Great Family Vacation

Nice staff, property, entertainment, and activities. Our family of five had a great time. Kids are 5, 8, 9. Lots of food & beverages selection and restaurants, all was very good. Our air-conditioned room was a large suite for 5 people (one king bed, one comfy single cot, and one horrible double pull-out sofa bed. It was open-concept, including the washroom area so privacy wasn't great for 5 people! A toilet was behind a locked door.) Our room was the furthest from the beach area/main pool  [... read more]so we would walk about 10 minutes to and from 4 times per day (includes trip to change for dinner). Good exercise but our 5 yr old was running out of steam! A nice feature is a fully stocked mini-bar that includes whatever you want in it ie: juice,beer, chips, etc... If you plan on choosing this hotel for the water slides to have fun with your kids, please do your research first and be informed. The mini kids' slides are in a sunken pool so you cannot lounge while supervising your kids, you'll have to go down in the water pit to see them. The medium slides are for medium kids but no adults allowed. Our boys ages 8 & 9 were tall enough for these but not our 5 1/2 yr old. Sad. The large slides were for adults or very tall kids/teens! Meaning that we couldn't all be together in the slides to have fun together as we had originally anticipated. By the way, the largest slides looked dangerous; I was watching 5 descents and 4 of them knotted themselves on the side of the slides at high speed upon arrival at the bottom. In this water park, a self-served juice/pop machine and ice cream machine were available but no bartender and no alcohol service for anyone. No staff there for towel service and no entertainment either. All to say, we spent all of our time at the main pool where we could all be together; each of us having their own kind of beverage and enjoying the music, activities, and entertainment. Loved the nature and cultural aspect of this resort! Lots, lots of animal around of all kinds! Beautiful cenotes and Mayan ruins! The cultural Mayan shows were great! Secured Kids' Club with bracelet ID pick-up only. We barely used it (2 hrs total) but overall the kids were okay with it. The waters are very rocky for swimming and kept more natural with sea weeds coming onto shore. The beach sand was clean, white, and beautiful. We had a wonderful vacation.

Great resort

This resort is great for families with young kids. There is a lot to do without doing off site excersion. The beach is rocky but the kids love to explore in and around the rock for fish life. The kids club is okay and the night entertainment is outstanding.

Great resort

My family and i had a great time. Great features for kids like the water park.. Entertainment at night and lots of nature. My six year old enjoyed the kids club very much. Food was great.. But the dessert was not the best i ve seen. Beach is rocky due to corals so you would need water shoes

Relaxing

It was what we expected for an eco resort. You go to this place if you want the wildlife and plants. The beach was not the best if you want to swim, however a short cab ride to a sister resort where you are all inclusive as well solves that problem. There was no shortage of pools or water slides and I found them well maintained. Food was great although there seemed to be a bacon shortage going on. Check in/check out was probably the worst I've ever encountered on my travels. When arriving at [... read more] the hotel you have to wait a few hours to get your room, when leaving the hotel they kick you out of your room early. While the resort amenities are still available during this time, the "securely locked" area for your luggage remains open with non-staff walking in and out of it (or changing in it).

So very disappointed with Sandos Caracol Eco Resort and Spa

We paid for Deluxe suite and got a Standard room first night. They would not give us a Deluxe until we showed them our paperwork. Thank God we took it with us. My husband got food poisoning the very first day. We had no hot water, and the toilets would not flush. Not great with food poisoning. Third day our new unit (we moved from Standard to Deluxe) flooded and we had to use towels to stop it from coming right through the unit. Fifth day flooding again, and asked for a room change. They [... read more] were going to move us to our sons building, but our son's unit flooded also and they had black mold coming down the wall. They took the unit we were to get. That unit turned out to have a spider invasion. One spider was the size of a bread plate and took ten minutes to kill. On the eighth day our grandson (1 and 1/2 years old) got really sick and was taken to the doctors. The buildings we stayed in should have been condemned and would have been if we were in Canada. The wood frames on the doors were rotted and covered with what looked like a plastic paint. The tiles were broken and peaces missing in both the rooms. When the kids moved out of their room because of mold, the painters came in and painted it and rented it out that evening. The food was not good and was the same every day. There was only two places worth eating at, and that was the Meditterean and Steak and sea food restaurant in the new area. Honestly this hotel should not be recommended for families. Yes, there are animals, but other than that you are putting them at risk of disease and health issues if you stay in the older area. The only area worth staying at was the Royal Elite, Time Share Area. Sandos is making a lot of money with tourism, surely they could shut the old area down and rebuild it. Highly do not recommend this resort .

