Sandos Playacar Mar 2008 Trip Report

[130taKen120]

Hi All! We've lived off all the rest of your pictures, dreams, advice and trip reports since we planned our own honeymoon to PDC. Thanks for all of the help answering some fairly primitive questions - this enhanced the trip greatly. So here's your payback - sincerely hope you are happy with the return!

Expectations

Enjoy the beauty of God’s Creation
Have fun together
Appreciate the Mayan culture
Relax! You're on vacation!

Top 10 Recommendations

10) Learn Spanish!
9) ASK FIRST how much things cost and negotiate when possible.
8) Email resort/hotel ahead of time to request and confirm
7) Attempt some form of exercise, occasionally...
6) Wear the bracelet on your ankle
5) Downtown Playa at night
4) Tip for good service as you would anywhere
3) Plastic cooler cups, size L!
2) Get to a Peep meet
1) Invest in Map Chicks Maps!

Wednesday 3-19-08

The day before, this was my view driving to work:



Thursday 3-20-08

Up at 4:30 a.m. to load up for the 1.5 hour drive to the MSP airport and 9:44 am departure with arrival at Cancun at 12:42 p.m. local time. We were extremely excited as you all are or have been as this was our honeymoon and first trip alone together of any substance for years.



Can't remember the name of this river that the pilot announced but the view was great:



Landed and as luck would have it, I had to press a button and it turned red, our bags got searched. The customs officials were very polite and in a matter of minutes we were through and outside in the sweet, tropical, humid air!

Our transfer arrangements were made by our travel agent through American Express tourism division. Amex employs extremely friendly and bilingual local people working to pick up tourists and van them off to their hotels. Hola Hernan!



We rode with a dad, mom, their sons and grandma from Chicago who told us about the other resorts they’d stayed at in the area, and they were dropped off at the Iberostar El Pariso complx (consisting of 4 connected resorts north of PDC) which were beautiful! We also rode with an older couple from Miami who were dropped off at the Wyndham Azteca. We were last stop and made it to the Sandos Playacar at about 3:00 p.m.



There were about 50 people in line (yikes!) and they had complimentary iced tea, orange juice, papaya juice and water to keep you well hydrated during the wait to check in. We witnessed some irritated people whose rooms were not yet ready after spending the last 6 hours on the beach while their luggage was parked in a secure room off the check in desk – guess I may be too if I had waited 6 hours and was ready for a shower in a room I had paid for.

Following a glass of champagne and a 20 minute wait, we were fortunate enough to have absolutely no problem checking in. Tip: Ask for an extra key – explained below… We were soon following the bellboy to our room. Flipped open the curtains to the sliding door (no balcony, unfortunately) and we had a partial ocean view and sweet, humid smells of the sea and waves washing ashore!



And the view across the corner of the Iberostar Tucan:



(continued...)

[130taKen120]

No lights, fridge, TV or other electronics worked, however. The bellboy left without explaining this phenomenon, and fortunately it was still daylight so we could rummage about the room for some type of explanation. We found a little “key box” inside the room on the wall next to the bathroom door. When you put your key in, ‘viola’! Everything worked. Take it out and back to the Jungle.

We got suits on and a short walk down the stairs outside our room and down the hall to check out the pool. Shortcut to the sand and back of the mini beach bar and finally got to the beach at about 4:15. It was a red flag day. First pics, looking north:



And south. Note the sandbag barely sticking out of the top of the beach. Look for that sandbag (whale?) later in this TR:



It must’ve looked like a storm or rained because the beach and palapas were nearly empty by this time. We played on the “clean” whale (hint: let the waves wash you up on the sea side rather than beat yourself up trying to get up on the beach side ;-), body surfed and enjoyed refreshments.



Eventually it got too cold and dark, so we left and took a quick dip in the pool with the two other people brave enough to submerse themselves there during the distant thunder and lightning. The main pool is smallish and cooler than the adult pool, which, during any given time, was apt to contain only adults or a mixture of kids and adults together. Tonight it was empty – even the kids must have been spooked by the weather.

Posing as a pool and beach area buffet and snack bar during the day, the staff transforms the space into Ol La, the fine Mediterranean restaurant at night. Although we had no reservations we were seated nonetheless (slow night). Mamasita had the Mediterranean chicken with mashed potatoes and salad and I had the same with veggies and salad.



The meal was great and the service matched. We were very tired due to the long day of travel and turned in early at about 9 p.m. Ahhhh – vacation! Lights out!

