Sandos Playacar

Remarks:
"When you arrive expect to be told that you are in a pool view room, not the beachside room you reserved. Checking in takes 30-45 minutes per-person, an hour or more is not unusual, you arrived on the airport bus and are last in line. But you are on vacation, relax, have a drink at the bar while you wait. Ok, so the lobby is hot and you are dripping sweat on to the lobby bar. At the lobby bar there are 6 five year olds all getting blended fruity drinks, a line of hot sweaty adults and a very tired looking bar tender who is also dripping sweat. 30 minutes later you get your warm beer served in a 4 oz plastic juice glass which was not washed but briefly dipped in a tub filled with an iodine solution. Don't worry about the old lime and lipstick on the glass you won't get diarrhea for several days and warm beer isn't that good anyway. Finally off to the room for a shower then to the beach to catch the sunset. After a 15-minute walk with the porter away from the beach we found the room. Nice room, Jacuzzi tub (don't turn it on or the room will flood), glass shower (floods the room), glass toilet enclosure (fill the toilet with the plastic trash can to flush). Showered, flooded room.

Off to the beach for dinner and a sunset! So hot after the walk to the beach I felt light headed. Nice buffet restaurant, after a 30 minute wait we were seated, still hot and sweaty, too bad the A/C was not working (never did work in any of the restaurants). The buffets are combat style, they run out of the edible stuff often, expect that mother of 10, the one with the tattoo's and piercing to body slam you to get to the food. Combat drinking, got several weak drinks in 4 oz juice glasses. Lots of people smoking clamoring for drinks, a 60 year old drunk lady with an oxygen tank took her top off to show her new tattoo. 15 minute walk back to the room, still dripping sweat. The A/C in the room worked and soon we were off to bed on our very hard plastic covered mattress. I was told that the mattresses have to be covered in plastic to control bed bugs, and because the guests get sick (diarrhea). After a clammy night on the plastic mattress I needed to get some email and make some calls on the internet, wifi through out the hotel they say. The internet is $5/hour with no weekly plan. It takes 10-15 minutes for a web page to load, never did get my email, will not support a VOIP (Skype) call. You must walk 15 minutes to the business center every time to purchase one hour of wifi. The business center is open from 8 to 5 (closed during siesta 2-4). In town near the ferry terminal many restaurants have free wifi that works.

This is a discount hotel, Do not expect much. OK, I am spoiled. I spend 15 days a month in hotels outside the US and have for the last 15 years. I have done nine of these all-inclusive vacations with my wife and kids in the Caribbean. This place is scam, a discount hotel sold cheap on the internet. If you don't mind spending several hours a day in line for bad drinks and food this is your place. You will not get the room you reserved. The room will smell bad, thread bare sheets, leaky showers, plastic covered brick mattresses. 50 Spanish TV channels and 3 in English, no internet. Take ear plugs and a white noise maker, outside the rooms all the walks are tiled, the carts and wheeley suitcases echo constantly. Cipro will cure the Dysentery and is available without prescription at most local pharmacies. There are quality hotels close by in Cozumel and Cancun that I have stayed at. This was my first time staying in Playa del Carmen, there are probably better choices." - Steve from San Antonio, Texas

Stayed at the Sandos Playacar Resort ?

Remarks:
"Nice resort for a family. Please understand the first day you arrive, the hotel will offer a tour of the premises. It is only a scheme to sell you a time-share. They will offer you free gifts. Do not waste your time. The lady was nice until we refused the offer.

Food is good. Nice kids club for the kids with lots of activities. Pool is clean. The beach is not ideal for kids. Waves were strong when we went. I recommend the Michael Jackson show on Saturday and Fiesta Mexicana." - The Flores Family from Yuma, Arizona

Stayed at the Sandos Playacar Resort ?

Remarks:
"The Sandos Playacar Resort is NOT a 5 star. I will not recommend this resort. This resort is only 3 star. Do not expect good service." - Yelena from San Bruno, California

Stayed at the Sandos Playacar Resort ?

