Dave & Donna
January 15th - 22nd, 2001
(wah-tool-co)
We stayed at the Barcelo Huatulco
Beach Resort
(formerly Huatulco Sheraton)
In the state of Oaxaca (wah·HAH·cah)
Resort's location on Tangolunda
Bay
We left from our home in London,
Ontario at 1:30AM, picked up by
Robert
Q Travel's Air Bus Service to Toronto.
We arrived at Pearson
International Airport Terminal 3 in Toronto at about 4:30 AM
and boarded our 6:20AM flight to
Huatulco on schedule.
At the Huatulco Airport, the bus
loads up and leaves very quickly, most before the taxis. The taxi won't
go until they are filled and costs about $9.00US each person. All guests
are already assigned a room long before you get there. When you arrive,
relax in the lobby and let the others stand in line. When you register,
your name is looked up in a pile of envelopes that contains your room key,
pool towel cards, etc. If you get there too early your room won't be ready
anyway. So there is really no advantage of getting there early. Don't
forget to get the lock for your room safe and TV remote. No deposit required
If you feel like watching TV they
have english speaking movie channels.
We arrived at this beautiful resort,
30 minutes from the airport, at 1:30PM
This picture is the entrance to
the hotel lobby, from the pool area.
Barcelo Huatulco Email Address
Your room key
This wrist band ensures that you
are entitled to everything this all-inclusive hotel
has to offer including unlimited
food and drinks!
These pictures show the pool area.
The left is looking from the beach
- and the right, looking toward the beach.
There are two pools. One geared
towards adults and one for children.
At left you can see the swim up
bar and the lunch area. It's never that busy though, a pool volleyball
game just finished and everyone headed over for a drink.
At Right is a closer shot of the swim up bar area. Donna is sitting pool
side.
We didn't have a problem getting
a lounge chair even though scores of towels show up
on chairs in shady areas by the
pool at the crack of dawn. Quite often no one occupied
these "reserved" chairs for many
hours. At other resorts we have stayed at, unattended
towels found on chairs before 7AM
were removed. We liked to sit out on the grass area
next to the golf course, along
the stone wall facing the beach anyway.
View from the lobby to pool/beach
area.
Take the stairs, or there is ramp
elevator access to/from the pool level.
A super clean resort.
They even scrub the cement walkways
in the pool area each night with a floor machine.
The view from our balcony.
We were quite satisfied with our
room, no musty smell or rust anywhere and a great view
from our balcony. The end table
in each room has about a half dozen switches
that control every light in the
room. Bring along an alarm clock.
I recommend you try
for a room above the 3rd floor so your view will not be obstructed by the
tree tops.
The weather was great all week,
not a drop of rain and very few clouds. The average temperature during
the day was over 30 Celsius and the evenings were very comfortable.
Check
out the latest weather in Huatulco.
The Barcelo is on the far left with
the Gala next door, the right picture is the beach in front of the Barcelo.
Be careful of the strong undertow.
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This is where you will find Carlos
(Charlie) Ramos in the small building at the top left.
Just go up the cement ramp, the
office is on the Barcelo grounds.
On the left, is Charlie in front
of his office
Right photo taken on the steam
boiler of LAS ORUGAS wreck.
Visit Charlie's
site here
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We rented a Sea Doo. It was fun
to cruise around the bay and ride the waves.
You can rent these on the beach
in front of Charlie's office.
We paid 300 pesos for 30 minutes.
Breakfast Area
There is lots of seating inside
and outside the hotel. Breakfast is from 7 - 10:30 AM
It is buffet style and there is
always a large variety of fruit, cereal, juices, and the usual eggs, bacon,
sausage, pancakes, etc. You can also have eggs prepared for you any
style with your choice of cheese, ham, bacon bits, tomato, mushrooms, etc.
Front lobby view and view out the
lobby window.
The lobby has a sunken bar. It's
a great place to sit and have a drink or 5 after getting washed up from
the pool and looking for something to do until supper. We usually have
a few card games or Backgammon.
The entertainment Friday and Saturday is great.
We met some fellow crazy canucks
at Friday night's entertainment and
enjoyed Tequila shooters with the
assistance of the staff.
On the left center is "Jerry Van
Dyke" well it looks like him, actually its Mike, to the right is
"Margarita" Margaret, and to the
left is the another Mike and Lynne.
All of Victoria BC. We had a
blast!
The staff gives your head a shake
after you down the drink.
In case you are not familiar with
this type of shooter.
The shooter glass is filled 3/4
with Tequila and topped up with Fresca, cover the top and give the glass
a few hard bangs on the table, then drink while its still fizzing. A great
drink!
At one point, I think our table
was getting more attention than the on stage entertainment.
Each room is given two "passes"
to the Casa Real, there are two seatings per evening.
7 & 9PM. Book early as seating
is limited. You may want to reserve on nights other than
Friday and Saturday or you will
miss out on the best entertainment these nights.
