Do not recommend

WE WERE ASKED TO SIGN A NON DISCLOSURE AGREEMENT AS TO NOT PUBLISH NEGATIVE COMMENTS,WE DID NOT SIGN IT OBVIOUSLY This resort is laughable at best! Cons - -patio infested with ants on 3rd floor -Timeshare pushy on arrival -Food cold and sub par (ill usually eat anything) -Smell of sewer coming from multiple areas -Walk ways not maintained -Machinery is used in middle of night making loud noises and preventing people from sleeping Side note to that noise coming from machinery! We complai [... read more]ned about it the first night at 3am as it woke us up and kept us up. Second night, they use said machinery again, but this time at 5am. This time they told us, "we saw the report, but we must work at night as to not bother clients during the day" How does that makes sense? You rather keep people from sleeping? - WIFI is super unreliable - NO more beach as seen in brochure and pics, erosion has destroyed their beach Pros - most staff is friendly and nice when not on their phone - a lot of animals on site I was here 3 years ago, and I would of gave it 5 stars back then. This place has gone downhill quick. I do not recommend this place to anyone at all

Great Resort!

We had a great vacation! The resort is huge with lots of stuff to do.I only have 2 small complaints. When we first arrived the hotel may have been a little short staffed due to covid. The rooms all have jugs of bottled water in dispensers which I think is great! We did have to wait for water to be delivered.I had to ask 3 times.We also had to wait an hour to be served at the Italian restaurant but when we said something we were served right away and the food was good. We were treated like royal [... read more]ty for the most part. We tested positive at the end of the week and we were a little afraid, we have heard stories of people being moved to terrible rooms with bad food. That was not the case. We were moved to a very nice room with a big balcony and we were taken very good care of. We were called daily to see if we needed anything and the food they brought us was very good. Esteban the concieage was the best. He was so helpful and was willing to help in any way he could and came and checked on us regularly.

Great resort for families with kids!

A beautiful resort with lots of fun things to do for children and families. The grounds are lovely - surrounded by nature; flora and fauna of all kinds! Monkeys, coati, deer, birds and other wildlife roam the grounds. Great waterpark area and Kids Club. However, the select club area is quite far from the adult-only beach section (rocky so wear water shoes) and some of the dining locations, which made for a lot of walking. For an older couple this made it difficult to get around with ease.  [... read more]A "shuttle" service within the resort would have greatly helped! Our room was clean in all the obvious areas but clearly not cleaned for some time in the closets and corners. We had a ground floor room and had to deal with some creepy crawlies that must have got in under the door. Our ground floor balcony was not usable - furniture too big for the space and not cleaned of animal droppings & spider webs. The staff were lovely, helpful and friendly. We enjoyed the hydro-therapy pool and relaxation massages. Food was good - enjoyed the Brazilian BBQ and the Mexican restaurant.

Beautiful resort

Really enjoyed all the included activities. So much to do you don’t even need to leave the resort. Everything very clean and well maintained. Room was nice, clean, fridge stocked, water bottle in room. All restaurants had good food, buffet had good variety. Restaurant at pool also good, almost same thing everyday ( hamburgers and hotdogs etc). Did free shopping tour, pretty interesting. Have to stay 45 minutes at jewellery store, 30 minutes at Tequila store (free tequila tasting which was ac [... read more]tually interesting and fun) and then they leave you in Playa de Carmen for a couple of hours with access to a beach club ( where we had a delicious lunch on the beach) would recommend this. Or just a taxi to 5th avenue in Playa de Carmen. Just walking thru the paths in the resort was great, vegetation and natural beauty of the mangroves, the cenote, the jade River, the Mayan ruins, lots to explore. I would recommend this resort for anyone, children will love it.

Sandos Caracol

The resort was OK but was very dated. The rooms were not the ones we booked and they could not change because they were full. Covid protocol did not exist. The food was not very good. The best part of the stay were the trips away from the resort.

Great resort, it has a great balance of activities and amenities!

