I am beyond disappointed with my stay at this resort. The *only* reason this place is getting one…read morestar is because the food was actually good. Beyond that, the entire experience was a monumental letdown.
From the second you walk through the door, you are ****aggressively**** hounded by sales staff trying to force an upgrade on you. They expect you to sit through a grueling 90-minute high-pressure timeshare pitch. One of my friends agreed to go just so our group could get the "gold bands"--which brings me to another major issue: they completely hide the fact that the resort is restricted. Where you can and cannot go depends entirely on the color of your wristband. I don't have the patience for that kind of predatory, "hard-sale" environment. When I go on vacation, I want to relax, not be constantly cornered by salespeople.
The transportation and layout were equally frustrating. The shuttle was never on time, which is a massive problem because if your room is near the top of the property, you have to take the shuttle all the way down to the beach just to get any food. To make matters worse, there is zero food service at the pools, so again you're forced to go to the bottom of the resort.
Restaurants were hard to book and they opened on or two a night. Some poolside restaurants were temporarily closed. Seriously, it was a hassle to stay here
Most alarming, however, were the severe safety hazards:
* **Dangerous Shuttles:** At one point, I literally had to yell at our shuttle driver--while the vehicle was in motion--to put his phone away and watch the road. He was so distracted by his music and phone that he almost struck pedestrians on the side of the road.
* **Broken Elevators & Dark Stairwells:** Hardly any of the elevators worked. As an older guest with knee problems, being forced to climb a flight of pitch-black stairs was a nightmare (they were lit up at night). I almost fell multiple times because I literally couldn't see where I was stepping. Out of the 5 elevators I used, 4 were out of service. There was one in service but the button for our floor was missing. That also broke on day 3 of our stay.
This place is desperately in need of a major upgrade. The rooms are old, the amenities are poorly maintained, and management clearly prioritizes timeshare revenue over guest safety and comfort.
I will absolutely not be returning To ANY SANDOS property due to the constant hounding by the staff. They took a great vacation into an annoying one.