Sandos Playacar All Inclusive

3 of their restaurants were closed The main water park was closed The game room is only for kids 10 & up The shuttles took forever to pick us up to go from point to point. Some of the staff was rude. The only good thing about this trip was Samantha. She helped us navigate the hotel, made our check in smooth. She apologized for the restaurants being closed and gave us different options. Sadly the main reason we booked this hotel was to take our kids to the water parks and the restaurants so we left very disappointed. Samantha thank you so much for helping us.

Second time staying, some info: - If you have kids, bring a stroller, it’s a big property, the shuttle is intermittent at best - they have a tiered system, blue / black / gold bracelet system, know your status - towel cards are my enemy - don’t lose em - we had a concierge, but they didn’t contact us until day of departure, seemed weird - food was good, we didn’t try many of the restaurants, no complaints on food and bev - beach is super nice spot, I’d recommend walk down to the pier to see the famous 5th entrance - kids water park needs a lifeguard, some kids were getting run over on the slides - entertainment all good - coffee place was a hidden treat Nice overall, some quirks but worth it in my view.

Beach is unreal.. kids loved the water slides. Only brutal thing is the trolley to get to the buffet and beach from the rooms. It’s about a 15 minute walk… gets annoying with the kids and all of their stuff.

Property is very well cared for and the staff is very attentive. The property is large and the walk from room to buffet can be 15 minutes. However they will offer to upgrade you for $1000 to an ocean Front room. You can’t get a reservation at any of the restaurants because the hotel prioritizes the club level guests first. Ocean front swimming is great, pools are large and bartenders are quick. Rooms are large but outdated. Mini bar was only restocked one time for a 6 day stay . Room service items are few, but service is quick. $10 cab ride to shopping downtown.

Pros: Nice rooms even at the basic level, beautiful grounds and walkways, a trolley btw buildings, bars everywhere, very clean adult pools, best buffet food I’ve had at an all inclusive, good beds, 24/7 room service, kind helpful staff, help with taxis and luggage service. Cons: So many areas exclude children and non Royal Elite members, only one trolley for a huge resort and thousands of people, 20-25 min wait per trolley, 10 min walk from family area to the buffet or any food area you could really get into, almost non existent ability to get speciality dining reservations, understaffed in restaurants and family pool area, no service to chairs on the beach, ocean was having a sargassum bloom so very dirty, 15 min walk from the low level family area to the family pool. If you wanted closer it was much more $$. The family pool area was not very clean and very crowded bc it was only pool kids were really allowed in. Go to guest services to make speciality reservations, not the app. Buffet was really the only place you could eat. Room service menu was hard for gluten free or kids options. Elevators still broke after weeks of complaints. Overall- I loved the resort but I wouldn’t go back with kids. It was just too big and poorly set up to get around with your kids. Frustrating when they were tired. It’s also frustrating that it’s advertised with so much, then you get there and only the elite members can use it. I would go back without kids but pay more to be closer

The facilities are beautiful, the service is excellent, and it has the most beautiful beach I've ever seen.

All the restaurants were close except for one buffet the food was mid, everything was far from the rooms the cars that passed by to pick you up were said to pass every 15 minutes well it took about 25-30 minutes we would end walking, there’s no pool service so if your in the pool and get hungry you’ll have to get out get ready and go find something to eat which is the whole point of a all inclusive resort, we were at the pool by the beach and theirs a little “snack bar” my husband took our 6 year old to get something to eat because he was hungry and we were told we couldn’t get something to go or go in because we were wet and my son and husband didn’t have a shirt on which is ridiculous considering we were told by the staff that helped us know where everything was that we could go be in the pool get something to eat while being in the pool at the “snack bar” the list goes on. overall the stay wasn’t good I do not recommend staying here at

