Barceló Tambor

The staff was not friendly upon arrival and check-in, service at the bars was slow and unfriendly. The food was ok but all the restaurants that we went to had basically the same things other than the entree. The pool was warm like a hot tub, not cool and refreshing. The beach was rocky. The room was dated and our toilet and shower didn't work properly. Luckily it was in beautiful Costa Rica which made up for everything and the tour that was offered to Tortuga Island was awesome, with a great staff and food!!

The property grounds were nice and there was wildlife everywhere. The pool was great as well as the landscaping. The food was average or below compared to most other all inclusive resorts i have stayed at but there were many options to choose from and you could always find at least a few things that were decent at the buffet. The entire resort is catered to locals which was a cool experience except for all the shows and activities were in Spanish only. They seemed great and as long as you speak spanish but my family does not and the it didn't keep the kids interest. The customer support team was extremely helpful and the staff was friendly. We enjoyed our time but if i were to book it again i would choose a different resort. Last time to costa rica i stayed at the rui and stayed at secrets and visited the riu... both of which i would recommend over the barcelo because of the food and language barrier. Over all we enjoyed our stay.

Pros: The property is absolutely beautiful and the pool areas are fantastic. The beach is amazing and enormous, it seems like you can walk forever without a care. Wish-We-Knew: This property is designed for Spanish speaking families with small children, not so much for English speaking tourists. Very few of the staff are fluent in English and nearly all the entertainment is intended for small children. Every night the entertainment venue/stage offers cartoons and live kids entertainment, really nothing for adults. All the bars on site are only open from 11AM to 6PM (odd for a beach resort). After 6pm only the lobby bar remains open and the lines can be 10-20 minutes long just to get a drink with everyone relying on this one location. The buffet as good and seemed to offer new options each night. All of this stuff is obviously fine but we really wish they had made it more clear on this website that the resort is geared for families with little ones. Had we known this up front we may have made a better choice for a husband/wife trip.

We liked every thing

We loved the ocean, sushi, tuna tartare. We were not impressed by the long queues at breakfast and lunch. Drinks limited.

The hotel seemed short staffed. Long lines to access the dining area buffet, the check in and check out. Unable to schedule dining at the restaurants with family. The reason for our visit was to celebrate family and we could never sit down together to share a meal. There were flies and roaches in the buffet. The waiters were not friendly or accommodating in any way. The night shows were boring and plain. The beach was the best part but there is no hotel services there. At other all inclusive they serve drinks and snacks by the beach too. The food was pretty much the same every day.

Old, buffet covered with flys, outside dining space,

This hotel offers a good balance of price, food, location and service. The rooms are clean and comfy. The food is excellent with many options. The drinks variety are also good.

The overall stay was very good. There was a lot of mess in the main reception, however, the premium level reception was much better. Everything else was excellent: meals, services, entertainment.

Las llaves de la habitación dejaban de funcionar a cada rato y había que caminar mucho para llegar a la recepción para solucionar el problema. Habitación estaba un poco sucia también cuando llegamos.