Stephanie Salisbury

Great resort with great staff! Great sandy beach, good amount of activities throughout the day and staff remember you by name. Lots to keep my 11 yr and 15 yr old kids busy. Beds in rooms are super hard so sleeps were not great. Buffet food was good with ample variety and no tummy ailments during our trip here. Overall a good trip.

Thomas Hoak

Thought the 2 bartenders , Freddie Mendez and Andres , were excellent. First club should have personnel with a better grasp of English. Specialty restaurants should have availability daily . Maintenance was not great as we had issues we asked for repairs and they were not done .

Shaun Quick

Lovely place, air con a bit noisy, overall service good. Beach is really nice and good to walk to both ends. Feel very secure here. 5th avenue worth a stroll. Very friendly people. Buffet pretty good. Would recommend the Mexican restaurant at the hotel although you have to book in advance.

Richard Higgs

The only reason I haven't given a full 5 star review is because the hotel and rooms are looking a bit dated, which is understandable after 40 years. From speaking with staff, it sounds like a refurb is coming soon. Other than that, what a great place. Location is perfect, food was amazing, staff and service were a pleasure. A bit more newer modern gym equipment would also be welcomed.

Sam Nguyen

The service and location are luxurious as the people are very nice. The food was great and the employees were very friendly and welcoming. However, our room had some problems like things that not working. For example, the safe lock didn’t work, the phone line is non-functional, there was no shampoo dispenser, and the outlets don’t work properly.

Stephen Bailey

Overall Playacar has been terrific. This is our fifth visit and things are on the upswing since the COVID shut down. I was asked to write about our dining experience at the steakhouse El Gaucho. It has improved dramatically since our previous experience. The steaks were cooked well and the sides were tasty. I would not recommend the BBQ sauce as the flavors don't work well together. Other wise the service was exceptional and prompt.

Scott Warrington

Tonight we ate at the steak restaurant, El Gaucho, and we had the most amazing experience. We are a family of five with a 11 year-old, eight-year-old and two-year-old which were all at the table.Even with a two-year-old meltdown in the middle of dinner, we still had the most enjoyable experience. The food was amazing and the service was spot on! We highly recommend El Gaucho for date night or even a wonderful family night out with the most excellent food and excellent service… 5 stars all around!

Shirley Player

We are at the end of our fabulous 2 week holiday. The resort is beautiful, the entertainment staff are always around to make sure you have a fabulous time. Carlos is amazing in the shows. Great choice of food and drinks, the cocktails are amazing. The smoothie bar is great for healthy drinks. The resort is clean and very well kept, everyone works very hard to make sure of a great holiday.

Jody Friesen

Our group of 22 had a fantastic week at Sandos Playacar! Our favorite a la carte restaurant was the Mexican. Loved getting a latte every morning at breakfast. The beach and water were beautiful. The Ocean Buffet was our favourite for lunch, the tacos were amazing! The resort is so well taken care of. It takes a huge effort for all staff! The staff were super friendly. The tram was a great option to get around when we didn’t want to walk. Loved our week here and would definitely come back!

Kimberly Callaway

5 stars for Mirna at El Gaucho breakfast-Mirna was so helpful for us in navigating choices and providing options for food allergies. My 10 year old son has celiac disease and it is difficult to eat safely when traveling. Mirna was the most helpful at Sandos, making breakfast our favorite meal. She would even bring something safe to snack on while we waited for our meal and also helped us with dinner arrangements. Sandos, you need more staff like Mirna!!! Thank you, Mirna!!

