Barcelo Palmeraie

Extremely disappointing experience – nowhere near a 5-star standard.

My husband and I stayed at the Barceló Oasis Resort for one week on an all-inclusive basis in September 2026 to celebrate his birthday. Having previously stayed at premium 5-star hotels, we were extremely disappointed with our experience here. In our view, the resort did not come close to the 5-star standard we have experienced elsewhere, and unfortunately, I found myself counting down the days until we could go home.

On arrival, the hotel grounds appeared well maintained, with plenty of greenery, which gave us a positive first impression. Unfortunately, this quickly changed once we entered our room.

Room and cleanliness Our bathroom had flies and ants, and there were hairs in the bath/shower and on the bed. There were also flies on the curtains. For a hotel marketed as 5-star, we found this completely unacceptable. There was no hand wash provided in the bathroom either.

The room itself was very small, with barely enough storage space for two people staying for a week. The fridge contained two small bottles of water, which were replenished daily provided the room was cleaned.

The air conditioning was also unreliable. During one particularly hot day, with temperatures around 40°C, the AC stopped working and we had to contact the hotel, who eventually sent a maintenance engineer to resolve it.

On two occasions during the night, the staircase lights stopped working. We had to contact reception both times and use our mobile phone torches to navigate the stairs. We found this particularly concerning from a safety perspective.

The main buffet – L'Oliveraie Unfortunately, the biggest disappointment for us was the main buffet restaurant, L'Oliveraie. There were constantly small birds flying around the buffet and landing near unfinished food. On top of this, wild cats were entering the restaurant, with some guests feeding them inside. Regardless of whether this was encouraged by the hotel or individual guests, we found it extremely off-putting when trying to eat.

On our first day, I noticed small flies around the pasta and raised this with a chef. Sadly, nothing appeared to be done about it.

The food was also consistently lukewarm or cold. On numerous occasions I had to ask staff to reheat my food, and on one occasion I was simply told to use the microwave.

The food selection was very repetitive throughout the week, and we also found some of the labelling misleading. As a vegetarian, I was particularly disappointed when a dish labelled as "chicken vegetarian noodles" contained vegetarian noodles prepared with fish sauce, meaning I could not eat them.

Overall, I found the buffet food extremely disappointing. I ultimately refused to eat there for the remainder of our seven-day stay and had to pay separately on three occasions to eat at the à la carte restaurants instead.

The desserts were reasonably enjoyable, although once again there were flies around the food. The breakfast pastries were also acceptable.

À la carte restaurants We tried both the Italian and Asian restaurants. The Italian restaurant was okay, offering fairly standard pizza and pasta. The Asian restaurant was a more positive experience. There were no vegetarian noodles available on the menu, but the chef was kind enough to prepare a vegetarian noodle dish from scratch for me, which I appreciated.

However, having booked an all-inclusive 5-star holiday, we did not expect to have to pay extra three times simply because we could not comfortably eat the main buffet.

Birthday experience We were also disappointed with the hotel's approach to my husband's birthday, which fell during our stay. We asked whether the hotel offered anything complimentary for birthdays. We were told that we would need to pay 300 dirhams for a cake.

At previous 5-star resorts we have stayed at, special occasions have been acknowledged with complimentary personalised cakes or similar gestures, so this was another disappointment, particularly as we were celebrating a special occasion during our stay.

Entertainment and facilities The on-site gym was clean, and we enjoyed the outdoor yoga class. However, we found the entertainment offering very limited. There was very little entertainment throughout our stay apart from the Moroccan night on Tuesday. This started very late, at around 9:45pm, and lasted approximately 24 minutes. Unfortunately, we did not find it particularly enjoyable.

On the other evenings, there was mainly light music accompanied by a slideshow of random Moroccan pictures on the large projector. For a 5-star resort, we expected a much more varied and engaging entertainment programme.

There was also no aqua gym or pool table, which would have provided additional activities during the day.

Other issues We also encountered an issue with the sun loungers. Several loungers had been painted black but there were no signs warning guests that the paint was still wet. As a result, we ended up getting paint on our feet, while other guests had paint transferred onto their clothes. This should have been clearly signposted to prevent this happening. We also attempted to visit the Breeze Bar on two occasions, but unfortunately we could not stay for more than a few minutes because of a very unpleasant drain smell. As a result, we did not feel comfortable staying there or trying the food.

Overall Sadly, our experience at the Barceló Oasis Resort was extremely disappointing. While the grounds were attractive and there were a few positives — particularly the clean gym, outdoor yoga and the helpful Asian restaurant chef — these positives were outweighed by the cleanliness concerns, poor buffet experience, food temperature, insects and animals around the food, unreliable air conditioning, inadequate lighting, limited entertainment and the additional costs we incurred simply to find food we were comfortable eating. Having stayed at premium 5-star hotels previously, this resort did not meet the standard we expected from a 5-star property.

We travelled specifically to celebrate my husband's birthday and unfortunately the holiday became an experience where I was counting down the days until we could return home. Sadly we will not be returning

Family of 4, two girls over 18. For reference, usually travel peak season, only to 5* resorts worldwide.

Strap in, this will be long.

This season we traveled in September, after the schools returned. This was a bargain holiday, under £2.5k all inclusive for 4, at peak times this can rise to around £6k

If you are a seasoned traveller and generally stay at 4* or below resorts then this would be a breath of fresh air. If you are used to 5* hotels offering the best then this will mainly disappoint.

The positives, even for us:- The staff are generally very friendly and helpful. The grounds are beautiful and very well maintained. The communal areas are generally clean, with the occasional exception where tables aren’t cleaned quickly. The room is sufficient but small. Itallian restaurant - pizza decent.

The negatives:- There are some maintenance issues which could easily be resolved. Drinks on AllInclusive are very limited, one beer and two cocktails, all else is charged extra. Buffet food repetitive, often not hot, and not overly flavoursome. Moroccan night is Tuesday; entertainment poor. Makes you appreciate having no entertainment Bad drain smell in room and around the breeze bar. This really is an issue and the main reason we would never return. There is NO pool table even though it’s shown in some photos.

The free transfer - no air conditioning. In the bus. Note, the drop off is about a 10min walk to the square. Breeze bar food is included but only served after 3pm only - Before 3pm you have to pay. Ice cream is available next to the bar but again, only after 3pm Air conditioning at the indoor bar, doesn’t exist or doesn’t work very well. Getting a bill can take upwards of 20 mins, a disappointing end to any meal

Overall, was ok. Had we paid £6k we would be very disappointed, at £2.5k we can’t grumble too much but having it sold as a 5* resort, we do still find the urge to feel a little disappointment.

None of our family member would return.