Occidental Tucancún — Hotel in Cancún

My husband and I just returned from a week at the Occidental TuCancun in celebration of our 50th anniversary. We had a great time starting with the ocean view room upgrade the resort treated us to. There were loads of pros and only a few minuses. Unlike many other resorts, the full resort is available to all guests, without large separate sections for privileged guests. We were initially concerned with the higher-than-average level of negative reviews but are glad we went. Our experience was really positive and more in line with the other 5 star reviews.||||Pro:||||Service: Five star all the way from the maids, to the most diligent man who took care of our mini fridge, to the waiters and bar tenders. The resort is relatively small so everything is only a 5-minute walk away. No need for a 20 minute walk or golf carts, which are never available at other larger resorts.||||Rooms: Our room was clearly updated, very functionally designed, and super clean. There were plugs on both sides of the bed which we appreciated. Everything worked perfectly from the AC to the fan, TV, coffee pot and mini fridge. There were even swim suit drying racks on the balcony. The shower was roomy with a rain shower head. We had 3 large bath sheets. If you use conditioner, bring your own as it is not supplied. If you are fussy about your shampoo bring that as well.||||Beach: the Sargassum was hit or miss. 3 days, it was absent or very minor, but was very bad the other 4 days. That’s the ocean for you. Starting around 5 :00 to 5:30 PM, the beach is shaded which allows for nice walks in either direction.||||Pools: We swam in all 3 pools daily. They are open from 8:00 am to 8:00 pm, which is way longer than most resorts. No towel cards required, just give the attendant your room number and be sure to return them. There were LOTS OF CHAIRS available all day long, even at peak times of the morning and afternoon. What a pleasure. There are plenty of big umbrellas, so we could always find two chairs in the shade. We liked the music at the activity pool – a nice mix of English and Spanish songs and not too loud. Don’t miss the water Zumba classes, they are a lot of fun. Like the beach, the pools are all in shade starting late afternoon.||||Bars: The bar tenders were overall friendly and there was little waiting to be served.||||Snack Bar: Open 24 hours a day! We weren’t sure how we would like this space located just behind the lobby bar, but we really liked it a lot. There are 2 fancy coffee machines – caffeinated and a decaf machine [which I appreciated]. Hot offerings correspond to the time of day. There were excellent cookies all day and whole fruit.||||A La Carte Restaurants: Requires getting downstairs at 7:15 am to sign up for dinner, but we thought it was worth it. We ate at all 3 a la cartes and at the Italian restaurant twice. Limit how much you order at the Italian Restaurant as the portions are quite large. Both of us thought there was too much food for number of courses they bring to you. They served some of the best Osseo Bucco we have ever eaten.||||Shopping: The Luxury Mall across the street has a supermarket on the 2nd floor. This was very convenient to buy fun snacks to take home for presents. There are also open stores scattered around the mall – gift shops, jewelry stores, pharmacies, etc. For more heavy-duty shopping, go Kulkakan Ave [just beyond the Luxury mall] and then turn right. A 15-minute walk up the street, cross over to the lagoon side, brings you to La Isla Mall. The front buildings are upscale, and the shops beyond this part are fun gift shops and a mix of other stores.||||Cons:||||The buffet food selection. We knew going in that the selection would be limited and it was due to the smaller size of the room and resort. Breakfast was excellent, lunch good and dinner lacking. Even so, there were many well prepared items every meal, and we could always find dishes that we liked.||||Evening Entertainment: The entertainment in the theater was only so-so. We enjoyed the singers and the musicians during the evening at the lobby bar much more. This is not a good place if you are expecting professional level entertainment.||||Overall, we thoroughly enjoyed our stay at the Occidental TuCancun . It was a great value for our vacation and we would definitely go again. A good place to relax and rest without all of the issues of other larger AI resorts including noise, lack of pool chairs, poor...

What started out great ended in disappointment. Elevator Malfunction!

PROS: -Arrived early before check-in and allowed to enjoy the amenities after confirming reservation. -Held onto bags until it was check-in time. -Mirador Restaurant breakfast was good, but no bacon. -Italian restaurant, experience, and overall food is all right. Their beef main dish was delicious. -Room fridge always stocked with adult beverages, water, soda, and snacks. -Beach had plenty of space and sand was relatively clean from floating seaweed. -Clean room -Caught a glimpse of the shows in the theatre but didn't attend. Michael Jackson impersonator and the three tenors. Would have loved to have seen it. You should.

SO-SO: -Mirador Restaurant: -Many foods were bland and same daily dishes. Saw chicken and gravy all three days there. Ok, if you don't mind.

CONS: -Immediately pulled into an hour long speech about the different properties and excursions they offer within first 15 mins of arriving. -Felt pressure to commit time in order to enjoy discounts off excursions and amenities. -Small palm trees to block sun, but i believe all beaches are like this.

*OUTSIDE DINING DENIED Was first in line for breakfast on our last day. Asked to be sat outside to enjoy the scenery one last time but was denied with no explanation. Ten mins later, guests were being seated outside. After meal was done, I asked hostess for a reason, but she had to get someone to help translate. It was due to the tables having no silverware but would have waited to enjoy our last meal. Very disappointed.