This is my new favorite resort in Cancun. We chose this one for our 15 year anniversary because it was close to the Ferry terminal and because it had a kid-free zone, but I was so pleasantly surprised by everything else it had. For starters, there's a family of spider monkeys that just hangs out on the resort. They are just amazing, and they spent the better part of a day about 10 feet from our room's front door. Then there are coati's, and they were so polite. Yes, you aren't supposed to feed them. Yes, I gave them snacks, I couldn't help it. There were so many types of birds. The food was excellent, in all of the different restaurant options. In the middle of the resort, there was an adorable donkey and a cow that I fed apples. There is an actual Cat Village with like cat condos and so forth, and little walking paths in the jungle-like grounds. And there was a cat in a little shirt and tie that hung out at the front and greeted people who checked in. They had great entertainment and the pool was really nice. The beach was easy to access and beautiful. You could see all the lights of Cozumel at night from my window. The grounds were amazing, there was kind of a mini-golf course that ran through the resort (which, btw, is big enough they have a tram system to get you places fast). Also, the service was exceptional, it was extremely clean, and they had a whole cafe with nothing but cupcakes. I'll be coming back. For sure!!!!

Spent a week here towards the end of June. Resort was around 60% full. Absolutely loved our time here. Stared with a really welcoming reception and just got better from there. Our room was a king and bunkbed which was perfect for our family of 4, our children being 12 & 15. Very spacious with enough room for us all. Air con and ceiling fan much appreciated ! Fridge regularly stocked and maid service was excellent. Resort is fantastic, lots of different pools to visit and although we came at seaweed season so didn’t really go in the sea, the beach was nice and clean. Loved every single restaurant and it was pretty easy to book a meal somewhere each night. Main breakfast and lunch buffet was good, with plenty of options for all. A few nice snack bars dotted around the resort too. Staff all over the resort were super friendly and lots of animals around to bump into, though not too keen on the raccoon we seemed to keep bumping into every night after dark. Very few complaints and will be back. My only thing to note was the towel booths were very hit and miss if anyone was there. This occurred at multiple pool areas. Supposed to be staffed from 8am - 6pm but more often than not nobody was there to collect or hand back in towels. You can go to the reception area but I found this pretty poor considering you’d generally want to get your towels from the pool area and hand them back there.

The location is excellent. The beach is beautiful. Pools are nice. Food was good. Rooms are clean, but poorly maintained. Almost all elevators were broken. VIP access was useless. Found zero benefit.

Pools were extremely dirty. No hot water for showers for the 6 days we were there.

The room was clean, the staff were amazing. The Expedia guest service team was great and made sure we got everything we needed.

The staff at the buffet and bars were very nice. The food at the buffet was good. Rooms are in need of repairs. Outdoor property is very well kept however the rooms are the complete opposite. We booked 3 rooms. Could not get a restaurant reservation during our 6 day stay. We had water leaks under the sink and the toilet. The check in staff not friendly. We won’t be going back.

Mediocre food bordering on terrible (breakfast and lunch), dinners were ok to good. The service was mediocre to bad, which surprised me. The shows were actually hit or miss. Nice beach! Overall not impressed and would not go back…

The overall stay was not great at all! Cockroachs and black mold in both of the rooms I stayed in (I had to switch rooms on the day of the wedding) impossible to get reservations for any restaurants. Unfortunately I will not be going back. Really disappointed :( The staff did their best to accommodate my family and I. A big shout out to Maria, Zyanya and Andrea. They went above and beyond!

Cucarachas en la pieza

We had NO water for two days! Then we had NO hot water for an additional day!

The service and food quality have gone down hill. This was our 3rd time visiting since 2021 and we are done. Even with tipping the service was not great. Hard to even get a glass of water refilled. 2 of the 3 of us got diarrhea and felt sick. Rooms in the family section are super clean and spacious. Pools need cleaning to remove scum from tiles.

The smell around the property was terrible. Smells like fecies.

I have stayed on this resort 3 times in the past, and they have all been great times! This time around, the resort had a major foodborne illness outbreak (incuding myself) I was on my death bed for 2 days, the water was completely off for 2 straight days (couldn't shower or wash hands), the air conditioner was not working properly, the staff lied about the foodborne outbreak and water being off and did nothing to compensate by time and money lost. I will never go back to this resort in which at one point was my favorite in the Playacar strip!

