TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

I understand that everyone is different and everyone will have a different experience. Well this is me relating mine. It was just fine, but with a lot of inconveniences. We used to be a group of 10 people or more that used to go to Sandos Caracol Eco resot every year on vacation, and I mean every year, because we loved the installations, the service and just everything. I went with my family just this past week, we stayed for 6 days. The last time we went was 2 years ago because last year we went to Barceló Maya Palace and oh my god, breath taking. We decided to return to Sandos this year and I have to say that most of our stay was a disappointment. First of all, the check in lasted over an hour and a half, I dont know if they didnt have full staff on but oh well. They gave us a room with basically no air conditioner, as it was not functioning, we reported it several times and finally they told us they would move us to a different room. 10pm and nothing, my father had to go to the lobby and asked for the manager to talk about the situation and just then they sent someone to move us, but it was because my dad had to go and complain, not because of their effectiveness. Another family that came with us on this trip had to move to another room as well because some malfunctioning and they said that when they got to the lobby, the staff was reaccommodating other 50 families, 50 rooms were being changed! How is that possible? How can you be aware that some room is malfunctioning in any area (AC or whatever) and still give it to some family? Okay that part was over. On prior years that we went to Sandos, you could make reservations to every restaurant that you wanted, that was our experience 2 years ago that was our last time in Sandos but this time they told us that we only could make reservations for 2 nights only, through an app that our whole stay was not functioning correctly due to their system (according to the concierge) The pools were not as clean, the last 2 days of our stay I didnt even go to the pool with my family because you couldnt even look at your feet being in the pool, not very clean and it made me itchy, I stayed at the beach instead. The kids area was so nasty the first 2 days, it got clean later but it is unacceptable. People pay for a good service, clean pools, good food. I remember that on prior years there was more staff around the resort cleaning everything, and this time it even smelled nasty (I understand that it is an eco resort but how come every past time that we went to the same hotel it smelled nicer even if it is in nature) One of the fanciest restaurants on the resort is Lirios. We went for dinner, it was not even on its full capacity, at most 8 tables were being served and the AC was not functioning properly. People were fanning themselves with the menus! The food was lovely, I have to admit, but so hot inside!! I was melting Later on a staff employee told us that there was a change in the administration of the resort. And sadly, my family and friends that used to go very frequently to this resort can tell the difference between prior years and this particular stay. There may be new people that love the resort but honestly it was very different before. I would not recommend it and definitely will not be going back

Just got back from Sandos Caracol and will never go back. This is a very long review but I encourage you to read it. This review does not in any way represent our overall view of Mexico or its people. We have been to many other resorts in Mexico and were, in fact, married in Mexico and will be visiting again. This is about this resort in particular. The only good part about this place is the animals, it was very cool to just see the monkey's and coatis running around freely. We are members of the Royal "Elite" club, which is supposed to give you all these wonderful benefits. Well i'll tell you they did not! The only 'benefit' we had was that we got to go to an office with AC to do our check-in. But the process was still long, and cumbersome. The lady there was polite enough but nothing to brag about. We got to the hotel pretty early (around 10:30am) We were given our wristbands and told we could go to our rooms at 3pm. I later asked if our rooms were ready early if we could go to them and she said no! rooms are only avail. at 3pm. Royal Elite Membership: What a joke! We were never even given a tour of the resort or told where anything was. When I asked about dinner reservations, we were told we needed to go to concierge. Went to concierge the next morning only to be told that you have to make reservations via their "app" and you can only make reservations between 12am -12pm for the day of. Needless to say it was impossible to find anything. When I complained to concierge, I was then told that as members of royal elite club we have a special concierge that will make reservations for us BUT we are only allowed 2 dinner reservations for our 5 night stay. We were never informed that there was a special pool for members only with a premium bar. We were never told we could have breakfast at the members only restaurant. We were told however, that we could visit the Sandos Playacar hotel and all we needed to do was come to concierge by 9am to reserve our date and a cab would take us there for $50. WELL! for starters you do NOT need to be there by 9am, you can go at any time but the day pass you are provided is only valid from 9am-6pm. Secondly, the cab fare was not $50, it was $98.00 each way. And the Seek and Go transportation service wanted about $130 roundtrip. For a hotel that isn't even 15 mins away. We didn't go. BTW - I was later told by a local that a cab fare to and from Playacar is about $18.00. Food: We've been to several all inclusive resorts in our past. We know the food isn't always excellent. BUT, the food the food at the Laguna buffet was just terrible. Breakfast, lunch and dinner. I don't know how you can mess up scrambled eggs, but man did they manage! Everything here was bland to the point where my kids noticed. The first night they had a roasted pig that smelled like it sat there in the open air for about 4 days. It smelled terrible. The gnats/fruit flies were over everything! The Mexican restaurant was a little better but still nothing to write home about. The service at all the restaurants was slow, even with a line out the door, the staff just moved at snail pace. AND - I understand that the buffet has to close at some point, but that doesn't mean take away food for the people that are already inside. At all the buffets we attended, they started removing food from the buffet once the 'hours of operation' were over. I mean the people are already inside, you don't have to put new food out but why take what is already there? The one exception to the bland, dry, flavorless food was El Templo (the Asion restaurant) the food was very tasty and our chef was very entertaining. HOWEVER, there was no AC. No fans, nothing. Sitting in front of a teppanyaki griddle with no air!! Room service was not good either, the food was just as bland as the buffet. The breakfast menu is literally 5 items. Facilites: One of our rooms were infested with gnats. Now, I know this is Mexico and I know they just had a hurricane so bugs are expected in the area. But for our room to be infested with gnats is a different story. I mean we couldn't even put a cup down for 3 seconds before the gnats had overtaken it. We had to get pest control in there 3 times before we could even stand to be there. Luckly we had 2 rooms so we all relocated to the 'least infested' one. Never-mind opening the patio doors! Not once did we step foot out there, the screen doors were just covered in bugs. The bathrooms in the restaurants were gross, especially the International buffet one. They smelled awful, the floors were dirty, the lighting was poor, the floors and overall facilities looked like they haven't been touched in over 10 year. The buildings themselves are dingy and run down. They're full of scum on the outside and also look like they haven't seen a pressure washer or new paint in decades. The pools are dirty, the water is murky and cloudy. The waterpark slides are dirty and look like they have never been updated. Faded, dingy and just gross looking. Those bright pretty colors you see in the pictures must've been taken the day the hotel opened, because it does not look like that anymore. The beach is meh! They are not very swimmable as there are tons of rocks. I know this is out of the hotel's control but just beware. The day beds in the 'members only' section are dirty, broken and in need of a serious facelift (we also didn't know about this special "members only" beach section) Although, at one point we were told that we were in an adults only section of the beach and that we had to move (there was another family with 2 small children 5 feet away from us that were not told anything) Entertainment: We only made it to one show and it was the Michael Jackson one, was pretty un-impressed and left quickly. Most of it was videos of him performing or a projection. We didn't use the kids club but I did stop by because they had a poster of Inside Out 2 in the window and the kids were very excited to go see it. When I went to inquire about it, I was informed that it was in error and that they were NOT playing that movie but that they have requested several times for the posters to be removed without avail. Lastly, as we were standing in line waiting to get into the buffet, we struck conversation with someone behind us that asked how our stay was going. We commented to her that we would never come back and she agreed. I then mentioned that, had I known the truth about the hotel I would've booked elsewhere and I couldn't understand why there were so many good reviews. Well, she explained that when someone complains about anything at the hotel, they will comp you with something like a spa treatment BUT that you have to sign a contract that states you will not post any negative reviews and that if you have already posted one, you agree to remove it. She did not just tell me this, she showed me a picture of the contract (which she didn't sign. You go girl!) So if you're wondering why this hotel has such good reviews even-though its a dump? There you have it!

