Enjoyable Experience

Nicaragua, a very poor country, just now putting a greater impetus into their tourism industry. We were not expecting a great deal beforehand but we were pleasantly surprised. There were challenges of course; very little English spoken at the resort, disappointment at the level of knowledge and experience by our guides on our side excursions, some problems with daily room maintenance (late bath towel delivery, missing bath mats, and a missed room cleaning altogether one day). Overall, however, t [... lire plus]he pluses outweighed the minuses. The property is large, beautiful, and well maintained. It has a beautiful uncrowded beach, the weather was great, the food was 'acceptable to good' (buffet and à la carte), on a par with most resorts we've stayed at in the Caribbean. Our 'bungalow' (one of a 4 unit building) was comfortable although quite noisy when our neighbors were active. We were visited by a some friends (bugs) a couple of nights, but no big problem. The A/C was also noisy and you WILL want to keep it on most of the time. The king bed was absolutely great - slept like a log. But a precaution - the area outside the main hotel is not well lit at night and we actually got lost on a couple of occasions - you may want to use the shuttle (please Montelimar, provide a better, more detailed map of the resort grounds for guests). All in all, a great 10 days, quiet, very reasonably priced, friendly staff, and all expected amenities - Hola!

Nice grounds, limited signage, lines for meals

It was nice for the area however everyone here is vacationing from the area. Received several dirty looks from other Spanish guests, limited service cause we are not local and long waiting lines for Meals. Locals and guest didn't want to interact with us let alone say hello.

Beautiful Resort

The Barceló Montelimar Resort is a beautiful resort. You feel like you are in a rain forest setting without the dampness. The trees are huge and you have a lot of coconut, palm and mango trees with mangos which you can pick, wash and eat. There are so many places you can sit and take in the breeze and it is so nice to take a walk in the morning and the whole day. You can hear the birds chirping and whistling early morning, see the different type of birds/deers/peacocks/parrots etc. The t [... lire plus]hings my husband and I are disappointed in are the following: Buffet Restaurant are taken over by the locals and there is hardly any food because as soon as the restaurant replenish the trays, it is all gone and we and most of the people on our trip found the locals to be rude as they run in front of you in the line up and take as much food and even more than they can eat and leave it on the table. They are lots of kids and they cry all the time and I personally saw one woman change her kid diaper in the restaurant. The food is the same thing every day for lunch and dinner. At the desert section, the kids put their whole face/head and try to get the ice cream which is a turn off. As for the pool, the locals have their kids in the adult pools and they drink from the bar and pour their drinks in the pools. They even have small kids in the whirlpool. They practically take over all the pools with their kids. There is a kids pool by one of the bars which no one goes to, they all go to the same pool. I would suggest opening up one of the restaurants for tourists and have guards supervise the pools and the restaurants as I have never seen anything like that. We have gone to so many countries in the Caribbean and Mexico and never seen anything like that. I wish they would have some structure. Also, I am disappointed that they do not have free wifi and they system are so dated, they still do everything manually. As for the bar, they just throw they drinks together and add lots of ice. it is not like they mix or blend it and the women serving in the bar looks tired and not pleasant at all

Beautiful Beach!!

The beach just went on forever! I have honestly never stayed at a resort with so much beautiful beach frontage. You could literally walk for hours. And virtually no one on it. The grounds for this hotel are incredible, extremely well cared for, lush and diverse. The weather at this time of year was perfect. We stayed in the main hotel and were pleased with our room, but as our stay went on, the level of housekeeping we received decreased. At the end we were down to just two well used towels, as [... lire plus] the ones placed in the tub to replace were just removed and never replaced and no more in room coffee. The food was reasonably good, not a whole lot of variety, but very long line-ups to get lunch and dinner with only one dining area. One of the Canadians staying in the beach houses was broken in to while they were asleep. Very unnerving for them and it seemed as though the hotel didn't really take it very seriously.

Amazing resort

Everything about the resort was amazing. We have no complaints at all. We can't wait to go back!!! The staff was friendly, the views were out of this world. Nicaragua was by far the most beautiful place I've ever been to. The pools were nice and the resort is clean. I would recommend it to anybody. It's paradise!!!