I've been a number of resorts and this one beats all the others from the great balance of things that it offers "aspect". First of all I booked this resort because we needed a family oriented vacation. The addition of our daughter as a new family member made me look for resorts that offer a variety of choices for things to do. Sandos did not disappoint in this area! From the start we liked the grand picturesque entrance that the resort complex offers, it is spectacular from when you enter the [... read more] hanging vine arches. Inside is a mixture of jungle meets beach, which we loved right from the start. The resort offers many activities to do such as: watch the wildlife, hikes, bike rides, the flora is diverse, nightly entertainment, it offers daily entertainment by the pool (which we were never really a part of), water activities, kids water zone (this was great, with slides and many size pools), restaurants of various types and buffet, snorkeling through the cenotes, romantic boat ride, water activities. It really has a wide caveat of things to do and enjoy. One of the things we liked and disliked at the same time is how far our room was from the beach, we liked it because we would take a different route every day and check out the wildlife as well as the hanging bridge. I recommend booking all of the dinners the first or second day you are at the resort as these get reserved fast, we never got to see the Japanese restaurant as apparently it was booked solid throughout the week. I enjoyed the beach quite a bit, but we found you had to go at certain hours because the beach would get filled up with a sort of floating seaweed that would make enjoying the beach impossible. (if it was windy chances are that the beach gets completely filled with the stuff). There are multiple bars and snack bars around the resort complex and even though this is a huge resort sometimes it doesn't quite feel like that because of how abundant green spaces are within the complex. I loved the fact that there is shade literally everywhere around the resort, as many resorts are normally new and don't have any mature trees. (I know most people look for a sunny beach, but sometimes you get overwhelmed by the high sun that you have to run for cover between noon to 3, and this place offered this). Juan the concierge is a great person and facilitated our stay at Sandos. Our daughter was sick due to the weather and he made our stay a lot more welcoming, facilitating delivery for prescription medications for our daughter from a nearby pharmacy, giving us information about the resort complex and an all around nice guy. The downside as I mentioned is that the complex is huge and depending on what you like or your fitness level or needs if you are placed in the far end of the complex then everything is a long walk (reception, restaurants, play room, internet, the beach, pools). Most of my complaints are about the reception at the hotel. Because of covid it was unfortunate that we didn't get a copy of the map or any information at the reception. Also the reception always had huge lineups (every service at the resort was understaffed), reception would never have change for your currency (I was there every day in the morning and they would say that they were out of money, so on my entire trip I never had any pesos or smaller denomination to be able to tip), reception would also take clients at random sometimes from the line (I remember waiting 45 minutes to ask for something only to be turned to the concierge for that question). The first couple of days we were clueless, they don't give you any information on anything, internet is only available in few places and this resort is huge (big downside not having Wi-Fi, we could not get in touch with our other family members in the resort and the Wi-Fi was located very far from our room). The fact that the hotel is tiered based on how much you pay, you get privileges' for certain things (select club, adults only, elite, and so on).

Manuela Romeiro

I will be really short, Manuela Romeiro mislead me, she Told me so many lies, the truth is she never been in this resort and this resort is not for kids in wheelchair and doesn’t have elevator, for example snack are by the main pull by the beach is not wheelchair accessible...like up for breakfast was like 45 minutes long, no bananas ...resort and doom really dirty, horrible service .... I just want to say thank you for your advice Manuela Romeiro and waist my money!!!

Good time

This was our second trip to the Sandos Eco Carcol. We love the grounds and the nature and of course the main feature, the monkeys !! Unfortunately this time we upgraded to the Royal Elite Penthouse being told we could use the Infinity pool and Swim up bar section by tht travel agent and as advertised on the website however Royal Elite are not allowed and we were told when we arrived. For a family of four the Eco Family section would have been way better. The Royal penthouse is basically a large [... read more]r room made for two. It was very crowded with 4 and our luggage. The balcony was large and nice however the ocean front means nothing. There are no views of the ocean. Just the tops of the palm trees. Food was fine. The restaurants are great. As mentioned in all the posts the beach is not great. Very rocky and dark and more for snorkelling however very wavy most of the time. I’m not sure we will ever return as the room was so disappointing and the very expensive upgrade to Royal Elite was a waste of money. The service from the staff is great however our request to lower grade our room to a more comfortable fit was not met. We did see others get upgraded and we were not allowed to downgrade. Over all a fun place for families but don’t waste your money. Stay with the eco family section for the same perks when travelling as a family.

Wonderful Resort

We stayed in January, which was our 2nd time at this resort. We love how huge it is, which so many options for things to do. We enjoyed all the food at the buffet, as well as the hamburgers by the pool. For the beach you definitely need water shoes to enjoy it. We had one issue with our door lock one night (battery in lock died) security was there within minutes to let us in our room, and also fixed the lock within minutes. We enjoyed watching for monkeys as we walked around the endless pathways [... read more]. We would definitely return again!

