Sandos Playacar Beach Resort — Hotel in Playa del Carmen

Just returned from my 4th visit to the resort.|Have stayed at Caracol twice, and Cancun once.||Have been recommending and selling Sandos for several years.||After this visit, will no longer be promoting them :-(||Stayed in Select Club. Didn't see the select check-in so went to regular... and they handled the check-in there without mentioning the select club.||Had another friend who stayed in family side with her 14-year-old son. She went to the adults only pool (no signage for SELECT or ROYAL ELITE, it's just known this is the ADULTS pool. Because she had a blue band (family), she was asked to leave the area, being told it was 'adults only'... and she is only mid 50's :-(||First room was building 1, floor 3. No elevators working. Wifi in room was so bad, couldn't even load app! Ceiling fan does not turn on. AC had a turn dial thermostat! However, changing the dial did nothing to the room temp. And it was stuck on COLD! Room did have partial ocean view from balcony. ||Searched groups for WIFI and found several people mentioning bad wifi in building 1.|Decided to ask for room, change. Mentioned bad wifi and was told - yes, we have issues with wifi in building 1. (So, let's put a working travel agent... into a room where wifi sux!)||New room ground level (floor 2 but no stairs or elevator needed) in building 2. GREAT location for adult areas and breakfast buffet.|Ceiling fan did not work. regular thermostat however adjusting the fan, or the temp did NOTHING to change room temp! Average temp while we were awake? 69 degrees and 70% humidity!|We turned the unit completely off to sleep. Wake up to 71.6 degrees and 82% humidity! |(We live in Merida Yucatan where normal outside temps are 100... indoor humidity only exceeds 70%, when we have our WINDOWS OPEN! We normally set our indoor temp to 80 degrees, and humidity between 40 & 60%. VERY comfortable!)||Maintenance did something to the unit, which caused the humidity to reach 93%! We couldn't reuse bath towels from day to day, because they were always wet. We also had to lay towels on the floor, due to all the moisture created due to the AC unit. They did bring a dehumidifier to the room, even with it running 24 hours/day, humidity never dropped below 69%.||FOOD |app shows Ocean Shack being closed... website says it is open for adults only ala carte breakfast. As expected, it was CLOSED for breakfast leaving only buffet or room service for breakfast choices.|ROYAL ELITE (vacation club/timeshare) members DO have access to ala carte restaurant for breakfast. |FESTIVAL buffet. Why do I DESPISE buffets? |People returning for seconds, carrying their DIRTY PLATES with them.|Watched a child about 12 years old, dropped a clean spoon on the floor, picked it up and put it back with the other clean spoons... while mother watched and said nothing!|People walking through the buffet area, eating as they go along.|Children running around without parental supervision.||Yet SELECT gets you either buffet... or very limited room service menus!||Arrival dinner, we were forced to eat at buffet, due to no availability elsewhere. Most food looked unappetizing, warm to cold, and not so great flavor.|You cannot make reservations in app, until you have your room number. However as soon as you get it, you CAN make reservations a couple days in advance! We did this and managed to get ala carte for the remaining 4 nights of our stay.|Italian - probably the better of the 4. With a 19-page menu... I guess it has to be??|French - wanted escargot which was on the app menu and the paper menu, however.... they did not have any. Also, the app menu is different from paper menu.|Gaucho - ordered ribeye, received filet. Otherwise, acceptable.|Fogo - salad bar seemed more limited than our last visit. Meats were good, the pineapple though had no cinnamon on it, tasting more like it was boiled in water than grilled.|CHAYITA - the best kept secret! You can try some authentic yucatecan food here! The Cochinita Pibil was fantastic! |CUP CAKE - great coffee and sweets all day long!||MISINFORMATION |Website for SELECT indicates:|Private Check-in - again, you need to know BEFORE you check-in so you can look for that area.|AC (individual control). This is flat out WRONG. Yes they have controls... but the control nothing.|Ocean Front Club House. I know Caracol has one, but I don't ever recall seeing one here. |Select Club Restaurant. This is flat out WRONG. I have been to resorts that had a specific restaurant... breakfast, lunch & dinner for PRIVILEGE members. There is NO adults only dining options here... other than... ROOM SERVICE.|Purified Water Dispenser. This is true. Instead of plastic water bottles you can place in the minibar... you get the dispenser that they CUT THE POWER CABLE, so the water is ROOM TEMPERATURE! And if you want to carry water with you... bring your own YETI.|Occupancy for the Select club is 2 adults... yet you may end up in a room with 2 double beds! ||BRING A POWER STRIP!|Both rooms we had 3 outlets... |1 beside bed|1 in bathroom|1 behind TV (inaccessible in building 1, had to move dresser for access in building 2).|After they connected the dehumidifier, I was left charging my phones in the bathroom.|||STAFF |Hit or miss. Restaurant staff were always friendly and accurate.|Walking around resort... almost every worker you pass... says nothing to you, most staring at their phones. ||POOLS |the adults only pool was generally very few people using it. |One day we visited the lower family pool. We had the ENTIRE AREA to ourselves... however as on all previous visits... the Riviera Blue was closed. NO TOWEL GAME here! Never had a problem getting a seat at the pools no matter what time we arrived!||BEACH|hit or miss with seaweed. They were busily cleaning it daily. At least one area, the ants in the sand... BITE. Use caution.|NO TOWEL GAME!! always empty seating at least away from the family pool/waterpark beach area.||ENTERTAINMENT |Shows were better than some we've been to. App was NOT accurate as our arrival night (friday) the app had NO SHOW, however the resort boards said it was the 80s show. The app listed the 80s show on Saturday, along with the MJ show. INTERESTINGLY... MY App showed it incorrect, but our friends app had it CORRECT!||DAYPASS |Every time we have visited either Playacar or Caracol... we always went to the other resort for the day. Mainly to see what's changed, get some new photos, etc.|Apparently, they have done away with this, and even though I have attended 2 Sandos webinars the past year... I heard NOTHING of this and only found out a couple days before arrival. Apparently ROYAL ELITE (vacation club/timeshare) members DO have access to this.|||As a travel agent, I have access to the sales manager with our previous visits. I had informed him of all our room issues, and he agreed it was NOT NORMAL... yet made no efforts to resolve the issues or make in person contact. He did respond to messages, but no improvements were made as a result.||MISC |As agents, we earn free nights for every xx nights we sell. |I had a client booked at Caracol earlier this year. day before arrival her father went to the hospital, close to death. They couldn't go on their trip. Resort would not allow change of dates without paying additional $800 (for 3 nights!). They offered no refund and could not be transferred to someone else.|They lost their $1600 paid.|I thought, well, at least I'll get 3 points towards a free night. WRONG! They advertise to agents you get points for every room BOOKED. However, even though it was PAID IN FULL... I did NOT earn the points because now they claim it must be a TRAVELED stay... not just BOOKED and PAID IN FULL. ||I also noticed during this stay, they have special lines for those who book direct... through expedia, or booking dot com. |Looks like they are trying to do away with Travel agents all together, as it was for our trip... being an agent means absolutely nothing.||Very disappointing as again, this was one of my go-to resorts for families, and for a budget friendly adults only option. |||||It saddens me to see how bad the...