Relaxed because of deficiency’s

I am a female 58 years old with my 79 yr old mom, we both have traveled , understand that a star system is per country and not a universal system. We left from Toronto Ontario on Air Transat, flight uneventful for us BUT YOUR PASSPORT MUST NOT EXPIRE WITHIN 6 MONTHS OF YOUR TRIP TO NICARGUA OR YOU WILL NOT BE ALLOWED ON PLANE. There was a young lady who did not get to go on her trip as well as 2 other people on a plane going down when were to be picked up. There has beenn only 10 loads of  [... lire plus]Canadians this year brought to this resort (this includes Toronto and Montreal guest.) as Air transat just started to offer this resort this year. Going through customs is a two stage process, easy. You are met outside of customs by the air transat rep who will direct you to the bus. On the bus you will be given your hotel room package, towel cards, room cards information about beach , map of resort. Be forewarned the bus ride is 2 hours and if you have motion sickness take a gravel or whatever you need to survive the ride. There is no bypass around the city where you land . The city traffic is congested at any time as population of city is 1.35 million people. It will take just over an hour to get out city to highway which is cobble stone.. another hour to resort . The air transat rep will be on the bus with you and telling you about the area . You will arrive around 5 30 - 6 pm local time. You loose an hour upon landing. It is a long day to get there . The next morning you are invited to the air transat talk, this will be up at the entertainment area (the big tent area that you can see from the beach) When you finally get to resort you will be met with dancers and a drink and you are on your own to find your room (you are given resort map in your package) your luggage will be sent to your room apparently in 20 minutes.. Good luck on that … You can take a shuttle to your room , if you choose to do that you can get shuttle out front of lobby. It will be a white shuttle bus .. Our room was a bungalow , if you thinking of booking an ocean view bungalow - you will see the ocean a) if you can find an open spot in the beautiful vegetation, b) if you jump up and down but only if you are in the right spot. simply don't waste your money.. Just book a bungalow and go with that. If you want a bungalow near the main pool book in the one hundred or two hundreds section. In your room you will find flat screen tv, mini bar,, first day you will find beer pop and water, rest of week you will only be restocked water and pop only. In bathroom you will find facecloths and other towels, with soap , shampoo in a dispenser. There will be a tooth brush and tooth paste bundle, razor package, q tips and make pads package . Closet will have iron and board, umbrella your digital safe is there, extra pillow and blanket. Four pillows on bed . There is an alarm clock, ice bucket. (where you can get ice from one of the 5 lower bars , or hotel that has ice machines on every floor, or use the ice from the pop machines in buffet. There are small water glasses and coffee machine, if you look in the casino pamphlet you should find $10 casino money … outside of room are two chairs, small table and a hammock over looking the beautiful vegetation. If you go down to the furthest part of resort (500 section) you will find a bar close to beach, quad, surf board or horse rental.. The beach in front of resort is over ½ mile long and goes on further past resort… Past resort there are T shirt shack, shack shack own by locals who live behind their shack. If you go to the last shack you will get a better price on t shirt going price is $4. Lower level Section 400 you find bar near beach Main pool in front of hotel has bar and snack bar ping pong table, corn hole game , volley ball and basket ball (pool) store, massage . Beauty salon and photo store. Stair case that will take you to hotel area, lobby has internet cafe, bar and pay phone, just off lobby is pharmacy , doctors office and a bank ... just off main pool you will find an adult only pool and fitness equipment hotel has bar from the grounds you have to go up an elevator to top floor to lobby buffet is by the 100 section ocean front it is open and if you have an issue with birds well you will still have your bird issue there past the 100 section going towards Casino is the kids area with a pool , bar, book lending library (mostly religious books), ping pong table any you get boogie boards there across the road there is a baby pool with a very tiny adult type pool area. Close by is a mini golf area which needs some tender care as it is in very rough shape. Here you will most likely find a herd of white tail deer peacocks and cage parrots .. Note if you are going to play mini golf wear bug spray. The bugs are thick in this area. Upper Level The casino, disco, pool table, bar, al cartes and entertainment area is close by but requires going up lot of stairs, if you walk the road it is very steep. You can get a shuttle up to here. Please note from the bottom of the stairs to the end of section 500 it is ½ mile and it you are walking back to your room in high heels , you are in for a very rough road. Please note there is a shuttle that runs down two roads of the resort and stops at the bus shelters every 20 minutes and does not run past mid night. All the bars in the lower level including lobby are only open from 10 am to 7 pm if you want a drink after that you must go to the (upper level) the bar by the entertainment hours are 7pm to 11 pm and then you can only get a drink in the casino after that The Entertainment needs a huge improvement . It truly was not worth wasting the time to go to it. It was loud and poor. Two nights in a row of karaoke. A trany show and a few others, there was one night worth going to and it was a local band who played . The Disco was another waste of time. No one went in unless it was on week end , the local would use it . There are slot machines, and pool table and very few chairs .. To get to disco go through casino. Casino is on second floor is played with either US$ or local money. All the al cartes are very good , you can not go wrong with any of them, you get to choose two for every week you are there, To enter any of the al cartes you must enter through the Italian and they will take you the Seafood or Japanese. Note: if you are