[130taKen120]

Friday 3-21-08

As the telephone rang unexpectedly to wake us at 5:30 a.m., I thought “Can’t remember placing that wake-up call – did you honey…?”

I picked up the phone and the conversation went like this:

Me: “Hello?”
Caller: “You up?”
Me “Uh… yeah, I’m up!”
Caller: “Ok.”
Click.

We imagined what the conversation might be like for the caller and his callee that went on later as the caller knocked on the door of the callee: Caller: "Let's get going, bud! I called and you said you were up!”
Callee: "Zzzzzzzzzzzzz"

A blessing in disguise, headed out through the courtyard:

Courtyard:



...to the beach with my spare $2.00 Wal Mart flip-flops as reservation markers to place on some chairs for later that day. The sunrise was spectacular, as there were about 15-20 people milling about on the beach.

Sunrise 1



Sunrise 2




You know how you see a fellow vacationer early on in your trip, then see them everywhere for the rest of your stay? I saw mine that morning. A mom and her kids whose accent suggested they were from New York were on the beach reserving their chairs too. Shortly after that I went on walkabout to familiarize myself with my surroundings – great resort, spacious walkways, beautiful landscaping, pools and fountains, daily schedule posted by the pool:



...and, hey, we’re on vacation so ANYPLACE would have been outstanding at this point! So nice to experience the peace of the morning – we did this again a few days later and I highly recommend a Sunrise Saunter as well as a Midnight Mosey. Some early morning pics:

Lobby 1



Lobby 2



Map



Lobby towards pool



Pool back towards lobby & fountain: Buffet on left, La Bamba on right:



Pool looking over our building at the sunrise:

[130taKen120]

By 6:30 we began to get ready for breakfast at the buffet.

Buffet (beware of swooping birds...)



My bride tried the pancakes, fruit, bacon and add ons, and I tried the eggs over easy, Mexican sausage (recommended), bacon, mixed cooked vegetables (recommended) and chipotle sauce (Hot!) and coffee. If you are a coffecianado, this will not thrill you. But if you are a work-a-day coffee drinker, this brew was great! I hated to leave breakfast because I knew it was the last coffee I’d see all day! Food Pics:

Hers:



His:



Both, afterwards:



My bride and I (mostly I) thought it might be good to exercise. We’d tread-milled, weight lifted, done our abs and generally watched our diets leading up to this anticipated time of gluttony, so why stop exercising now? Ha!

We walked west/south through the newest part of the Sandos. First to the west you encounter the Haciendas – multiple housing units designed for groups and some with private pools, hammocks, etc… These were threaded with stone-brick paths (watch out for the really rough stone brick by the entrance – lift your feet when you walk over it or you may be face first on the rock!). The Haciendas all had a name/theme on a placard in front of the main entrance, and all sliding doors for the units faced the common area/pool. They were two story and from the outside, looked nice. Check TA for info from people who stayed there.

Hacienda:



Farther on are the new buildings. They have at least tripled the resort capacity with these two humongous new additions and a very large conference/dining area. These are the 8000 and 9000 buildings, the 8000 being closer than the 9000. They seemed mostly vacant at this time, but there were people out sunbathing already. Sandos runs their “Club Cars” (4 row, 10 passenger golf carts) from these buildings through the Haciendas to the main entrance constantly. That’s a plus. The minus is, if you forget anything back in your room in the 8000 or 9000 building, it’s a long ways back to get it, Club Car or not.

8000 Building:



9000 Building:



Fountain pool area in 9000 building:



Very end of the 9000 building. On the outside of the iron fence is Xaman Ha boulevard - south as you exit the Sandos entrance:



On the other hand, those considering the Riu Tequilla, for example, have to walk across Xaman Ha boulevard and down a long path to the beach…

[130taKen120]

After the internal tour of the Sandos, we returned to the main entrance an d then jogged out the main driveway and to the south (away from PDC).

Entrance to Sandos:



Here the new buildings of the Sandos resort run right along Xaman Ha for a long ways on the east (seaside) part of the road, with numerous private and rental condos and homes along the west side.

Very cool condos:



The Sandos finally gives way to a condo complex under construction – 1 BRs are selling for $110,000 U.S. We returned to the main entrance from our jog and got the bicycle attendant to set us up with some bikes to ride, free for guests. Make sure you ask him to adjust your seats or your ride will be very short ;-)

Bike racks off to the left along the driveway as you enter the Sandos:



Biked to PDC – about 2.5 km from the Sandos to the circle by the Playacar gate. Saw many people walking this route day and night, a safe walk with no worries. Evidently, as Playacar is a gated community, no unauthorized vehicles are allowed inside the gates and we saw security at the Xaman Ha gate every time we went through. Just before the circle is a neat area with Mayan ruins on the east/sea side of the road that’s really cool – check out the placards and if you drive by at night, it is lit up & spectacular!

