Back from Playa Del Carmen...

My two cents on the Sandos hotels: There are two Sandos hotels- one is in Playa del Carmen/Playcar area and the other is in between Playa del Carmen and Cancun (this is Sandos Caracol). Don't make the mistake (like me) of driving to the wrong one. FYI if you are renting a car- both hotels are VERY difficult to find. Make sure you (or your taxis) have good directions. We stopped and asked for directions and found that seven diff. hotel security guards did not know where it was or how to get to Sandos....so FYI.

The one Playcar area I saw the lobby and the outside of the hotel- was beautiful and very upscale, the people in the lobby itself were extremely great and spoke perfect English.

The one that I stayed at, Sandos Caracol was not on my list to look at for weddings so I can't comment on their abilities for this. The Caracol resort is huge, they have a lot of buffets (the food was so/so....try to make reservations early for a restaurant as they are the way to go), several pools and activities and they have a disco I believe so you could likely use it for dancing if you wanted. They also have activities there... I would say that the overall hotel experience for me was so/so compared to all that we saw in Cancun to Tulum area...but that is just my opinion. Quality of the food and rooms could be found much better at neighboring hotels. If anyone is in the area- a must do is to take a trip to the ruins in Tulum. It costs three dollars to get in and you can get access to the beach there and swim by the ruins..it was AMAZING. I'll try to post some pictures.

Your weddings down there will be amazing..again I would just have directions for wherever you stay or take a shuttle for you and your guests..Otherwise enjoy- you will have a great time in the area!!!

And besides the beautiful beaches down there- the Sandos in Playcar area that you are looking at for your wedding is in a GREAT location- right by vendors on a private street with security guards...I loved the outside area!

Thanks, that helps a lot!

I'll have to keep looking into Sandos Playacar, but will probably pass on Sandos Caracol...

The Sandos in Playacar has one of the most amazing beaches in all of Playa del Carmen to the south of it. The land is owned by Xcaret and there are some ruins on it, so I think it's protected from development. Here there is a long stretch of pristine undeveloped beach with soft sand beach for swimming. Just stunning and right next door if you are at Sandos. It really makes this a unique option.

Welcome Back!

The beaches at the resorts in Playacar are a mess because they've built right up to the edge of the ocean and ruined the natural protection. But Sandos is the last resort in Playacar and south of it is Xcaret EcoPark. It's an ecologic park surrounded by a large natural area. here the beaches are wide and smooth and naturally protected. When I was on the beach last I noticed that the Sandos staff was walking through the natural beach area of Xcaret and picking up trash. Clearly they realize what an awesome asset it is to be next door to a huge natural beach and they take care of it.

Yes, north of Sandos is just ridiculously overbuilt and noisy with music blasting at the pool and the "animation" staff conducting games and activities through the PA all day. And the ugly sand bags.