Let down

This hotel is very geared towards families and kids. I would not recommend this hotel for young couples or singles looking for fun activities. The beds are extremely hard and gave me a very sore back after 3 nights. The staff was unable to help me with the situation at all. The resort is very large and requires walking a lot, especially if your room is in the adults only section. I will not stay here again.

Great place. Great food. Environmentally responsible.

We stayed October 31, 2017 for 7 days. Overall great resort. The good: The food was excellent especially at the à la carts. No complaints whatsoever. Buffets were good but typical buffet style. The restaurants had allergies listed for the majority of the food which is great for people with sensitivities or allergies. My fiancé is Celiac (gluten allergy) and never had any problem finding food to eat and they even offered to specially prepare stuff for her. The resort was very clean includ [... read more]ing the room. The resort is very environmentally conscious, for example they use reusable plastic cups instead of throwaway plastic cups which always end up littering the beach and pool area’s. Smoking is only allowed in designated areas which for guests with the kids is especially great. Water park is great for kids and teens and there is tons of wildlife on the resort. The bad: The resort is very big and spread out. Be prepared to walk. Was under Construction while we were there so some areas were closed but that was supposed to be finished fairly quickly. The beach was very rocky at the resort there were definitely nicer beaches further down towards Playa Del Carmen

Awesome Jungle

These were the most natural grounds that we have experienced. Once you walk out of your room you are in the jungle. With lots of animals wandering around. We saw coati,raccoons, birds- parrots( unfortunately only in cage) , peacocks, interesting looking blackbird with beautiful blue wings, monkeys and then there were farm animals - donkeys, sheep, pigs. The beach was not the best for wading as there were many rocks but oh so many fish to see. You did not even require a snorkel and mask. But do r [... read more]emember the water shoes. The evening entertainment was awesome. Usually there are 3 Miyan shows each week. Plus other shows on the other nights. All of the staff are fantastic and very friendly. They are great representatives for the hotel. The food was very good and you had your choice of buffet or a la carte every evening! Only required a reservation at the Japanese restaurant. Our room was always very clean but there were a few days when housekeeping did not come til 4:00 in the afternoon. The only problem we did encounter was our key (electronic card) was malfunctioning for about 4 days due to the humidity at this time of year. This required us waiting for security personnel in order to get into our room and then waiting in the room while they repaired it. A lot of time was wasted waiting to get access to our room. This was not an isolated situation as there were others experiencing the same problem. Overall we enjoyed the hotel.

Nice resort overall.

Food was great and there were lots of animals for the kids to see! Being an Eco resort was nice for the animals and cenote on site, but being natural also meant it smelled a bit swampy at times. Pools were nice but could have been kept cleaner and most of the water slides were closed for renovations. Construction was underway as well and rooms were a bit dated. Lobby staff were very hard to understand but tried to help. Nice resort, just don't think our timing was the best.

Great Place

Great resort and grounds. The bugs can be problematic so bring lots of bug spray. The restaurants are amazing, loved the vegan a la carte. Really didn't care for the hassle about timeshares, if you really aren't interested please decline upon arrival as you will waste time with the representative. I'm not sure if you can, but try if possible. I would have liked to know about it ahead of time.

Wonderful vacation

My kids are already asking if we can go back next year! My 12, and 17-year olds had a great time there. The activities that were included such as animal keeper, snorkelling, bike tours, walking tours, just to name a few kept us busy for the week. You really did not have to leave the resort. Rooms were great-we stayed in a newly renovated Eco superior room which I would highly recommend. The beds were very comfy. Food was good. We liked the Japanese and the Italian restaurants but our favourite w [... read more]as the Steak and fish one. It was amazing.

Great Kids Resort- but bring bug spray!

