Sandos Caracol Eco Resort and Spa, Playa del Carmen, Mexico

Avoid like the plague

 by  anonymous  on  2008-07-17

The only positives for this property were that the rooms were clean, and we met a lot of nice people from around the globe. Beyond that, this place had the worst food options we've ever experienced. Yes, there were multiple restaraunts on the property, but the quality and options was horrible. The steak house had really bad , chewy cuts of meat. The service was poor. Of the four orders we placed, the staff delivered one correctly. The Asian restaraunt served Chinese & Japanese food, but it was lukewarm, and soggy with no flavor. The Italian buffet was a viable option, but served ice, cold red wine. The red wine in the bottles were topped with bubbles; a sure sign of poor quality. The swimming pools were warm to hot and filthy. The main pool was almost as hot as the 88 degree plus temperature outside, and the bottom coated with dirt. The "select" pool was the same - warm, cloudy and dirty. I stopped getting in the pool after the second day because of what I saw floating in the water through my goggles; it made my stomach churn. Though we were able to avoid the timeshare sales pitch, we were often given conflicting instructions from many staff memebers on amenities, perks for staying and offers. Finally, I don't blame the resort for mosquito's but they didn't do enough to eliminate them. Our first night at the resort we were eaten alive. After spending 14 on a bottle of "OFF", we were able to survive the rest of our trip with the purchase of an additional bottle of repellent and lotion to ease the sting and itch. For those of you with children - the Kids Club was filthy and we did not leave our child there.

Avoid like the plague

 by  anonymous  on  2008-07-17

The only positives for this property were that the rooms were clean, and we met a lot of nice people from around the globe. Beyond that, this place had the worst food options we've ever experienced. Yes, there were multiple restaraunts on the property, but the quality and options was horrible. The service was poor. Of the four orders we placed, the staff delivered one correctly. The Asian restaraunt served Chinese & Japanese food, but it was lukewarm, and soggy with no flavor. The Italian buffet was a viable option, but served ice, cold red wine. The red wine in the bottles were topped with bubbles; a sure sign of poor quality. The swimming pools were warm to hot and filthy. The main pool was almost as hot as the 88 degree plus temperature outside, and the bottom coated with dirt. The "select" pool was the same - warm, cloudy and dirty. I stopped getting in the pool after the second day because of what I saw floating in the water through my goggles; it made my stomach churn. Though we were able to avoid the timeshare sales pitch, we were often given conflicting instructions from many staff memebers on amenities, perks for staying and offers. Finally, I don't blame the resort for mosquito's but they didn't do enough to eliminate them. Our first night at the resort we were eaten alive. After spending * on a bottle of "OFF", we were able to survive the rest of our trip with the purchase of an additional bottle of repellent and lotion to ease the sting and itch. For those of you with children - the Kids Club was filthy and we did not leave our child there.

Good time

 by  anonymous  on  2008-07-01

WOULD NOT GO BACK! NOT WORTH THE MONEY. LOT'S I MEAN LOT'S OF" MOSQUITOS". NEVER ABLE TO EAT DINNER AT COUSINES BY 8:00 A.M. RESERVATIONS WERE FULL. TRIED EARLIER AND STILL NO LUCK. ONLY 1 SNACK BAR REMAINS OPEN. THERE IS NO ROOM SERVICE. OCEAN ACCESS WAS MAN MADE LOTS OF ROCKS. THIS HOTEL IS GOOD FOR THOSE WHO ARE LOOKING FOR POOLS AND DO NOT WANT TO LEAVE THE RESORT,

 by  anonymous  on  2008-05-02

After an 6 hour flight. You're made to sit and schedule a tour for Timeshare deal. Not enough towels in room (didn't washed enough was over heard in spanish) Pillows were way over stuffed. Bed was hard. Jacuzzi tub 1/2 the jets worked, low water pressure took forever to fill. Breakfast was decent. Skip the over rated attempts to fine cuisine in evening. Wait staff was either poorly staffed and/or poorly trained to manage speciality restaurants with reservations. Tempura at asian bistro was like a sponge and tasteless. Walked out after deal with a combative staff. I saw 3 people walk out when food was served to them. We complained to Manager who wrote it on a 2" piece of paper. Nothing was ever resolved. If you like to spend money and get nothing in return -this is your place. I'll go else where.

 by  anonymous  on  2008-01-17

Me and my husband went on vacation to Sandos Caracol, this January. We stayed there for a week. I'm the kind of person that always reads reviews before actually traveling. The reviews were both good and bad and so i didn't know what to expect. After i came back from Sandos Carcol, i can honestly say, that 1) Their food is amazing( especially La Riviera, and El Gaucho) Those are the 2 of the 3 ala catre restaurants. Besides all of their restaurants have an amazing variety of food and deserts. Ther are like 9 bars, 4 swiming pools, that is inlcuding the select club pool. The territory is huge, and amazingly they do an excellent job keeping it clean. The rooms are great, some even have jacuzzi inside or on the balcony. Every night there is a live entertainment shows. During the day, this same entertainment team creates activities on the beach and around pool area. The only negative is the beach, because its rather rocky.... but this resort does provide a FREE shuttle to Playa Del Carmen, every day almost every hour. THe ride is literally 7 minutes in an air conditioned bus. They drop you off and then pick you up. THere the beack is amazing, the sand is silky and the water is aqua blue. The Spa in the resort is great. We enjoyed this resort and we recommend it to others. Great deal, money wise and a great vacation overall!!!!!

 by  anonymous  on  2007-12-30

We would go back, but will probably try another hotel near to compair. Some of the food was great and some was just so so. The property and location were wonderful. The beach was beautiful to look at but so rocky you couldn't really enjoy swimming. Staff was very friendly. The thing we liked least is that the AC went off for a few hours every night and we woke up hot and sticky.