Sandos Playacar Beach Resort & Spa All Inclusive

We got married at Sandos Playacar on July 23rd, 2010 and if I had to do it all over again, I'd choose Sandos over and over!  It was everything we dreamed!

Resort

Overall

We had 28 total in our party, ranging in age from 2 to 82 and everyone had a wonderful time!  The resort is located just a few minutes from downtown Playa del Carmen.  It's close enough to enjoy town anytime you want and far enough away to have the most beautiful beachfront in all of Playa del Carmen.  Sandos is located at the southernmost end of Playacar and there is nothing but empty beachfront next to the resort.  It makes for some gorgeous pictures! 

We picked this resort first for location and second because the resort prices and wedding package prices were so reasonable.  If I had to do it all over, regardless of price, I’d pick Sandos again and again for my wedding.  We loved our stay there so much that we’re already planning a second trip!

Check-in

They greeted us with the best mojito I've ever had....need I say more!

Rooms

We stayed on the beach side in an oceanfront room.  I had a chance to peek in all sorts of rooms at Sandos and I liked what I saw.  Now, there are 3 different sections of this resort:  the Beach side, Riviera side and the Hacienda suites.  I can’t speak for the Hacienda suites because I didn’t see the rooms, but I can tell you that they are located in the middle of the resort and include maybe 8 rooms at the most (I believe some have less) and each include their own private pool.  My brother and SIL stayed there and even after seeing the Beach and Riviera rooms….chose to stay in their Hacienda room.  So, the Beach side is the hub of all the activity at the resort and is closest to the beach.  Most of the restaurants are on this side.  I thought the rooms were perfect….with a great authentic Mexican feel and gorgeous bathrooms….although some people in my party complained of the mattress being really firm.  (I never noticed, to be honest).  I saw the rooms on the Riviera side too….they were gorgeous….very modern, very new.   The Riviera side felt like you were on a different resort, which sounds negative, but it was really a great thing.  On days when we wanted a quieter pool with less kids…we went to the Riviera pools.  The only negative is that it is a lot further away from the beach and all the entertainment.  Now, considering how much food we ate, that was probably a good thing to do a little walking!!  

Food

Delicious!  I've been craving the stuffed avocado in the Brazilian Steakhouse ever since we got back.  There is such a variety of restaurants to choose from:  the Italian buffet and the International buffet, then the a la carte restaurants, there is the Asian restaurant, Steakhouse, Mexican restaurant, French restaurant, Mediteranean, and Brazilian Steakhouse.  We were there for 13 days and I never got tired of any of the food and wish we had more days to go back to a few! There was always a huge variety in the buffets and the service in all the restaurants was exceptional.

Wedding

Wedding Coordinator

We had Maria Isabel and just fell in love with her.  She was our angel and truly the one who made our day, no our entire stay, a dream come true. Maria went above and beyond and then even further to do everything she could to accommodate my entire group.  And this wasn't just because we were getting married there....this is just the service you can expect at Sandos.  Maria and I exchanged many many e-mails before our arrival, with me changing my mind quite a few times and she had record of all of it!  I had e-mails printed out and stuff saved on an external drive....there was no need.  She handled everything perfectly and worked hard to do whatever we asked for. 

Photographer

La Luna photographed our wedding and I will never ever be able to give them enough praise for the amazing pictures they took.  I never knew you could capture such emotion on film!  They were wonderful to work with and the quality of their work blew me away!

Our slideshow speaks for itself:  http://lalunaphotographers.com/blog/slideshows/072310_tracy_steven_wedding

The big day!!

Our wedding was at 3pm and I was in the pool until Noon when I had to get out to get my hair done.  It sounds crazy now, but we were having too much fun.  Our photographers showed up at 2pm and I was no where close to being ready.  It was pretty comical, actually, and Melissa from La Luna was just great through all the chaos.  It's funny because we were there 13 days and it rained at some point every day except the day of our wedding.  PHEW!  At the time I kept thinking it was raining a lot, but that's just because I was hypersensitive to it.  It would maybe rain for 15 minutes and then be done, but regardless....not one drop of rain on the big day.  And hot, very hot.  But I didn't complain as I'd rather be hot and sweaty on the beach getting married than raining and under a roof!

We did a civil ceremony and it went off with a hitch, except for the fact that we didn't know we were supposed to prepare our own vows.  Ooops!  I'm not sure Maria knew this either or she definitely would have warned us.  We were caught off guard and couldn't think fast enough on the spot to come up with anything, so we basically didn't say vows.  Oh, that sounds so much worse when I'm typing that.  It was actually pretty funny and we ended up saying our own private vows when we were by ourselves. 

