TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

I rarely leave reviews because I truly believe that experiences are subjective and people have different expectations. However, in this case, I feel compelled to share our experience. I hope this review may help the resort improve and help travellers who share similar values and needs make a more informed decision. We stayed at Sandos Caracol as a family of 2 adults and 2 teenagers. This resort is advertised as a 4,5-star resort, but based on our experience, it does not meet that standard. We have stayed at four other 5-star resorts before, and unfortunately, this was the worst one. Check-in was quick only because we arrived late in the evening (around 11 PM). We were given wristbands and told that all information was available via a QR code. That was it. No explanation, no orientation, no welcome. Very impersonal. Room. The room was old, poorly maintained, and dirty. The walls were visibly dirty, and the kids’ bunk bed was extremely squeaky. The biggest issue was hot water. For 3 evenings in a row, we had no warm water at all. After spending the entire day at the beach, we couldn’t shower properly. One evening, the shower produced warm water briefly, just enough for my son to soap up, and then it stopped completely. I had to rinse him using cold water from the sink. We reported this issue every single evening, standing in line at the lobby each time. On the third evening, when the problem happened again we went back to the lobby only to be told that there were no reports of our issue. How is that possible when we reported it every night? A manager then said the water had been fixed the day before and should be working. It felt like we were being treated as if we were lying. Why would anyone invent such a complaint during their vacation? This was extremely frustrating and unacceptable. We packed all our stuff and they moved us to a bigger and cleaner room with hot water. Food. The food was another major disappointment. There was very little healthy food: limited vegetables (mostly tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce with very acidic dressings). Very limited fruit (papaya, cantaloupe, watermelon, apples). If you enjoy pizza, fries, nuggets, you’ll be fine. If you’re looking for balanced or fresh food, this is not the place. At lunch, only one buffet was open, which was completely insufficient for the number of guests. The lines were very long, overcrowded, and people were clearly frustrated in the line. Spending your vacation standing in long food lines is not what anyone expects. The à la carte restaurants saved our trip. Thanks to another guest who told us that reservations must be made through the app at midnight, my husband was able to book decent dinners. Otherwise, we would have been stuck with the buffet. Snack bars also offered very poor quality food, no vegetables on tacos, and extremely tough meat. On day five, our teenager got food poisoning. He felt unwell shortly after breakfast (tomatoes and onions), later vomited, and developed a high fever (38°C). We managed the situation with medication we brought from home, but he is still recovering even now. Pool. The pool area is very small for the size of the resort. The main pool, swim-up bar, and children’s area are all crammed into one space. It felt crowded and dirty. We didn’t use the pool at all. Bathrooms (Public Areas). Public restrooms were very dirty. Many toilets didn’t work, which caused long lines. Several stalls didn’t lock. Floors were constantly wet and slippery. Overall, very poor hygiene. Beach. The beach exists, but there is no real swimming. The sea is blocked by large rocks, creating a shallow lagoon with water only waist-deep. To swim, you need to walk further where there are rocks and some sand. We brought water shoes and snorkeling masks, and this ended up being the best part of the resort. We saw over 20 types of fish, both adults and kids enjoyed snorkeling, and we even found a large shell (which we released back). This was truly the highlight of our stay. Nature & Grounds. The resort grounds felt poorly maintained. There was stagnant water everywhere with a very unpleasant smell. Because of this, we decided not to enter the central cenote (the only one open), as the water smelled strongly of rot. Waterpark. Was closed about 2 or 3 days. My kids didn't liked. There are a lot of slides for little kids and only a few for teenagers. Shows. The only consistently positive experience was the Mayan-themed shows, which we watched on two evenings. Each show was about 30 minutes long but very well done, with great choreography, colorful costumes, and an engaging story. Final Thoughts. If you don’t care much about comfort, cleanliness, food quality, or service, you may be okay with this resort. However, if you value: clean and well-maintained facilities, reliable hot water, good service, healthy and varied food, a real beach where you can swim, a clean pool, this is not the place for you. We will never return to this resort.

The experience was very relaxing and we felt really positive after it. Adala was super friendly and she seemed very experienced.

