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Hotel overview
Location
Riviera Maya - BeachProperty information
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Hotel details
Hotel advisories
General policies & fine print
Check-in Policy:
Hotel requires a credit/debit card authorization or cash deposit upon check-in for incidentals; this will place a hold on your funds.
Convention Policy:
Individuals attending a convention cannot book this property for their stay. If found attending a convention, guests may be subject to higher room rates upon arrival.
Hotel Spring Break Policy:
This hotel cannot guarantee a spring break-free environment.
Transfer Policy:
A price may display when children stay free, if your vacation includes transfer to your hotel.
General Information:
Room taxes and service fees are included in vacation price. Minimum night stay restrictions may apply. Reservation changes may not be permitted unless authorized by the hotel.
Ratings & reviews
TripAdvisor traveler rating
7347 reviews
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Jan 10, 2025Family Visit at White Sand Resort & Spa
Overall, this was a good experience. I was there with my family and 2 other families with our kids. It was a very positive experience. Great service, facilities and people. It gave us everything we needed for a relaxing vacation. I recommend!
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Jan 09, 2025Beautiful Property But Lots of Little Issues
Overall: Location property is absolutely stunning. Has many amenities, large pools, plethora of restaurants, and beautiful white sand beach with shallow water. 1) Resort was undergoing construction during Christmas holiday which impacted the resort in many ways, hopefully once they finish construction things will get better. However, until they do, the pool was closed causing everyone from all the locations to funnel to one area. Took 2 hrs to get a spot to sit unless you go at 8am. 2) Loud construction noises staring early in the morning and go all day. 3) Our room had mold/mildew smell, and housekeeping and covered it with a air freshener (no joke). We had to change rooms, that was less than what we paid for, so that took a lot of dispute to be credited back the difference. 4) Towels were not being restocked in the room, and when bumping into other families, they noted the same thing. Dinner Reservation System: The one thing they do not tell you about is the restaurant reservation system. It is extremely convoluted and creates a lot of stress and anxiety. Every day, I would hear families upset with concierge that they paid to be there for 7+ nights and couldn't get into a single restaurant. Our gut feel is that the resort wants to funnel as many people to the buffets as possible versus a la carte dining. The buffets are great and have lots of options, but when you're on vacation and paying a fair amount of money per night, you don't want a buffet breakfast, lunch and dinner. Especially if you have little children, you end up not really eating with your family because you're getting up serving yourself. 1) You need to have the app on your phone and check the reservation systems constantly. They say they open them at 7:00 every day for two days in advance, but I saw some popping up at 5:00 pm and snagged them immediately. I wasn't even picky on which one. 2) If you don't have the app, you need to go to concierge by 6:30 am to wait in line, because yes, people are standing in line by 7:00 before someone even arrives at the desk. 3) Here's the secret - most of the restaurants aren't even full. I was fortunate to have had a la carte dining 5 nights Every restaurant I ate at, had handfuls of tables open and empty. If you meet a nice server at the restaurant, he or she may help you out by getting reservations another night if you make friendly conversation and provide a tip. But check the app often, which is unfortunate to have to do on vacation
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Jan 09, 2025No Restaurant Bookings Available!!
I went with my family and another couple (4 adults, 3 teens). we booked 3 suites near the beach for 5 nights. on arrival, we tried to book restaurants (over 10 in this property) and we were told nothing is available. Every night we see multiple tables empty in all restaurants from 6pm until closing!! We tried more than 4 times to talk to a manager, we were told any of the concierge is a manager, which of course provided no help. We were given vouchers for the spa, we booked 5 (80 minutes) messages, then upon trying to discount at checkout, we were told we should have applied them at the spa, but the spa applied the charges on the room automatically without even asking us. Very dirty tick and I would much rather get no voucher than to feel cheated.
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Jan 08, 2025
Honest Review of our January Stay at White Sands
Here is my observations after a 4 night stay with 3 rooms, 9 total in our party. I am writing this so that folks can learn some things that I did not know prior to booking this resort. I think the resort could work if the price is right and you are a buffet person. We did enjoy the pools and I did enjoy the beach. The bad: 1. Restaurant reservations are a total nighmare. I think if people don't have issues it is because they are higher level members and maybe get a better level of service or maybe they know how to work the system. We stayed 4 nights and were only able to secure 1 reservation at Poseidan which wasn't even in our short list as a restaurant we wanted to try. To me this was a major dissapointment since they advertise 8 a la cart restaurants and that influenced me to choose this resort, not realizing I really wouldn't be able to eat at pretty much any of them. I asked to speak to a manager and I was told "they are not around" I think the conierges are trained to just ignore people like me that call this out as false advertising/scam. Funny thing is on my one reservation I did get, I can see my tier was clearly listed as "follower" and since they ask for your room number I can only assume that are allocating more reservations to whoever is "VIP" or "Club" or "Family selection". Also just to be clear I tried for resercvations in all amounts, just the adults 2, 4, by family, etc. They really had zero reservations the first three nights. Operationally they need to fix this. 2. Kids/ Baby club: this is a nowhere near as good as Melia or Beaches resorts. Grand Palladium advertised a baby club but it is not a drop off. Parents have to stay with the kids at all times I chose this resort because our group had kids from 18 months - 17 years old. Grand Palladium had advertised/marketed that they had activities for all fo these ages. I feel this was false advertising again because when we arrived, we asked about these and we were told the mini club is not a drop off service. The other kids club for ages 6 - 12 we were never able to find as people kept pointing us in different directions, so I have no comments on it - except hopefully you find it if you plan to use it. 3. Because no one can dine in restaurants the buffet's are a mess at dinner time! It is mass chaos, no cutlery, glasses, napkins on tables. The servers are doing the best they can but operationally something is off. 4. White sands pool wasn't full of water and we didnt really know why. It also was slimey in spots so the toddler fell a couple of times walking in. I guess this is due to the construction going on, which also was a surprise to us. Luckly we only heard banging on the first day at the white sands pool. We quickly moved to the bigger colonial pool. The Mid: 1. Entertainment was interesting. The casino night had more demand than available tables for the "play money" casino. I wouldnt say any of the entertainment really wowed us but it was something to do since our buffet dinners wrapped up rather quickly... 2. The resort is very spread out which gives it a jungle tropical feel. Easy to get 10,000 steps per day! This is a plus to me but could be a minus if you want everthing close together. 3. Room service was nice our departure morning, it takes a realy long time though so plan ahead. Because of that it wasn't super hot. It is an extra fee - but its less than $20 currently and a flatrate for whatever you order. The good: 1. Our room was nice. I slept really well. Granted we came form more rustic accomidations, but I thought the room was really confortable. The AC worked well, the bed was comfy to me. It was spacious and had room for all of our belongings. Nice shower with lots of hot water. 2. The kids between 12 and 17 liked the obstacle coarse. It was an extra charge though. 3. The beach was really nice. It is rocky but it is beautiful and full of palm trees. You can find locations away from crowds or be by the bar, its up to you. 4. Drinks were pretty good for an all inclusive. Some drinks were too sweet but if you ordered the right thing, right way you could always get what you wanted. 5. Espresso at the lobby bars was great!
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Jan 06, 2025
nice but not great
general opinion is that it is not a 5* luxury resort anymore. Average quality on restaurants, service and rooms. Nice experience but expected more for the price paid.