I have to mention the unbelievable job Sandos does for the actual ceremony.  They have security keeping guard on the beach to make sure our view to the water was unobstructed by onlookers and there wouldn't be any sunbathers in the pictures.  I didn't even know they would do this, but I was amazed!  I personally didn't mind onlookers and in fact, we even took pictures with some, but I know this is an issue for lots of brides. 

After the ceremony, we were followed by the mariachi trio (loved them!) into La Bambola where we had our cocktail hour.  It was amazing.  There was another ceremony at 5:30 that day, otherwise we would have stayed on the beach for this.  I actually preferred what we did much better!  We did our toasts, danced to the mariachi, and then went off with our wonderful photographers Melissa and Jonathon from La Luna to do our beach shoot.  Just amazing as you can see from the slideshow! 

By the time we were done, it was time to eat at the Italian Buffet.  Delicious!  I was told the other wedding was there as well, but honestly, I never saw them and it's not that big of a place.  They did a great job of keeping us apart, obviously. 

After dinner, we had our reception at the Royal Palapa where we danced and had our cake.  It was beautiful and intimate and right on the beach.  We stayed there until 10:30ish.  Those of us that were still not done for the night headed over to the disco.  On the way to the disco, you have to pass the area where the nightly entertainment is.  And that night, there was a band playing.  Well, somehow I ended up on stage and there are late night pics of me singing along with the band.  It was so much fun and I don't think I'd ever have the courage to do that if it weren't for the wedding dress.  LOL! 

We owe a huge thank you to Sandos for giving us the wedding of our dreams!!

General Hotel Experience:  We went to Sandos Playacar for week in May 2010 for the wedding of some friends of ours.  After a long day of travel and the ride from the Cancun airport, we were excited to reach the hotel.  There was no one there to really greet us - the exit from the van with our luggage and where to go and what to do with our luggage was very confusing.  After a while someone assisted us and gave us our luggage tags so we could check in.  We waited in long for a very long time, drinks were on a nearby table apparently for the guest while you waited but our friends had to point them out to us as no one greeted us once we were inside the lobby.  After we finally checked in, we took a golf cart ride to our room.  The grounds were well-kept and the size of this property is quite huge.  We made our way to our room and found it to be quite hot.  We cranked the AC to high but the room never cooled down much.  The perks that we were promised upon booking (liquor, robes and slippers, fruit tray, etc..) were nowhere to be found which we thought was odd, however, we didn't go to Mexico to spend all of our time in our room so we just ignored that.  With all of the restaurant choices, it was difficult to determine which were open and which required reservations.  The bride and groom who had visited the property and bought the timeshare were well-versed so we had to ask them for the restaurant information.  The food at the restaurants was bland but did cause food poisoning for both my fiance and me which made our trip less than fun.  The disco was supposed to open at 9 or 10 but we had to get someone to open the club every time we wanted to go dancing.  We had to meet with our transportation services to arrange our trip back to the airport, which turned into a a huge sales pitch.  In fact, every time we went to guest services area, we were bombarded with sales pitches - which was difficult as you need to get through the guest services area to go anywhere else in the resort.  Our room never cooled down sufficiently and after a few days, the poor AC finally just died (it never got cool in that room so sleeping at night was miserable - compounded by the rock hard beds) so we contacted the front desk to have maintenance come and fix the AC.  This was at 9:00 pm.  Maintenance came to our room quickly but after about 20 minutes determined that they would not be able to fix it.  They called the Front Desk who told us they would move us to a new room.  As we were staying in an ocean view room, I verified that we would be changed to another ocean view room which I was told was correct.  The bell hop came to get our luggage and showed us to a room down the hall in the opposite direction of the ocean.  When we got inside, I looked out on our balcony which only had a view of the pool.  I told the bell hop that we paid for an ocean view room and were promised that we would be switched to another ocean view room.  He looked at the pool and told me that the pool was the ocean.  At that point, I called the Front Desk who first tried to tell me that we were moved to an ocean view room but then told me they had no ocean view rooms left.  After I told them that I wanted a reimbursement for the ocean view room, then they suddenly found another ocean view room for us.  After we moved into yet another room, it was now 11:00 pm at night, and after the bell hop left, we found a note that the property manager had written to "Mr and Mrs Johnson" to welcome them to their room and their stay at Sandos.  There we also found the fruit tray, tequila and bathrobes and slippers that were originally supposed to have come with our room package.  On a side note, which has nothing to do with Sandos Playacar, my fiance and I walked to Playa del Carmen which is quite a ways away from Sandos Playacar.  As it was May and quite humid and warm, we decided to take a taxi back to the hotel.  I told the taxi driver Sandos Playacar and pointed out the property on the map to the driver.  He said "yes Sandos Playacar" then proceeded to drive us to Sandos Caracol.  When we told the driver that he was at the wrong resort, he pulled over, opened my door and ordered us out of his cab.  He told us that we should have known he was driving in the wrong direction and told him sooner than reaching the resort.  