We travelled here from Aug 16-Aug 23 2017. We were a family of four (kids age 5 and 3) and traveled with another family same age as our kids. The resort itself is lovely and a lot for the kids to do. Resort is about 40 MIN drive from airport. Rooms: There are 3 sets of rooms.. I stayed in the basic room with my family (Building 36/37/38/39) all very close to the kids Aqua Park and Cenote. This is the simple room, but the space was sufficient. We pushed the two big beds together and there wa [... read more]s a lot of room for the stroller and space for the kids, beds were comfortable and good pillows. Open concept washroom area for shower but private toilet. We did get mosquitos in our room as well though, so bring extra spray for inside and outside the room. Also the monkeys are close to these rooms which we saw every morning. Next set of rooms are ECO upgraded rooms (Rooms 13-19), can't tell you about that, but more money to upgrade. Last set of room is the SUITE (our friends stayed here), they were in building 9 (extra $1800 US and ask for it when you are there), and had two washrooms and lots of space and access to room service and separate sleeping area for kids and parents to relax in, these buildings are close to the BIG MAIN pool and adult GOLD member restaurants. Food: First day and last day food wasn't the best, but overall was fine. Began to get repetitive. Lots of options for vegetarians (there is an actual vegan restaurant too on the beach) and lots of gluten free options too, lots of fish and sliced up vegetables and always apples to take out with you. They are fine if you take food out as long as you ask for a plastic plate. Waiters very nice. We tried Teppanyaki restaurant (Reserve when you check in), we found it just "OK", food was over cooked and the sushi was cream cheese sushi, so wasn't "amazing".. The vegan restaurant was good, just VERY hot/humid in there (no restaurants have AC) and the Mediterranean restaurant had a great breeze from the beach and good food (but service is very slow) there, it opens at 5:30. Buffets open 5:30 or 6, and always pizza/pasta/chicken/rice/beans etc.. There is also a snack bar, but we avoided it, out in the heat and the Coati animals all around it.. Restaurants NOT air conditioned so you are sweating and hot while eating.. Entertainment: My only complaint is that the shows begin at 8:30pm, which was too late for my kids who were fast asleep by 7:45pm! (one hour behind and humidity all day), they never saw a show. Kids club is a big indoor playground and they let the kids run wild, not as much planned activities there as I would have liked. I generally stayed there with my kids to cool off as it's air conditioned and they have a movie theatre there too (not always in English though). Sign up for activities the day before though. Pools: Great AQUA KIDS POOL, pretty amazing, tons of slides, shallow waters, and water is warm. Always ice cream and hot dogs here and chips as a snack. My 3 year old went up and down the slides by himself and was easy to supervise them here. Overall great family trip, just VERY hot and humid (bring shorts or very light long pants.. not jeans). Bring a lot of mosquito repelleant and after bite and aloe cream for the bites.. luckily my kids weren't eaten alive as bad as I could imagine, but my husband was! Must go swim in the Cenote, it's open daily from 9-5 , the water is cold but you see lovely fish and turtles. Also lots of animals to see, that the kids loved.. petting zoo with donkeys, sheep, bunnies, pig and ducks. Along with another area where the deer are and lizards and monkeys out every morning too waiting for a banana.. ( I wouldn't feed them directly as the monkeys have gotten mad or grabbed the banana out of our stroller), we just tossed it at the bottom of the tree and saw them run down to get it.

Not for us 👎

The grounds are very nature like, but unfortunately there is no air flow which made it extremely hot and at night the mosquitoes where insane! Lots of sea urchins in the ocean so no swimming there! My brother got one in his thumb and another relative got one in each foot and his hand as well! The pools were very cloudy. The resort is very dated. There was apparently some bed bugs luckily far from our rooms. It was very cool to see the monkeys and cotes etc. Some people loved it just wasn't what  [... read more]we like. The sister resort was amazing though.......wish we had learned of it sooner.

Good / Great resort!

