Exceeded Expectations

When reading some other guest reviews prior to our visit, my expectations had been lowered. I've since concluded that many of these reviewers may simply have been seeking levels of perfection that did not match the price range of what they were paying. We travelled with grandchildren and found the resort well suited to the interests of children with all the animals and nature as well as wading pools, play centre, water park and beach experiences. After departure of the wee ones, we upgraded t [... read more]o Adult Select club and enjoyed the quiet pool, the upgraded room and the Bali Beds by the beach and the beach club. Of course there were some minor issues but we found the staff were prompt in remedies. The food choices were ample and tasty. The peacocks were very beautiful - it was a slight shame that their loud evening calls were not quite so beautiful. Yes entering the ocean is a walking hazard with the rocks but we knew to expect this. A traditional sandy beach would have been lovely but not enough to miss out on the monkeys and coatis. We knew about the Eco fees the resort has to charge - these were done on check-in which is likely a much better idea than the hotel collecting on checkout. There was a bit of a sales pitch for their Royal Elite Club but it was not a hard sell. Would recommend Sandos Caracol for those with an interest in nature and wildlife or for those looking for a family retreat.

Amazing resort

Great resort for kids, with tons of activities to do. Jade River snorkel was amazing, kids club is a great place for the kids with tons of activities for them. If you like a resort with a beach, and ocean to swin in, this place is not for you. Not much of an area to swim in. Definitely bring water does. Pools were large, but busy. Water park was awesome for the kids. 55 inches in height is required for the large water slides, and for the medium size water slides you must be under 55 inch [... read more]es. Steak and Fish, and Italian restaurants were really good.

Beautiful!

We had an awesome experience for our first all inclusive destination holiday! The resort was beautiful, food was great, and the staff was amazing! We would recommend this resort to our family and friends.

Great for kids

This was the first time I stayed at this resort, and I chose it for my son's 8th birthday and I have the following pros and cons Pro - Clean resort - Able to see a variety of animals ( monkeys, peacocks, coaties, iguanas) - Great service - very small language barrier - Always pool chairs available - Lots to do on resort ( segway tour, snorkling in the cenote) - Water park Cons - Large resort with lots of walking - Extremely rocky in the ocean - I had money stolen from my bag in [... read more] my room - I didnt find the nightly shows entertaining at all. My 7 year old son asked to leave 5/7 of the shows - Not much selection on buffet Overall I think it was a good resort, but will not be returning

Perfect Family Resort

The resort in a whole is amazing, but very big. So much for kids to see and do between the water park, the beach, the pools, just even general activities like walking or biking the trails! Animals everywhere! I would highly recommend this resort for families. We went with my daughter and grandson and it was definitely worth the experience. Since we are a couple in our mid fifties I doubt we would return as just a couple. The ala carts were good but the buffet was a little repetitive. However tha [... read more]t being said we never left hungry. Staff very friendly and attentive. Oh and the beds and pillows were probably the most comfortable out of any all inclusive we have stayed at in the last 10 yrs!

Great experience

This resort is beautiful with lots to do and see. Great pools for families and adults only. Good food and great sleeps in comfy beds. Our daughter loved the kids club and so did we as we got to have some kid-free time to explore and relax.

Family fun

We went to a Sandos with our two kids. There is so much to do. We loved all of the animals we got to see (monkeys, cats, coati, petting zoo area). There are so many trails to walk on that are within the mangroves. Snorkeling in the Cenote and Jade river were a highlight. Beach is nice but rocky so water shoes are a must. Our room was nice and overlooked the jade river with a very large balcony. The downsides of the resort for us were the food and smoking areas. The food was very repetitive at th [... read more]e buffets and a la carte. And the kid menu was blah (hotdog hamburgers). The Mexican restaurant was closed which was disappointing. There are designated smoking areas throughout the resort yet people walked around smoking without the rules being enforced. Smoking locations were right beside the pool and game area which was not pleasant with the kids.

Excellent Family Resort!

Resort was clean, staff super friendly and so many great activities for all ages. The Kids club was a huge hit! We have been to a few places as a large group with kids over the years and so far this resort was our favorite!