I had high expectations for this hotel after friends' recommendation. It was very disappointing. Staff don't really seem too bothered about anything. You have to set your alarm for midnight EVERY night so you can book a restaurant for the following evening as it sells out in minutes! Food is average. Everything is average. You can not swim in the sea due to the rocks and the pools leave alot to be desired. Bring lots of bug spray... you will need it!!!!

We had a lovely stay at this resort. The hotel staff did a tremendous job while Hurricane Beryl hit. The hotel got back on its feet very quickly. The highlight for me was yoga most mornings with Juan. He was the best instructor I have had and such a lovely place to practice, I would go back to the hotel just for the yoga alone.

Just leaving Sandos Caracol Eco Resort and the 3 words of advise I can give anyone is...AVOID...AVOID...AVOID. When we checked in, we were 4th in line and by the time it was our turn, an hour and 45 minutes had passed. We talked to people who were here before the hurricane and the stories were the same. Our room wasn't available and so we were put in 2 different rooms and were told to return to the front desk at 3 pm the next day. We did, waited an hour, got our room, went there and it hadn't been cleaned. Back to the front desk, another wait and given yet another room. Check out today took over an hour as their system is slow and not enough staff given the number of guests. We called the bell desk 90 minutes before we needed to check out to ask to help with our bags as we were on the other side of the resort and huge surprise, no one showed up! The food was mediocre and we have had better at ALL the other Mexican resorts we have stayed in! As for reservations for the non buffet restaurants, you will need to stay up till midnight when the reservations become available for that day and start hitting that button. The Teppanaki reservations were typically gone in 2 to 3 minutes. I felt like I was trying to get in the virtual line for Tron at Disneyworld. Be prepared to pay $8 US for a water and $18 US for sunscreen. We were usually able to get the minibar restocked every 2 to 3 days after multiple calls and talking to the front desk. The smell throughout the resort was overwhelming at times. The pools are all murky and not maintained AT ALL except for the Adult Only pool area my daughter stayed in. She saw them skimming it every morning and saw them checking the pH. Throughout our time there, the worst part was the complete indifference from the staff! A few Gucci caps went missing from our room which has never happened to us before (thank goodness we always lock up our valuables though) This is by far the WORST resort we have EVER stayed at in Mexico and will NEVER return. We do realise that there was a hurricane last week but it sounds like none of these complaints are new!! We picked this resort given the activities offered onsite. After touring the property, we decided NOTHING they offered was even close to what is described online. Sadly our best day of activities was leaving the resort for Xplor Park. Beware the 4 out of 5 rating as most are for the few nonbuffet restaurants which can not be reviewed separately. They tried to pressure us at the Brazilian restaurant to write a google review to which we pointed out it was actually for the resort to which they replied just to add text about the restaurant. This isn't our first time traveling and know how some hotels and resorts use this 'trick' to garner higher reviews than deserved! BUSTED! Ron. S PS, if you want to get into the ocean, it is beyond dangerous given the rocky entrance and the water color was concerning.