We stayed at Sandos for 4 days. Upon entering we had very high expectations, but were very much disappointed. The room they gave us had stains on the bed, the outlet ports were coming out, and the coffee stirrers were used. It was very evident that the room was not cleaned properly or maintained well. We then requested to have another room because it was truly disgusting, and they said they would get us another room by 3pm the next day. 3pm comes along, and there is no room till 4:30pm. The staff was unbelievably rude throughout the stay, and everyone wanted to pass on the responsibility to the next individual. The food was also below average. We unfortunately did not book the restaurants minus for one night because they were all taken by reservations weeks before. The restaurant had good food but the buffet style restaurant was not good at all. Drinks were what you expect from an all inclusive resort. Overall I HIGHLY do NOT recommend anyone to go to Sandos Playacar. When we complained at the end of our stay, the staff said "okay thanks". Absolutely no accountability and I would be ashamed as the manager of the hotel. Pay some extra money and stay at a better place, and if you do stay here, have extremely low expectations. We will 100% not be coming back.

This was by far the worst experience we have ever had at an all inclusive resort. We have been to 18 all-inclusive in which 3 in that area. We went there for our daughters graduation, and it was beyond disappointing. Rooms: one of the rooms had cockroaches, the refrigerator and the AC didn’t work. The second room refrigerator didn’t work, couldn’t open the balcony door, they were doing construction right above our room all day, our toilet barely flushed. Upon check-in we wanted to make our dinner reservations before we even went to our rooms they told us that they were booked all week and we couldn’t get into any nice restaurants to celebrate our daughter. So we had to settle for the Buffet, that was absolutely horrible, the food all taste the same. This resort is reserved 75% for gold members only.. pools, hot tubs, beach areas, bar area are reserved for them. Everyone else is put in the back of the resort. 15 minute walk to buffet, entertainment, lobby etc. The two family pools that we had access to, the first one had caution tape all around the entrance to it. The second pool had a swim up bar and that was the only way you could order drinks is if you were literally in the pool. Night life-the shows were excellent, if you’re looking to stay out late, best of luck.. everything shuts down at midnight. The staff was just okay. Every one of these issues we had addressed they ignored us completely. The coffee at the “Cupcake” was excellent. Overall, this was a complete waste of $8,000 for our entire family. Our kids were devastated about this trip. We are appalled and saddened for our children.

Check in was ridiculously slow, taking a little more than an hour to achieve. We weren’t given adjoining rooms even with a six month advance request through the Sandos website. Our two rooms were on the same floor, but at either end of the hotel! The shuttle service was unbelievable, but NOT in a good way. After waiting 15-20 minutes at a time for the ONE operating shuttle, people who weren’t waiting along with us would just jump on and we wouldn’t end up getting on at all! There should be a process of lining up with first come, first serve access with more working shuttles. We had to eat at the Grand Festival Buffet every single night due to the unavailability of ANY restaurant reservations for our entire stay!! We ended up eating pretty much the same food every night! The liquor at every bar was below bottom shelf with no options! We kept being harassed by the executive guest services to join the elite, adult only vacation club, even though we made it clear that we were there for a family vacation with two teenagers! On a better note, the cleaning staff, maintenance, bartenders, buffet restaurant staff, room service, Cupcake Cafe & Chayita staff were pleasant, eager to please & professional. The beach and pools that we were allowed to frequent were pristine & inviting, as well as the staff. Special call out to Mirna @ El Gaucho & Riviera Blue for her accommodating, friendly & courteous personality!!!

The Entertainment and Sports available were great! They did shows that were both for adults and kid friendly. The staff were also very helpful. Junior in Entertainment and Sports was helpful in letting us know what was available and how we could stay involved. He was also very friendly. We also loved that while we were at the shows there were beverages available via servers and/or bar! My only recommendation is to have an earlier show for kids and later a more adult friendly. Since the show starts so late, my children are tired and ready for bed.

We really did enjoy our stay here. However some things need to be addressed. Like the shuttle situation, please add more shuttles and have them operate like every 5 min. Our room cleaning was missed twice. Some more bartenders would be nice, it's tough to wait 10 to 15 min for a beverage of any kind. On the very positive side, the staff were friendly, the location is great, the pools and water slides for the kids were fun and clean. The beach is beautiful. The night shows were entertaining. The Italian and Brazilian restaurants were awesome.