We are a family of 4, 2 adult sons, just back from this resort. We had a brilliant time. The Good: The resort is HUGE, the wildlife is phenomenal, monkeys, coatis, peacocks, turtles The beach is beautiful, up there with Thailand and Maldives, crystal clear water, and you don't need rock pool shoes Great food Very friendly and hard working staff Nice spacious rooms, cleaned every day, fresh towels etc Good drinks We had Select Adults only access so own restaurant, pool beach area and beach club which meant no queues, snacks and drinks all day, entry to club with snooker table etc The Gym was spacious, but I preferred to run around the resort in the cool of the morning, felt like Lara Croft Easy to get hotel shuttle bus to and from Playa Del Carmen town Our TV wasn't working on arrival, it was swapped for a new one the same day The Not So Good: If we hadn't had select club it would have been a very different holiday - long queues for drinks, forced to be around main very busy pool etc Unless you were awake in the middle of the night to get on the app. making reservations for any of the a la carte restaurants was almost impossible. I made them in the middle of the night as I get up regularly. The Mediterranean restaurant on the beach was absolutely gorgeous, the Steak place was nice, don't bother with La Toscana Also very difficult to get into a padel or pickle ball court, all booked up. The smell of sewer came up from the shower drain sometimes, it didn't really bother me once I put a towel over it but not ideal If you don't time it right the queue for reception is ridiculous. We just walked past occasionally and went when there were no queues We had a wonderful week, great weather, and loads to do, beautiful resort, but we will go adults only next time to avoid queue risk.

If you are looking for a resort that offers hopes and deams and delivers on none of them, then this is the place for you! The communication overall is terrible and getting a simple issue resolved, such as getting more hangers, can take 4 days to only be told that they dont have any more. The rooms seem not to have been maintained in this decade as there were water leaks and no hot water at one time. It is very difficult to make dinner reservations as the system that they have setup for it is very outdated and can not handle the amount of people that are here at one time. I think there are plenty much better options for resorts, especially for the price we paid, please choose wisely!!!y

Positives: - you are in the middle of the jungle, with monkeys, tropical birds, other animals everywhere... - the beach area is full of mature palm trees, plenty of loungers, protective barrier in the water, so easy to go into the water and swim - lots of activities available - farm, waterpark, cenotes Negatives: - hotel is old and in pretty rough shape. Multiple people in our group didn't have hot water in their rooms (at all) and had to move after 3-4 days of hotel "fixing the issue". - Our room had toilet overflowing with sewage (aka feces) upon check-in when we first walked in. Not going to attach a photo, but trust me, it would ruin your appetite. - roof leaked when it rained (including in the dining areas) and roof sections of some buildings collapsed after a few hours of rain - check-in process is absolutely painfully and comically slow. It's literally 40 minutes of watching the lady type something into a computer. We were first in line and it took 40 minutes for us to check-in. We've seen people standing there for way over an hour (in line). - check-out took over 50 minutes (again, not that it's a long line -maybe 8-10 people, but the workers or their systems are extremely slow). - no food/snacks on the beach is available. They had paella by the pool once (and it was actually great), but it happened once in over a week. - food in the buffets is mostly the same every day and very mediocre.. you can find something to eat, for sure, but things run out constantly, served barely warm and not presented in appetizing fashion - buffets are over-crowded, one huge line to get food (from any station), everything is dirty and sticky and gross feeling. I had to wash my hands after getting food. I have never seen staff replace buffet utensils. - on two occasions I've witnessed kitchen staff using the bathroom and walking out without washing their hands at all - 6 out of 13 people in our party got severely sick - vomiting / etc... mostly kids, but also some adults - we've seen people throwing up on the beach, on pool deck... clearly bacteria / norovirus is wide spread at the resort (the above likely explains it) - sewage smell in some areas of the property... maybe it's the jungle, but it's not a pleasant smell - all public areas are dirty and gross - bathrooms, bars, pools, etc... - pool water was greenish and not clear at all, especially the swim up bar area was disgusting. - also, a warning, pool deck and various other areas are super slippery when wet. Multiple people fell in front of my eyes and had cuts I will definitely not go back to any Sandos hotel after this experience. Do not go here, unless you enjoy spending half of your vacation hugging the toilet or watching your kids do it.