My wife and I, along with another couple stayed here March 3-7, 2016.
I have a little bit of mixed emotions about this resort. I'll write review and you can weigh the Pro's and the Con's.
Room
We stayed in a Sandos Suite. There is a bedroom (King size bed, with closet space and lots of drawers for clothes), living room (two full couches, they say you can sleep 3 adults and a child but neither couch is a foldaway and the couches are the same size so you could probably get 4 adults in this room), 1 half bath, and 1 full bath (includes a shower and a tub). There is also a bar area with a small dorm size fridge and a microwave, cabinets, and sink. There was also a balcony that had a partial view of the ocean and the lagoon)
The Bed was comfortable, but a little hard for my liking. The air conditioning was cold. There were thermostats for the bedroom and the living room. Everything was clean and the maid service was excellent. They even came around at night and asked if you needed towels, gave you the activity sheet for the next day which included the forecast.
I do wish there were some bar stools at the bar area, it would have made drinking in the room a little more pleasurable.
Lobby
Spacious and clean, check in was very easy and the staff friendly. Other reviews have talked about a high pressure attempt to get guests to attend a sales pitch for their time share deal. We did not experience that at all, when asked and we said we weren't interested, they did not ask again.
Bars
Bar One is the bar right off the lobby and at night they had some house music or a band playing. The band we heard was actually very good, the guitar player was awesome and the girl who sang in the band did a very nice Norah Jones song. They covered a wide range of music and I was actually disappointed when they packed up to leave and the DJ started up.
It took a little while for the bartender to figure out how to make my Captain Morgan and Pineapple Juice. Not sure what the problem was, but it definitely wasn't Captain Morgan in the glass the first 2 times. 3rd time was the charm and I got what I wanted.
Restaurants
The food was good at the Gaijin, the Japanese Restaurant. The chef put on a nice show for us, made us laugh and the food he prepared was quite good.
The Italian Restaurant is Seasons and it was good, although the menu is small. It does take a while to get your food, I know that is probably part of the atmosphere, but I like to do less dining and more playing. But, if that's your thing, you'll like it here.
Zango served a breakfast buffet every morning which is quite nice, if you can't find something to eat here, then you aren't trying very hard. They will make you fresh waffles and crepes to order.
St. Trop is the place we ate first. They serve bar food and a few extras. I think three of us had pizza and the fourth had spaghetti. My pizza was half Mexican and half Hawaiian. It was awesome. My wife said her pizza was just ok.
The food was good, not great though. I think the variety is what it is, not enough selection.
Beach
The beach is really nice. There is plenty of room, and you don't feel like you are on top of each other. Plenty of lounge chairs to lay out on, and some beds under shade, along with hammocks. The hammocks were not made for a full size adult, as I couldn't comfortably stretch out in one.
There were some really nice waves coming in for the most part since it was a little windy. The water is cool, but you get used to it quickly.
Beach Bar and Beach service
Pablo worked at one of the bars and made everything we ordered to perfection. He was truly a professional. There is a bathroom near him, so stopping and ordering a drink while you used the facilities was actually nice.
The beach service was ok, sometimes we were asked if we needed anything, sometimes we had to flag someone down. You can get food brought out to you which is nice. After being told there wasn't a fruit plate on the menu, one of our servers Jose went into the restaurant inside and got it for me. Nice touch really.
The beach loses sunlight due to Secrets Resort next door at about 5 - 5:15 in the evening during March. There are two very small spot where the sun gets through and you see people start to gravitate to those areas.
Pools
The top 2 pools are cold! Really cold! The pool closest to the beach feels heated. Somewhere in between would have been nice. Apparently Secrets Resort next door was able to build their resort more than 7 stories high, which used to be the limit and it shades the top 2 pools for a good part of the day. One reason I will never stay at Secrets!
We enjoyed our stay at Sandos. Everyone was super friendly, and would go out of there way t try and accommodate you. There are even times the spa sends out people with special prices on their services. I was offered a massage for $70, even though the price list said $100+.
If I could get a good deal, I would stay here again read more