Overall Impression:
- One of my least favorite All Inclusive resorts. In Cozumel we have stayed at the Allegro and liked it better.
- Still a fun and relaxing vacation with kids.
- Ok value during the busy Spring Break travel season.
My 8 year old daughter and I spent the week of Spring Break 2024 in Cozumel, Mexico. We split our time between an Airbnb in San Miguel (the main town) and the Sunscape Sabor Resort. This was our second time visiting Cozumel as we had stayed at the Allegro Cozumel during Summer 2023. Cozumel is a beautiful and low key island that is very safe. The weather during our trip was perfect with highs in the 80s and not a drop of rain. Despite it being Spring Break the island didn’t feel crowded, a pleasant change from what you might experience in the Cancun/Riveria Maya area.
We stayed four nights at the Sunscape Sabor. At a price of almost $280/night the cost was higher than what I’ve usually paid for an All Inclusive resort – but it was spring break and it was nearly $200/night cheaper than rooms at the next door Dreams resort. I felt a little better about the price since I booked through the Capital One Travel Portal. That let me use my $300 Venture X travel credit and earn 10 points per dollar on the purchase. Overall we really enjoyed our time in Cozumel and had fun while at the Sunscape Sabor; but in the future I’d be looking to stay somewhere else as I didn’t feel they delivered good value for money and we ran into quite a few issues during our stay. Some of the main Pros and Cons from our perspective were:
Pros:
- The beach and pool are just a few steps outside your door.
- We enjoyed the pool and the small waterslide it included.
- The beach was nice and there was decent snorkeling right off the resort.
- The resort is very easy to get around as it is quite small.
- The explorer’s club (kid’s club) was very good, so much so my daughter wanted to stay longer when I went to pick her up.
- Drinks were readily available whenever we wanted to get one.
- Rooms were a little dated in some respects but overall were nicer than we’ve experienced at some other lower end all inclusive resorts.
Cons:
- This is a small resort so your options are quite limited (1 pool, two restaurants, two bars, etc).
- Our room was located right beside the lobby bathrooms and pool area making it high traffic and noisy.
- Service was really hit and miss. There were a few staff who were genuinely helpful and friendly but many were just barely engaged in their work. In some cases nothing happened when we reported problems (such as a smoke detector that was beeping constantly for more than two days). Service was slow in restaurants and at the bars. Sometimes it did feel like they were understaffed but at other times it just felt like we were being ignored.
- Housekeeping was hit and miss. Our room wasn’t entirely clean on arrival and the sink and shower were not draining properly. During our stay we never received a full complement of towels in our room with at least one type of towel missing every day (luckily they always kept the pool towels fully stocked so we could just grab one of those).
- We experienced more incorrect orders for food and drinks here than I’ve experienced at any other resort in Mexico.
- The 24 hour cafe has an extremely limited selection of food and never had any fruits, vegetables, or healthier options.
- There are no dinner buffets at this resort, everything is a la carte. One could view that as an advantage but if you are traveling with kids make sure you plan ahead as there are also no reservations. As such you just have to hope you can get in for food reasonably quickly when you want to do so.
- Entertainment was less impressive than what I’ve seen at other resorts. This is not a knock on the entertainment team, who were definitely hard working, it just seemed like they weren’t investing into this area. One night there wasn’t any sort of show and while there was a theatre off the lobby it was never opened and they instead used the lobby stairs and a small stage off the pool instead.
- Food was highly variable. We had a few good dishes but had many more mediocre or even bad dishes.
Getting There
One reason we like visiting Cozumel is that you can get direct flights from Chicago O’Hare on United. At less than $400 per person and only a 3.5 hour flight it was an easy and reasonably affordable option. Once you arrive at the Cozumel airport it is about a 30 minute drive to the Sunscape Sabor Resort. You can use one of the transfer services in the airport or rent a car. Oddly, taxis are not allowed inside the airport, though if you are willing to walk about 5-7 minutes beyond the airport to near Diego’s Tacos you can get a taxi there. We walked outside to get a taxi and had no problems with this method, though if you have a lot of luggage I’d probably skip this option though. If you are coming from the mainland ferry it is about a 20 minute taxi ride to the resort from the pier.
Check In
Check in for our room was at 3:00PM and we arrived about 1:30PM after finishing a surfing lesson. The bell hop quickly helped unload our luggage, stored it, and gave us a ticket. We were then greeted by a friendly guest services person who escorted us to the front desk. The person at the front desk didn’t seem happy to see us and the check in process was quite slow. The positive was that they did bring us welcome drinks of fruit punch and a cookie for my hungry daughter. After about 15 minutes they finally wrapped up all of the check in and handed us all of our welcome packet and information – however no rooms were ready yet and they said to expect one about 3PM. We were then escorted to the guest services desk area where the friendly individual from before went over information about the resort and coupons that they included with our stay for additional services (eg. spa, higher end wines, etc). He thankfully went through this quickly as he could see my daughter was getting restless. He then told us to make ourselves at home and recommended going to get lunch at the Sunnyside Grill. We took his suggestion and about 2PM were seated at the grill. We ate lunch and just a couple of minutes before 3PM we went back to reception. After about 5-7 minutes waiting at the front desk they were able to find a clean room and gave us the keys.