Beachgoers beware.

As frequent travellers, we would not stay here again, nor recommend it. Sadly, this review is 90% negative. While we hate to sound so negative, we wished we knew this information before we booked this hotel. NO BEACH! NO COFFEE MACHINE. VERY WATERED DOWN DRINKS- NO CORONA. NO SMILES (nor eye contact) WITH MINIMUM SERVICE. NO RESERVATIONS FOR DINNER-but over 1 hour waits for any restaurant outside the average buffet. Only Japanese restaurant required reservations. Despite asking on our fir [... read more]st day, the JAPANESE restaurant was completely booked until 10pm on our departure evening. How can that be? Not great with children, nor when you head to the airport at 11pm. Despite ALL INCLUSIVE, some restaurants, such as the Italian charged EXTRA for wine. That`s not ALL INCLUSIVE!! Best features of this hotel were gazing at the wild and farm animals during short strolls. Wild monkeys would trek upon our balcony, delighting our youngsters. Peacocks would be grazing outside our door. Lots of roaming cats, which we hope have been sterilized and do not spread fleas. Lots of space in our hotel room, with 2 closets & room safe, walk-in shower with shampoo and bodywash, but NO coffee machine. Hair dryer has little heat and takes 1 hr to dry hair. We were not too sure what the `warm` water machine was for, as it did not produce cold water, nor were there any teas/coffees to make anything with it. There are no information booklets in the room (Yes, they aim to avoid waste, however a vinyl-bound directory would last for years) & the hotel channel showcased things that really don`t exist, such as tours in the mangrove, beach play. You needed to find someone who could speak English to explain to you that they had ONE tour in the week-but only for adults. We came to explore with our children. Kinda defeats the purpose. There was what looked, from the exterior, like a great playroom. Upon entry, there was only 1 girl and a ballpit. Some activities, such as pizza party were listed, but why would you wish to dump your child into such a boring environment. There was no party, nor festive atmosphere. We expect that a playroom has well-supervised children with many staff members to provide a safe environment. This did not appear to be the case. Definitely not a well-thought out children`s program. If there was an emergency, how could 1 person manage the situation safely? (Yes, I work with children, so these potential hazards are ingrained in my brain). Also, our room calls to the reception often went unanswered. There were no signs posted to tell newcomers what restaurant hours were. Also, staff at the restaurant desk could not speak English, nor answer questions about the restaurant services (such as which restaurants charge a supplement for wine!). Restaurants are advertised as NO RESERVATIONS REQUIRED, however wait times could be over 1 hour long. With children, mosquitoes, and lots of rain with no place to actually wait for most restaurants. Twice, despite our being first in line, a Mexican family would walk up and be seated before us. At first, we thought that could not possibly be true, however when it happened again without justification, we felt very insulted. We would not treat others like that. A classy hotel should not do that either. There were some interesting holiday decorations up and about to appreciate, however the Santa that made his walk about (or race about) the pool was disheveled and did not interact at all with the children. We understand it's warm to wear a costume, but these children were expecting some quality time with Santa. They waited all year to see him, plus when they got to the top of the photo & gift line, Santa went on break. It was very sad to watch. The hotel grounds offered Mayan Ruins to explore, however an unkept pile of rocks down a walking path does not make a memorable trek. There were no staff members available to discuss what was there, although 1 walking tour was available during the week. More hours should have been available to accommodate clients on every day of the week. Travellers were wandering around looking for what was advertised and there really was nothing to see, except mosquitoes. One gentleman experienced a huge rash reaction to their offered mosquito repellent. He worked in the medical field and strongly recommended avoiding using the product, especially on