We went down for a friends wedding & I will never return to a Sandos again. The place looks exactly like the pictures, except everything's literally falling apart. It was raining a couple days & my mom who stayed in a separate room was literally leaking water and drywall chunks were coming off the ceiling. There were literal puddles in her room. Our shower head just started spraying water after being there for 2days & we had to call them 3 times to get it fixed & even then it wasn't fixed properly. Out of all the staff the maids were the nicest. We had like 2 nice waiters who actually paid you attention. Most of the staff was kind of rude. Then again it might just not be the brightest place to work either. 2 days into our vacation BOTH elevators just didn't work & we were on the 3rd floor & had to take the stairs with a newborn & 2 toddlers. Not to mention the poor workers had to take the stairs for room service, stocking up everyone's fridges, THE BELL BOYS TAKING UP LUGGAGE. The resort is beautiful on the outside but I would not stay here again. It's HUGE & they have a trolly that's supposed to pass by every 5min but totally doesn't. Then you waste so much time just waiting. The food is not good, they have so many options but it's not to die for. Breakfast for instance ends at 10:30am & I was getting food & staff would just rudely take the tings from under my arms without even stay excuse me. For the same amount of money I could've stayed at the Riu & that place is NICE.

10 for room being spotless, spacious, AC worked good. Staff was really nice, alot of water parks for kids and beautiful beach..definitely a kid friendly hotel. 5 - I was disappointed at the food. I could not get a reservation for a la carta restaurants..i had to go to guest service to get only 1 so we ate at the buffets during my entire stay. Buffets have a huge variety but it still gets old to eat at the same place everyday.

The outside areas of the property were beautiful and well taken care of. We enjoyed our daily walks to the beach and restaurants. Our first room was old and dirty. The air conditioning didn’t work, so after two days (at 11:00 pm) we finally got a new room. This new one was more updated and cleaner. We asked for a later check out in return for the inconvenience of the first room, but they said no and told us we would have to be charged. That seemed like a small ask, and one that would have left us feeling better about our stay, but they wouldn’t budge. Overall, the food was good. Breakfast and lunch at the buffets always filled us up. We especially liked the Asian and Italian restaurants. It can be difficult to get reservations, so that is important to do right away. We couldn’t get any the first two nights we were there. That was disappointing. The entertainment team was fantastic all week! They always had things to do for kids on the beach. We enjoyed the nightly shows. All the servers and people we encountered on the grounds were very nice and helpful!

The room was super nice and quiet and the ocean view was beautiful

Property, beach restaurants and staff is all great t this resort but our room was stuffy and warm. In one whole week we had probably 2 cool nights. We were in unit 6606 which was a 1 bedroom suite and was not worth what we paid for it at all without cold AC! We called maintenance many times they came to check it out 3 or 4 times. On all occasions saying it would cool in 45 minutes to an hour and nothing would change! Very disappointing to ay the least.

The rooms need a drastic remodel. There aren’t enough electrical outlets, the shower is outdated and the rooms are not very quiet. The overall resort is beautiful, clean and well maintained. The staff is friendly and helpful. Rueben at check in was amazing and welcoming. So friendly and fun.

The location is excellent. The beach is beautiful. Pools are nice. Food was good. Rooms are clean, but poorly maintained. Almost all elevators were broken. VIP access was useless. Found zero benefit.

While property is on older side, its kept clean. The down side is the patio door was bolted shut. Still like it overall.

Air conditioner inadequate

We enjoyed our stay, food was amazing, had a room close to the elevator which made it a bit noisy from time to time.