My honest opinion. We just returned from a week stay at Sandos, Playacar with my wife and daughter. As I said I will be honest here. As a resort recovering from a shutdown because of Covid and a world wide staffing shortage, I saw some minor cosmetic defects. I also saw maintenance staff working daily on improvements. We had a minor problem with our door look and it was fixed within a half an hour of us reporting it. I have seen some reviews stating that the staff was not friendly. Well I am a firm believer that you get what you give. I found the staff was amazing and worked very hard to ensure that we enjoyed out stay. The pools and water parks were kept clean, the beach was manicured daily. The grounds were also well maintained and clean. We didn't bother with making reservations at any of the restaurants, opting for for the buffets instead. This enabled us to keep our schedule open for activities. For the most part the buffets were well stocked and the food was good. This is a 4 star resort that is working very hard to recover from the shutdown, and it shows. We were very happy with our stay and were sad to leave.

Beaches are beautiful(a bit seaweed) staff is phenomenal. It states that there's hammocks for select club but there weren't any on the property. When you first arrive to check in there's a lady(she acts like she works there)that tries to sell you a time share. The food is barely edible. The desserts are all gelatin-based with no cream. Only 6 options on the room service menu at all hours of the day with only one choice of salad dressing. 2 juices to choose from..the last morning we were here, only orange juice. Had a leak in our bathroom but that wasn't fixed because it hadn't been raining at that time so they couldn't tell where it was leaking from. So I guess the next guests in this room are going to have the same problem. The water dispenser that's in the room has warm water in it. But you have to call down to guest services every time you need ice because there's no ice machines anywhere in the hotel. I had my room tray out in the hallway for 2 days and other guests were stacking their plates on it too. I was not told about the french restaurant closing due to fire (they moved it to oceanfront restaurant) until the last full day we were here. They DID get us in on the last night and the food was excellent. The waiter was kind enough to spray my daughter with OFF spray because she was being bitten by mosquitoes. The only restaurant I would advise for good food. Except I wanted to try both soups for an appetizer but the waiter said I could only order one. No water pressure at all in shower. I ordered All-Bran flakes for breakfast room service, opened the box and it was moldy and caked together. I have pics. The trolleys come every fifteen minutes but sometimes you have to wait forty five because everyone rushes to get on the trolley. I saw two ladies fighting to grab a seat. Worst vacation of my life! We called for room service the last morning of our stay before we headed to the airport and waited an hour and fifteen minutes and it never showed up, so we went to the airport on an empty stomach. I told the front desk and she said that they arrived at my door at 7:23 AM but no one answered the door. I told her nobody knocked on the door, we were in our room until 8:10am. And one of the things I wanted to really see at the hotel...the monkeys... and I did not see one the whole week.

My first family trip and it was an amazing experience. Thank you Sandos for the awesome experience. Junior from the entertainment team was awesome. Very professional, knowledgeable, friendly and helpful! He was great with my boys in the Teen Lounge. Maria from Sandos Spa was wonderful. She made my first massage experience worth coming back a second time. Maria listened to my needs and I felt like a million bucks. The pools were fabulous and family friendly. Jose Luis, the bartender near the beach and Juan in the main lobby were awesome. They accommodated my family with the best drinks ever. Thank you Sandos for an amazing family trip. We’ll see you again soon.

The overall experience in this all inclusive hotel was better than expected. All the personnel was extremely nice and accommodating to requests. Even though our room wasn't available, which was a bit of a disappointment at the beginning, we waited for a few hours, had dinner and ended up getting upgraded to a hacienda which was really nice. Most restaurants were good. Top 3 are definitely the Mexican, the French and Ocean snake which had great taste and service. The Brazilian and steak house were too smoky inside, but service was good. The Italian one needs a lot of work as we had a 4 hour dinner for no reason with dessert being the only good thing there. The best waitress in the whole resort would have to be Esme in Ocean snack. She was very nice, helpful and made our breakfasts/mornings better. Always cared for her customers and enjoyed attending. Overall Sandos playacar has a great adults only all inclusive experience, and would recommend. Make sure you select the adult-only select option so you can have your own areas for drinks and food without long line ups or children in the beach or pool as this is a tear-based resort.