Canadian on the weekends you are offered to have lunch in the italian restaurant as the resort get very busy Wifi works on and off , it cost I believe it is $12 a day $35 for a week , you can get some free stuff, BUT it is Slllllllooooowwww .. If you become a Barcelo member you should be able to get you Wifi for free.. but you get the slowwwww free stuff. You have to bring all your devices to the internet location in lobby to be hooked .. Food in general is good, I can make a meal out of everything. I had nothing to complain about. Al cartes were excellent service very slow … it may be bland but salt and pepper is on every table and other spice can be found on buffet you must remember what is bland to me is not bland to you they are feeding different nations and different tastes. Tipping not required but appreciated if service is remarkable and the dollar store stuff not required . Tip them so they can purchase what ever they need not what you think they need. Health care and education are free Tourism workers and agriculture workers are the highest paid workers beside doctor and lawyers. You can only use so many baseball caps,,, or nail polish. Cash is King… Note the sun set very early 6 - 630 pm and it is dark bring a flashlight as it is dark around the resort . Deficiency Please note there have been only 10 plane loads of travelers brought to this resort as it just started catering to Canadians this year --- Two plane loads a week one Montreal and one from Toronto , Staff lack of english language. I have no idea most the time what they were saying but we managed. Somehow ... If you have a mobility issue this resort is not for you, roads and walk ways are rough, the step to get into shuttle is high . All the bars on lower level close at 7 pm which forces you to go up to the upper level of resort if you want a drink. Open a bar for later use. Not everyone goes to the al carte or buffet early … Swimming in ocean at this time of year is out of the question , the beach when asking the staff has been red flagged for months. The undertow is really strong ,,, and there is also a warning about stingrays hanging around the beach. there is ½ mile of beach and no activities are done on beach,,, lots of empty loungers There is no lobby bar or an area where you can go beside the upper level to socialize with other guest (the lobby bar closes also at 7 pm ) I would bring a small band down to lobby and open the bar up until midnight . A place to socialize, some place you can hear your self speak … and enjoy the company of other guest. The Buffet opens at 7 o clock for dinner , that is very late if you have young children, they want to eat and just go to bed, The buffet hours of opening need to be changed. One pool needs to stay open past 7 , it is still warm . The lounge chairs are filthy dirt and lots of bird poop on them .. and pool deck area need a very good cleaning. Power washing them would work …. Activity staff need to get things going. Water activities .. water aerobics, water volley ball . They have this great pool and the staff don't really use for any activities. If someone had any chance of doing a business, there is this great runway to land small planes on right beside resort. If someone had a small plane that could land at this runway from the main airport instead of taking the bus at a reasonable cost. When I asked about this possibility I was told $2500 US to do this , there would be a booming business as the two hour bus ride to to travel 75 kilometers is very hard on some people. But it would have to be a reasonable cost. It would be a 15 minute ride at most. Allow any private guide up to the lobby area to pick up their clients. Ask the client to tell front desk so these arrangements can be made so the driver can get past security. The security gate is far walk for the elderly, it is why a private guide has been hired not to be herded like cattle of big bus. The resort pamphlet needs to be typed reset so it is reasonable to be read resort map key is as followed 1 reception 2 stores 3 main pool 4 jacuzzi (adult pool) and fitness area 5 Tennis court there is a bar in this area also (rentals are in this area quads, horses, surf boards) 6 bar area around 400 section 7 buffet 8 kids club 9 mini golf area 10 al cartes casino, disco and entertainment here is the following of excursions from resort. Please note all excursions are 1 ½ to 2 hours from resort . Masaya volcano on a saturday 8 am to 5 pm cost $79 each Granada Day trip on a Sunday 8 am to 5 pm cost $89 please note anyone that went on this tour all commented they did not see much in Granada as most the city was shut down for sundays (religon reason as 95% of country is roman catholic) No over night trip offered anymore just a day trip Mombacho Volcano and canopy “Zip lining” on a Wed cost $100 each Sand boarding Cerro Negro Volcano on a Tuesday 7 am to 5 pm cost $89 and $10 equipment rental Ometepe Island two day leaves at 6 am cost $180 leaving day unknown Coffee Plantation on a Wed. cost $76 Volcanoe's route NOT OFFERED ANYMORE Mantagalpa and La Sombra Tour TBA $150 I used a private company Golocal . I had a driver from 730 am until 5 pm , He was excellent, spoke english very well, informative and catered to my 79 year old mom. I researched this company I was very happy with the service I received. He took us to places that were not on any of the excursion offered from resort …. Would I go to this resort again??? , not until some of the deficiency have been corrected and I would only stay if it was offered as a 10 day trip , 2 weeks is to long , one week is to short.. considering the travel time . The trip home was very long. You have to meet in lobby at 9 30 am and you don't land in Toronto until at least 9 30 – 10 pm through customs and pick luggage up . You are talking about a 13 hour travel day. Worth a one week trip that would be up to you. You will see my handle here on trip advisor is small world traveller.. how small is this world . I live in a village of 6500 (includes chicken sheep ) the next town is 18000 people . there were two couples from the next town and another couple from my village at the resort .. Yes it is a very small world … the two couples know each other and we all booked with different companies ….. PS electricity is the same as here in Canada no need for an adapter kit and if there is a need for hair dryer it is provided