It was good but the pool needs to be cleaned more and the staff is to much trying to sell you timeshare. I don’t like that

Service: with a few exceptions at Guest Services (young man and older woman) it was routinely awful. Check in was painfully slow as they still do much of it by paper and stapler lol. They didn’t explain anything didn’t give you any info or help. Without a doubt the low point of the trip was the check out. JOSUE is the main reason I’m writing this review. I lost a towel card the first hour I was there, guest services said no problem they would replace it. I never followed up (my fault). At check out even though the sign says $450 mxn for lost towel card (approx $23 USD) he wanted to charge me $50USD. He said the $450 mxn is only pesos. That the credit card machine only charges USD, which is a lie because I paid the eco resort fee in pesos on my card at check in. When I refused to pay he called security and said we couldn’t leave. He was threatening to hold me hostage. I asked to speak to manager and after ten minutes of Jesus the security guy eyeing me up at one point trying to stop me from going to car, the manager removed the charge. Do yourself a favor, there are nicer resorts, better organized, better or equal food, with much better customer service. Spend your money somewhere you will be appreciated.

They did not inform us that there was only 3 restaurants open. And everything was closed. We tried to get a reservation for a reservation and they told us no that they were fully book. Which we knew was a lie because the resort was a dead zone because there was literally no one there. We went by the restaurant around dinner time and it was empty and they still wouldn’t seat us. Only wanted to seat us if we bought a bottle of alcohol with USD!! The staff is rude sooooo rude!! There was no music playing around the resort. There was no entertainment. There was no one to get us drinks around the pool area or on the beach we had to walk all the way to the bar by the pool if we wanted a drink. The room was very smelly. They tried to steal our pajamas and then say that it was folded on the top shelf of the closet…… we are 5’1 we would NEVER put it up there especially when we left it on the bed! I was supposed to have a plunge tub I didn’t get what I paid for!! The rooms were smelly I complained about it 3 times!! No change!! I woke up day 2 and had no water and they never fixed it I had to shower and brush my teeth in my friends room - and they never even offered to change my room. I need a partial refund. This was supposed to be a all inclusive “high end” vacation and I had to do everything myself.

The staff was excellent and did everything possible to make our stay enjoyable.

It was clean but the workers were not very helpful. We were lied to on more than one occasion. We asked Raul from transportation if he could take me to the Loby instead of leaving me at the shuttle station where the excursion picks up and he said NO that he had something else to take care of. I walked to the Loby and Raul was there hanging out with the luggage guys and 10 minutes later he had his backpack on ready to go home.. On the first day we arrived nothing was explained to us. It was terrible service from the Loby check in man.

DO NOT STAY HERE! I’ve traveled to over a dozen all inclusive resorts all along Riviera Maya. The service at this resort lands it at the bottom of the list. Service: with a few exceptions at Guest Services (young man and older woman) it was routinely awful. Check in was painfully slow as they still do much of it by paper and stapler lol. They didn’t explain anything didn’t give you any info or help. Without a doubt the low point of the trip was the check out. JOSUE is the main reason I’m writing this review. I lost a towel card the first hour I was there, guest services said no problem they would replace it. I never followed up (my fault). At check out even though the sign says $450 mxn for lost towel card (approx $23 USD) he wanted to charge me $50USD. He said the $450 mxn is only pesos. That the credit card machine only charges USD, which is a lie because I paid the eco resort fee in pesos on my card at check in. When I refused to pay he called security and said we couldn’t leave. He was threatening to hold me hostage. I asked to speak to manager and after ten minutes of Jesus the security guy eyeing me up at one point trying to stop me from going to car, the manager removed the charge. Do yourself a favor, there are nicer resorts, better organized, better or equal food, with much better customer service. Spend your money somewhere you will be appreciated.

I was very pleased that they upgraded me to an ocean front room! Zyanya and Samantha with Expedia at Sandos Playcar Resort were OUT OF THIS WORLD good! Their customer service was the best I ever received and I hope their manager sees this and knows how lucky the resort is to have them both working there. I love how friendly everyone is at this resort. I will be back soon

The concierge’s were excellent they went on and on for my daughter’s birthday

It was as an ok experience. Except, don’t take the royal elite talk. They say no pressure but they’re very persistent after you say you’re not interested. Never again.