Very nice resort

The resort was very clean, eco friendly which is important to me. Friendly//helpful staff, good food, nice rooms, pools nicely maintained, beach was nice and the entertainment was great. I loved that there were lots of wildlife free to roam the resort. My only concern was a few had been caged, and they didn’t seem to have much room or greenery etc (upsetting).. I hope this is something the resort considers to change. Example deer, few birds and farm animals. Overall a wonderful  [... read more]time

Wonderful stay in the jungle

This was my third visit to this resort, and as usual, it did not disappoint. The food was delicious, the room clean, and the beds comfortable. The grandkids just loved the waterpark, and the adventurous adults enjoyed the slides too. I am interested in birds and bird watching, so I enjoyed all the jungle around the resort. I would encourage the hotel to start keeping its own bird list of what has been seen on the resort so that when they get visitors such as myself coming, they have a checklist  [... read more]of what to look out for readily available. I enjoyed the short snorkel trip in the Jade River, although it is a very short excursion. It gives a different view of all the mangroves, and the water is crystal clear. I would recommend this resort for people wanting a good holiday for a family.

Nice Vacation

We stayed at Sandos from January 23 - January 30. As with every place you go to, there is the good, the bad and the ugly. This was my 6th time in Playa Del Carmen, as we absolutely love it here. We always go to different resorts because we enjoy having new areas to explore. The good: This resort is huge, huge, huge. Just when you think you have seen it all, you find a new trail that takes you somewhere new to explore. The setting is absolutely beautiful, set right in the jungle amids [... read more]t mangroves, cenotes, waterfalls, and tons of foliage with numerous animals. With that being said, yes there are mosquito's....its to be expected. We brought bug spray with us, however there are numerous dispensers around the resort with bug lotion as well. The animals everywhere was so awesome! The rescue farm animals were so cute, coatis everywhere, many types of birds, mexican hairless dogs....so many animals! The monkeys were hilarious. But people need to remember these are very smart animals....keep your patio doors shut if you are not in your room (not just the screen) We watched 3 monkeys open a screen door, enter a room, play on the bed, steal their food and tip over their table before they left in a hurry lol. We were told by some staff that monkeys have enter rooms and taken magazines, sun glasses and even cell phones. We upgraded to the Adult only section and felt it was worth the extra money. Our room was absolutely beautiful and huge with a Jacuzzi on our balcony. We had zero issues with our room at all. The in room water cooler was a nice bonus. I recommend bringing a water bottle with you, just so you don't have to get a cup every time you want water. With the adult only upgrade we also had access to a nice quiet restaurant for breakfast & lunch. This was great because the first morning we went to the main buffet and it was super busy, and the people in there acted like this was the only food they would be getting for the rest of the week.....very rude, pushy and obnoxious! Its a buffet people, calm down....there will be more food! We also had access to the clubhouse by the beach which was awesome. They make the best drinks down there!! And mid afternoon there was lots of snacks to munch on (chicken wings, sandwiches, salads etc) pooltable and books upstairs as well. I recommend the upgrade if you aren't travelling with children. The staff everywhere we went were all great. We never ran into anyone who wasn't happy and polite. The bad: If you are looking for a nice sandy beach to swim in, this isn't it. There is lots of rocks in the water until you get out farther. We did read all the reviews and came prepared with water shoes so this didn't bother us at all. And because the water edge is so natural you can actually see all the tropical fish right at the edge of the water. We also got to see Sea Urchins when the tide went out! So cool. If you walk a few mins down the beach either way there is lots of easier areas to get in a swim. Also the amount of times we were asked if we wanted a massage both from the resort staff, and the other people who offered massages just beside the resort was verging on ridiculous! I get they are trying to drum up business.....but anyone laying on the beach or swimming isn't interested in a massage right then. And asking 7, 8, 9 times isn't going to change that! The ugly: We had zero complaints with any of the food from the restaurants, however half way through our stay my husband came down with what we believe was food poisoning (violent throwing up and diaherra that lasted for 3 days). We drank all the same drinks, and basically ate the same food. We narrowed down his sickness to coming from the Italian restaurant from dinner, where we didn't eat the same. I ordered chicken parm off the menu (which was good) but my husband just ate the pizzas off the buffet. It was definitely not a good experience and we lost a lot of time out of our holiday because he was sick. We've never experienced this before anywhere else. My only other complaint was about the room service. The first night we arrived we didn't get to the room til almost 11pm. We decided to order room service around 1am. My husband got a burger, and I got fajitas. Both were very, very good. So after my husband was sick for 2 days, he was starting to get hungry because he hadn't eaten ....so we ordered room service around 6pm. He got the club sandwich, and I ordered nachos and a quesadilla. His sandwich was pathetic, bread was hard, 1 tiny tomato in the center of all the bread and 1 tiny piece of chicken (I did take pictures) I got about 10 nachos with a huge bowl of guac and my quesadilla was basically an empty fried tortilla. Was pretty disappointing. The late night service was 100x better. Overall we had a nice vacation here. We loved the resort and the staff, but with him getting sick like that we honestly aren't sure if we would return to this resort just for that reason. Vacation time is too precious, and too expensive to get sick while on it., and neither of us have ever gotten sick anywhere else.

