Room Number:
8545
Room Block:
Oaxaca
Arrival: We flew Air Transat Option Plus, from Halifax to Cancun, had great flights, down movie was Happy Feet 2, return was New Years Eve. The two hour time change was not so great on the return flight! We had hot meals on both flights & they were not bad @ all. Flights were on time departing the airports & early arrivals both ways. We did a private transfer to & from the airport/hotel/airport & it was great! We arrived long before the bus.
Check in was great & fast, we were directed to the Club Premium office where we received a nice welcome drink and a really nice personal welcome and we were banded & given our rooms.
Rooms:
Our luggage was delivered to our rooms, we were told how to get to our rooms but…. we really thought we should have been golf carted there upon arrival, like we have been to other 4-5* resorts, as it had been 4 years ago since we were there previously, It would have been nice to at least get our surroundings in check. (This is our only Complaint) Which is nothing really, but after along flight really means a lot, especially when you have carry-ons in tow.We are a family of 5, we had 2 rooms. 1 king size bed Room: 8545 1 with two queens Room: 8546 both in the Oaxaca Building top floor ocean view, with palm trees obstructing our view, that was ok, There are NO joining rooms in the Deluxe Club Premium section of the resort, there are joining rooms in the regular club premium. Rooms were awesome, cleaned daily with fridge stocked daily as well. No problems with towels, face clothes (clean each day) beds & pillows were great no problems. Because we were Club Premium we had bathrobes & slippers, & beach towels in the room. We changed our beach towels @ the towel hut daily ourselves.
Restaurants and Bars:
We did al la carts every night with the Kyoto-Tepp (Japanese @ Colonial) twice, this is where they cook in front of you. We all enjoyed this al la cart the most. The Japanese @ the Palace is ordered off of a menu. So don’t get them mixed up. : ) We always tip @ the al la carts if we got the service & we did, so with $10 US every evening, they really appreciated it. We had no issues with the food @ the al la carts, but as per usual , the buffet’s & grill’s get old fast, it’s the same thing for breakfast & lunch every day. We are not great buffet people anyways, but you can always find something even for the pickiest eater like myself.We used all bars & have had no issues with drinks, and the resorts below the palace we had to sign for premium liquor but there was no charge to us, this is their way of tracking. The children enjoyed going to the bar & ordering their own drinks. We tipped @ the bars & buffets if it was warranted. $2 US
Beach/Pools/Grounds:
The resort is beautiful, very clean & well kept, the beach is not great lots of coral rocks, but you cannot have the best of both worlds if you want to snorkel off the beach. But we were ok with that. We walked the beach daily & liked being able to drop into the 4 resorts below us for drinks & lunch because being @ the palace gives you the run of the five resorts in the complex. We never used the pools @ all and there are several @ this resort from adult only to children’s. The Barcy Water Park @ the Palace is awesome so much better that the Colonial Park. The 7 yr old in our group really enjoyed the programed children’s Barcy Club, he is ADHD medicated of course, but didn’t want to leave @ 5 when we went to pick him up. The girls took the children to lunch so it was nice not to have to be concerned about going to get him & feed him. I don’t know if the other children’s club did this but the Palace children’s Barcy Club did. It was even nice that @ 7pm you could return them to the children’s club till 930, they had movies, talent show PJ party etc , for them so the adults could enjoy their dinner. Thank you Erika you were awesome.
Activities on and off the Resort/Hotel:
We did do the Chichen Ruins all day Tour it was awesome a must to see.
Other Comments: * Previous clients complained about fridge not working, a tip is to leave the door open where the fridge is located so the fridge can get air & its keeps items cold, if the door is closed on the cupboard where the fridge is, the heat from the motor will not let it work properly. * : )All purchases are charged to the room, none of the gift shops, spa/massage, braids or anywhere on the resort do the staff handle cash. Check out was quick & easy, as our bill was @ our room the day before, so we paid it ahead therefore we only had to leave our beach towels in room & drop off the room cards & pick up our check out paper to be able to leave the resort. We had a wonderful trip, we would like to send a Special Thank You to, Sandy Pfeil , Manager of the Barcelo Punta Cana, for making this vacation an awesome experience and one to remember. And also we would like to Thank , Maria Jose Aragon Astaburuaga & Andrea Gonzalez for all your help in organizing our stay and for making this an enjoyable week at your wonderful resort. I will be sending future clients to you with no concerns.I have been to all 5 resorts to scout them out, so I will be able to inform clients. Thank you, to all the Barcelo Staff that have worked hard to make our vacation and other clients vacations a wonderful memorable one for us all. We will return again. Keep up the good work!