our children. Hmm... We`ve been to all sorts of different hotels with different levels of accommodations. Even when there were not many amenities, a friendly service would more than accommodate our minimal expectations. However, service at this hotel was really UNDERWHELMING. Our bracelets fell off 3 times and we were told they were going to charge us 100$US for each for security reasons. Oh, no! Some firm words rectified that, however it almost happened! Guest Services has an area in the lobby with 3 staff members sitting at their desks. When approached for help, you are quickly told to go to the front desk, which results in a 1-hr wait-time to change a bracelet each day. No one smiled and welcomed us. No one smiled at the restaurants. Not a busboy. Not a waiter. No one. The shows were cramped and only 1 showing during supper hour. People would literally come and stand right in front of the young children and block their view. We cannot teach kindness and respect to all of the customers, however there were no staff members to control the crowds. An usher at the top of the stairs, as in most hotels and cruises, could politely escort customers to the best available viewing areas or control the crowd more efficiently. People were so pushy during a regular show that we truly thought if there was a sudden emergency, children would get trampled. Sad thought, but that`s the hotel`s responsibility to provide a safe environment all over. The only friendly staff were the photographers. Of course, at 20USD for one picture, you can imagine that this department brings in a lot of revenue for the hotel. They often walked around with mascots to take pictures or were available near the beach chairs to take pictures. Overall, the SunWing Tour operators were polite, but not very outgoing. Tours were super expensive, which is not the hotel`s fault. There were always additional costs for food, picture packages. For a family of 4, it was over 1000$ to have the basic dolphin tour with photos! Imagine, you are not allowed to bring your own cameras, so you want your kids to have a memory, but photo packages start at 250USD to 380USD. Shocking. Our tour operator told us that a normal day at Xcaret would see 2-3000 customers. During the Christmas week, they had between 12-13000!! Obviously, there were no safety quotas to follow and long lines to even get in. Yes, that calm snorkel through the caves that was advertised was literally a horror for our children who were being pushed under the water and against the cave walls by the shoulder to shoulder swimmers. It was a nightmare. Our 7-year old ended up clinging onto her father`s back. Forget using the automatic cameras that cost over 100USD, as the waves of people would just naturally force you out of the way. We skipped the other 2 routes because of this safety issue. We saw 1 lifeguard and no other staff members. Obviously, no safety quotas were respected. At 200USDpp (only 1 meal, no drinks), this was insane. Really disappointing, as this was the inspiration to book this trip. One family tried to cancel a tour, because their child had food poisoning and could not even leave the room. They were told to pay for a doctor to get a medical note or they could not refund NOR RESCHEDULE their tour. The poor mother was crying and there was no empathy whatsoever to accommodate this family. Most shocking was the absolute lack of any accessible beach. Sandbags provide little support to keep the algae off the beach. Their site explains that the beach is cleaned each day, which appeared highly unlikely. We did not see any improvements throughout the week. Only 1 person out of 4 braved putting their toes in the ocean. What did they see? More algae! We thought we could try to make the best of it at the waterslides. The children`s slides would close down from 12-pm and shut down for the night at 5pm, although still filled with kids. The bigger waterslides were only operational twice during our stay, with the motors not working. We always heard ...maybe tomorrow. When it was open, our daughter was not allowed to go, however smaller children continued to walk by and were allowed. Safety height measures are very flexible depending on who is working The children`s pool had dirty water. We could not see the bottom. This area was completely understaffed with only 1-2 lifeguards positioned at the top of the waterslides.

