Barceló Aruba - All Inclusive

Overall I enjoyed my stay. The hotel is located on a strip that gets very lively at night. If you are a nightclub fan I recommend to check out gusto. I also recommend that you book royal level. The food and drinks are worth it once you go to the royal level bar and restaurant.

This review is for Frey at the buffet: he was very attentive and sweet!

This is day 2 and we are at the Arubian Seafood restaurant on the property. We were served by Capt. Rodell and Michael!! They did an excellent job accommodating the 12 of us for dinner!! Make sure you pay them a visit when you visit Barcelo Aruba!!

Very friendly and cordial. Love the food and desdert with the best view

Barcelo's is s beautiful all inclusive resort in Aruba. We were just a bit disappointed in the quality of the restaurants.

Excellent food and service with Captain Rodell and Michael!!

Food and drinks are okay, but the service is a massive disappointment. The restaurant reservation system is precarious due to a total lack of information. The front desk never explained the proper process nor directed us to the concierge for assistance. Large resorts nowadays use an intranet system or an app where guests can easily book by themselves, like the RIU chain (we went to RIU Cancun and absolutely loved it). We deeply regret giving Barceló a chance instead of choosing RIU in Aruba as well. Never again, and we do not recommend it. The customer service is hostile. The front desk staff was extremely rude when we inquired about a room upgrade the day before check-in. Upon arrival, they didn't provide a map or the resort schedule. The staff is mostly apathetic and won't even say "good morning." We invited a couple of friends for a Day Pass ($123 per person), and due to the hotel's slowness and bureaucracy, they could only enter at 9:30 AM. Around 6:00 PM, I politely asked at the reception if we could just sit in the lobby to talk for a bit before they left. The shift manager intervened with extreme arrogance and rudeness, stating that "it didn't matter what time they arrived" and that the hotel "had already made a huge sacrifice" by letting them buy the Day Pass there. Total lack of manners and respect for paying guests. The resort's operation is flawed. We took our friends for an afternoon snack at the Seafood restaurant, and it was pathetic: only hot dog buns with sausages left (the burgers were already sold out), and the staff treated us with a terrible attitude. To make matters worse, the pool opens at 8:00 AM, but the main pool bar only opens at 10:00 AM. Right at opening time, I went to order a beer, and the extremely rude bartender told me they had no beer, didn't know what time it would arrive, or IF it would arrive at all. Even the staff at the Seafood restaurant thought it was absurd for the main pool bar to run out of beer at opening. How can an All-Inclusive resort run out of beer at its main bar? In our opinion, an All-Inclusive hotel should mean EVERYTHING is included, rather than charging extra for games and basic entertainment. The arcade room is full of cool machines (pinball, basketball, simulators), but they charge for everything. To mask this, they leave just ONE single machine free (a ball-drop game), which acts as a psychological trap to make you enter, think the space is nice, and then force you to pay for everything else. Even the pool/billiards table in the lobby requires extra payment to play, just like the snack/whey protein vending machines in the gym. Aruba is a paradise, but Barceló completely fails in hospitality, guest treatment, and All-Inclusive execution. Save your money and book elsewhere along Palm Beach.

Jesus and Family Great location, excellent beach. A lot of options for diining and shopping just across the street. Old hotel, but they are trying hard to keep up with the new ones in the area.

Jonathan Gillard was attentive and kind while we enjoyed our meal. We highly recommend his services!

Gerald was an excellent server at the Mexican restaurant on the Barcelo property. He made the experience very enjoyable!