Quick summary: ||Not consistent in alcohol for same band color at all bars - staff issue. | |Sargassum was terrible, not the resorts fault. Wouldn't recommend going in the summer. It did stink after the first couple days. The beach was very wide, the chairs are far back which we didn't really like. The resort was large. Trolley system seemed to flow smooth when we used it the couple times. |We don't think we would've liked the resort as much of we were not staying in the select rooms as they are close to every thing. ||Foam party was a blast. Food was decent. Service was not up to par with others. Shows were ok. ||We booked this trip with a group. My husband and I stayed in the adults only second and had gold bands. I was well aware of the RE but the price was higher for not much more so we stuck with the ocean front adult only select room. It says dedicated check in, there wasn't any except for RE. There was a line to check in. They did offer welcome drinks which was nice & after getting our wrist bands pointed us in the direction of the select bar which had AC, small snacks like cheese and meat, and of course drinks. We then got on the shuttle to our room. Gonzalo was a fantastic driver/ bell boy for us. ||After getting to the room we immediately attempted to make reservations for our stay. We were successful at making two reservations. ||The app/website has problems and if the restaurant isn't open it shows an error that you can't book this far out, even if it is the next day. Though it will allow you to book for days after you have checked out. It also had information on the nightly shows incorrect and doesn't tell you the location of events. It shows buffets closed when it wasn't on the family side, etc. ||Food:|We were able to eat at the French restaurant and the Italian. The French was very good. Italian, better than buffet. ||As select/gold bands for breakfast we were supposed to have select restaurant for adult only by the beach, that was closed the entire stay per the app and even attempt to go there. ||Buffet restaurant was very hot and muggy half of the stay. Especially during the afternoon and evening. We really enjoyed the Mexican grill for tacos and burritos. The app advertised crepes but there weren't any. They also didn't have bread for tortas any of the days of our stay. |You're not supposed to take food out of the restaurants which we didn't like as the room service menu was very limited. Chips and guac on room service came with like 5 large chips. Assorted sandwiches one night were all the same. ||Bars|We used the select bar in the lobby, select at the meeting point, sports bar, adult only pool bar, swim up bar at infinity pool, swim up bar at a family pool, beach bar, club. |At the sports bar Arael took care of us and was top notch. ||The meeting point offered Jim Beam no others had it. ||Issue|In the select bars you could get absolute & the first couple times at the adult pool bar. Then I brought my husband to order a drink and ask the sudden I was told I didn't have the right status even though I had gold band. I had this issue with multiple people at the adult bar including jorge I then went and talked to Joel at the meeting point guest service to make sure if there was a misunderstanding as I had been being served absolute at all the "gold" level bars so it shouldn't be a top shelf or status issue. He stated no, he would contact them. I went back attempted to order they said they were out I asked when they would have more they said tomorrow morning. The next morning my husband and I go at opening and try to again order an absolute. Alfredo again said I didn't have the right status. I'm gold not black. Tedoro tried to act like he was the manager then said I could talk to someone I said I already did and I will again. At this point it's the principal of it. From other reviews this isn't the only time this has been an issue. They need to get their stuff figured out. (I'm not sure if this was a race issue or why when my husband was with me it became an issue to serve me absolute at the same bar i got it from without him but too long before). I went back and talked to guest services and the higher up again for clarification on why can I drink absolute in this bar but not there they said I should be able to since I'm gold. They would contact them. From then on I didn't have any issues but know I was known as the "problemo" so I think they made sure to get some within a few minutes even if one of the bartenders told me they were supposedly "out."||Of note they have bottles of their top shelf on the side of the bar which has grey goose and belvedere, absolute is not there - I understand these are for RE/black band. ||Resort is walkable and shaded areas. Many pools with swim up bars. The adult only bar does not have a swim up bar. Not sure if adult only is for gold/black band or not as I've read different things. ||Shuttle for pickup of luggage was right on time. Called to schedule it the night before without issue. ||We tipped, not sure if it made a difference in the service or not as we did move around...

