Sandos Caracol Eco Resort - Select Club - All Incl

What an amazing location! Hidden well off the beaten track and built in a natural jungle and mangrove environment. Sandos Caracol is fascinating and a must if you are into quiet, relaxation and nature. Let me be clear, it's not for everyone as you are in the animals environment and not your typical all inclusive holiday. Staff work hard, it's very clean, food is good with tonnes of fresh fruit and drinks on tap. Columbian coffee machines in the rooms, great entertainment, twice weekly street market and loads to see and do around the resort if like me, you get bored sat doing nothing. My only negatives, block maid service was a bit random, taking items that we are still using, hand towels one day then none for 2. The main pool with swim up bar could be a A LOT cleaner.. But because of the location, wildlife, charm and staff it's definitely a 5 star resort for me.

Our family (2 adults and a 12 year old boy) stayed at this resort from August 8-15th. This is our 3rd time in Mexico, 1st time at this resort. My extended family came here 10 years ago and had an amazing experience, but our experience was less than satisfactory. We are from Canada and with travelling becoming so expensive for a family in the last 2 years, we chose this resort as it was within our budget. The resorts we wanted to try were between 7-10K for one week so this was the most affordable. I will give you the good, the bad and the ugly. Good: The resort is absolutely beautiful. You are immersed in a jungle and it feels magical every turn you take. We found tunnels to travel through and it was very cool. We took the bikes one day during our stay and went biking to the ruins on property. It was a nice family activity and we enjoyed the breeze. We loved the entertainment. The shows every night are fantastic! Our room was air conditioned and close to the lobby area. It was cleaned daily and anything we needed we requested through the app and it was delivered in good time. We had no issue using the app. Instead of buying souvenirs my son decided to paint something to bring home with him. You can choose anything you want and they are located near the main pool. They glaze it for you overnight and it’s ready for pick up the next day. We thought it would be a nice keepsake. My son loved the spider monkeys that would come visit him every afternoon on our balcony. They are playful and absolutely adorable. Lastly, the restaurants we booked were very good. A manager helped us out by booking a restaurant for us every night of our week because my son was getting sick over the buffet food, so we appreciated having the opportunity to have a better meal in the evening. You are only allowed 3 dinners during your week if you are not royal elite, but the manager helped us out. Our favourite was the teppanyaki restaurant and the Brazilian steakhouse. The bad: The pools were not the best. I stayed away from the main pool because it didn’t look very clean to me. We enjoyed the pool next to the main pool and it was not as busy. We also found another pool by the waterpark that Google map shows as adults only, but kids can use it too. We liked using that pool as well but found our options limited by not being “royal elite”. Every 5-10 min we were bothered by workers asking if we wanted a massage. My partner did end up having one which he said was the best massage ever, but we didn’t like being bothered all the time when we were trying to rest and relax. The cenotes are pretty but we found a lot of algae build up and didn’t want our son swimming/snorkelling in it. The waterpark for kids was what helped us choose this resort, but it was closed many times and the water in the waterslides were a brownish green muddy colour and I would not let my son go down those slides. Better maintenance of the waterpark is needed and a better filtration system to keep the water clean. It looked gross and very unappealing. The ugly: The resort smells bad. Many areas of the resort have a disgusting sewage smell and it just made the resort less appealing. The beach is the worst beach I’ve seen and I’d say Ontario has way better and cleaner beaches. The water is not blue at all and I would not step foot in it. The sand was ok and the beach has plenty of spots to rest in shady areas. The last part of this resort that needs attention is the buffet. The food is very oily and greasy and repetitive. I got sick the second last day of my trip. My son hardly ate, except at the restaurant. My partner lost some weight. They need better food options and the buffet is not always the best option. A pizza shack on the beach would be nice, a 24 hour snack bar, and a coffee pub would be nice add ons for this resort. No complaints about the drinks. I drank water most the time but my partner enjoyed his alcoholic beverages. We won’t be returning and are happy we didn’t get sucked into a time share here. We said no right away. They do try to get you as soon as you’re registered at the front desk. Don’t fall for it. Your money is better spent elsewhere.