Great Family resort

Beautiful grounds- very tropical & well maintained, lots of resident creatures wandering around ( peacocks, cats, Mexican raccoons & monkies ) Lots of walking & bike paths- definitely recommend bringing a stroller for young kids, you walk everywhere. We stayed in the older section of the resort- rooms were tired & in need of some TLC. Our cleaning Lady did a fabulous job of keeping things spotless. Food was mainly buffet style- OK but not great, lots of choices to keep kids happy though- h [... read more]ot dogs, pizza, fries, ice cream. I would highly recommend the Asian restaurant , show & food were excellent !! Book as soon as you get there, reservations book up quickly. The steakhouse was another favourite & a must. There are lots of activities for kids & this resort is definitely there to cater to their every whim. I would recommend it to young Families & teenagers. We travelled with 4 teenagers ( 13-18 yrs ) They found things to keep them busy for the most part & if they were bored they seemed to always be able to get on the internet- argh !! Not recommended if your travelling with an adult group.

Sandos Eco Resort

The maintenance of the property is beyond expectation; the grounds in particular are beautifully maintained. The house keeping staff go out of their way to make the rooms stay clean and comfortable. The rooms (room 4505) and other rooms in the area smell terribly musty. I wonder if air ventilation could be added as the mustiness is hard on people with respiratory issues. I had asked to be place in the newer part of the rooms but ended in the oldest and most removed part from the amenities,  [... read more]so it took a good walk every day, several times a day to go to and from the beach. We had chosen a place on the beach expecting to have to trek less.

Fun and Relaxing

We stayed for a week in February and enjoyed our time very much. We booked in a adults only section and really loved the adults pool and the beach club. The pool and beach for adults only are at opposites end of the resort and took about 6 minutes to walk from one to the other. The food I would say is a little better than ok. Some items are amazing and some are just so so however that really is a very individual thing. We loved the Japanese restaurant so make sure to try and book the moment y [... read more]ou are checked into the hotel all other places to eat do not need reservations. Our room was always cleaned and the fridge filled every day. It was a basic room but did the job however our beds felt like sleeping on a rock bed. We did not ask to move because the monkeys came to our balcony almost everyday. I loved hanging out a the Adults Beach club and they provide lite snacks all day. I was also able to snorkel off the beach and see some fun fish. Water shoes are a must at this resort. The beach is sandy but the water is very rocky. We would return as we did not get to see and do everything we wanted to and had amazing service.

Needs Work

The main buffet needs some work. The furniture is very tired looking and should be replaced. We were very disappointed with the beach area. There are very large rocks in the water which made it difficult and dangerous to swim. The food in the specialty restaurants was quite good. Enjoyed the steak and seafood and Italian restaurants. The rooms were O.K. But given that it is an eco family resort we were surprised at the very large jacuzzi style tub In our room that, if used, would have been [... read more] a waste of water. It also took up a lot of room which could have been used for living purposes.

Amazing resort!

We had a wonderful 2 weeks at Sandos Caracol Resort. We were in the adults only category even though our room was close to the beach, which was very convenient and central. Our room was super comfortable and very clean. The grounds are so well maintained and stunning to walk through the jungle everyday where we saw monkeys, deer, iguanas, raccoons, coati’s (like badgers) and beautiful birds. All friendly! This resort is a great family resort. Lots for kids to do and be busy with the Kids Club [... read more]. One of the managers, Jesus, and our concierge, Manuela, were very helpful and accommodating. We would highly recommend this resort!

Good for adults and kids

This is a really nice place that is set up to be a super-fun time for kids and which has quieter kid-free places and rooms for adults only....and the rest of the place is fine for both! My hubby and I went. If my grown kids were younger, I would have taken them here for sure. Excellent water park with slides, etc. suitable for toddlers all the way to adults. I did a couple of the really scary huge twisty slides and shrieked my way through all in one piece. The staff are consistently grac [... read more]ious and helpful. The service at restaurants is excellent. The steaks at Riviera are divine. Oddly, the steak at Los Lios (sp?) in the upgraded area was thin and leathery. Very odd. The Brazilian grill is grand for carnivores and is open for kids later on so we adults can eat our meat quietly earlier. This resort is built within jungle, not over it. Lots of walking throughout. We counted 20 different animals and birds we saw. There is a clear commitment to its being an eco-resort. The cenotes are neat but not very big and I didn't think very good for snorkeling (we brought equipment, didn't use it). The general swimming pools are active and fun; the one pool for adults only is tranquil. AND they have a big warm outdoor hot tub for adults which was so relaxing. NO TIME SHARE! Really! We were not bothered ONCE while there by people trying to sell that. Incredible. The shower in our room did create floods until we used a potato chip bag to force redirection of the water, but I think this wasn't a common problem. It was not broken, more a design flaw. Whatever, no big deal. And at least on the ground floor, do be sure to turn off the bathroom fan when done or it will pull up fumes from the drainage system. Again, just common sense. Great place all around and I'm going again for sure!