Review in the moment: Great dinner at the Gourmex restaurant tonight! Kids especially loved the churros!!

Post trip review: We booked Sandos Playacar with our family of 5, my coworker and her partner and my inlaws. (Plus my parents booked their vacation to depart from Florida and meet us there)

Fast forward to the week or so ahead of the trip and Sandos Playacar is all over the news, not for good reasons!!! This obviously brought a bit of nervous energy to the lead up to our departure. Our travel agent reached out to Sandos the resort manager phoned her and responded to her email with reassurances that things were well at the resort - this was much appreciated as we had 2 travelers who are immunocompromised.

We prepared for the worst - packing all the pharmacy things we could imagine and reviewed hand hygiene with the kids - and hoped for the best!!

We had an absolutely wonderful vacation...I'm sure it wasn't perfect but I'd give it a solid 4.5 stars!

The beach was out of this world - most beautiful I've ever been to! Lots of shady palm treed stretches, no shortage of chairs...just warm, wavy, beautiful ocean! My father in law was able to captain a catamaran with my husband and daughter one day but after that the red flag was out because it was very windy. Many in our group still spent a lot of time at the beach even on those windy days as it was very comfortable.

We aren't very fancy eaters but had no complaints about the food. The a la carte foods we had were quite delicious and we always found something to enjoy at the buffet or lunch stops at the pool or beachside cafes. There was a cupcake cafe that we frequented in the evenings, delicious drink options and sweet treats that the kids enjoyed. Comfy couches where we played games and my younger boys had evening siestas before the night entertainment!

The nightly entertainment was very well done in my opinion, but depending on your tastes it wasn't for everyone. They had themed artist nights for the most part - Lady Gaga, Shakira, Michael Jackson, 80s night, Elvis, Beauty & the Beast/Coco. We missed the Mexican Show night.

The service was excellent. We didn't have any trouble communicating with our limited Spanish and the people were very friendly. (I took a fall on our first day on the wet bridge walkway that led to the poolside cafe and the restaurant manager was very attentive and concerned, offering to call the doctor and in the end getting me some ice!) We rarely waited very long for a server to visit us at the buffet and were always seated right away even if we were in a group of 7 or 9 at the time. We had an issue with our refrigerator not working and we put a request in through the hotel app and it was promptly taken care of.

The rooms were probably dated but I honestly didn't even really notice. The beds were comfortable, and we ended up requesting a cot so each kid had their own space and everyone slept especially well after that (and the cot mattress was amazingly lovely!). Water for showers was always hot, no shortages of towels. We received bottled water most days if not all and had a filtered water jug in the room that we used for brushing teeth. The cabinet was coming apart slightly on top and the cabinet doors were a bit wonky but it wasn't anything to be a bother. My only advice is to bring bungee cords to create a better clothes drying space on the balcony when traveling with more than 2 people, that's the case for most resorts as those small collapsible hanging racks are pretty standard I think!

The kids had an amazing time at the Aqua park by the beach and there was a pool with a swim up bar nearby so it was very convenient for our group to spread out between the beach and pool/aqua park area. It was busy but not overly crowded in that area and we managed to find shade whenever we needed it. My 9 year old son who was turning 10 at the end of the trip also made his way into the Teen Club by the 4th day and he LOVED it (video games, friends he'd made at the aqua park/pools, air hockey, etc) -...