This resort has something for everyone. We bought the "Select Adult Only" package and were quite pleased with the exception that many of the restaurants were for the "Royal Elite" only. This was disappointing as it eliminated 3 or 4 of the restaurants most nights. We've been to all-inclusive resorts many times and this was the first time both of us got sick - on different nights in different restaurants. Not sure from what, so we were very choosy about what we ate. With the exception of [... read more] getting sick, the food was good. The main buffet restaurant ("International") had very limited meat choices for dinners; we were use to resorts where each night they had a different specialty meal (roast beef, or turkey or pork etc) Unfortunately the International was limited to pan fried flank steak or small pan fried chicken pieces every night. The Italian restaurant was great - we had our best meal here. Unfortunately, in our 10 day stay this was only open to us once and it was for "Royal Elite" members only on the rest of the nights. The steak and seafood restaurant was also nice and we visited it a few times. Only the Japanese food restaurant required reservations which was nice. We did go to the Japanese restaurant and the culinary show was enjoyable to watch. The food was acceptable (not exciting, but not bad either) I liked the fact that you could enjoy quiet, activity, loud music, or what ever you liked as there were separate areas. They did a great job with having designated smoking areas throughout the resort. It was very progressive in that they asked smokers to not smoke around the pool areas or other guests and they had signs up explaining the dangers of second hand smoke. It would have been great to also have these on the beach. The beach was nice, but no matter where you went, you were inundated with foul cigarette smoke. The only non-smoking area on the beach was way way at the back (not even really on the beach actually), and as the wind blows off of the ocean, the non smoking area was where the smoke would blow. Non smoking in the beach area would make this good resort a great resort. For areas where they did have segregation between smokers / non smokers - it would have also helped to enforce the smoking to the designated areas as some people didn't regard this rule. In general though they are moving in the right direction to restrict smoking as much they already have The "select" area had its own "adults only" pool which was nice. Generally quiet and relaxing. Unfortunately some people would bring there own music and speakers and blast away loud heavy "music". This meant ourselves and other guests had to leave in order to find peace and quiet. I'm not sure why these guests felt that they could impose their musical tastes on the rest of us - but this is something I wish the hotel staff would control. I also liked that they had re-usable cups, no straws or lids and organic/recycling throughout the resort. The beds were also very comfortable as well as the pillows (I'm a pillow person). The only complaint with the rooms was there were no drawers to put your clothes in - so I kept many of my mine in the suitcase. Other than getting sick, we'd definitely go back again.

Lots to do and see!

Travelled April 2017 with my hubby, 3 kids aged 8, 11, 13 and my mom. Rooms-very nice, clean, good size. Hot water was hit and miss. Prime time showering before dinner seemed to be when we lost hot water. We had 2 deluxe rooms in building 72 and 74. Building 74 room had a sewage smell coming from bathroom. We kept toilet door shut and it kept the smell from travelling to bedroom area. Grounds-beautiful trees, plant life, cenote, walking trails. Employees were out daily trimming bus [... read more]hes, taking care of the many areas on this huge resort. Bike trail good. Felt very safe walking grounds. Main pool area was great. Lots of chairs. We spent most of our time here. Towel service at pool only had fresh towels till around 3pm, then you were out of luck unless you walked all the way to the lobby. We made sure to always get towels first thing in the morning. Pool games for kids were good. It would have been nice if there was some shaded areas set up where the kids had to wait for their turn on the mechanical bull and the inflatable ball. Kids loved the swim up bar. Different poolside food set up each day. Lots of people ignoring the no smoking signs at the pool and staff never told them to smoke elsewhere. Water park-cute for little ones, larger slides only occupied my older kids for maybe a half hour. Tube slide not working while we were there. Nice little bbq bar set up daily. Food -A la carts were all wonderful. Highly recommend steakhouse and Italian. -International Buffett was NOT pleasing. Food looked like it was out all day, not fresh. The kids didn't want to try anything as they couldn't recognize anything to try (not Americanized). The deserts were bland. Only good thing was ice cream. We decided to avoid this location for meals. -Snack bars ice cream machine ALWAYS BROKEN. It would have been better to just remove the machine then always be dissapointed that it wasn't working. Food most times looked stale but my daughter liked the burgers. Beach-rocky, but we knew that from the reviews. Walked down the beach to the south and there was a great swimming area we could go in no problem. Kids collected shells and coral. Evening entertainment -shows in theatre great -Mayan shows not very good, I think the language barrier contributed to the kids and adults in our party no enjoying it Teen Club (ages 10+). Kids went one night and I was told what time to come back to get them (my kids are aged 11&13). When I got there to pick them up the doors were locked and the kids said they closed it early and they had to wait outside for me to get them without any supervision and limited lighting. They were there alone about 30-45 minutes. NOT HAPPY ABOUT THAT! Overall-good time, nice for kids first all-inclusive experience, won't go back but would reccommend.

