Sandos Caracol Select Club Adults Only All Inclusive

Full disclosure: this was my first stay at an all-inclusive resort. That said, this was a great spot for my wife and I to spend our honeymoon. A little off the beaten path just north of Playa del Carmen, this hotel is nicely integrated with its jungle surroundings. While on the grounds we saw tons of wildlife including birds, malpaches, cuati, and even a few spider monkeys. The beach is OK, good for laying out and relaxing, but it isn't the best spot for swimming due to the proximity of the reef immediately off shore. The food was plentiful, although the quality was variable. The buffets often had a few good dishes interspersed with cafeteria quality extras. The a la carte restaurants were better, with the Brazilian being the best. This is a family oriented resort, but if you're traveling without kids, I'd suggest staying in the adults only "select club" area. This brings a number of benefits, including access to the beach house and bar as well as room service at no extra charge. Upgrading to a "jr. suite" gets you an additional room with a couch as well as a jacuzzi tub on the deck. Beware the "ownership / vacation club" presentation that you will be offered upon check-in, though you may be able to negotiate some good discounts and extras for agreeing to participate. Note that you'll need to take a cab to get into PDC, which runs about $12.

This hotel resort served its purpose as a quick getaway weekend but if you're looking for something special like a honeymoon or celebrating an anniversary I'd go elsewhere. The food is just ok, nothing special by any means. Even though it's "all inclusive" you have to have reservations at certain restaurants and you're only allowed to make 1-2 reservations for every 4 nights you're there. Otherwise you have to go to the buffets. The service seemed lacking, with some of the waiters being almost rude. The room service is SLOW and not accurate. I tried it once and just ordered sweet bread. It took 50 minutes. The other couples we went with consistently got the wrong order and the last day was told they didn't have eggs or waffles for breakfast. One day they didn't even deliver their food after 45 minutes and we had to leave to go snorkel. I believe the service would be better if there was a tip incentive. The people we did get good service from we tipped. Alexandra was a great server on the beach! Friendly, upbeat, funny... I went to the Adults Only which is sort of misleading. The adults only pool is nowhere near the beach and there's no swim up bar. The main pool is next to the beach and has the swim up bar...it also has all the families and kids. The restaurants are also open to all families/kids so there's no real separation. Also, the hot tub at the adults only section is open till 8pm only. Why would the hot tub only be open during the hottest part of the day and not at night...especially the adults one? Makes no sense. We went jet skiing and snorkeling. The man who walked the beach and sold us the package would negotiate on price to a point but than he also asked for his tip before we even went on the trip. Not really sure what we were tipping him for since he didn't provide a service but only was selling the packages... The spa is nice. The international buffet and steakhouse were the best places to eat. However, the most disappointing was probably the food by far. I went to Riveria Maya and Cabo at different resorts and the food was fabulous so I was expecting something along the same lines. We went into Playa one night and had an amazing meal at Casa del Aqua. That whole experience was top notch. Definitely go there!

Prepare yourself to walk. This place is huge. Very limited ocean view rooms. The staff is very friendly and the place is kept VERY CLEAN. Our room was on the bottom floor and was clean and comfortable but did have that weird musty odor. They trick you with the restaurant reservations. If you stay 2-4 night you only get to make 1 restaurant reservation. 5-7 nights you get 2 reservations. You HAVE to have reservations to eat at some place othe than the buffets. BUT.... the buffets werent bad.

The property is big, but needs lots of fixing....the beds are like sleeping on concret.....shades on light fixtures with holes and cracks.....frequent sewer smell.....the international buffet, chinese restaurant, and mexican restaurant served horrible food.....the first few days we were there, there was a tarp on the roof of the restaurant by the adult pool that was ripped up and blowing in the wind....TACKY! There were holes in many of the thatched roof....and worst of all the beach was filthy. Not at all worth the money!!!!