Beach:  The beach is littered with cigarettes.  There is a huge drop off from the sand to actually get to the ocean.  There is a great deal of coral and rocky bottom at their site as well so be careful swimming.

Wedding:  Our friends' wedding was sweet to see, however, there is no privacy for weddings there.  Beach chairs are 5 feet from the ceremony and the topless and speedo wearing beach goers are congregating around the ceremony and very distracting.  Prices were too high for a private reception so it was held at the Italian Buffet which was fine but very noisy with the other diners around. 

All in all I would not go back to Sandos Playacar.  Their customer service, food, and overall resort experience left much to be desired.

I don't usually write on forums but I wanted to make sure that I posted a review for any future brides.  I'm usually a pretty relaxed person, but I found that picking a resort for the wedding was fairly stressful.  I used this site and many of the comments to help me make some of my choices.  I literally spent HOURS reading them before we made our choice! 

First of all - Lupita (wedding coordinator) was EXCELLENT.  My travel agent (I used destinationweddings.com which was also good b/c we are Canadian but we could access cheaper US pricing through them) also told me that she has always had good feedback about this resort and about Lupita.  She was fast with email replies and very well organized.  We would not hesitate to recommend this resort or Lupita to anyone. 

The staff were very friendly. 

The food was relatively good (I'm picky with food as I like spicy food but all of our guests were pretty happy with it).  We chose the Gaucho Steakhouse for the dinner and it was pretty good.  The staff at the steakhouse were excellent.

My suggestions:

-Meet your guests at the Bambola Bar on day 1 or 2 -- it gives them a chance to get to know one another.

-Stay in the oceanfront rooms.  If you stay in the Riverias - they are more beautiful but about 5-10 walk from the beach OR you can take a shuttle (comes every 5-10 min). It really isn't a far walk - despite the many reviews on Trip advisor. Our guests with small children liked the Riverias as they were more spacious.

-Make any big reservations ahead of time with Lupita I.e. if you want a 20 person dinner at an a la carte, book in advance as you won't get it. We did this and it worked out great.  If you want to book a la cartes for smaller numbers (i.e dinner for 2), make you you do this as soon as you get to the resort as they book up fast.

-The bouquets were expensive (67 USD for the bridal) but were beautiful.  You could get flowers from Playa del Carmen but it seemed like too much work. The bouquets that Lupita got for us were just gorgeous.

-Bring a pic of how you want your hair done. The girls at the spa were great but don't speak much English. I was totally stressed out while she did my hair b/c I have naturally curly hair and didn't want it to go frizzy (and I brought a pic) but she did a great job. 

-Rent the disco if you want it before 11pm.  It doesn't open until 11pm and I didn't realize that until we got to the resort.

This is not related to the wedding, but...If you like it, try out the yoga (8am M, W, F) - which is on the beach. LOVED it.  Good instructor and it was fairly challenging class (I've been doing yoga for 10 years). 

Anyhow - I just want to put anyone's mind at ease  - b/c I needed it when I was making the choice..this is an excellent resort with really nice staff and you will be very happy with your wedding.

Lisa

We were a group of 21 adults a child and a baby who went to Sandos Playacar from March 1st, 2012 to March 9th from several cities in Canada. My husband and I were married at the hotel on Monday March 5th.

Check in

We arrived just after midnight so there was no waiting. We had our room key and the luggage loaded onto a golf cart in about 15minutes. We took a thrill ride from the lobby down to the beach rooms were most people in our party were staying.

