The Sandos Playacar Beach Resort will be CLOSED for upgrades from September 1st until November 30th, 2007. Vacationkids expects that this property will re-open to families on December 1st, 2007. Guests can expect upgrades to restaurants, theatre, bar, shops, the addition of a new spa and of course upgraded rooms. In addition, Vacationkids.com looks forward to the grand opening of their new sister property, The Sandos Playacar Riviera Hotel & Spa which will offer all Jr. Suite rooms.

HOTEL REVIEW The Sandos Playacar Beach Resort used to be known to many families as The Gala Resort Playacar. With the new ownership comes changes in hotel policy for the 2006 season. IN 2006 KIDS CLUB WILL BE FOR CHILDREN AGES 4-12. CHILDREN AGES 2 and 3 YEARS OF AGE WILL BE ALLOWED IN THE KIDS CLUB BUT ONLY UNDER THE CARE OF PARENTS OR A PRIVATE BABYSITTER. BABYSITTING SERVICE IS $25 FOR THE FIRST HOUR THEN $10 PER EACH ADDITIONAL HOUR FOR UP TO TWO CHILDREN. AT THIS TIME, HACIENDA JR SUITES WILL CONTINUE TO BE FAMILY OF FIVE FRIENDLY FOR 2006.

The Sandos Playacar Beach Resort is one of vacationkids.com family vacation preferred resorts. It is a deluxe 5 star family resort located on one of the most beautiful white sandy beach a short distance from the village of Playa Del Carmen on the Mexican Riviera Suncoast. Playa Del Carmen is where you can catch the ferry to Cozumel Island. Sandos Playacar Beach Resort is located 45 minutes from the Cancun airport and is one of thes most family friendly resorts in the entire Riviera Maya. Everything possible has been included in your family vacation package including the most friendly Mexican staff to serve your family's every need. All of our Vacationkids.com family travel experts have visited this property in recent years and know first hand why many of our Vacationkids families travel back here year after year.

There is a perfectly good reason why the new name to this resort is the Sandos Playacar BEACH resort. It's because it's located on one of the best stretches of beach in the Playa Del Carmen Area. When returning families talk to us about their trips to the Gala resort Playacar all we hear at Vacationkids is "beach, beach, BEACH"!!! Imagine powdery white sand and crystel clear azure blue waters. If you stand on the beach of the Gala and stare out at the sea, what you will SEE is Cozumel Island floating just off shore. Cozumel Island boasts the world's second largest coral reef, topped only by Australia's great barrier reef. This means the snorkeling and diving lovers can plan day trips (for an extra fee) to be amazed by the sea creatures. But what this also means is that if your family has little sea creatures of your own...ah, little kids we mean, then you'll be pleased to know this is a perfect beach for them. The playacar reef of Cozumel acts as a breaker for big waves. This means your little sea urchins can splash in the gentle surf to their heart's content making the Gala resort's beach perfect for families with young children. For big kids and bigger kids at heart, this beach is also perfect for surfing, sailing and kayaking which is included as part of the all inclusive program here.

Another important reason why the Sandos Playacar Beach Resort is SO popular with Vacationkids families is that it is family of five friendly. Their hacienda Jr suites will allow up to three children under the age of 12 to share the same hotel room with their parents. These suites are unique in many features. The suites are located towards the front entrance of the resort. There are 10 suites per small building. As you can see from our photograph, each hacienda building has it's own swimming pool that can only be used by the guests staying in those suites. Hacienda suites are very popular with our family groups and reunions who all want to stay and play together. Inside you'll see these hacienda suites are one large room offering either one king bed or two double beds. It's one step down to a sitting area with sleeper sofas for the kids. These hacienda jr suites come with one private deluxe spacious bathroom with shower including bench for added comfort, hair dryer, air conditioning, one satellite color TV, telephone, safety deposit box, mini bar with mineral water, soft drinks and beer. Please know the Hacienda suites are situated a substantial walk away from the beach, pool, restaurants and main areas of the hotel.

