BookIt.com Verified Traveler Arunkumar Shivanna from Fremont, California

"Sandos overall is a good experience except the following

1. Same buffet food everyday gets to you after 3 days
2. speciality resturants , mexican and Asiana were poor in choices and specialy Asiana food not good. It is a like a novice preparing food.
3. Many of the staff does not understand or speak english and most of the time english sounds like spanish.
4. If you enjoy drinking, get your own . the quality of the beer and other drinks are very very poor."

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BookIt.com Verified Traveler Antonio from North Bergen, NJ

"We love our trip, the beach is beautiful (impresionante), the food is delicious, the only recommendation for the owner of the hotel is to turn on the air conditioner at the restaurants a la carta. It was hot and uncomfortable. They do not have enough air, and it was the same at all of them. I believe that they are trying to save money. Please, do not ruin the paradise at Sandos Playacar. Every thing else was espectacular."

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BookIt.com Verified Traveler Joseph Boccuzzi from Streetsboro, Ohio

"Being travelers to Mexico many, many times - we were disappointed in a few things this trip. We stayed in the adult section - which was good in itself. The beds are as hard as solid concrete. I requested some type of pads to soften the mattress and it took the hotel staff 5 different tries to get it right. Communication from English to Spanish was very poor at times. You have to wait to have transportation provided to you so you can go to most of the restaurants or to the ocean from where we stayed. There was a long line and only 2 golf carts and 1 SUV that would take you to the Meeting Place. That is the area where the restaurants and the beach are. The restaurants that are buffet are all the same and the food is not very good. There are birds that fly around trying to eat your food at all times. The restaurants that require reservations can only be used 3 times if you are not a VIP member of the hotel. We went in June when it is their slow season and we were constantly told that there were no tables available at the restaurants - even during the slow season with only half of the restaurants being used. We had better luck walking right up to the restaurant and asking to be allowed to be seated. The Hotel advertises quality liquor throughout the hotel. This is not true - it is only in the Lobby Bar. The pool bars serve only lower shelf liquor and you do not know what you are going to get. The entertainment for adults is basically non-existant - other than drinking. Being a social drinker, I was very disappointed. The staff should have separate entertainment for adults - after all, they stay in separate areas in the hotel. They could provide a stage with comedians, etc., or at least something for adults to do. It is terrible for adults as I have stated!

For the good points - this Hotel is geared towards families with children. The staff goes out of their way to make sure that children are busy and happy at all times. I would recommend this Hotel to anyone with children. I think the buffets have the food that they do because it is geared towards the kids. There are plenty of hamburgers, hot dogs, french fries, pizza, etc. What kid would not be happy with that! The shows that the Entertainment Staff puts on is very good for children and families. The Michael Jackson show is very, very good and should not be missed if you like his music!

We were travelling with 4 other adult family members and none of us will ever return here. That is really a shame considering the amount of money that we spent to go to this resort. Please consider the above before making your reservations!"

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BookIt.com Verified Traveler Brad Stuedemann from Hugo, MN

"I would stongly recommend that people not stay here as their website is very very misleading!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The average vacationer only has access to one pool and can only have dinner 3 nights out of 7 days and the buffet's have the same luke warm bland food every day and there were always birds swooping in trying to take your food!!!! Very few of the staff members understood english, the morning after we checked in we were delivered a plate of chocolate covered stawberries thanking us for staying with them and that we were checking out that day and a week later when we actually were checking out no strawberries. We called for for the express checkout and to have our bags taken to the main lobby which was about 3/4 a mile away and when then did not show up we had to walk that distance and then were questioned why we did not have our checkout ticket!!!!!!!! We will never go back and would only recommend that people not stay there!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

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"We loved this resort .The help went out of thier way to make you happy we enjoyed most of the eating places .There are so many places to go to eat you are always full and then you got room service on top of that .we where in the adults only section which was great but it also would be a great family resort they have a water partk ,a kids club ,and a sports area for kids they have thought of everything .i loved the fact that we where taught amount the Myer people and the plays where really nice .the place does have a smell that you catch at certain spots in the resort much it wasn't that bad .That one thing that I wished they would of had was a running golf cart around the resorts at all times it it a really big resort and there is a lot of walking to get from point a to point b .we want to give a shout out to Marianna guest host she took care of us like we where her parents even saw us off on the day we left .we will be going back to this resort ."

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"I learned a very expensive lesson about reading the fine print! I would not recommend this resort at all. I booked a week long trip for our family of 4 through and the first problem occurred when the flight I chose was an overnight flight. The number of nights did not adjust for red eye travel so we paid for 6 nights when we only stayed 5. When we went to check in, Sandos did not have our reservation (since they thought we were showing up the day before!) Finally after about 2 hours trying to check in we get to a very substandard room for 2 adults and 2 children...super small, uncomfortable beds and pillows, ugly decor, no conditioner in the shower, no movie channel. They do not have any suites that accommodate families with big kids. The worst part is probably the food...TERRIBLE!!!!! You are fed cafeteria style in a buffet, the same tepid, bland, tasteless food day after day. And the ala carte restaurants are not much better, they limit your choices (you cannot get soup, salad and a main course, you can only choose 2 items per person) and the food is tepid, flavors are wrong and portions are appetizer small. It makes you feel like they are really being cheap. We got so tired of the food that we went to town 2 nights just to have a taste of real food. The food they have at this snack area that is open all night is the worst...tepid cheap hamburger patties, cold french fries, cold chicken nugget things, american cheese slices and the worst tasting soft serve ice cream any of us have ever tasted...it tasted like a frozen mixture of coconut and hand soap, the vanilla, strawberry and chocolate...it all tasted the same. They did have some cut up fruit, only melon and pineapple and some really cheap, bad tasting yogurt. The pastries? Forget it...just sprinkle some sugar (but only a pinch) on a piece of white bread and it will taste 100 times better than what they offer. The decor is not good, everything looks a little worn down, the pool bars are plain and colorless, the alcohol is cheap, the drinks are mostly frozen sugary drink mixers and a teaspoon of cheap booze. And the ECO part of the resort? They have a couple of donkeys in a pen, 2 hairless dogs in a pen and some parrots. There are some wild Coati and some raccoons and feral cats that frequent the resort for hand outs of cold french fries. In spite of the many signs that say, 'DO NOT FEED THE ANIMALS' everyone has a great time feeding them cold french fries and taking pictures. The staff never bothers to step in and put a stop to it. They also have plastic cups that they ask you not to throw away, they wash and reuse them...even for coffee. Ever drink hot coffee from a plastic cup? Mostly not a problem since the coffee is rarely hot but anyway, I'm sure toxins in the plastic leech out quite nicely. The GOOD part was the weather, perfect 80 degrees everyday. Would be better to stay in a hotel suite and do your own thing. I stayed in a DREAMS all-inclusive resort in CABO....WAY BETTER! 100 times better!! The food and drinks were great and the rooms were nice at DREAMS. This place is a nightmare compared..."

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"Amaziing value. We went with our son and his family (4 adults and 3 children) There was sonething to do for everyone. The grounds are impecable. The beach is beautiful and so are all the pools. They staff was always pleasant and helpful. Everything was done with a smile, The buffet and the 4 alacart restaurants were good (not great) but considering everything else was way above par we couldn't complain. We became familiar with the foods we liked and the ones we didn't. We visiting the stores in Playa del Carmen but truthfully it was so nice being at the resort we should have just stayed in that day. We also visited Excaret. What a beautiful ecological park. You must see it. So much to do. All over it was a wonderul vacation and so worth the small price we paid. Still don't know how they do it."

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