Once we biked into town, we walked the bikes through the Paseo del Carmen Plaza (get the Map Chicks maps) and saw few bargains here.

Looking from Paseo del Carmen towards the ferry dock:



Policia:



One of us who shall remain nameless mistakenly began speaking to a sidewalk “businessman” who engaged us in a 20-minute conversation about renting a car. The sign said “$19.95 per day”, and upon asking if that was for real, the game was on! At first, it was $19.95 per day but we had to walk 5 minuted to pick out any car we wanted. Then as the conversation went along, the “special deal” included free gas. The offer quickly went from there to include to two days for $30.00, then to free breakfast included, then to breakfast plus 2 days for FREE, then to breakfast plus two days for FREE and a free bottle of tequila. We had to go with the businessman to get the deal to…a nearby condo…

Next…

Down the street was Senior Frogs. Great location right alongside the ferry pier! Parked the bikes (PS: Get a lock from the bike attendant at the Sandos!) and sat down on the swings to have a refreshment. Very cool – great views, swings were great, cool breezes, lots of ferrygoers and activity, engaging bartender and then we got the bill: $24.00 U.S. for two (2 – dos – zwei – deuce) refreshments. Those were some sweet swings!

Senior Frogs Swings:



Back to the Sandos where we’ve already paid for our refreshments ;-)

1:00 p.m. Got to beach and found some gals with Australian accents sitting on our chairs. “Oh, did you want to sit here?” They looked comfortable so I grabbed my flip-flops (I was secretly glad no one had tossed them in the ocean) and we headed a few rows back to some empty chairs under a palapa near the hamburger stand.

View from the 3rd row:



After a bit we ventured into the snack bar between the pools – their noontime snack buffet is quite good – we enjoyed the pico, salads, pizza, hamburgers, jalapenos, guacamole and tortilla chips. You can walk in and get plastic plates and silverware from the bar and load up or eat light – just be polite and wear flips and a shirt. Other guests do a sit down to eat there and you wouldn’t want to send them to the bathroom prematurely…

Towels: the Sandos issues you one towel card per guest upon arrival. The towel shack is labeled “Information” and is immediately next to the poolside restaurant described above (between the restaurant and towel stand is the bathroom).

Snack bar (left), bathroom door (middle) and towel window (right):



You can get fresh towels as they become available – I recommend getting fresh ones as soon as you arrive, then at the end of your beach or pool day and before you head back to your room, stop by there again and exchange your wet towels for dry ones for the next day (if they are available). This should save you some time the next day you head to the water and keep the wetness out of your room. Our room had some minor issues dehumidifying – make sure the AC is set to 20 – 21c to keep the dehulidifyer working properly, and I recommend keeping the ceiling fan on to circulate air as much as you can tolerate.

Time for a siesta. After all, it’s vacation, right? We slept LATE! Awoke at @ 9 p.m. and got ready to go see the World Famous Fire Dancers at the Blue Parrot! Taxi into town and paid $15.00 per in cover. The interesting thing about these clubs is that to sit in the premium seating, you are asked to buy a bottle of some type of alcohol for around $125.00 per bottle! Yikes! We found no available beach seating but as we were standing around looking lost, a nice young couple, Jessie and Xavier from Miami invited us to sit with them.

Jessie & Xavier:



We had a great conversation prior to the fire dance. That’s one great thing about Playa del Carmen – the people are genuinely so friendly and welcoming and eager to please. This was the best feature about our entire vacation – the gregariousness of the people of PDC!

[130taKen120]

We sat until the Fire Dance and then everyone gathered round the dance area on the beach. The 7 dancers were truly amazing during the 20-30 minute show. They had a tip gal circulating the crowd and we gave as the entertainment was worth it.

Fire Dance:



After the show we went up to the 2nd floor on the tower at the Parrot. I highly recommend this as a romantic pit stop – there are couches and chairs and we got lucky to get one facing Cozumel. The lights at night were spectacular over the ocean and the music was great. The open air windows and cool breezes are honeymooners delights!