Alice Z

We had a wonderful experience at the Royal Hideaway Playacar! The food was delicious and the resort was kept clean. Fun nightly shows and activities. The staff was wonderful at helping us with anything we needed, especially our concierge Gabriella in Villa 26. She made booking our dinner reservations easy and helped/recommended excursions for us to take which turned out to be amazing. While the service was exceptional at the restaurants, we wanted to highlight one particular server we had at The Grill- Antonio Lopez. Antonio was our server during the last dinner of our trip and he truly made it a wonderful last night. He was incredibly attentive, friendly, and went above and beyond to ensure we had everything we needed during our meal! Truly an amazing way to end the trip!

al cole

Great adults only all inclusive. We stayed in a Royal Luxury view room. It was average size with a good sized bathroom and great storage between the closet and dressers. The bed was super comfortable. The resort is smaller which we really liked. The grounds are beautiful and immaculate. We only ate at The Grill, The Deck and Spices, but we had no complaints at all about the food - good options and everything seemed fresh, even at the breakfast buffet. The beach is beautiful with easy access into the water. The usual observation about chairs - not so much a lack of them, just how everyone "reserves" them for hours and hours with the early towel placement. A special mention to Sandra, who was our concierge in building #25. She is so helpful, and very friendly and just genuine.

Danielle Gibbons

Great little getaway for a resort on the beach. Not a huge resort which was nice. Food was okay wish they had more Mexican options and dishes. Crowd is a bit older so if you are looking for a relaxing spot this is it! Rooms were always very clean. Service was a bit slow at times but other than that was very enjoyable!

Paul Kay

We had a great time at Royal Hideaway. We arrived fairly late from the UK and after a long flight it was nice to find that we already had a dinner reservation waiting for us. You get a concierge assigned for your room and ours (Cipriano) helped us to make all of our dinner reservations at the various restaurants on site. There are two main pools which were down by the beach, so it was nice to have the option of swimming there or going down to the sea a few metres away. Food was generally good and we really enjoyed the habachi grill on our last night. It was easy to get all the drinks you wanted during the day from the beachfront bar, and there is poolside table service too. The room was excellent, very comfortable bed and the bathroom was nice and large. We really enjoyed our stay and will hopefully be back sometime in the future.

Christopher T

The bad: The dinner situation is for the birds. You must make reservations, and only one of the restaurants (the one that also does the room service orders, so long waits) are casual at dinner time, so forget being comfortable on vacation if you want to eat dinner. Collars and slacks are required! Room service food is pretty awful. Every time we ordered dinner, it took well over 1.5 hours as well. Tonight, our reservation was 830pm, and we didn't get our food until 1010pm. Our group of 8 never once got drunk from any of the mixed drinks, even when they had extra shots in them. The staff is not on the same page, often giving bad information about restaurant hours, availability, etc etc. The lunch food, and dinner desserts are mediocre at best. The good: despite the hour+ waits, dinners were delicious. Comparable restaurant quality would easily be $50-$75 per person without drinks and dessert. The pools are amazing. There are so many, you can easily find a private pool most times of the day. The rooms are great, even though we did have a pipe leak, it was fixed the same day. The last Playa Del Carmen all inclusive we stayed at, was a sales pitch 24/7. You couldn't use a restroom in the main area without someone trying to get you to buy a bracelet or a time share. This place is not like that at all, which I appreciate. Only one spa worker was pushy.

Mehron Sherkat

This place was great for me and my family! The staff was so accommodating and welcoming and they made sure for us to have a great time! The food was great, lots of varieties for different times or foods, and the pool and other amenities were really nice and fun! The only downside was that they didn’t have laundry washing for dirty clothes, and we found a cockroach in our room one night, but it was because of when we left our balcony window open, but it disgusted us, but thankfully, the staff were willing to come and take care of the problem by spraying the room so it stayed clean. This resort was great, but the staff and service takes the cake for this place! We will definitely consider coming back here next time we come to Playa del Carmen and I loved the view! This place was amazing and I would definitely recommend visiting again and recommend it for others!

Erika H

Wow! Playacar Palace was our last all-inclusive during our trip, and we regret that so much because the food was by far the best of any all-inclusive we have been to. We wish we would have been here longer! Service, rooms, and location were also fantastic. And we stayed at some really expensive resorts before this.