Remarks:
"I have so many bad comments about this hotel that I dont even know where to begin. But keep reading,... I booked this trip with "Funjet Vacations". I cant say enough good things about this travel agency. In the future, I will only use Funjet. We (my fiancee and myself) arrived on Sept. 27, 2008 and were scheduled to depart on Oct. 4, 2008. We spent one night there and that was too long. We arrived in Cancun at 10:30 a.m. - it was raining and continued all day and night. We tried to check in at 12:30 and our room was not ready. They told us to return @ 2:30 p.m. We went to eat lunch at the buffet, in the older section, which was the only restaurant open. We waited for the golf cart because it was pouring down rain. Keep in mind that the flooring in most of the hotels in Mexico are made of marble type material and very slippery. I almost fell at least 6 times before we even got to our room. I had flip flops on also, not heels. The buffet in the new section was closed, I guess for the season. Also one of the restaurants in the new section was also closed. The pool in the new section was closed, which had the only swim up bar and 3 of the new buildings were also closed. Regardless, we really tried to have a good time. I have been looking forward to this vacation for over 6 months. I booked this particular hotel because I knew that it was located on the best beach in Playa Del Carmen. I knew this because I was in Playa del Carmen last year, same time and watched it being built. I was staying at the RIU Palace Riviera Maya, which had almost no beach at all, and we walked to the beach in front of Sandos almost every day to swim. BTW, it was a dangerous walk at times, most of the beach is gone in front of most of the hotels in that area. The whales are everywhere - but none can be seen after Sandos, which is nice. When we finished eating/drinking we finally checked into our room @ 2:30. BTW, I had emailed the marketing person, Martina prior to our trip and requested a room that was in a quiet section, we are early risers. We spoke thru emails around 3-4 times. I had told her how excited I was about booking the Sandos and how I had watched the hotel being built, etc. I even spent an additional $40 to be in the new Riviera Section. She seemed very nice and seemed to want to honor my request. I also had signed up for the Sandos4U card, which didnt do a thing for us. Anyway, we were given a room in the new section - 8000 building, overlooking the baby pool. At that time I didnt know the pool was even closed. I did know that it would have been very noisy with kids below. We decided to go back to the lobby, in the rain, to ask for a different room. I mentioned that I had spoke to Martina thru emails, hoping that might help, it didn't. I seem to remember him saying that she was in the office behind him and that was all he had to say about that. I was told that there were no other rooms available, with a king size bed in the new section. I said, I would take a room in the older section, but I didnt want to a ground level room. After numerous trips back to the office located behind the check-in, he finally offered me a room in the 2100 building. We walked up one flight of steps, but the patio was on the ground level, guess it was built on a hill. The rain had made the entire patio so muddy that the mudd was bouncing off the sliding doors. We decided to just stay there. The next a.m. when we took our showers, the entire bathroom floor flooded out into the main entrance hall. After breakfast, we returned to the lobby to ask for another room and was told that there were no rooms AT ALL available. I again mentioned that I wanted to talk to Martina and was told that she was not there. The staff at Sandos are not willing to go out of their way to help in any way, shape or form. The guy just didn't care. OK - here we go, I finally got caught by the timeshare people. Next to the check in counter was a desk, where the timeshare people were sitting. They could see that I was very upset. I didn't know at the time they were THE Timeshare people but he knew that I was upset and he offered to help me. He tried to get me another room, IF I went to see the timeshare deal. He even went to the check-in desk, like he had some kind of authority. Nice guy, but tricky! When I finally figured out who he was and what he was doing, I got even more mad. FunJet Vacations have in-house reps in Mexico under the name of Lomus - the same group that the shuttle from the airport to the hotel was. When I saw the Lomus person, Juan, I discussed my problems with him and I told him that I wanted to move to the hotel next door. He told me to come back in 2 hours. He needed to check with FunJet to see the availability, etc. We walked back within one hour and checked with Juan, he still didnt have a answer. We decided to wait in the lobby and within 15 mins. he finally came and told us that he could move us for an additional $58, which we jumped at. He also informed us that the Sandos hotel was only 20% full - which means that the people at the front desk obviously didn't really try to accomodate us at all when they told me two different times that they didnt have another room for us." - Kay from Gaithersburg, Maryland

Stayed at the Sandos Playacar Resort ?

Remarks:
"It was the best hotel I have ever been to. It really was the relaxation of a lifetime, and even though there were ups and downs, me and my family had a fantastic time. The beaches were awesome, and the hotel service was great. A big hi to Claudia and Andy. They're people that I had fun with...:-)" - Sarah from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

Stayed at the Sandos Playacar Resort ?

Remarks:
"The resort was huge and our room was located in the "north 40"... hence a LONG walk to the restaurants and beach. The staff was friendly and rooms were clean and comfortable. The food was great although the Steak House cuisine was substandard and our waiter was in a fight with another waiter and "having a moment." They forgot about us, and one of the other restaurants were closed. The beach was great - how could it not be... Only other complaint or caution - was the persistent time-share hacks (my advice is to dodge them, dont make eye contact, and RUN), otherwise we had a nice restful vacation." - Carol from Laramie, Wyoming

Stayed at the Sandos Playacar Resort ?

Remarks:
"We traveled to Sandos Playacar on July 10, 2007, for a five night stay. My husband and I met my sister and her husband there. We flew out of DFW and landed in Cancun at 10:20 am. Customs was easy and we were at the resort (which is 40 miles from Cancun) within 1 1/2 hours. We booked the Royal Club package and non-stop transfers. Both options were well worth the additional expense. Upon arrival, we checked in and were on the beach within minutes. Royal Club check-in is WONDERFUL! We ate at every restaurant and were so pleased with the menu selections. The buffet was typical of most all-inclusive resorts, but there was definitely a variety of choices for everyone. Breakfast omelets were excellent. Our room was on the fourth floor overlooking the beach (again ... go Royal Club!). Air conditioning worked great, room was clean and comfortable, refrigerator was well-stocked. Staff was friendly and professional. The only warning I can give is to stay away from a bar on Fifth Street in Playa del Carmen. I looked for a name on the establishment, but couldnt find one. It is a two story building with "Lager" on the awnings. Several television sets are on the bottom floor, poker on the top floor. We stopped in to have a drink while watching the Spurs play. The Malibu rum and diet cokes .... $12.00 US each. Needless to say, after my sister and I each had two drinks and got our bill, we were quite stunned and argued with the waiter. He did not budge on the price, we left without leaving a tip, and vowed to warn everyone we could not to go to this bar. My advice, if ordering a mixed drink, ask the price in advance. Other than this one experience, our trip was so good. We are already planning a trip back to Playa del Carmen to the Sandos Playacar resort. I usually am ready to return to the States after five nights in Mexico. I could have stayed two weeks at this resort. A definite re-do." - Suzy from Artesia, New Mexico

Stayed at the Sandos Playacar Resort ?