Sandos Caracol Nature Resort & Water Park

Update: After the owner’s response, I’d like to add…. Thank you for taking the time to respond to my comment, which I made based on my personal experience at your resort. I work at a prestigious hotel and, from professional experience, I know that guest feedback should be used to improve a property, not to justify it. The reason I am sharing my experience — mine and my family’s — is so that your resort can improve and provide better service to future guests, not for you to explain policies that are irrelevant to me at this point. You mentioned that my comments about the beds do not match what you offer. When I made my reservation, I clearly requested a room with two beds, and my confirmation showed a room with two beds. I reasonably expected that a serious hotel would honor a confirmed guest request. When I arrived and requested to be moved to a room with two beds, the answer — as with every request we made during our stay — was simply “No.” At no point did anyone offer the option of a mattress topper to make the bed more comfortable, even though both the main bed and the sofa bed for my child were extremely uncomfortable. How is a guest supposed to know that such options exist if your staff never offers them?. Regarding your explanations about safety and cleaning policies for the water slides and children’s play area, I honestly have no interest in hearing about them. Hotels are supposed to offer solutions, not excuses. You stated that the park is closed only on Tuesdays, yet I stayed for a full week and the park was never open once during my stay. As for your food policies, I fully understand that wildlife is present (which I actually enjoyed seeing and would never feed). However, it makes no sense to me that I must go to the lobby to formally request food that is supposedly “included,” and then wait for someone to decide whether or not to give me a very basic sandwich. Since you do not offer room service, I had no way to order food to the room, which is extremely inconvenient for families with children who do not eat strictly during restaurant hours. Room service would be an excellent solution to prevent guests from carrying food around the property, which in turn would help control issues with wildlife and ensure food is delivered safely to the guest rooms. Unfortunately, your resort showed very little ability or willingness to assist guests with basic needs. I hope you use this feedback to improve your resort for future guests. I do not need explanations of your policies. My experience at your property was extremely disappointing, and these are only some of the negative points from my stay. I will not be returning to your resort. We chose this resort mainly for the water park for our son, but the experience did not match what was advertised. The location feels isolated, several slides were closed, and although the pool and the ocean were beautiful, they were not enough to compensate for the issues we encountered. Check-in took at least an hour before anyone assisted us. When we finally arrived at our room, it was not what we had reserved. We had booked a room with double beds, but were given one with a single bed and a sofa bed. When we called reception, we were told the hotel was full and that we could not be moved. Instead, housekeeping would bring extra pillows and sheets to prepare the sofa bed for our son. This was never properly resolved, and the situation affected our entire stay. The bed was extremely hard, the pillows were old and worn, and the sofa bed was so uncomfortable that our son woke up with back pain. By the end of the week, we were relieved to leave. Unfortunately, the stay was a major disappointment for what was supposed to be a family vacation.

My honest review from November 29-dec 6 The good -checked in around 8 pm and there was no one in line. But did notice long line ups in the lobby through four stay -I travelled alone with my two kids 4&8 and staff and guests were super friendly. -los liros and Brazilian steak house were amazing, no complaints about the buffet. Lots of choices for food. When we couldn’t get a reso we would wait to see if there were cancellations, and we were always accommodated. Due to limited times on the app. -the jungle experience was absolutely stunning, so much to explore and there was no way we could see everything. Definitely looking forward to go back. -my room was eco family super spacious and it was on the main level. Beds were comfy and kids loved the bunk beds. The AC saved us. -the water park and all of the pools were a major hit for the kids. Spent a lot of time at the water park. The bad: - one major thing was the kids club. We only used it once after our incident. Because I came solo, I used the kids club to get a massage on the beach. While I was walking back to grab them, this lovely lady who braided my hair a few days prior asked me if I was looking for my son. I said my kids were at the kids club so unlikely it was my kid. When I went to go and pick them up my youngest (4) was not there. I noticed his shoes were gone. And when I asked where he was the staff seemed panicked. I was crying and upset because I felt it was safe there while I took a break for an hour by myself. A security came and walked him back to the club thankfully but he told me he was looking for me because he needed water. My 8 year old who was playing the video games the entire time confirmed that they both asked for water but was refused. I was very emotional and my 4 year old clearly was gone for quite some time as he was full of sweat and tears. I am very disappointed and concerned about the level of supervision. My son also complained that staff did not pay any attention or play with them. I still am looking forward to return based on all the good however the kids club incident was something that I will never use in the future.

Was a lovely hotel with tons of wildlife roaming around. The food was very good, but good luck getting any reservations at the à la carte restaurants. Pretty much just had the buffet as an option. There were at least 5 cenotes on the property, one which you can swim in. Multiple pools. The rooms were decent as well and had a comfortable king size beds and twin bunks. Hard to get hot shower water. The buffet staff, specifically Grey and Yemi (I think that was her name) were amazing with the kids. The hotel does not have much around it, you have to take transportation to get anywhere from here. There are lots of activities for the kids. The water slides were not always open. But when they were it was fun! All in all, a good time for the price.

Our family came for my husband’s birthday and our 10th anniversary. We’ve had a great time! Kids have loved the petting zoo, daily. Erik and Guillermo were both awesome with the kids, explaining everything and helping the kids feed the animals. The beach is beautiful! Food is good, not incredible, but it’s good. Room is nice but small. Not a big deal though because we didn’t come here to hang out in the room. Pools are nice. Lots of animals wondering the resort which was pretty cool to see. Staff were very friendly and welcoming. We’d come back for sure!