John Knelsen

Well it was ok I guess. Our room was always damp. Felt like we were sleeping on wet sheets every night. Food was OK. We went up town most evenings to eat and get some better entertainment. We go to Mexico every year and this resort has been by far the worst one yet. We will not be returning to this one. There was 30 of us and everyone said the same thing. Taxi services for this resort was the worst part yet. This resort is no more than a 3 star and definitely over priced for what you get

Hilda R

2.5 My recent stay at this hotel left me feeling quite underwhelmed, especially considering the price I paid. At over $700 per night (3 people/room), my expectations were certainly high, but unfortunately, the experience did not live up to them. Upon arrival, the check-in lobby made a positive initial impression with its large and impressive tree. The main lobby was quite lackluster though. The room itself was pretty basic and for the price, I expected more. The hotel boasts four on-site restaurants excluding the buffet, offering a variety of cuisines: Latin, Japanese/Asian, traditional Yucatan, and Italian dishes. I highly recommend making a reservation. Despite the diversity in dining options, the overall experience left much to be desired. The buffet was catered more to the suburban Midwest tourists (no offense), which was quite bland and the food options are quite disappointing and limited. We only tried Madremia. Has a good list of drinks and the dessert was the highlight of the dinner. The chocolate ice cream came with a “cocoa bean” which was a nice touch and the popcorn ice cream was presented like a tamale. They also have a separate café which was much appreciated instead of going to the buffet to ask for just coffee. We should've tried Momo and Lahna but we ate out the other nights. While the staff were friendly, their efficiency and communication were lacking. Some info was not clearly explained at check-in. I had a phone call at 8 AM to inform us of certain perks. This call interrupted our sleep, which was quite frustrating since we didn’t get to bed till around 3. Additionally, we discovered that guests have access to amenities at one of their sister hotels in Cozumel, which offers snorkeling. However, the snorkeling experience was just providing you with a snorkel. This hotel also does not have a sandy beachfront, just rocky shore. Playacar is next to the ferry terminal for Cozumel, so it’s convenient if you’d like to check that out. The tides were pretty high when our girls went swimming. It would’ve been okay if not for the creepy lifeguard who chided them not to go farther even though there are people who were farther from the shore and when they came back to the pool, this creep decided to follow them! I didn’t hear this until the day after though. And when I tried to talk to the front desk, they didn't seem to give a s..t! During our stay, I did not witness or hear any of the advertised pool activities, even though the website claimed these were available in the mornings. The only redeeming quality of this place is the location. It’s walking distance to everything, bars, restaurants, shops, etc. In conclusion, my stay at this hotel was very underwhelming. The high cost did not match the experience, and several aspects, including staff efficiency, room quality, and activity offerings, left much to be desired. I had more fun at a hotel we stayed at in Cancun for the same price I paid for 4d/3n there for a night here, and that includes my flight!

Lon Southerland

An Unforgettable Stay at Playacar Palace Hotel for Our Family Wedding We recently stayed at the Playacar Palace Hotel in Playa del Carmen for our son and daughter-in-law’s wedding, and it was a wonderful experience. The staff was incredibly inviting, kind, and engaging, making us feel right at home from the moment we arrived. The food was excellent—we thoroughly enjoyed every meal—and the entertainment added a nice touch to our evenings. Starting our day with a great cup of coffee from the lobby’s coffee shop became a delightful routine. Alan, the barista there every day, was amazing. He was very friendly and took great care to ensure our beverages were exactly how we liked them. Also gave us some great tips on the area!! We appreciated his warm conversation and exceptional service. The beach was beautiful with calm, clear water every day of our stay. There was plenty of room at the pool, and we had fun participating in the various activities around the pool area. The overall atmosphere was relaxing yet lively. I would definitely recommend the Playacar Palace Hotel if you are considering a stay in Playa del Carmen. The combination of excellent service, beautiful surroundings, and engaging activities made for an unforgettable experience. We’ll definitely be back!