Good family resort

Grounds, Public areas and pools were clean and rate excellent, Room needs more furniture(chairs and another night table in our room) but was clean, Food in International was best , Mediterranean, poor, Italian a mix

Sandos Caracol has no beach

Second visit to Sandos Caracol Eco Resort in Mexico. We were there in 2011 and the beach was great, now it is eroded into the ocean. The area is rocky and covered in coral and sea urchins. We walked ten minutes left or right to find some sandy locations at other resorts. The hotel tries to sell you timeshares all the time. The main pool is only 3 and half feet deep which our kids loved. The pool bars were open by 10:00 am and closed at 6:00 pm and served all kinds of mixed drinks and blend [... read more]ed drinks and two beers on tap. \Loved that they recycled their cups and didn't give out straws. The room was a bit outdated and I did not like the layout. We had a king sized bed and a pull out couch for our two children. The room had a large jacuzzi tub in the middle but no privacy if you are in the tub or coming out of the shower. The room had a mini fridge with beer and pop and free to use room safe. Cleaning service was usually done by lunch time each day. We liked the food and the variety of restaurants. Only one, the Japanese, required reservations and we could only go once that week. The Brazillian and Mediterranean were excellent, but a bit of a wait as it is first come first serve,(unless you were an Elite member, they can make reservations apparently, grrrr.) We took a taxi($15 US for four people) and visited the other Sandos resort for a day at Playacar which was newer and actually had a nice sandy beach and beach volleyball. Hope this helps

LIKE ITS NAME ECO, ECO, ECO RESORT!!

The name says it all, Eco resort, and that is what separates it from other resorts. It is aimed towards children, nature, and learning, as that is what I perceived it as, when I booked this resort for my children and Grandchildren. The rooms of this resort, are standard quality for the star rating. The services were also standard for the star rating. The food, was a little below standard for the star rating. The grounds, activities, entertainment were just above standard for the star rating [... read more]. It is definitely focused towards children! My grandchildren 5 to 12 loved the resort!! I found some of the entertainment was not appropriate for younger children, (scary and depressing) . I think some of the shows can still put the (teaching) aspect across to the audience of their Mayan heritage without embellishing on the dramatic and upsetting ritual of sacrificing!! It is great for children otherwise, and I hope that they lean more towards that clientele, and improve some of their theatrics, and add even more to the CHILDRENS experiences! Keep in mind if you are an adult looking for a relaxing, vacation with little or no children, THIS IS NOT FOR YOU? Needless to say, this resort is a much needed resort for Mexico, look at it as the beginning of a Mexican Walt Disney!! ( Still needs work) Very much enjoyed, we would all return. Children, grandchildren, and friends with children:)

Great Resort!

We came to this resort with a group of 13. 6 adults and 7 kids! We really enjoyed this resort. The staff was helpful, our room was simple and clean and we were never bored! The grounds were beautiful!

Great family resort!

We loved that there was lots to do beyond going to the pool or beach. There were always different animals to see, paths to explore, cenotes and activities for the kids. The bathrooms were always clean in any location. We spent most of our time by the pool and at the aqua park. I would have liked to see someone cleaning either of them at some point...

Absoultely amazing resort!!!!

We were at this resort Nov 18-25 2016. Wish we would've booked longer. We were in the adult only section and it was well worth the upgrade. The quality of the food and drinks were excellent! Loved the adult pool. This has been my third time to Mexico and this was my first time at this resort. They really catered to us. We booked the spa and the massages themselves were really good, I booked three while I was there. However the only downfall was the receptionist at the spa...she tried to upsell o [... read more]ther services and was not that friendly when I wouldn't agree. I almost changed my mind because I was insulted my her persistence. I told her 3 times no and had to keep emphasizing what I wanted. she finally backed off. I had talked to other guests at the resort and they were experiencing the same issue with the receptionist. But the massages are well worth it. The beach itself is nice and clean but the water is a little rougher and the rockier than the other resorts that I stayed at. Also I really enjoyed the animals that we got to see. Although we didn't bring our kids to this resort, I would recommend this for families as well...kids aqua park and the entertainment nightly was enjoyed by the kids as well as the adults. I will definitely go back. I miss this place already. Top notch service all the way around...you will not get better than this!

Beautiful Resort!

