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@Ivydulce2015 Yes, I used the onsite salon for my wedding hair and makeup (February 2015). Both were fabulous! If you have a specific style, bring pictures, otherwise she did a fantastic job with very little direction. My hair and makeup only took an hour and a half (booked an hour for each), but I arrived to my appointment with dry/prepped hair. Don't forget to bring any hair accessories with you to have secured into place.

For those with a spare 35 minutes... here is a link to the YouTube video I put together of my wedding day and full ceremony on 2/2/15 The pictures were taken around the Barceló Maya Tropical resort (front lobby and beach), the symbolic ceremony was at the Capital Morgan beach, and dinner was on the Capitan Morgan grill terrace. Everything was fantastic!!! @@MissMeg the map they give you onsite is still the old one too.

Restaurants: the newly remodeled lobby/shopping between the Beach & Caribe hotel buildings: Strikers (sports bar with hot apps/snacks), Mexican Lindo (Spanish- great), an Italian and Japanese - both good; and a buffet as well. For the restaurants between the Colonial & Tropical buildings: Capri (Italian - great), Santa Fe (Steakhouse - ok), Kyoto (Japanese - ok) and Marenostrum (Seafood - ok); of course there is a buffet for bkft, lunch & dinner. Don't miss the breakfast buffet, it is wonderful. The 'grill' restaurants are near the pools/ocean and all serve buffet style for lunch. I did not eat at the Palace, though I was told the French themed one was very good.

Hi Brides, My wedding was on Feb 2, 2015 at the Barcelo Maya resort on the beach near the Colonial hotels; all of my guests stayed in the Tropical building. Get club premium, you get much closer to the pool/ocean. I had the perfect two room suite on the 3rd (top) floor. No one gets an ocean view (a few Palace suites do) due to palm trees blocking. Yes the time change to now East Coast time happened in the middle of my trip. An added undo stress to let all 25 guests know to change their watches and hotel clocks while there. But it worked out and everyone was on time. All my guests had a wonderful time while there and would all go back. The Wedding ceremony was on the beach at 4:00pmET, cocktail hour next to the site from 4:30-5:30 (with apps) and dinner began at 5:30 just steps away at the newly remodeled Captain Morgan grill. It is all outside, but the grill has a great open platform area with light palm trees ($5 a tree fee) and a nearby restroom. It was not dark until we were finishing dessert and cutting the cake. The food was much better than in any of the al a carte restaurants, it was worth the price. Tania D was my wedding coordinator and she was FANTASTIC, I can’t say enough about how everything went super smooth and was perfect due to her attention to details. At first you may be nervous when you get email replies weeks later, but once there you are #1. Each coordinator has only one wedding assigned a day (typically 8-10 a month). I literary gave her a suit case full of table décor the afternoon of, for the dinner table (one gigantic rectangle for all of us) with fast directions, she did it all – include making sure a bottle of wine I brought for myself was chilled and given directly to me at dinner. The SPA is another treasured asset. I did the Strawberry package which included hair and make-up; I was anticipating the worst (pony tail with curls and blue eye shadow) and received the best hair up-do ever, and a magazine ready make up application (with all MAC products). As a 42 yr-old bride, it takes a lot to wow me, I’ve learned good service is a blessing. My photographer was a family friend and they turned out gorgeous since all around the resort is colorful foliage for great backgrounds, not to mention the blue Caribbean water! We took pictures from 12:30-2 to get the best light; and not to leave our party for pics. I’m working on a YouTube video of the still pictures and ceremony video ++, I’ll share the link here once complete.

Wow, this was a wonderful blog to find just a few days before leaving for Mexico (wedding is 2/2). I've been working with Tania at Barceló Maya and our group is staying at the Tropical. We've got 25 guests coming down with us. To answer the US dollars/pesos inquiry: I believe this is if you are NOT putting the fees on a credit card. There are a few items I was requested to have cash ($300 for Officiant). If you are putting a fees on your room tab, and at check-out want to pay cash, you can only use for $1,500 per person, otherwise pesos or cc. Where other hotel guests respectful of the ceremony, dinners on the beach, etc??