Breath taking resort

This was an incredible experience and stay at caracol eco resort! Thankyou for the amazing hospitality, service, food and entertainment. Myself as well as my young children had the time of our lives. We will definitely be back for another vacation in the near future. So much to do, so much to see and a relaxing atmosphere all in one.

Fun resort for families!

We stayed at Sandos Caracol for a week as our good friends were getting married there. About 10 of us stayed in the Adults Only section of the resort as we were all looking forward to the quiet areas and the pool which we were told was quiet and not a party pool like the other pools in the general sections of the resort. We were very disappointed because after a couple of days into our vacation and throughout the week, there was a very large group of people who decided to turn the pool into a  [... read more]party pool with their own loud music, playing football and frisbee as well as beer pong and just getting very drunk and belligerent using foul language that could be heard everywhere in the pool and bar areas. Unfortunately many complaints to the resort fell on deaf ears and absolutely nothing was done about it. There was also the smell of raw sewage in several areas of the Adults Only section. Our room were very clean and comfortable. The service was nothing spectacular, very average, and as the week went on, the service became slower and slower. The staff in both restaurants and bars were very friendly. The food was average in most restaurants and can use lots of improvements. There was a very mangy, stray dog with fleas that hung around the resort especially in the Adults Only section and would walk and sit on the lounges which was not very appealing. The beach was a little disappointing and although we knew that coming down, we were happy to visit the sister resort, Playacar, at no cost and we were able to check out that resort too for perhaps a future trip. The wedding venue was absolutely spectacular! The food was amazing and along with the gorgeous wedding couple, we all had a wonderful time celebrating their special day with them!

3 stars resort

Rooms :very old, no elevator, washroom has a smell all the time, small balcony ,no coffe maker. Ground:nature is amazing, Slides for kids- the best . Golf cars : some of them on gas it does not sound like Eco resort.Guests and golf cars has to share the road , it is not convenient all the time to stop and wait until it will passed by and the most important is safety for kids. Polls near by the beach:dirty,the oldes I have seen. International restaurant: Food super! But ,kitchen staff she [... read more]ll wear protective gloves, they don't.Waiters mostly fast but it is look like not enough of them on the floor. There are ants in international restaurant ,and when we showed it to the personal the reaction was something like : "it's nothing". How You can eat when ants running on Your plate?They need pest control and quick! 24 hours restaurant: It is open area so creatures can get easily to the restaurant and that what they do. It is fun to watch this but not to eat there. Bars: drinks good

Good resort for kids

Good resort for kids but not for adults. The water slide and pool was decent. The animals on the resort was friendly and my kids love seeing them. The check in and check out process was a nightmare because it took so long when the line up wasn't long at all. The food was OK, my kids and I was able to eat the food but nothing we really enjoyed eating. The beach area was horrible, we spend like 15mins on the beach and decided we are better off by the pool. The sand was rough and there were lots o [... read more]f seaweed. The room and bed is as simple and old as it could get but we didn't allow that ruin our trip, after all we were only in there to sleep.

Under rated

This resort is under rated. It is rated a 3.5 star, but I felt it was like a four star rated resort. The rooms were quiet, but need renovations. We asked for two double beds in adult only section and were told that they only have a king bed and a sofa bed. We later found out that the bungalows in the 60 section had double beds. So. Had to sleep on the sofa bed which was extremely uncomfortable. The pool in adult section needed to be cleaned more often. The restaurants were all great! The service [... read more] was really good, but washrooms often had no toilet paper. The shows were excellent. The wildlife was interesting. The bugs are nasty so make sure you bring good bug spray. They should get a swim up bar at the adult pool and have some music playing. It was a little too quiet. Over all a good resort for family's.

