Barceló Aruba - All Inclusive

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

Joyce, the hostess, Miseal and Trevor, or servers, and Dannison the Chef, from Royal Restaurant were PhEnOmEnAl!!! Everything from the warm rolls, the filets and desert..yum! From the moment we walked in to the moment we walked out, or party of 6 were treated above and beyond! We would come back in a heartbeat!

enjoy the pool and beach area. Be prepared to drink and eat a lot. Also make time to explore the rest of the island.

We went as a family, but part of a large group. Hotel is nice. Every staff member we met here is helpful and very friendly-from the front desk to the security guards-they are really the reason I pushed up my rating—the Barcelo staff made such a warm and welcoming impression. Room is nice and I appreciate the working AC! Kept our room dehumidified and cool. Our oceanfront room is like typical oceanfront rooms, you have a little bit of view of the ocean and then a little bit of view of a parking lot or something else. I thought our room was nice as was the deck. Cleaning services occurred every day, they seem to work around our schedules and were very non-intrusive. Nice to have turned down service at night with a cute little chocolate on the bed. Pool is very nice. Pool bar is very nice. Unfortunately the royal level bar is not very convenient… its not in the main area. It is actually on the end of the hotel beach and away from everything else -so it’s kind of a pain to get to. Also, they give you tiny paper cups, which is also less than convenient. Bring your own cup-it’s way more convenient for you and more environmentally friendly anyways. Also, the Royal level bar closes at five, which was definitely a bummer. But on the upside, the beach is gorgeous and you can rent blue floating mats for free from the hotel and float in the ocean. Also, even though it gets busy, we were always able to find some chairs to group together for our group and the hotel individuals on the beach were friendly and helpful. Gym is also very nice… a lot of treadmills, a few bikes and a few stairmasters. Ample weights in the weight room, but strangely no mirrors for working on form etc. But the gym wasn’t crowded despite the fact that the hotel seemed very busy, which was nice. And Veronica in the Royal level concierge office helped us many times during the day, very-patient and amazing! With regard to dining, to be truthful…the food is not the best. Ninth floor Royal level restaurant is good for breakfast. Mexico Lindo restaurant: Service was slow but friendly. Restaurant environment is OK. Food came out at different times which is hard in a large group so by the time everybody started eating, it had been a while. The quality of the dishes was marginal at best. Most of us did not finish our meals. Cocktails also not good. This is the only restaurant that we did not enjoy any of the cocktails that they made. We all switched over to beer. Hibachi restaurant for the entertainment was AMAZING. It’s a must do. Book early at the hibachi table. Ask for this waitstaff: Chef Edmund-kept us entertained and a good meal. Sharine and Amy were amazing servers. We also really enjoyed our server Simeon at the Italian restaurant L’olio -he was a fantastic server! And good meal and drinks there as well. Our final meal was at the steak and seafood restaurant. I would definitely recommend not getting steak there. I ordered medium rare and I got a well done steak-I did not eat. The meals were all mixed up, waitress did not check on any of us beyond delivering the meals (to the wrong people), and we ate what we could and quickly left to go elsewhere. If you do end up at the restaurant, I would simply recommend not ordering steak, perhaps the rest of the items are good?? Finally, the lunch buffets are certainly not anything gourmet but more like cafeteria style, which we found fine for lunch. With regard to the lobby bar… Definitely need a NEW DJ or NEW PLAYLIST for the lobby bar and dance floor. Seriously— what a missed opportunity!! We were a large group and would gather there before going out for the night. Some nights we’d have up to 75 people in the lobby bar area and night after night no one danced as the lighting (a large fluorescent square light in the middle of the lobby lounge ceiling) and music was absolutely terrible. That being said, the bartenders were incredibly gracious and attentive, and the drinks were good. All in all, Aruba was fun and i would rate stay in Barcelo as good. Staff really helped to create a positive impression about the hotel!

This was our second trip in 2 years. All in all it’s a decent vacation location. The price has increased but everything is the same.

Everyone was so lovely and attentive. The shows in the ballroom were so entertaining and the staff were very kind. Evelyn and Alexei at the pool bar were so fun and full of laughter!

Location was great, food was great, staff were the BEST!

The beds were not good, one bed sloped down to the side and my husband struggled to not fall off it every night.

Johnathan C. Was the BEST. Food was exceptional.

Captain Rodell and server Stephanie were great.

The staff wasnt very friendly. We had to get our own beach chairs because the guy would not help us. The big group of high schoolers that came ruined our vacation. They caused chaos and the staff did nothinf to contain the situation