The standard rooms at the Sandos Playacar Beach Resort offer 2 double beds or 1 king bed, balcony with garden or partial ocean view. They include a small table and chairs instead of the sofa sitting area. Basically they are the same size as the Hacienda suites and offer the same general ammenities. The standard rooms are located in the heart of the resort, close to the pool and beach area. The standard room will accomodate up to 2 adults and 2 children under the age of 12. There are also Royal Club rooms which offer additional services and amenities such as private check in and lounge area, guaranteed ala carte dining reservations and nightly turn down service. The Royal club rooms are adults only and just for couples.

Okay, so you'll be able to sleep, relax and enjoy 24 hour room service in your rooms but we doubt you'll be spending much time indoors. There are just too many activities for your family to enjoy at the Sandos Playacar Beach Resort...Unlimited use of day and night tennis, tennis clinics and equipment, non motorized water sports, Free use of exercise equipment and sauna, daily social activities program both poolside and at the beach, game room, Bicycle tours and unlimited bicycle use during the day, nightly entertainment and disco. Hungry?...Grand Buffet Festival is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner, serving international cuisine. Just want a quick snack, try the Ola La pool snack bar. Mediteraeno Buffet opens for dinner serving seafood, meats and chicken with prepared salads. There are two ala carte restaurants to tempt your tastebuds. There is the Fonda Los Alcatraces Mexican Restuarant and the Broccolino serving Italian Cuisine. Both require reservations 24 hours in advance and only allow children from 6-7pm. But don't worry, kids have their own restaurant just for them in the kids club...sorry Mom & Dad, you'll probably be on your own for dinner. Jeez, don't know what you'll possibly have to talk about seeing that you won't have to cut up someone else's food!

And speaking of the kids
The Gala Resort Playacar offers kids clubs starting from age 4-12...

The Galaxy Kids club is open daily from 10:00am to 11:00pm for kids ages 4-12. Kids ages 4-7 enjoy supervised play activities inside the fenced in kids club area. When VacationKids own Sally Black (aka mom) recently visited, she was most impressed with the children's program. The entire area is gated to keep kids safe from wandering off unattended. In the kids club there is a large playground area, two children's pools, a theater and a cafeteria style restaurant just for kids. Older kids ages 8-12 play outside the kid's club under strict supervision in the main pool area, beach areas, etc. Both groups enjoy age appropriate activities such as arts and crafts, sport competitions, theater guignol, movies and video games.

Little guests wanting to use nursery service must have private babysitters. Parents can arrange private babysitting with concierge 24 hours in advance..

The Sandos Playacar Beach Resort is one of the few who haven't forgotten that teens want their own space too. Teens have their own separate club area open daily from 5:00pm-11:00pm for kids ages 13 to 17. Here teens can enjoy Table games like tennis table, air hockey, soccer tables, pool tables and video arcade under the assistance of the animation staff. Most importantly they have their own space to hang out and make new friends. In the evening, the gala even has a teen disco where these new friends can dance, chat and hang the night away.

So at the end of the day, you too will understand why the Sandos Playacar Beach Resort is a favorite of many Vacationkids families. One thing to keep in mind is that this property is one of the smaller resorts in the Riviera Maya offering only 285 standard rooms and 150 Hacienda suites. This may seem like a lot of rooms on paper but in reality this resort is small by comparison.
So why do we bring up this point?
If you're a parent who clicked to this page from either Vacationkids Family of Five Resort Page just stop and think for a moment how many families with families with three kids do you know. Now check this to our Family of Five list once again. There simply are not that many vacation choices for these types of families. Now imagine all the families in the universe who want to travel during peak weeks like Christmas, President's week, spring break or summer vacation. Hopefully now you'll understand why this resort notoriously sells out months in advance. So if you're one of these people who can't make up their mind where to stay or figure you'll wait till the last minute to get a great deal, a word of warning...you're family will end up disappointed. We don't mean to be blunt, just honest. We don't want to see your family disappointed so plan ahead and book early for the Sandos Playacar Beach Resort and a family vacation of a lifetime.