Location
The resort is located on the southwest coast of the island right on a sandy beach. It sits between its two higher end sister resorts of Dreams and Secrets (adults only). Dreams and Secrets guests get use of the Sunscape but for stays at the Sunscape you will not have access to the Dreams or Secrets facilities. Overall this is a good location. The only real downside I noticed was that since the resorted is located between the main harbors and the prime snorkeling, fishing, and diving spots there is a lot of boat traffic during the day.
Beach and Pool
The Sunscape has a nice sandy beach and crystal clear waters. There was a little bit of seaweed when we were there but this was minimal and was much better than I’ve seen at other properties in Cozumel and the Riveria Maya (including the neighboring Dreams property). You are quite close to the reef here so there are going to be some rocky parts once you are in the water but the resort has some sandy bottom areas marked. As such, while water shoes are helpful in some areas, they are not required. The water was quite calm while we were at the resort and there wasn’t a single day that a red flag was up. Snorkeling off the beach was decent and we saw quite a few fish, some coral, and rays. That said, you will find significantly better snorkeling by going on a tour or by snorkeling from one of the rocky beaches near San Miguel.
The Sunscape has only one pool but we were happy with it. While not huge it, it is a good size for the resort and never felt crowded while we were there. The pool was kept reasonably clean during our stay and unlike some resorts they did not have specific pool hours – you could use the pool any time you wanted (and it was warm enough, in the morning it tended to be a bit cold). The one downside of the pool was that it did not have a swim up bar.
Room
We had room 2013, a standard room with two double beds. The room was located immediately off the lobby and directly behind the lobby/pool bathrooms. While this made it one of the closest rooms to many of the resort amenities it also meant there was nearly constant traffic and noise just outside our room. It also meant that you could hear the nightly entertainment very clearly in our room. Bottom line, I’d avoid this room if you can, unless you really value the short distance to the main resort facilities. The room itself was a decent size and had a nice size rainfall shower in it. It also looked like at one time it had been nicely appointed but over time it had not been well maintained. Some examples that showed the age and lack of maintenance were stains on the chairs and pillows, scratches, on the table, the iron was missing, holes in the black out curtain you could see light through, and a very noisy AC unit. More immediate housekeeping type issues with the room included a slow draining sink and shower, no hair conditioner being provided, and some surfaces not being clean (when I wiped with just a little force the debris came off). Despite all of this I’d say the room is better than what we’ve seen at some other lower end all inclusive resorts, but it was disappointing for a Hyatt property.
Service and Maintenance
Service was hit and miss during our stay. There were a few staff who were genuinely helpful and friendly but many were just barely engaged in their work. Service at the restaurants and bars was slower than what I’ve typically experienced in similar settings. For example it might be ten to fifteen minutes before someone came to take your order at a meal or to ask if you wanted a refill while you were sitting at the bar with an empty glass. In a couple of cases this was obviously because they were understaffed or very busy. Frequently though you could see staff standing around talking while this was occurring.
As indicated previously housekeeping was also hit and miss for us. We never received all of the towels you’d expect (washcloth, hand, and bath) and it seemed like something was always missed during cleaning. A poorly draining sink, a dirty glass left here, a surface not wiped down there, etc.
What was most annoying for me though was the lack of action and follow through when we reported problems. Unfortunately we had opportunity to try this out multiple times and the outcomes were decidedly mixed. Three examples:
Soon after checking in we discovered that both the sink and shower drains backed up and drained very slowly. I reported these to the front desk and told them they could fix them tomorrow morning if that was more convenient for them. These were actually fixed that evening while we were out.
At the same time as reporting the drainage issues the first night I also asked for hair conditioner and they said they would be happy to deliver some to our room. Again I told them this could be done tomorrow when the room was cleaned if desired. No conditioner was delivered to our room and when we returned to our room around 5:30PM the next day we still had none. About 6:30PM I asked again at the front desk and they assured me that they would deliver some ASAP. None was delivered and we went to bed. Then at 9:30PM they started knocking on our door to deliver the conditioner.
And worst was a smoke alarm in the bathrooms by the lobby that was beeping (likely due to needing its battery changed). I reported this three times over a period of more than two days and it was never addressed before we checked out. This was particularly annoying as it could be heard inside our room. The only upside was that the AC was noisy enough that when running you could no longer hear the constant beeping from the other building.
Food
One of the reasons we like going to All Inclusive resorts is that food and drinks are included and you don’t have to worry about them. Food at the Sunscape was highly variable. We had a few good dishes but had many more mediocre or even bad dishes. Portion sizes also varied wildly so you could never really predict how many things you should order. Our first couple of meals the appetizers and salads were very small so we later ordered more of them but then ended up with too much food when they were bigger than expected. In the end it is probably best to just ask the waiter about the portion size of what you are planning to order. It’s worth noting that we talked to guests staying at the sister Dreams and Secrets resorts who were also very disappointed in the food at their resorts too. While All Inclusive resorts broadly get a bad reputation for poor food I have not found this to be true universally and the food at the Sunscape was definitely below average compared to other resorts we’ve visited.