Beautiful Experience

I recently stayed at Sandos Caracol Eco Resort while attending a friend's wedding. The resort is beautiful, embracing the natural beauty of Mexico and preserving the natural atmosphere and wildlife. Resort staff were friendly, courteous and consistently helpful.

A really wonderful resort with so much to see and do!!

My family and I (2 kids, age 11 and 7) love nature and animals. This place had both. The grounds of this resort are so lush and tropical and the animals everywhere were amazing. The staff are really pleasant and kind and went out of their way to accommodate our special dietary needs (Vegetarian and Celiac). The room was newly renovated and the beds were so great. We had a new Signature Eco Junior Suite. There was a king bed and another room for the kids where they had a bunk bed; bottom bu [... read more]nk was double size, and the top was single. There was even a trundle drawer for a third bed for a third child. We needed to request extra hangers as when we arrived there were only 7 to hang all our clothes. There are two WC's and two showers with frosted glass doors. The plumbing was alright but the water pressure wasn't great and my long hair took forever to rinse. Not a big deal - it was nice to take things slower anyhow! We were on the third floor and had no bugs in the room as per my request at booking. We did have a little gecko (not much larger than a quarter). He went under the bunk bed and we never saw him again. Kids thought that was fun! The food was superb. Buffets were constantly overflowing and the choice was big. The A la Carte restaurants were really great although we only tried El Templo (Japanese Teppenyaki) which was dynamic and delicious, the Italian, La Riviera (Mediterranean), and La Salvia (Vegetarian), our absolute favourite. La Salvia is right by the ocean and we were hugely impressed by the selection of really great gourmet vegetarian food. Even for meat-lovers, there is great choice and you really can't pass up the view of the ocean with it's crashing waves at dusk. Although the resort seemed to be aware of gluten intolerance, they didn't offer much up for desserts at the buffets. There was not one bread, cracker, or dessert that I could eat. Even the ice cream, I was told, had gluten in it. I didn't want to risk trying just in case! The rice pudding seemed safe enough, however one day, barley was substituted for rice but the food label wasn't changed; it still said Rice Pudding. I made the mistake of eating four spoonfuls before realizing I was eating barley. (Anyhow who has Celiac Disease knows the severity of this mistake). That's my only complaint about the food/buffets; if you have food allergies, you really do play a guessing game. The fruit was a yummy alternative however which I didn't mind in the least! The mango and pineapple were so sweet. The drinks in this resort were the best we've ever had. All the bar staff were incredibly friendly. My kids loved Chicken Itza (the non-alcoholic smoothie)! The entertainment was great. Excellent theatre. Comfortable seats, really modern, with great lights and sound. My only complaint is that the music was ridiculously loud. So loud that it hurt our ears. Every night the shows were so loud. We saw four out of seven shows and spent the other nights exploring and playing cards in the lobby. Beach is lovely. Lots of great sand to play in. The surf is stronger than Holguin in Cuba or Punta Cana, DR. There is a lot of coral and rock in the water so you need surf socks. There are pockets of sandbars that you can get to without water shoes, but if you want to wander or play, I'd recommend surf socks or water shoes. The vegetation and animals, like I said already, are really what is memorable about this place. The eco activities and the friendly staff make it a truly unforgettable experience. I highly recommend this resort to any family with children.

Missing it already

I loved this place! The staff were very friendly and eager to please. The resort had a bit of everything from beach, jungle, animals, ruins and a small water park. I loved how they kept a lot of the natural aspects of the land and wildlife. It's not a heavily landscaped resort. That being said if you plan to swim at the beach I suggest having some footwear due to the rocks. Also our room looked a little tired but we didn't spend much time there and it didn't matter to us. there also are much nic [... read more]er rooms available. If your looking for something that's a little less luxury resort and embraces it's environment a bit more this place is great. The Mrs and I had a wonderful time and can't wait till our next visit.