Upstairs at the Blue Parrot:



A Pose:



Later we came back down and sat on the swings at the bar – great fun as waitresses bring special refreshments to you for a small fee, pour them into your mouth and shake your head, making your experience literally effortless and without unnecessary expenditure of elbow-bending energy ;-)



Club dancing til 3 was extremely fun! Caught cab back to the Sandos at that time

Streets at 3:



...and, since we’re on vacation, proceeded to sleep quite peacefully ;-)

[MoonDollar]

Just in time! I have been researching and researching and all I have to do it hit the submit button and I'm there.........Just a little chicken. Thank you for you report.

[raquelle261]

Great report! Really loving your pics and the graphic descriptions. <<sigh>> I could almost be there myself already......

[130taKen120]

Originally Posted by raquelle261

Great report! Really loving your pics and the graphic descriptions. <<sigh>> I could almost be there myself already......

More to come!

[Eileencc]

Keep it coming Ken...great report. With the narration and the great pictures, I feel like I'm living it with you and your lovely bride. Handsome couple, you are!

[John]

Congratulations on the marriage! Hope you had a great honeymoon.

Thanks for sharing your trip report with us. It's nice to get to see the inside of the Sandos Playacar. That place is huge! (Nice jab at the Riu Tequila, by the way)

Look forward to the next installment.

[SUNBABY]

I am enjoying your report. Great details and pictures. Your check-in account reminded me of all the lines we stood in when we used to stay at AI's. I do miss all the free drinks (well not really free) and the snack bars.

Can't wait to read more.

[130taKen120]

No special anonymous wake up calls this morning. Upon returning to our room the night before, we were greeted by the Sandos Honeymoon gift package: a delicious fruit basket, bottle of Chilean Vina Mape and a pair of challis’ from which to enjoy it. We decided to bring the wine home and have it on our anniversary.



Off to a lazy breakfast with our companion birds, who made a habit of swiftly swooping in on abandoned leftovers before the overworked, polite and equally swift wait staff was able to make it to tables to clear the plates. Usually the wait staff won these races ;-)



Taxis to 5th avenue and vicinity cost about $5.00. The rides are as good as any amusement park coaster, and the drivers are swift to exploit the thinnest crease between the giant tour busses and the trees along Xaman Ha Boulevard, which is a quaint cobblestone road generously, granted a full 1 & ½ lanes in width:



A taxi to any other destination off 5th may cost you more – remember to ask the driver beforehand how much to your destination, and if you don’t like the price, either counter the offer (with a reasonable, not insulting counter offer) or walk out to Xaman Ha and flag down another taxi and ask him the price. The taxis will honk at you if they think you may want a ride, and the international symbol for hailing one is the same in PDC as anywhere else: a raised hand.

In town there are any interesting sights to see along the way. There are no “lanes” in these streets, with taxis, semis, scooters and people all jockeying for space between some brightly painted walls and shops. You may be lucky to get a taxi like this Formula 1 equipped model:



Once we arrived at our destination, we were charged $8.00 (not $5.00) for the additional 6 blocks from 5th to that Mecca of western Hemisphere shopping bliss: Wal Mart:



Parking below and an escalator up top – with shopping carts complete with funky wheels that dropped down between the escalator’s metal floor slats and held fast to keep the cart from sliding backwards. Once inside, the prices were easy to calculate (move the decimal one to the left) and flip-flops, the Chicka-hat, some souvenirs and other miscellaneous things were procured:



Aisle signs are in Spanish and English and the staff is helpful as any other Wal Mart around the world:



We decided to skip the expensive cab ride and hoofed it back along Calle 8 towards the ocean in search of Coco Maya along the beach. On the way we came across the beautiful town square with archways and monoliths commemorating the towns along the Mayan Rivera. A bit further we encountered the Sahara hotel, the Hotel Maya Turquesa and Yaxche, all places we’d read about. Another cool looking two-story restaurant appeared just before the last stretch to the beach:

Square:



Sahara:



Maya Turquesa:

[130taKen120]

Yaxche:



Two story restaurant:



Thought about buying shoes at this store but the name scared me off. Conjured up thoughts of a science fiction story where shoes are hand-sewed in a sweatshop built on a plutonium dumpsite:



Began walking the beach between the ferry dock and the abandoned pier. Beautiful, warm day with cool ocean breezes, colorful buildings, sights and people and a general ultra-relaxed feeling began to wash over us ;-)







We checked out where we had been the night before – you can see the upstairs, or balcony, in this picture:



Here is the Gran Porto real with the giant Flag of Mexico flying high atop:



Playa Palms: