FYI: The resort appears to now be open as of Dec. 28th, 2019. There are several reviews on TripAdvisor and other travel wholesaler sites.
Palmaia aerial view, courtesy Palmaia Resorts
Some vacationers and Sandos resort lovers already know this new all-inclusive as Sandos Palm Bay. It was renamed Palmaïa Playa del Carmen by Sandos several months ago, but it is the same five-star luxury family-friendly property located adjacent to the new Sandos Playacar Beach Resort section on Playacar beach in the Riviera Maya. While its projected opening date was June 1 of 2019, construction was delayed and now it is projected to open December 2019. (I did a dummy booking starting mid December and it does show on wholesaler websites that the property is available. However, since the resort website isn’t accepting bookings as early as December, I would hesitate to book it at the present time. Best to wait until more info on a definitive date is posted by the resort).
The Sandos chain decided to launch a new type of luxury hotel focusing on eco-friendly and sustainable concepts since some aspects of travel can negatively affect the surrounding natural environment. Translated, this means that lots of natural materials and local crafts will be used, meals will have fresh ingredients garnered from daily catches and local orchards, the on-site cenote will be used as part of the “jungle spa” experience, and the natural beach dunes will be left relatively unaffected. According to the parent company, initial construction was delayed five years in order to carefully coordinate resort needs vs. keeping the surrounding environment left in its natural state as much as possible.
One concept which I found interesting was the ability of guests to become involved in local community projects and volunteer programs while staying at the resort. I’m not exactly sure what that entails, but it certainly sounds like a nice option for some vacationers–aiding the community while simultaneously leaving only a small “travel footprint”.
The resort will have the following amenities:
- 314 beachfront suites; they are all advertised as having oceanfront views but some website descriptions say otherwise
- some suites can accommodate families of five with bunk beds that sleep three children
- infinity pool with DJ and kid’s pool with water slides
- Kid’s Club and Teen Club
- full access to its neighboring sister resort, Sandos Playacar Beach Resort. That means access to 11 additional restaurants, six bars, evening entertainment at their outdoor theater, another water park, and the pools over at Sandos.
- 24-hr. butler service
- three on-site restaurants plus a food truck
- two on-site bars (my guess is that they will most likely have more when all is said and done)
- a jungle spa with access to a cenote
I found a video of mostly computer generated pics since it’s still under construction, but it should give you a general idea of the look of the resort.
While I was staying at Iberostar Tucan on my last visit in August 2019, I took a beach walk past Sandos Playacar Beach Resort and took pics of how this resort’s exterior is looking from a beach vantage point. I also took a swim and found that this stretch of beach is fabulous with easy ocean entry, no rocks, and fish swimming about. I’ve made a small picture gallery which you can access below. Just click on any of the thumbnail pictures and you will get a full view of the shot. Hope you enjoy it!
Would you stay here?
