The Sandos Playacar Resort & Spa is an all-inclusive, oceanfront resort located in the Playacar strip of hotels just south of Playa del Carmen's downtown and pedestrian-friendly 5th Avenue.

This property, originally built in 1996, was formerly known as the Gala Playacar, and is still labeled as such on some dated hotel maps. It is the most southern property on the Playacar strip, next to the Iberostar Tucan/Quetzal resort; this means there is a nice section of beach to the south of the resort that is not fronting any hotels or cluttered with lounge chairs.

The Sandos Playacar Resort & Spa is comprised of three sections laid out vertically in a long, skinny rectangle perpendicular to the beach: Sandos Beach, two four-story buildings closest to the Caribbean Sea and adjacent to the activity pool; Sandos Haciendas, 16 two-story buildings each with its own pool and each housing 10 guest rooms; and Sandos Riviera, which is the biggest and newest section, debuting in April 2008 and farthest from the beach, but with the largest rooms with the most modern amenities.

On the Sandos Hotels & Resorts website the Sandos Playacar Riviera is listed as a totally separate hotel from the Sandos Playacar Beach (together comprising the Sandos Playacar Resort & Spa). But guests of the Sandos Playacar Riviera and the Sandos Playacar Beach share all of the same facilities, including check-in lobby, pools, kids' club, spa and restaurants.

In fact, when my group of 14 (three generations of family!) stayed at the resort in December 2008, we booked rooms in the least-expensive, convenient-to-the-ocean Beach section. When we arrived, we were "upgraded" to the Riviera section - without having been asked. We did not view this as an upgrade because the Riviera section is a good 10-minute walk to the beach. We spent one night in our Riviera rooms, and then were able to stay in Beach rooms -- which we loved even if they were older, smaller and not as nicely decorated -- for the duration of our week's stay.

My advice: Make it very clear when you are booking your reservations which style of accommodations you want at this 860-room property. (See Digs for Kids below.) Also note that there is a totally different Sandos property north of Playa del Carmen called the Sandos Caracol Beach.

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