Really Good Resort

The rooms were really comfortable, the grounds beautiful with many animals here and there as this was an eco resort. The restaurants were varied and the food was very good. We spent most of our time at the large pool and beach.

Amazing week

Just returned from a week at Sandos Caracol. I actually cried when I left I had such a good time! I religiously read all the reviews on here in the weeks before we left, picking apart each one and sometimes getting worried that we weren't going to enjoy ourselves due to some of the negative ones. Every single worry I had was unnecessary. My partner and I traveled as a couple, 29 and 31. I had some worries that we couldn't get a reservation in the adults only part of the hotel, the thou [... read more]ght of being surrounded in kids all week was not appealing to me at all! I really did not feel like we were missing out on much from not being able to enter the adults only places, we also love the beach and the kids seemed to mainly be in the pools, so our trip was not worsened in the slightest by the number of kids around. Another concern we had, due to the reviews on here, were long lines at check in and check out. Both check in and check out were completely smooth for us. Both took less than 5 minutes. Our bus driver actually lost our bag between the airport and the resort when we arrived, concierge were so helpful, tracked down the bag and we had it within 30 minutes of arrival, which was a huge relief. Some other concerns I had, due to tripadvisor reviews were; "Lots of Walking" - We did get very lucky with the location of our room - the "2203" building was right inbetween the beach, pools, aquapark and close to the restaurants. Honestly, I wouldn't have cared if we were the furthest end of the resort, the walking is easy, it's really not far to get anywhere and the jungle and animals keep you entertained during the walk. "Hard beds" - I don't know if we got lucky with our mattress - it was spotless - perhaps brand new - but it was comfier than the bed I have at home! I slept amazingly every night. "Unfriendly Staff" - I cannot believe anyone who writes this, the staff work so so hard and smile the whole time. We didn't come across any rude staff at all. "Below average food" - I ate somewhere different every night, I am vegetarian and my partner is very fussy. We loved all the food we ate. Salvia restaurant was incredible, the food was really different and authentic. I am biassed as it is a vegan restaurant, but even my vegetable hating partner loved it, and requested we return the next night so he could try more things on the menu! Juan, Jose and Daniel are great waiters. For some reason this restaurant never had a line up outside, I think a lot of people are missing out for fear of vegetables. I would come back to this resort for this restaurant alone. "Not enough staff" - I see a lot of complaints about not having enough staff - isn't this reason enough to tip the ones there well, they're often doing the job of 3 people. Yes it's almost impossible to get waitress service at the beach or pool like you may get in a 5*, but line up and get yourself a drink at the bar, I don't see how a 30 second wait at the bar is a problem. "The beach is terrible" - You gotta be some sort of lazy not to walk less than 250m to the left of the beach to find an idyllic white sand beach, no rocks and wooden jetty! I have no sympathy for those who could not be bothered to look. There is some sea weed at the beach, no big deal, that's nature! If you don't like sea weed, stick to the pool. "Hounded by timeshare" - I don't know if it's because we're younger and perhaps look like we can't afford a time share, but not one person hassled us the entire time we were at the resort. "Rooms are tired" - honestly, the room we had was the cheapest, standard option. It's not a 5* room, but I never expected it to be, nor did I ever read the resort marketing themselves as a 5* location. It's an eco resort and I like the fact that not every piece of furniture is removed and disposed of when it's looking a little tired. The room does it's job, I really don't spend much time in it during my holiday. The aircon worked great, there was plenty of hangers for our clothes and we ALWAYS had hot water in the bathroom! There were so many activities to do in the day, we took some excursions we had booked outside of the resort on 2 of the days, but in the remaining 5 we had plenty to do on the resort, snorkeling the Jade River & cenotes, wildlife spotting, playing tennis, taking a bike ride around the resort, watching the shows & even the water park was fun, just remember to keep your arms crossed on the slides, I tried to slow myself down and smashed my elbows on day 1 and had to live with the nasty looking bruises all week - my fault! I'm so sad to be home! We had the best time at this resort,