When everything else is winding
down, the El Jorongo Bar is just getting going.
We visited around 11 PM. I believe
it is open until after 3 AM. Yes its included in the all-inclusive.
Rooms
There are different rooms available
other than the standard ones.
There is a Presidential suite,
Master suite, and Standard King.
I don't know how much extra the
upgrades would be.
Master Suite
The 18 hole Tangolunda Golf Club,
stretches between lakes and tropical trees,
where the Barcelo Huatulco Beach
Resort borders the 14th hole.
You can see a panoramic view of
the lovely Tangolunda Bay.
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Even though it is an all-inclusive
resort we still went for steak, lobster and shrimp twice at a great restaurant
across the street called Don Porfirio Lobster and Steak House. It is all
outdoors and your food is prepared on a large grill right in front of you.
The staff is great fun and very attentive.
Make sure you ask for your "Free
Margarita".
We went the second time, on our
last night in Huatulco with Mike, Mike, Lynne and Margaret
I was out of film by then but will
post a few pictures taken by them.
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Money
The best advise I can give is
"pay in Pesos". If you pay in dollars it is always rounded off to the lowest
peso. If you can't get to the bank, even your hotel will give you a better
rate than the shops and restaurants.
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Side Trips
The Coffee Plantation Tour
We traveled in a comfortable air
conditioned vehicle up the mountain trail through
small villages until we reached
the plantation. The drive was about two hours.
At right we all enjoy a beer or
other refreshing drink.
To the left is our guide Eduardo
Castro Mota - the plantation owners wife, Isabella - and Donna.
With us are visitors from Boston
and Chicago.
A home made Mexican style meal was
prepared for us after the hike through the jungle.
We learned how the coffee bean
was "benefited" using no insecticides.
One would expect to see rows of
coffee bean plants but these plants are grown on
the mountain sides of this 2500
acre plantation known as "Mt. Glory"
You will be asked to sign the Plantation's
guest book and add your comments.
Then off to a waterfall and stream
with the clearest water I have seen.
The swimming is a short drive away,
then a 5 minute hike through the jungle.
Donna and I take a jump in the
stream. The plantation owner looks on at Donna's right.
Eduardo takes advantage of the
built-in water massage.
The coffee was so good you wouldn't
think of adding cream or sugar.
We left with a kilo bag.
It's a recommended trip. We left our hotel at 8:30 AM and returned at 3:30 PM
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Horseback and Rafting Trip
A half day trip we took was riding
horseback 8 kilometers through the jungle then rafting back.
The water is not really high enough
in the summer season to fully enjoy the rafting.
We also rented a Trakker and drove
the coast all through
Puerto Angel, Zipolite, Mazunte,
and Ventanilla towards Escondido.
Be sure to take the short taxi ride
to La Crucecita, a very clean little town with shopping and restaurants.
By taxi it is only 20 pesos.
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USED CLOTHING
There is a lot of poverty in the
areas outside of Huatulco and children as well as adults are
in need of used summer clothing.
Each time we go on vacation we pack an extra suit case filled with clothes
that no longer fit us. We hand them out in the villages we pass through
while on side trips.
If you would like to pack an extra
suitcase of used clothing, but will not be passing through
areas to hand them out yourself
please contact Rick
and Sue Raymond
for suggestions on how to distribute
the clothing.
(the empty suitcase comes in handy to bring back all the items you bought)
Also just after Halloween we buy up a dozen or so large bags of candy and do the same. Take a Polaroid camera with you and take pictures of the children in the villages so you may leave them with a photo. They will be thrilled.
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You can book these and many other
trips through "Hector"
You can find him at the desk
just inside the main lobby entrance to the left.
Read details about Hector's
optional tours here
Don't forget to tip your tour guides
and servers. We usually tip 1 or two dollars at breakfast and dinner
and a few dollars at the end of
each excursion. They really go out of their way to see that you
are enjoying yourself, show them
that you appreciate it.
While on vacation you eat different
foods you are not used to, and perhaps more than you usually do.
I read somewhere that you can take
2 Pepto Bismol tablets before each meal to help
prevent an upset stomach, before
it happens. Many people claim it really helps. We tried it.
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We always pre-book our plane seats
to and from our destination.
This eliminates any chance of not
being able to get seats together on the way home.
We book seats as close to the front
of the plane as we can.
This way you get served earlier
and off the plane quicker.
Seats on the left side are better
as the plane always banks left when landing and you get a better view.
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We enjoyed our stay in Huatulco
very much and would not hesitate to go back.
We would definitely stay at the
Barcelo
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***** LINKS *****
Safe Travel Information for Mexico
Mexico - Consular Information Sheet
Visit Tomzap - for everything you ever wanted to know about Huatulco
Visit Texas Pepper's
site for their trip to Huatulco, Mexico Resorts
Visit
my other vacatation sites Site last updated February 18, 2001
the Mayan Riviera, Cabo San Lucas, and more....
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