Awesome familynresort

So many things to see and do at Sandos Caracol. Our family of 4 (kids 7&10) took advantage of cenote and river swimming, ocean and pools were great. Food was very good and night shows. Water park kids area was under construction which was unfortunate. Water slides were fun for kids, just a few slides for adults. Lots of jungle and animals throughout the resort which is one of the main reasons we chose it as well as many activities. Eco superior room with bunk bed was awesome. Will definitely b [... read more]e on our list to go back.

Great Family Resort

The hotel is a bit out dated but all in all it was great for families. The resort was clean and lots of things for the kids too do. Great options at the Buffets but the food could be a lot warmer was cold by the time you got back to the table. The transportation to and from the resort was luxurious Staff was not the friendliness as I have seen before except the pool area the staff there was amazing. Lots of fun activities for the kids. The main pool could be bigger

Clean good food curtious staff

Arrived Jan 8 via Air Transat was due to land at 4 landed at 5. Got to the Hotel at 630 checked in by 830 We were starving. First mesl at the Steak place was amazing. Room was renovated. Bed was super comfy. Staff was great, especially Bell Boy and Golf Cart drivers, but ask 2 or 3 staff about the same thing and You will get 3 different answers. Entertainment ...nothing to write home about except Lady Gaga! One show on Tuesday didnt even happen!! TOO many kids We upgraded to Sele [... read more]ct. We would return bit would visit other Sandos to compare.

Was ok

got back jan 7 2020. To me this would be an amazing place to spend a day. I would book the sandos playacar and then visit the caracol for a day. Do your research before you book, they are very different resorts and this one is the caracol is clearly the lesser of the 2. We visited the sandos playacar on day 4 and spent the last 3 days over there by taking a taxi everyday ($20 one way and 15 min drive). You have full access to either resort between 10am and 11pm. But it’s a bit of a pai [... read more]n to do that. Playacar seemed more organized, had more amenities, cleaner, much better service, a shuttle ran every 5 mins and will take you around the resort, a proper- decent lunch spot at the beach, a burrito bar, cupcake cafe an awesome teen club with video games, ping pong, foosball and the adult area looked amazing and clean! An amazing theatre spot, and one of the nicest beaches I’ve ever seen And so close to playa del Carmen. i think sandos resorts spend the majority of their money staffing and making the playacar a better place. people seemed happier here And although it was fully booked it didn’t seem too crowded. At the caracol, The resort grounds are Really nice Carved out of the jungle with lots of cool things to see. but everything is so covered and sheltered it is hard to find the sun. Swimming in the Cenote was really nice and refreshing and the rivers are really nice. The water park was a lot of fun - good for everyone but how much time are you gonna spend at a water park. The pool was pretty crowded And small the for size of the resort but otherwise ok. Can’t really see the ocean from the pool area and it was very difficult to find a damn chair! The beach was ok but you can’t really swim in the ocean because of the rocks. If you walk about 5 mins to the left there is a nicer beach at the azul resort. We went there for the beach everyday and then fell in love with the playacar. the entertainment Team was non existent. I think they spend all day in the kids club (which actually looked really nice) and make an appearance to the general public now and again For a quick game or something. The restaurants Food was ok but most are first come first serve. The buffet was terrible with so few options and we were joking that if you were vegetarian or vegan forget it! Most people were fighting over the Limited And not great pizza cause everything else was mediocre at best. They are clearly understaffed at the restaurants and it shows in food quality and availablility. We heard many people with the same complaints. Food sucks, long lineups, beach sucks, employees waay overworked This resort did not have enough staff or amenities for the amount of people to be comfortable. If you do go here know their downfalls and make the best of it!

Amazing Family Resort

Family of 4. Traveling with a 7 and 10 year old. We had an amazing time. There was so much wildlife around the resort. The food was good especially the A la Carte. No reservations required except for Japanese restaurant and no limit on how many A La Carte meals you do. The kids loved the waterpark. We were in the Family Eco Superior room. The room was very clean and recently renovated. The beach was rocky but the kids had water shoes so they didn’t mind.