Rooms

We were first assigned to room 2228 which was the last room on the south side of the resort on ground level with a view on the beach. A beautiful room with contemporary decor and easy beach access. As part of the wedding package we were entitled to an upgrade. The next morning we went back to reception to ask for larger room. They were hesitant but I was firm that if there was a beach front suite available that we should be entitled to the upgrade. We were given the keys to room 1320, an ocean front suite on the third floor of the north block. We were hesitant at first as we liked being on the first floor having direct access to the beach, but in the end taking the suit was a great decision. It has a bed room and living room, two flat screens (not that they were used), two bathrooms and two balconies with the option to link to an adjoining room. We wouldn't have been able to have the whole bridal party get ready together without the space and extra bathroom. The decor was nice but the bed was hard. My step-daughter slept on the sofa bed in the living/dining room and it was very comfortable.

One guest of ours stayed in a hacienda which is a bit more dated than the rest of the resort but nice if you want privacy. Another couple stayed in the Rivera section which is a 5 minute walk to the beach but close to two a la carte restaurants, a lunch and breakfast buffet and the nicest pool. Great if you don't have kids.

Service

This was my first time to Mexico but it just doesn't compare to service in resorts and hotels in Canada. Everyone from maids to waiters to reception staff went out of their way to make every one of our guests happy. From towel animals to waiters who would run from the buffet to another bar to collect ingredients to make a special drink. We really felt like everyone there were experts at their jobs. I never had a request go unanswered, the staff really made the place special.

Food

Most nights we ate at the buffet as it was hard to coordinate everyone and the buffet allowed us to all come in when we were hungry and sit in the same area. The food was great and varied every day. The hot food was hot and I loved the pasta chefs. The lunch resto in the Rivera section had some great pizza and should not be overlooked. We did visit the Mexican restaurant. Some loved it and went back several times but I preferred the buffet. We also visited the French restaurant. The quality and presentation was something you could easily find at a restaurant where the meal would cost over $100. Our friends also visited the Brazilian and Asian restaurants and they enjoyed them too.

Cleanliness

Around the pool and on the beach was cleaner than my house. Each morning they remove all debris from the beach, all day they moped around the pool, at night they sift through the ash trays to remove the buts. You couldn't find dust or grime if you tried. I had no issues with drinking the water, eating the food or walking barefoot around the resort.

Select club

We had gold bracelets but didn't much use them although the level of room we had is only for the select club. I did use the computers and internet in the select club bar and the day after the wedding we spent a lot of time in the select club section of the beach and in the Rivera section for privacy. Over all, not really worth it if you don't need the bigger ocean front room.

Wedding

Organisation started months in advance with the help of the dedicated wedding coordinator Lupita. We had a meeting with her on the second day of our trip. The meeting entailed confirming times and details and paying for the minister. We were thinking about buying flowers in town but the price she quoted us in the meeting was reasonable and I'm really glad we got them from the hotel. They were perfect.  We were married in the wedding pavilion that overlooks the beach at 4:00. We chose this location for several reasons: one the wind on the beach was very strong and would make the microphone useless. Two, the Mexican government charges a fee for all beach weddings, Three, being on the hotel grounds and not public beach there was security lining the route and around the pavilion so there were no spectators in the photographs. On the beach you risk having some guy in a speedo in all your pictures. We saw a wedding later in the week on the beach and I wonder if the guests heard anything at all due to the wind. The location was beautifully decorated in the colors we chose.

The day of the wedding the bridal party participated in the yoga class. I don't think we were very zen as we all had a major case of the giggles, but it was a great start to the day. The wedding was at 4:00 which seems like there's lots of time but hair and make-up and eating all take up a lot of time. I did my own hair and make-up and that of my step-daughter. This was a cost saving initiative but I'm also very picky and wanted to be in control of how much make-up I was wearing. It turned out great so I'm glad I saved the money. We ordered room service as I didn't want to go to the buffet in curlers.
Lupita delivered the flowers around lunch and then there was a flurry of prepping and dressing and photo taking before Lupita's assistant returned at 3:45 to take us on our walk around to the wedding pavilion. Everything was well timed and organised by the hotel staff. there was someone in charge of playing the music from my iPod. I did notice though, that you could still hear the music from the Mediterranean buffet. You might ask that it be turned down for the ceremony.

The minister made us feel very comfortable and we liked the service she did. There was a champagne toast after the ceremony and we took pictures on the beach before the reception.

The reception was in the Italian restaurant which was closed the week we were there. But, that was actually great news as we had the whole place to ourselves with some wonderful servers. We got our food from the main buffet, the two are connected. We had plans to go to the disco after, but ended up just hanging out in the boulevard. I wouldn't change a thing about that day, the staff and the location made it unforgettable not just for my husband and I but for all our guests too.