Great resort for families

This hotel is in the middle of a lush jungle type setting. Great for families with small children. Lots of activities and ankids club. The super saver rooms are furthest from the beach and do not offer wifi. Be prepared to upgrade your room if this is something that is important to you. Rooms have a large cooler for drinking water which was great!! No tubs in the room for bathing the littles though.

Beautiful resort!

Lovely hotel for family with young children.Staff more than willing to help out with any concerns or questions. Loved the grounds with the jungle like feeling. Enough activities for everyone while not having to leave the resort. Great resort.! Excellent sports and entertainment staff! Shows were awesome!

Our holiday at Sandos

Sandos is fun family resort. We vacationed there for Christmas The property is beautiful to see animals, hike, bike ride & enjoy snorkeling; and plenty of fun Christmas activities for kids. The beach is unfortunately rocky, definitely not nice for swimming, the food and restaurants are average, the line up for buffet was average 40 minutes to an hour! There are restaurants on the property for reservations, but the food was disappointing. Sandos is good for families with young children, but for p [... read more]re teens not as entertaining.

Good Family Resort

overall good family resort. Beach was rock, so bring water shoes. There is lots of ocean life that complements the eco theme of the resort. There is always room for improvements, but nothing was really bad enough to complain about. Watch out for the vacation club sales pitch. A la carte food was really good except the vegan. That is a wasted opportunity. Prime location, food was a joke. Would be great if the main buffet was open early to allow for excursions and travel requirements, even if it w [... read more]as a light breakfast.

Unforgettable Experience!

I whole-heartedly recommend the Sandos Caracol Eco Resort. We travelled with 2 kids 9 & 5. The family superior room with bunk beds were beautiful and comfy. The kids club was outstanding and the water park a delight! The food was excellent. We simply loved the Eco focus, the jungle like environment and emphases on the Mayan culture. Staff were lovely and the facilities were spotless. There are always little snags and bugs (literally bugs!) in any trip, but reasonable people looking at the big p [... read more]icture can see this is a fantastic well-rounded resort.

Great place for a vacation

This resort was nothing short if amazing. Because its an eco resort everything was in its natural habit. What we loved most. The animals were awesome. The food, drinks and pools were amazing too. I would recommend this hotel to anyone 😀

Fantastic Resort

This hotel was way beyond our expectations. The rooms were spacious and clean, and the staff were fantastic. The place is huge and offers many restaurants, bars, and pools. Many activities so you dont even need to leave the resort. The highlight for us was the wildlife you saw on a daily basis. The monkeys and coati would come right up to us. Such a cool experience. The downfall was the bugs. I would recommend bringing bug spray with you!!! The beach was a bit rocky also but still beautiful. I w [... read more]ould definately go back to this resort.

One week was too short

Had a fantastic time in this unique eco resort. As a photographer the wildlife was a welcomed bonus. Was able to photograph 20 different species of birds with the help of the of the “eco-activity” coordinators. An abundance of wild life was everywhere. The food was great (although not 24 hrs). A very family focused place with plenty to do. Wi Fi for myself was superb! At one point I made a suggestion and it was promptly addressed. Can’t complain except that due to construction some areas w [... read more]ere not accessable, such as snorkeling in the cenote. I was there a week and could have easily stayed longer.

Family fun!

Three Eco Superior room we had was clean and an excellent size for 2 LO's and 2 adults. The resort has many enjoyable walking paths through the forest, to multiple Cenotes or by animals -both captive and wild! Our LO's are baby and 4 yo and both had fun -the kids club was great fit the 4yo. Lots to offer a family at this place. The Beach is rocky but can be explored. The Tortuga pool is nice and quiet while the main pool is bigger with lots of activities. The waterpark for kids was clean and wel [... read more]l maintained. All in all a nice resort that doesn't pride itself on being fancy but does deliver all fun and amenities.