Went with a group of friends (four couples) for 7 days/nights. Planned out a year in advance and could not have been happier with that decision. We opted for the adults-only, all-inclusive side so we could have the private beach and pools, etc. which was well worth it! Having access to the Premium lounges was also great so we could cool off, hang out, grab drinks or a snack while out without being outside or going all the way back to the room etc. Customer service was fantastic from the moment we arrived! Making the dinner reservations were not that difficult as long as you plan your week ahead. Seriously. Taking like 5 to 10 minutes at the beginning of your trip to sit down with the app that you will download when you get there and look through the restaurants to make reservations for you and your family or your friends for the rest of your stay when you first get there, will *really* save you a lot of headache for the rest of the week. You can always change your mind later, but you cannot always get a table at each eatery for whichever time you'd like. That being said, the buffet is pretty good and has a good variety of food to try so just about anybody should be able to find at least something that they like for breakfast lunch and/or dinner. Finally, room service is 24/7 so that's also an option; it's a limited menu but we did use it a few times and it was pretty worthwhile. As noted in another part of my review, the room we booked did have a king size bed (requested when we booked the year prior, but not guaranteed just based on availability.) Some people in our group did have the "two twin size bed" option, which I actually expected to be there because of the availability. HOWEVER, the twin sized beds that are referenced are about the same size of a full-size bed (when comparing the measurements listed on their website to the average size of a full size mattress.) So there you have it- if you've been on the fence after reading review after review about two tiny twin sized beds from disgruntled Americans etc etc, rest easy and know that you will in fact have enough space to still stretch out and snooze off that hangover just in time for brunch the next day.

This was my first time staying at an all inclusive resort. I really enjoyed the overall experience. They arranged transport to and from the Cancun airport. There was no language barrier as most of the staff spoke English very well. We didn't need to leave the resort but the staff helped us book excursions with transportation to some awesome locations close to the resort. You can easily catch a taxi into town for some shopping, dining and the local atmosphere for about $10 USD. They all take US Dollars as well as Pesos. We were able to use credit cards just about everywhere but take some cash for tips and other purchases. Our room was clean but smelled a bit musty - I'm sure from the humidity and close proximity to the sea/beach. The staff came every day to tidy up, make the bed, and restock the mini fridge. I left some cash out on the desk and they locked it up in the safe and left us a card to call the front desk to access the safe again. We also left the patio door slightly ajar and the security staff closed and locked it and left a note as to what they did. I felt very secure inside the resort area. The resort area is home to several resorts and the access is all gated with security at each gate.

Love the ambience and hospitality of this beautiful all inclusive resort. Spa Del Mar is fantastic. My friend and I each had an 80 minute massage. Maria and Gabby were so good, we decided to each have a second massage before traveling home. Highly recommend both therapists. Second time here and will keep returning. Staff, food, programs and nightly entertainment are fabulous. You will love this resort!

Loved honeymooning here!! Staff was extremely friendly. Dave was especially helpful and went out of his way to accommodate us! The spa was amazing and we went for massages more than once! Food was overall decent. Mexican restaurant & buffet bars were our favorites. Highly recommend doing the excursions they provide on site. So much fun!

Great resort! Very gorgeous beach and the pools were great and kid friendly. Didn’t take very long to order drinks and the bartenders were awesome. Amazing shows, especially the Mexican themed night. It was magical. Our daughter got some henna done from Fernando and he was the best. Amazing artist and very kind and patient with our daughter who go an awesome art piece on her hand. Would highly recommend Fernando to anyone. Super nice and very talented. The app to book restaurants never worked until day 3 but they helped us book some dinner eventually. That was my only complaint from this vacation.

Went with a large party and was the only one who didn’t get sick. They definitely aren’t following proper food safe protocols. The rooms were slightly run down in some areas. The pools and the beaches were absolutely amazing though and the staff couldn’t have been friendlier. They were ready to help with anything you needed and were so welcoming. Nightly entertainment shows were a blast and the sports bars was awesome. Overall this place needs some management fixing.

Fantastic location and wonderfully friendly staff. Food was OK and plentiful, but easy to overindulge with the free drinks. Rooms were clean and comfortable, but could benefit from a modernizing overhaul. Be aware that the rooms have few power outlets, so if you need to charge numerous phones/tablets/laptops, then taking multi-outlet chargers is a good idea. Good activity options (parascending, scuba, kayaking and more), but for those looking to relax we found that in general people are much more restrained than at US holiday resorts.

