We found lunch to be great with a rotation of selections throughout our stay. The lunch buffet was great option for a quick snack during pool time. For the dinner buffet they had rotating “themes”. Unfortunately we missed prime rib night which sounded amazing. We did go on “seafood night” which was slightly too adventurous for us. Mexican night had awesome selection of dishes. The buffet servers are so friendly and quick to make you comfortable with drinks when you sit down. The other lunch food option was a table service restaurant where the steak Al a Carte restaurant is. It’s menu service restaurant with a decent selection of meals. Only complaint is that the meals aren’t very big but you can take advantage of the taco station for an appetizer or as a meal on its own. There was also a “snack station” in the Catina Bar however the snacks weren’t overly appetizing- often it was old and cold looking cut up hamburgers and hot dogs, cold fries or mozza sticks and chips. What we loved the most about the buffet and lunch restaurant was being able to sit overlooking the beach. This is something you don’t normally get to experience at larger resorts that can often be set farther back from the beach. The Catina Bar was a lot of fun for nightly socializing, people watching, and entertainment. We enjoyed sitting at the bar to meet new people and had a lot of fun watching our favourite bartenders Enriqo and David in action. Tip them well and you will never have an empty glass in front of you! (This can also be problematic..) We loved the pools! We preferred the adult pool as we found that the activity pool was a little loud during the day with loud music and the daily activities. People will be down early to reserve chairs with towels so if you want prime chairs you’ll need to mark your territory by around 8am. There always seemed to be chairs available throughout the day but chairs close to the pool will be taken early. We had seen complaints about the pool service but our experience was that the pool service seemed great! We would order two drinks each each time the server came around and we would usually be just finishing our second drink when they came around again- this also helps keeping tipping in control when you tip each service. As for premium vs basic- we stayed as basic guests and really didn’t feel like we missed out enough to justify the difference in cost. We asked what an upgrade would be when we arrived and it was going to be $200usd per day for the two of us. The premium would have given us a room on a higher floor, we wouldn’t have been limited to a single towel card per person, access to a ‘premium lounge’ that honestly didn’t look like we were missing out on much, higher end liquors, more A la Cartes, and a fancier wrist band. We still had access to a great liquor selection and decent tequilas (Patron), vodkas (Stoli), and gin(Tanquray and Bombay). You won’t be limited to well booze. Now to address some of the complaints we were worried about before we arrived- Sickness- we never became sick at all and did not see any signs of illness while we were there. We were careful with what we ate but did eat fresh vegetables and became a little more adventurous as the week went on. We did stay away from ceviche and anything that could have been a little under cooked. We brushed our teeth with bottled water except once when maybe the night of drinking caused me to forget and I used the tap- but survived! As for travel to and from the resort we learned quickly that Uber is the way to go! We hired a private driver to take us from the airport to the resort that cost us 800pesos. The return trip with Uber was only 385pesos. We also used Uber to go to and from the Malecon which was about 200pesos each way. Ubers felt super safe and we appreciate all fares predetermined and paid by card through the app. Theft- we did hear some rumours of theft from rooms and room safes while we were there but never actually spoke to anyone who personally experienced theft. We did take precautions and left our valuables locked inside our suitcase and did bring a $25 small hidden camera that we set up when we left the room. Not only did the camera give us peace of mind but was also nice to know when our room had been cleaned so we could head up for our daily siesta. Overall we fell in love with the resort and the location. The smaller resort was really nice. Popping up to our room from anywhere in the resort was very easy and not something we are used to after staying at larger resorts- no need to pack for the whole day when you go for breakfast buffet. I can’t say enough about the location right on the beach and how authentic the experience was. Watching some of the younger resort guests playing beach volleyball with some of the local kids was something special. If you’re considering staying here I highly recommended it and if you don’t normally venture away from resorts this is the best place to explore!

  Mar 10, 2025
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  Daniel at the buffet and Cesar in the premium lounge were so outstanding!

  David and Cesar Lopez were amazing, they did not fail to make us feel welcomed and went above and beyond when it came to hospitality. I’m so grateful to have had such friendly people that made our stay extraordinary. The resort is beautiful!!

  Mar 10, 2025
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  Great Entertainment Staff

  I would probably rate this resort 3.5 stars. This Barcelo is a smaller resort (525 adults when we were there) so it was easy to navigate and didn't feel huge and crowded. The highlight for us was the entertainment staff, especiallyu Anahi, Isabel and Fernando. We had a lot of fun with them! The daily activities were varied and you could always find something that interested you. We spent the majority of our time around the pool. Red flags were up for the ocean every day we were there. The staff was helpful and attentive. The food in the buffet was OK. It was a struggle to keep things hot. We ate at the Italian restaurant, the steak restaurant and the Spanish ala carte. Don Quitoxe was the best in my opinion. The evening shows were typical for an all-inclusive

  Mar 10, 2025