Clandestino RoofTop — Restaurant in Playa del Carmen

Do not go here. One of the shadiest places I have been to: predatory behaviour from staff towards a vulnerable girl, denying her help after they had intentionally got her drunk.

Visited here with girlfriend and my friend. When she goes to buy a drink they offer her a free ‘shot’, which instead turns out to be a full cup of a very strong drink none of us had ever tried, maybe some long tequila drink without a normal mixer. The queue to collect these ‘shots’/ drinks was just girls and I presume the aim was to get them as drunk as possible. I try her free drink, within seconds a male member of stuff tells me I can’t drink it, it’s just for the girl. She has a few more sips and I try again, ignoring what I had been told, he comes over again asserting that I am not to try it again, even after I explain she is my girlfriend and he just says those are the rules don’t drink it again. I immediately start to feel very quickly a lot more drunk after drinking this, I was suddenly swaying as I was walking and we all commented on how strong that drink was, as my friend and girlfriend had tried a fair bit more than me. So I leave the drink on the side half full. Soon after my girlfriend is almost unable to stand, she had drunk the most of that drink. I have to help her to the bathroom. I ask staff if they will give me a glass of water to help her, and they say no, more and more staff come over being assertive saying she shouldn’t get any free water. I explain that she is this drunk as a result of their predatory free ‘shot’ and that she is very vulnerable, the least they can do is give her a water to help her out. They ask if she tipped the bartender after her free shot and I say I don’t know, she can barely talk at this point, they wouldn’t give her a water unless she had tipped the bar tender. At this point I am sitting with her on the floor outside the bathroom, I have several members of mostly male members of staff around me and her, I am pleading them for a free glass of water, asking for management. Members of management simply come over and tell me she can’t sit there and instead must sit on a high stool - she can barely communicate let alone move to sit on a chair like that where she would just fall. Eventually a female member of staff comes over who I am able to get to understand how vulnerable my girlfriend is, and someone brings some salty water over (another weird point, but it was at least something to help). At this point I am trying to leave with her, having to be helped by 3 members of staff to guide her down the many steps as she is basically a dead weight on me and unable to walk.

She barely recalled any of this the next morning, and my other friend said that the whole night after we had left him he was vomiting, despite never usually vomiting from drinking alcohol. I have no idea what that free drink was but it was not normal.

It just seemed like a shady evening, and like the club were actively seeking to make women vulnerable for god knows what purpose. I dread to think what would have happened had I not been there to help my girlfriend and it is just sad to see. If you are a woman i would reconsider visiting: your safety is not a concern...

Let’s put aside the fact that the shots barely had any liquor in them. I thought the service and music were great until it came time to pay the tab. They brought out a tablet with a digital receipt - it included 3 extra shots that we didn’t order/consume. I wasn’t in the mood to argue so I nodded my head and asked how to tip. The waitress and the server with the tablet said that it would be added separately, so I asked how I can do that but then they showed me a screen where they already calculated a 20% tip. I didn’t see an option to change it so I agreed and signed. While I was signing, the waitress approached a girl in my group and asked for a tip, saying that there were other people like security who needed a tip. Since it was loud in the venue and we were about to leave, my friend and I didn’t talk and realize we both paid a separate 20% tip. It gets worse. As we were walking out onto the street, a bouncer ran up to us and asked if we had paid. I showed our receipt and he nodded his head to confirm. As we kept walking on, the waitress and another employee ran in front of us and started talking about payment and ID. They insisted that I share my license with them because they were concerned about me disputing the charges or I had a stolen credit card. They wouldn’t let us walk away until I handed them my Iicense so they could write down information from it. I have never encountered this in any of the many countries I’ve travelled to. So overall, they 1) added extra drinks to the tab 2) separately asked my groups for tips by acting like they didn’t get a tip 3) accosted us on the street so they can see my license. I recommend being very vigilant when closing out and be ready...

This place was so shady it changed my whole impression of playa. It started by them hassling my 21 year old daughter for an ID and digging through my purse taking out my Altoids and opening them. Ok.. trying to keep out minors and drugs I assume. Then I try to order drinks. Bartender tried to upswell me a super expensive tequila shot so I just ordered mix drinks. She proceeds to take orders from other people then asks me again. This time she asks if I was gonna tip her. I said yes then she asks how much. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing so I turned to see if my sister heard her. Now the bartender is looking at me whispering to the other bartender. We repeat our conversation and in front of my sister she asks how much I plan on tipping her. I just walk away and ask a guy in our party to order a drink for me and I’ll pay him for it. He tells me how they’re being shady on that side of the bar, making them pay before he even gets the drink then has to show the receipt to someone else?? At that point I gave up and suggested we all leave. I understand they probably work solely on tips but it just really rubbed me...