Definitely one of the best resorts we have stayed at. Had great amenities, staff was really nice to the kids, and the food was great. The buffet had many varieties and all had good quality. It is important to note that this hotel is huge so at times it was hard to navigate through the resort, but after the first day you get used to where to go. They had a trolly service that was great for transportation and overall the resort was well kept. Tons of wildlife and the beaches were clean. For this we give a great recommendation to the hotel, staff, and not to forget the food.

Great time. Shows very good. Beach is fantastic. A little disappointed in the nightlife. Would like piano lounge. Would like adult sports bar, dance bar. For restaurants, could often not get in even though restaurants were half empty. Overall we had a great time.

Hotel is decent, food is good. The people who work here are exceptional (except the two male sales managers we interacted with from their vacation club). Fanny in particular created such a great experience and kept us excited and engaged by the pool despite the cold and rain. We did a great little contest and won! Miguel the bartender was great as well.

Fantastic resort with an adults only section. The best part of the place is the crew. Hard working, happy, and helpful Vicente the am waiter at the buffet is spectacular. Always a smile and got to know our regular order after a few days. Always a ready smile. Giselle his Captain is just as fantastic. You cannot go wrong with this crew. This place is a must visit! Please

First of all would say this place is HUGE. We came here with our kids and the grandparents. It had something for everyone. We are definitely in the mode where anything you buy is about 10 times as expensive as you’d think. But that’s everywhere. Main features we enjoyed were the swim up bars (they’re everywhere), the great buffets, and the various restaurants. The Asian restaurant here was our favourite by far. But the Mexican and Italian were both quite good. For the price and the experience would 10/10 recommend.

The resort was very pretty and any interaction with an employee was good, our wedding coordinator arlay was top notch and did what she could with our requests the entire time we were there. The food was decent French restaurant was very good and our favorite. Trying to book restaurants was a pain and you can tell re members get a better experience and the lions share of reservations. Rooms in the adult section were not great, very dated and our second room had no ac and we couldn't be bothered to switch a third time. We were suppose to get an upgrade as part of our wedding package but non were available, we found out later that other couples got upgraded rooms at the same time we were told there were non available so money talks I guess. Also food in the family section is non existent so it's a 10 min walk to get food for the families, and both swim up bars are in the the family section Rather then in the adults section. responding to the response, my room that was booked was one thing but my wedding package included an upgrade to the next available room category. which i was told i was SOL and nothing was available yet i know for a fact there was one available but just given to someone who was willing to pay. my "complimentary upgrade" wasn't worth the paper it was written on because someone else paid. we asked for at least a ocean view for months and months before we arrived and "nothing was available" so to any couples good luck getting the upgrade that they tout as a bonus. resort was nice and the workers were friendly but there is a definite preferred clientele and unless you have the black band good luck.

We love this place and have been back several times in the past few years. Always fabulous service especially from Jose and Miriam in the Avenue Bar and Wilbert and Alfredo in the family Royal elite bar. Love that they greet us with a smile every time we see them! Can’t wait to be back in November with our kids and grands!

Amazing experience and great service! Also a very great place for kids! I brought my 4 year old and 5 1/2 year old to the kids club and they absolutely loved it! They had face painting, games , music, water games, and different themes each day like “pirate day” !.. The ladies are so sweet and gentle with the kids and they all had so much fun. I recommend this for anyone with kids (4 and up) .

Kids club is amazing. My 2 daughters had so much fun. They are great with kids even though my daughters are just 1.5 and 2.5 years old. They took them swimming, lunch, and had many activities inside the club as well. Amazing service and great hospitality. Highly recommend. 5 stars.

Maria from Guest Services has been an excellent representative for the resort. She helped us navigate the pool and beach area, stopped by during the day to check that we had what we needed, and entertained us with her very funny sense of humor. She even gave us a rudimentary Spanish lesson and daily engaged our new language skills. She was a delight and makes us want to return here. We have been making annual trips to Rivera Maya; she is the best we have ever encountered. She obviously loves her job and this resort.

We have had an amazing experience at this hotel. This morning at the breakfast buffet at the Restaurant Festival we were served by Ricardo. He was very attentive and worked hard to make sure our family had everything we need. Excellent service!