I want to give my highest praise to Samantha and Zyanya for their exceptional service in planning our stay. They meticulously handled all our reservations and created a perfect itinerary that made our time at the resort absolutely unforgettable. Their thoughtful recommendations and incredible attention to detail allowed us to relax and enjoy every moment. We are so grateful for their hard work and dedication!

This hotel is big, needs to walk about 10 minutes to the beach. The pools and rooms are broken into three sections. Family (furthest out from the beach), adults only/Haciendas/timeshare and Family VIP (extra charge for upgrade) beach front and main pools. The walking gets old after a couple of days. Most of the staff was great with a few exception (pool bar) at the main pool and the photo guy (Arab) they hate their job and their customer service sucked. We stayed at the family area and we were put next to a very noisy family they were kids running and yelling without adult supervision after 11 pm everyday and we call for help and nobody answer. Room service food is limited and below average. Overall we had a good time and will stay here again but knowing what to expect will be easier to manage (pay extra and stay beachfront) so teenagers don’t complaint bruh. We didn’t dine here due to the long list for reservations.

The beach was amazing! We were able to swim for hours…warm clear water, soft sand, rolling waves…my favorite! This property is HUGE! Our room was as far as you could get from the beach, so we got plenty of steps in during our stay.

Great hotel for adults and family, lots of activities and restaurant options, walkable to the core of play del Carmen, bikes are available to Use in gated community, kayaks snorkels, water boards and paddle boards are available for free as well! Free nightly shows! There is a little water park for kids! Great resort overall

It was way too far to walk from the family areas to all the dining and shows and to the beach. 15-20 min walk each way. The trolly that would bus from each end was very limited on seating and only came every 20 min or so. If you missed it you would be waiting about as long as it takes to walk. It took me 40 minutes to go back to my room and grab kids goggles and come back. With 3 young kids a double stroller and a pregnant wife, it was not very easy to get around. The shows were great but short only 30 min. Buffet was also really good.

Beach is unreal.. kids loved the water slides. Only brutal thing is the trolley to get to the buffet and beach from the rooms. It’s about a 15 minute walk… gets annoying with the kids and all of their stuff.

I visited with two friends in our 30s for 5 nights in November and stayed in the Riviera Family . Weather was cool but comfortable, and no sargassum! Sandos is a fun, good-value resort if you want to relax, swim, eat, drink, and use it as a base for Playa or Tulum excursions. If you expect super high luxury-level food or service, it may not be for you, but we felt we got our money’s worth. I'd go back. Buffet was good and huge, all sorts of variety of cuisine including fresh fruits. I loved fresh custom sushi and made to order omelets. We tried three restaurants; they were more special, but weren’t exactly 5-star. The shows were good, but especially the “Heart of Mexico” performance—don’t miss it! The Disco was just okay - if night life is your thing, this might not be the best. 5th Ave was a quick ~$7 taxi ride or about a 40-minute walk. The resort is in a controlled-access area, but you can come and go via taxi or with a hotel wristband. The resort is large, so expect lots of walking from the family section though it helped offset all we ate! We preferred the family pool near the haciendas—it was quieter, had better Wi-Fi, and the nearby Ocean Riviera spot made food and drinks easy. Staff were friendly and helpful all over. Samantha, the Expedia customer concierge was especially fantastic and helped our group a lot when minor issues arose! I’d book through Expedia again for the value of the special concierge service. Ramon at the Ocean Riviera bar was also great.

Great property very big so have your walking shoes awesome beach access and allot of activity without leaving. Food best to have a reservation but there is allot of variety and would not say it was bad at all! We will travel to sandos again

One thing we didnt like at all was that it took 15 minutes to walk to the restaurant and 20 minutes to the beach

Great location close to town. Very clean and safe.

Sandos has the best beachfront in playa del carmen! We really enjoyed staying here and bikes rentals were an added bonus.