*ELEVATOR MALFUNCTION Elevator 2 (right side) malfunctioned the last night before leaving after dinner service. All three days, Elevator 1 (left side) was the only one working but for some reason it worked the last day we were there.

Elevator reached the second floor and immediately went down passed the 1st floor level. EMERGENCY BELL TURNED OFF OR WASN"T WORKING and attached PHONE was NOT IN SERVICE. Had to call my wife to call front desk staff for help.

Took 10 mins before anyone came. 1st attempt failed, then another 5 mins passed with reinforcement. They were able to pry the doors opened, but NO LEAD or SUPERVISOR was present. No sign of any PROTOCOLS if this was an emergency situation, and definitely no care whether or not I was doing all right. Not sure if there were previous issues with Elevator 2, but if there were, it should have been shut down.

Immediately spoke to Manager on Duty, and he apologized on behalf of the company. He was calm, listened, and assured me that more training will be done and new plans to be documented. I asked for one night comp for the experience, but they only offered amenities and an upgrade to a better room. He said there was nothing more he can do but also seemed to me, like he didn't want inquire about it.

I refused since it was between 9-10pm and we were leaving the next morning. If we had a few more days, I would have definitely accepted.

In a follow-up email to the higherups, I was also offered VIP status on our next trip, but I also refused. One night comp still denied. The amenities and upgrades would probably be valued more than a one night comp so I don't understand how that is no possible.

Absolute disappointment. IMO, they only care about money and not their guests.

IN CONCLUSION: You're at-risk whichever hotel you decide to stay at, and I'm pretty sure all hotels in the zone have the same policy like this. I really wish our experiences didn't have to end this way, otherwise this would have been a good review.

Instead, I'm writing this to inform you that the way i was treated the last day and a half, I would never consider going to another Barcelo property again. Safe travels everyone and thanks for reading about my experience...

overall this was our first experience in cancun, in an all inclusive resort. there were ups and downs but we overall had a great time and were sad to return home. the room, food, service were all good enough for us. would we come back? maybe someday but i think we would try another resort around the same price.

pool and beach the three pools were great! we enjoyed all of them and the beach. that was the highlight of the trip for us. our favourites were the adult pool and the main pool. getting a lounger was pretty competitive. the sign by the pool says no reserving loungers but that was not true lol. people would leave a book on a lounger and take off for hours. then give you attitude if you took their spot. we moved loungers around and sometimes umbrellas too. if they got mad, oh well! there were more open loungers on the beach but there was minimal coverage from the sun.

the room the room was fine. ac blew cold and the ceiling fan worked well. king sized bed was comfy. my only complaints are the smell of mildew and no tv channels. we were glad we brought a nintendo switch to stream youtube!

the food the restaurants had better food than the buffet but you have to get up early to make reservations. i overhead people start lining up for dinner reservations around 6:40 am and front desk staff only start taking them at 7:30. some guests cut the line and it seemed to be competitive to get a reservation. my group had one early riser so we were able to get a spot in the mexican and italian restaurants. i think the italian was the best imo. there’s also a seafood restaurant but we didn’t try it. buffet food was alright. i was always able to find something different to eat each day but i understand why others complain. the food quality is not the greatest but i wouldn’t call it horrible. the hot plates are messy at times. i would be concerned if i had food allergies or restrictions. the grill had more fresh options options like quesadillas, omelettes, scrambled egg. breakfast was the best meal imo. lots of fruit, yogurt, cottage cheese, cheese and meat, cold cereal, pastries, chilaquiles (my favourite!), eggs, chorizo. there was a 24 hour snack bar available. it mostly consisted of fried food and fruit. the food there wasn’t very fresh but it was nice to have the option.

service: housekeeping was decent. we had our room cleaned every other day, at our request. our fridge was filled daily. the bar staff were great. our favourite was Jolany at the swim up bar/adult pool. she was very friendly and greeted my fiancé and i when we were at other pools. the men (there were two serving) at the indoor, late night bar were great too. towards the end of the night it can be competitive to get a drink. if you tip, they will remember and serve you faster. those men were so hard working! buffet staff were hot and cold. some were great, roberto was one of our favourites. others would not come back with drinks we had asked for or wouldn’t even ask what we wanted to drink. hard to want to tip when the service is bad. room service was not good. we ordered at 6:30pm and were told 45 min to 1.5 hr but never received our food. my fiancé was feeling ill (turned out to be covid) so that was disappointing. we asked for a late check out and were allowed to leave an hour later. housekeeping kept trying to clean the room so felt pressured to leave. we returned to the front desk to confirm we had late check out and the front desk staff seemed annoyed with us. we didn’t have to pay for the one hour though so that was fine. she explained to us that we could stay on site but could not go to the buffet or bar. i noticed other guests with beige wristbands, who left around a similar time. i’m guessing there’s an option for a day pass but that was never...