This resort is very different from any we have stayed at. We mostly stay at 5 star beach front resorts that the rooms are right on the ocean and there are minimal trees. This resort was so lush with beautiful trees it was amazing! It was the best of both world's, a 5 star beach front resort and a beautiful jungle all in one. There were so many walking trails to explore that take you through the trees, around cenotes and through some mayan ruins. You definitely need to like animals to com [... read more]e to this resort because they are every where! We even had a raccoon come up on our table out in the snack bar area, the kids just loved it! The shows at night were amazing! They were great for kids and adults. I would say the best entertainment we have seen at a resort so far. We did not need reservations at the a la cartes which was great for the kids, we never know when they are going to be hungry so we hate having to make reservations 3 days in advance like most resorts require. Some days we had to wait about 30 minutes to get in but it never bothered us. Most of the time we could get a table for 9 people within 5 minutes. Most of the food was delicious. The buffet did often run out of some foods though and it would take a while before they replaced it. The only reservations that is required is for the Japanese restaurant and it is so worth it!!!! The beach was beautiful and you could always get a beach chair any time of the day. The pools were great for the kids but the main pool area did get quit busy during the day. All in all it was an amazing vacation and we will go back again. We were a group of 7 adults and 2 kids aged 5 and 3. Please remember that you are going to a country where a lot of the workers live off of their tips and if they do not get tips that day they might not be able to feed their family. We saw far too many people not tipping it was sad! These people are serving you hand over foot 24 hours a day.

Spectacular resort

We enjoyed everything about our stay right from start to finish. The service, food, beverages, accomodations, entertainment and particularly the environment were all amazing. A great ecological experience in the midst of wildlife and mayan ruins. Their support of and education on the mayan culture was captivating.

Perfect family resort

This hotel is amazing if you are looking for a simple low key property with lots of animals and endless fun for the family! Lots of restaurants to chose from, a water park plus pool and a beautiful beach.

Beautiful resort

This is the most beautiful resort we have been too. Everyone was extremely friendly and the grounds were amazing. Beautiful views. We loved seeing all the animals freely walking around the resort. The food was so Delois's and the selection was amazing too

Nice resort, average food.

The grounds of this resort were well kept and clean. The pool areas and rooms were very nice. I have been to Cuba twice and went to Mexico for the food this time. The food was average to me. The water at the beach was unusable due to big rocks that you could not see and trip over. The people were great. The resort is a three tier of areas that you can use.

Wonderful Vacation!

I loved this resort! Food was very good with lots of variety. Staff was very helpful and friendly. We stayed in the adult only select section and thought it was awesome. The only thing I would say that's negative is that they need a bar that is accessible to the people so they don't need to rely solely on the service staff who are doing the best they can given the volume. Either a bar or extra wait staff. The bar is in the restaurant so you must be dry and relatively clothed to enter which is di [... read more]fficult around a pool! Lol Perhaps some music too and the odd pool game from time to time as well. We understand that it's the adult only pool but it doesn't mean we're dead...it just means we don't want screaming children around when we drink and play! ☺

Wonderful Resort

We were a group of 6 sisters on vacation for a week beginning Apr.17/16. Three of these had been on a trip to Africa last year and loved it. The jungle and animal atmosphere at this resort with its own eco tours, ruins and cenotes was especially appealing. We were not disappointed. The grounds were absolutely stunning. Lush vegetation and jungle-like surroundings were evident all through the walking paths and trails. Monkeys playing in the tree tops, colorful parrots and a children's petting are [... read more]a all made this a great experience. We got up early to explore the trails before it became too hot, had breakfast and then headed to the beach for swimming and sun bathing. We stayed in the adult section and enjoyed the pool in this area as well. Our rooms were lovely although there could be more drawers or shelves for storage. Beds were comfortable and the maids were great. We loved the a la carte dining. We tried every restaurant except the vegetarian and loved them all-especially the Italian. The service at each one was amazing - as it was everywhere from check in to check out! Four of the girls took one trip to the Tulum ruins and enjoyed it, but we found that there was so much to do at this resort that we really didn't have to leave. Although we didn't use it, this place seemed to have the most active childrens club I've seen down south-they even had some of the children in their evening shows which were all geared for families. Our favourites were the Heroes, Freddie Jackson and the Disney type show. The weather was great every day and we had an amazing time!

Great resort

Food was great, staff was very friendly, Rooms were always clean plenty of towels in our room .pool towels were always available. Lots of fish to see in the ocean bring water shoes. Good service from all staff. Monkeys were awesome as were all other animals. We booked a day trip snorkelling with Mayan adventures our guide for the day was amazing as was the trip. Evening shows were good. We emailed the resort a week prior to our arrival and pre booked the Japanese restaurant was very good. My kid [... read more]s loved the water park I would return to sandos and would recommend this resort to family's