I’m so disappointed! The food is not good and very far from all of the rooms. The rooms are nice but the AC doesn’t seem to get cold enough. The staff that work here seem to act like they hate their jobs. You pay a lot of money here and you’re treated like a second class citizen if you didn’t book elite. Most premium restaurants should be the “better” option but it all feels the same. The food has given me diarrhea for days and feel like I’m counting down the days to get get good food without starving myself. - I came to update my review based on the rest of our stay. On Friday my 1yr old caught food poising and has been having diarrhea and vomited. You see by the thousands of negative reviews that a lot of people have shared the same experience as I have. For a representative to come on here and dismiss our experience speaks to their customer service. There is a communal tram that is supposed to pick you up every 15 minutes but, don’t get an opportunity to ride it since there are too many guests and one sits parked on the side of the hotel.

We stayed for a week and overall had a great experience, we stayed in the adult section and the rooms were great. The food overall was good, they could use some more authentic Mexican food as that's part of the reason you go to Mexico. The restaurant reservation's is a problem, and they need to fix that, we tried to make our reservations the minute we got there for the week, but everything was already booked. The grounds are pristine, and the beach is one of the best I have ever been to. The staff was friendly and accommodating. The alcohol was top notch. The pool party was hit, and a can't miss event. We will be back.

So far our experience with Sandos has been nothing but amazing!! Their customer service is just top notch. I just talked on the phone with Emilio Garcia and he was kind, patient, helpful and knowledgeable. He helped me book my in-laws hotel room and he did it with such grace. The wedding team has also been the best to my partner and I. They are responsive, sweet and knowledgeable. Daniela Hernandez the wedding sales manager is always on top of things. We can’t wait to get there in May and enjoy our quality family time together (including our wedding) and meet the rest of the hotel’s team. Forever thankful!

Overall it was fine, but wouldn’t visit again. Pros: *kids’ slides/water playgrounds were great! *beautiful beach *friendly activities staff *can get a specialty coffee at the cafe when ever you want! The coffee is excellent. *rooms are nice, clean and the beds are comfy! *room service whenever you want Cons: *Resort is HUGE, and no view of ocean from pool. The walk from the rooms to the beach is 20min *food was terrible at the buffet and 95% of the time it was cold… offered the same exact food everyday *bottom of the barrel alcohol (unless you were elite status and could enter the special lounges/pools) *You have to have their app/site on your phone to book dinner reservations AND prepare for the first half of your stay to be without a dinner reservation (fully booked even if you try to book out the week in advance) *was able to make a reservation for one of the restaurants with a confirmed booking when the restaurant wasn’t even open that day… bummer since we waited 4days before getting a reservation at all! *for every 10-15 staff you’ll get ONE friendly one that has a positive attitude or a smile… (at least they have those gems, make the vacation so much better with smiles) *last day on the way to check out I threw my back out (I’m young and active this is not normal for me) and was literally in tears at check out as I told them there was a puddle in the elevator I slipped on.. they offered me a water haha but didn’t send anyone to clean it up. 🤷‍♀️ Came here with our toddler to meet my parents for QT since we live in different states. Overall it was a good vacation but we wish the food was better and more of the staff was friendlier, however, life it is what you make it!

Overall an amazing experience in the hotel! The pool and all the facilities were up to standard and with great weather just made the experience even better. Love being at the beach taking in the sun, and my kids had a blast at the kids club! Their staff was really friendly and nice, especially Karla who is such a joyful person. But also Blanca and Sabrina organized fun activities for my kids. Overall, my wife and me were happy with this incredible experience!

The food was so so, it could have been better. And sometimes the service was not so great. However Armando from the Festival was absolutely fantastic. He was a terrific waiter and was really nice, he always brought us water on time, took away our dirty plates, and even brought us salt and pepper when we ate pasta. He is the best waiter here in the restaurant and not just for us, he was at 10 or 12 tables doing the same thing. This man deserves a bonus or a raise for his hard work. We hope to see him when we come back next year.

Miriam and Jose in the premium bar are the absolute best bartenders I have ever had in my life! They go so far above and beyond what they need to in order to make our visit as amazing as possible!! My family and I all agree that those two are the number one employees you folks have here and we couldn’t be happier! If you ask me I would give them a big big raise :) I specifically go out of my to this premium bar just to see these two because I know I’m going to get the best of the best with them!