Peaceful

Great surroundings, the grounds are well cared for. Would recommend for anyone seeking a tranquil getaway. Bungalows feel like home away from home. Wish there were more scheduled flights to accommodate a longer stay then 7 days but less then 14. It would be great to travel on a Thursday and return the following Saturday or Sunday.

Could not be any better

This is the best resort I have been to yet. The only down side was no direct flight from Edmonton Alberta. The hotel staff were wonderful a bit of a language problem that In my opinion will be over come soon as the staff is working hard to learn English and French we managed to understand each other. The recreational staff are the best and are very good with children and all the tourists at the resort. There are activities for everyone young and old. They put on a show every night I admit I [... lire plus] did not go because it was way to loud for my ears. It is a large resort 80 acres, I did not get to see all of it and I was there for 2 weeks. There is the best mini putt golf course I have ever seen, the best golfer would be challenged by it. There is also a golf course, a tennis court a badminton court, darts, volley ball by the pool and in the pool also basket ball in the pool. The resort is so clean they pick all the leaves, they wash every thing they even wash the streets. The pools are filtered and refreshed every day in the early morning. There are no bugs, no flys no mosquitoes lots of dragon flys I saw in the evenings. No nasty sewer odors all smells nice and clean and is nice and clean. The food oh wow the food is way to good, the beef cooked to perfection, steaks roasts pork pork chops chicken roasted and deep fried to equal Kernel Sanders. Salads vegetables fruit any kind one could want. The drinks are the usual resort drinks nothing special there. The ocean is good for people who like to jump in the waves, the sand is dark with black sand in it. One must go to the beach in the early morning by 10 A.M. the sand is to hot to walk on. If one could pick this resort up and move it to the Caribbean side of Nicaragua it would be perfect in every way.

Beautiful place

Excellent location, quiet and 1 minute from the beach the hotel employees were amazing. specially the Hotel guides like Nelson and Francisco. the only problem was a minor one , the Wi Fi was unstable.