Keep safe Fiona

If in any doubt, get yourself shut in the bathroom and duck down in the bath. One of the safest places apparently!

Not exactly a hurricane but on our last day in mexico last year we had a really bad storm around lunchtime . watching everyone at the outside buffet queue with chips flying off their plates was one of the funniest things Ive ever seen . Cutlery , sauce bottles, tables and chairs were flying everywhere but us british were still determined to have our lunch .

We went back and stayed put on the beach ,huddled under a brolly trying to dry our beach towels in the wind .. My god it was lashing it down .

we escaped the hurricane and it was just a tropical storm. It was some day- all outdoor loungers and seating were taken in. We did go to the pool bar for a drink though'.pretty funny! no outdoor buffets as the chips definitley wouldn´t have stayed on the plates
Today was calm and humid. We went to Xcaret and so glad we did! What a place. There for almost 7 hours and still didn´t see everything. About to head off into town for dinner.

Glad you enjoyed Xcaret. At least the weather hasn't ruined your stay!

I wrote a long hotel review yesterday, which has yet to show. Lots of info there but I am happy to answer anything not covered.
I wouldn't be suprised if we go back there

So it was good I take it?

I'm missing my breakfasts of scrambled eggs and smoked salmon washed down with Buck's Fizz

Oo I really like smoked salmon and scrambled eggs on toast, I sometimes make it for myself at home. Am going food shopping today so will treat myself

Did you have a good time Fiona?

I did Glynis. Its a bit offputting to have to wait to so long for a new review to show though. And if I feel like that, then surely newcomers will be put off and go elsewhere.

might as well post a copy of my review here.
We chose the adults only section of the Riveria part of Sandos. The junior suite is of 5 star quality, unlike the hacienda sections of the main part of the hotel, which do tend to be the ones with negative comments in another review site. It was very spacious, with a comfortable bed, sofa, chairs, table, flat screen tv, complimentary minibar, safe, iron and board. The bathroom has twin sinks, enclosed toilet and shower, and large Jacuzzi. There was also a balcony. The maid’s towel art was something else!
The grounds of the hotel are beautiful and extensive. It can take up to 10 mins to walk to the hotel beach from the back of the complex where we were, but its easy and you can see the hotel animals along the way. You do see a few moans from reviews elsewhere but there was a shuttle bus for those who really needed it, or who were bone idle ;). The coatis are really cute and will come running towards you- we would feed them fruit. The hotel looks after all the wildlife. We found out after feeding four cats for most of the fortnight that the hotel even looks after them- health and food wise. There are often howler monkeys as well but they were not around when we were there. Mexico must have some of the most beautiful butterflies in the world- very vivid colours and I was just fascinated with them.
There are two pools at the Riveria section- one for adults only, which we used. It was massive and had a pool bar at one end and an island where a group played on Sundays. If you didn’t want the pool bar music, you could sit at the opposite end where you could barely hear it. There are loads and loads of loungers, each set with a wooden and straw brolly. The other pool is for everyone and even that one always had loungers available. In the older section of the hotel, each hacienda had its own pool and there was a huge pool next to the beach. The beach is gorgeous. The Adults only Riveria section has its own section with bar and waiter service.
We chose this hotel as I had been trying to find good hotel accommodation only but the price of this AI was the same as what I was looking at, even with the upgraded section taken into account. So, my idea was to use it during the day and go out at night as I assumed the food would not be up to much. I was so wrong! There are 5 speciality restaurants which needed reservations and a further one( Mexican) which didn’t. On top of that there were 2 buffet restaurants at night and a further two during the day, including the adults only one. The pool areas also served food during the day. I’m not sure if there was a limit to how many you could reserve during a week in the main part of the hotel, but we could book as often we wanted. We tried them all. These are Mediterranean, Asian, Brazilian, Argentinean, and French fine dining. The food was incredible. We didn’t have one bad meal. We didn’t go to any of the main buffets at night but did give the main one a go twice for lunch- OH got a whole red snapper cooked for him! We even had free 24 hour room service, including drinks. In the reception areas there was always snacks and cakes. We also had a premium bar we could use but all bars had the main brands. We even had champagne and good red and white wine( avoid the wine at the main bar by the meeting point- it was disgusting). The Gaucho restaurant also served as the Adult only section morning buffet. It was extensive and you could even have champagne or bucks fizz.
Staff were all friendly and polite. The hotel was immaculate and room cleaning even meant washing the balcony doors each day! The grounds always had loads of people working on them.
Entertainment- we never saw the earlier shows, which were mostly geared for families but the later ones had some really good groups. What I liked most of all, was that this catered to the majority of guests who were Mexican or South American. It meant almost a carnival and they know how to enjoy themselves.  The main entertainment stopped at 11pm but there was a disco open till 2am( too old for all that now!)
We did actually escape the hotel a few nights but tended to eat or drink off of the main 5th Avenue in Playa del Carmen- which I didn’t really like. My tip- even a few yards off the Avenue, prices can almost half, and there are some nice little places. A taxi to PDC from the hotel was 70 pesos( don’t pay in dollars as it was 7 dollars, making it a pound dearer.)
A must visit is Xcaret- which is 10 mins drive from the hotel and too much to do there to describe here. We also visited Chichen Itza- one of the new Wonders of the World. It is a 6 hour round trip so tiring but its a must do for adults at least. Really fascinating. Again, no space to say more but ask in the main forum!
All in all, I couldn’t really fault the hotel and would even think about returning, which is surprising, given my previous views of AI hotels( a personal opinion by the way, as I appreciate that others love them)

Hotel sounds fab Fiona, would love to go there.
You know that I love any sort of wildlife so that hotel sounds perfect for me and my family. We would spend most of our holiday feeding the coatis! I know some people don't think you should but I can't help myself...Glad you had a lovely time x

Just rereading my review and have to say the haciendas looked nice from the outside and there are loads of great reviews for them, it was just that any negatives tended to be about the older part of the hotel.
steph- it really was lovely- even just watching the butterflies and birds was fascinating.

Brilliant review Fiona sounds idyllic. Many thanks

Just booked to return and its £200 less. If anyone is thinking of going- check out hotels4U- prices are way less than with other companies- by up to 25%

Who have you booked with Fiona?

hi Steph
Edited my post to the correct name.

well- BA contacted me to say my return flight was cancelled and they had booked me on one 26 hours later. When I went on "manage my booking" I had to click to accept the changes, but the connection to Aberdeen was the original one. Eventually got it sorted and phoned hotels4U to book an extra night. My heart sank when she told me it would have to be a new booking and they would cancel the original one. I was imagining the fees they would charge. However, really pleasantly surprised to have it fixed within 5 mins with no costs and the extra day was £65! Unbelievable- 5 star room, top class food and top shelf drinks for that amount.

We had a great second visit. New addition to Sandos Playacar is the Cupcake Café. We didn't actually eat there but had a look and there are heaps of different types of cakes and everyone raving about the quality and range of coffees. A great addition and not one that many other hotels will have. They have upgraded a lot of the haciendas and I heard that they are planning to add more. There is a new owner now- just taken over. For the children there is now also mini golf. We did spend a few parts of mornings down at the beautiful beach but it was just too hot and humid so we spent most of the days standing in the Adult Select pool- but I did drink mostly coke at the pool bar!
Unfortunately I had gone downhill just before going on holiday so I didn't want to do much to begin with and then we got too lazy to do anything beyond a few trips into Playa Del Carmen later on in the trip. It was just a very relaxing holiday which did us both good! I have written a hotel review and it went live almost immediately