Avoid Sandos at all costs. The resort is unsanitary, poorly managed, and severely understaffed. Over the course of our 10-day stay, our family experienced two separate bouts of food poisoning—sudden, excessive vomiting within six hours of eating, no diarrhea, and full resolution within 24 hours. We also met numerous other families experiencing identical symptoms, and on nights when we were not ill ourselves, we could hear guests in nearby rooms vomiting through the walls or plumbing. When I reported the incidents to the buffet manager, I was told to speak with concierge. The concierge insisted that “no one else has reported illness” and advised that my daughter must see the on-site doctor—at a cost of $120. This was said while another family was in the lobby with their child actively vomiting into the bushes. Despite all this, staff continued to deny any issues with the resort’s food handling. The resort layout is also problematic: pathways are uneven, poorly lit and insufficiently marked; creating tripping hazards and frequent confusion navigating back to our room in the evenings. Food availability is quite limited. There is no food service at the beach or main pool. Only basic hot dogs and burgers are available in the waterslide area, where alcohol is not permitted. If your ideal vacation includes relaxing by the pool with a drink while your children enjoy snacks in a carefree environment, this is not the place to stay. The wildlife on the property loses its charm quickly when you find yourself stepping over animal droppings or fending off raccoons trying to get into your bags. There is a single main pool with one bar area, regularly staffed by just two bartenders—one poolside and one on the dry side—despite the hotel being at “maximum capacity” throughout our stay. Wait times were consistently long as a result. Restaurant reservations were extremely limited, leaving most guests reliant on the main buffet unless they wanted simple snacks/tacos from El Nidos . Evening lines for the buffet stretched out the door, and the interior layout funneled everyone into one long line rather than allowing guests to move among different stations. Staff were generally unhelpful, almost certainly due to chronic understaffing. A towel attendant demanded money from my husband when he requested a clean towel after a bird defecated on his. At breakfast, a server refused to provide me with coffee because the host had seated my family—along with many others—in an outdoor section with no assigned waiter. I could go on, but the bottom line is this: I would never recommend this resort and will not return. I will also be filing a formal complaint with WestJet, as they sold us this vacation package. Our family travels frequently, and we have never encountered an experience as disappointing as this one.

This resort is full of energy, life, and nature. The best part is the food — it’s incredibly rich, tasty, and diverse. The room service and response to any query are exceptional. Every employee treats you with respect, care, and genuine passion, and the overall positive energy is amazing. The entertainment team — especially Francisco, Dodo, and Shoyeli — are true vibe-setters. They keep the crowd hyped and energetic every moment they interact with guests. And it’s not just them; everyone in the resort is warm and welcoming. The entire place is filled with beautiful flora and fauna, and it feels very safe. Don’t believe the negative news — Mexico is wonderful, and you should absolutely travel here.

We had an amazing time at Sandos Caracol! There were so many fun activities, great shows, and the beach was absolutely beautiful. I especially loved the live bands — they made the evenings so lively and enjoyable. It was also wonderful to see how friendly and welcoming all the employees were; everyone seemed happy to chat and make sure we had a great experience. I also want to give a special shout-out to Raziel in the pool area — he was super friendly, attentive, and clearly passionate about his work. I can tell he has a bright future in tourism! This was our first time in Mexico, and Sandos Caracol truly made it unforgettable!

We were here for a wedding recently, which was terrific (beautiful set up, coordinator was great). However, I'm seeing a lot of overly positive reviews and felt compelled to lay out what our experience was like. Firstly, I'll get to the positives. 1. The beach is very nice and clean, as are most of the public areas, including the adults only pool, which we really enjoyed. The staff at the concierge and mgmt absolutely did their best for us and we definitely appreciated their customer service. ....That's about it. Now the negatives. 1. The check-in process was difficult and lengthy. Every time we got on line it was between 20 and 40 minutes to speak to someone, and that's not even including the times where we saw the line so long we decided to avoid it. In fact one time we went to dinner, came back and saw the same people on the line (looking exasperated I might add). Additionally, we had to wait on the line 3 times the first day in order for them to give us our room. We kept hearing 'room's not ready, come back and wait on the line again at 3'. Then at 3: 'room's still not ready, come back again at 4' - each time we had to start again in the same line. 2. The room - absolutely filthy, which is hilarious considering how long we had to wait for it to be "cleaned". See photos for more detail, but in short it looked like the room had not been stayed in for some time and was under construction. -smelled like paint and mildew -no bed sheets, pillows, towels or soap -stains on furniture, including chair cushions -air conditioning not working in one room -bathroom fan sounded like a lawnmower -outdoor area absolutely filthy -outdoor door broken/did not shut all the way, pieces of sealant coming off (this is a safety hazard as the monkeys can open doors that don't lock, not to mention critters that could get in) -live cockroach in the shower (see photo) Fortunately the staff were accommodating (and apologetic) once we showed them the photos. We were put in a clean room for the evening, which leads us to the next issue. 3. A member of the staff and a family entered our room at 1:15am on the last night while my wife and I were sleeping. I'm assuming there was some confusion since we had our rooms switched, but c'mon - clearly this is a sign of some dysfunction. No acknowledgment from the staff on this. 4. After all that, food may seem at the bottom of the list.. but I do need to note for others traveling, especially because the website touts 'vegan options' that dietary reactions were difficult to accommodate. For example, asking for cheese to not be included in a veggie burrito. When our party asked why, the waitress told us the burrito were was pre-made, and warmed up when ordered. It was the same for the tacos. Overall, while it felt like despite the staff doing it's best, the hotel itself was doing everything possible to cut costs at every corner - from cleaning to food to being grossly understaffed. Other guests we spoke to were on day 3 of their visit, with no cleaning done to their room despite requests for services. Unfortunate experience, hopefully they are realising that these cost cutting is going to hurt their customer experience and loyalty.