The restaurants could be much better. If you don’t make a reservation week before will be buffet every day. Don’t like

10 for room being spotless, spacious, AC worked good. Staff was really nice, alot of water parks for kids and beautiful beach..definitely a kid friendly hotel. 5 - I was disappointed at the food. I could not get a reservation for a la carta restaurants..i had to go to guest service to get only 1 so we ate at the buffets during my entire stay. Buffets have a huge variety but it still gets old to eat at the same place everyday.

They did not inform us that there was only 3 restaurants open. And everything was closed. We tried to get a reservation for a reservation and they told us no that they were fully book. Which we knew was a lie because the resort was a dead zone because there was literally no one there. We went by the restaurant around dinner time and it was empty and they still wouldn’t seat us. Only wanted to seat us if we bought a bottle of alcohol with USD!! The staff is rude sooooo rude!! There was no music playing around the resort. There was no entertainment. There was no one to get us drinks around the pool area or on the beach we had to walk all the way to the bar by the pool if we wanted a drink. The room was very smelly. They tried to steal our pajamas and then say that it was folded on the top shelf of the closet…… we are 5’1 we would NEVER put it up there especially when we left it on the bed! I was supposed to have a plunge tub I didn’t get what I paid for!! The rooms were smelly I complained about it 3 times!! No change!! I woke up day 2 and had no water and they never fixed it I had to shower and brush my teeth in my friends room - and they never even offered to change my room. I need a partial refund. This was supposed to be a all inclusive “high end” vacation and I had to do everything myself.

My family of 5 arrived at this resort on 2/16/25 and left on 2/21/25. Everyone in my family become violently ill around 24 hours after arrival. We spent 4 of the 5 days in our hotel room, that also had mold , puking and diarrhea. Every single person I spoke with at this resort was sick! The resort would not take accountability for any of it staying poor hygiene. I've read on the Facebook page that they closed down the main buffet and are sampling everything. Ive used Expedia slot over the years and trust their opinions on places And I am appalled that this resort is one of their VIP access resorts. We will never be back, actually my children never want to go to Mexico again. This was a $7000 Vacation, completely ruined. This hotel needs to shut down for a few days and figure out why their guests are getting sick. Today upon check out 2 ambulances came... Their sister resort issued a statement yesterday, that no guest from Playacar could visit in a day pAss and vice versa due to this illness. This is no joke! Do not go to this resort right now!

Pros: - Lots to see on the property as it is quite large - Clean grounds - Clean rooms - Friendly staff - Variety of pool options - Beautiful beach - Chayita Cons: - Entire group of 11 all got norovirus starting on day 2 of our trip. After looking on Facebook groups, it's clear that it has been rampant there for months and looks to be ramping up (or more people are speaking up) We missed out on so much. - Food was not great which can be expected at an all inclusive. Not just at the buffet but at the restaurants as well - VERY hard to get reservations for restaurants even though most of them are quite empty at opening. We were lucky and had help from Kena that works at the resorts and she was able to get our group reservations for all restaurants.

Only the buffet was good . The restaurants that you needed to make reservation were terrible and definitely not worth it. The transport was a rip off because the butler will say one price and by the time you enter the taxi they were adding you another 100 pesos extra . In the final days of the stay was NO HOT WATER and no PRESSURE / we had to shower in cold water

The service and food quality have gone down hill. This was our 3rd time visiting since 2021 and we are done. Even with tipping the service was not great. Hard to even get a glass of water refilled. 2 of the 3 of us got diarrhea and felt sick. Rooms in the family section are super clean and spacious. Pools need cleaning to remove scum from tiles.

The food was terrible mostly all the restaurants was closed I have the worse experience there

The hotel itself was very clean. Staff very friendly and helpful. The beach was very dirty. The food was mid. Drinks not very good very bitter. Tasted different in every bar area.

It was a large resort with several pools, water parks, and a big beach. The buffets were great and we really liked 3/5 restaurants we tried. Our experience the spa was phenomenal. The majority of the staff were very friendly and accommodating, although we did have a few off experiences. The resort is beautiful and there are quite a bit of night time activities, however all the day time activities were only in the adults only areas, not at the family pools, so we were not able to participate. Overall great stay and we would return.