Options are pretty limited in terms of restaurants but you are unlikely to go hungry. In reality there are only two restaurants on property. They are:
Sunny Side Grill – This is the main restaurant for the property and is located next to the pool and was our go to. This is where the breakfast buffet is served and it is converted to ala carte for both lunch and dinner. The breakfast buffet had a decent selection, though the fresh fruit options were disappointing and were no different than what we’d get back in the US both in terms of freshness and variety. When we went to breakfast before 8AM they were not ready and didn’t have everything out yet despite saying they would be open at 7AM. This was a common theme that things did not open/start on time at the resort. The lunch menu was the same every day that we were there but they rotated the dinner menus to improve selection, which we appreciated. Tip – During breakfast they don’t advertise it but will do made to order items such as bacon and omelettes if you ask.
El Patio – This Mexican restaurant is only open for dinner and is the only restaurant that is enclosed (it didn’t rain while we were there, we aren’t sure what they’d do if it rains!). We had dinner here one night and were very disappointed. We tried quite a few different dishes over 50% of them were bad enough that we only ate a small portion of them. The only good thing we had here were the soups.
Below you can see the restaurant schedule we were given when we arrived at the resort. You’re probably going to say, wait, that says there are more options!
Well, that’s kind of true. The other options weren’t exactly restaurants and all were open air.
Oregano – This was a pop up Italian restaurant that they said they were “testing” while we were there. As such, it’s hard to know if this will be there when others go. Basically what they did was put about 8 tables out between the pool and “Snack Machine”, which was also where waiters got the food for tables from. We ate here one night and were generally happy with the food. The location is a bit awkward though as it is a main thoroughfare for the resort so you have people walking between the tables constantly. Also, it is very near to where they did the entertainment so if you are eating late you are going to be near that (for better or worse).
Tortugas Terrace – Each day they set up a grill and a few buffet options on the terrace by the Tortugas bar. Options here were extremely limited and were basically burgers and chips with nacho cheese and chili (no, they didn’t have guacamole!).
Poolside Tacos – Not listed above but several days they also opened a taco station near the pool for a couple of hours. I’m not sure if this was an alternative to the “Snack Machine” – which we never saw being open – though they occasionally staff walked through the resort handing out food or ice cream to those in and around the pool.
Drinks
The availability of drinks at the resort was good. They had a wide selection of options and were accommodating with specific requests. For example I frequently asked for non-alcoholic mojitos with half sugar and they were happy to accommodate such a request. You will not find top shelf liquors or fine wines included but there is a good variety of non-alcoholic drinks and well or slightly higher level liquors. They also included beer and some limited options for sparkling, red, and white wine.
Minibar
The minibar is included with your all inclusive package and includes water, sodas, and beer. That said, we were told numerous times at check in that our minibar would not be restocked, except for water. This wasn’t a problem from our perspective since drinks were easily accessible elsewhere but it is the first time I remember the minibar not being restocked at an all inclusive resort.
Kid’s Club
One of the included amenities at the Sunscape is the Explorer’s club. This allows you to drop off your 3-12 year old child (or children) so that you can have some time to yourself. It’s worth noting that you are expected to be on property and reachable via cell phone during your child’s stay at the club. Confusingly the Explorer’s club is located near the gym in the area marked as the Core Zone Teen’s Club instead of by the pool area where there is a large sign that says Kid’s Club directly above the “Snack Machine”. As far as I could tell the Explorer’s Club and Core Zone Teen’s Club were located in the same space.
The Explorer’s club is open 9AM-10PM and you can pick up and drop off at most any time. We did run into some confusion when we went to drop my daughter off around 1:30PM and they said that it was almost lunch time. After some difficult communication (my Spanish isn’t great, and neither was their English for this conversation) we took them to mean they were closing for lunch. I think what actually was happening was they were taking all of the kids to lunch! My daughter had already eaten so it was fine to wait until after they ate lunch before dropping her off but it would have been nice if we’d been able to understand what was happening.
I dropped my daughter off around 2:30PM and came back a couple of hours later to pick her up. She was having so much fun doing activities with new friends that she wanted to stay longer. So I gave her another half an hour or so before coming back. When I arrived back at the Explorer club space it was empty as they had headed off to get ice cream and play in the pool. This is great from an activity perspective but I can imagine would be unsettling for some parents if they didn’t know in advance what the schedule was. To their credit they did post the kid’s club activity schedule near the pool. Also, it is a small resort so just spending some time walking around you are going to find the group pretty quickly.
Despite the communication challenges with one of the staff and the odd signage this was a highlight for my daughter and was very well done. I’d put this as one of the primary benefits and highlights of this resort when traveling with kids. It is also worth stating that my daughter has in the past sometimes not been a fan of kid’s clubs at other resorts but really liked this one.
Activities
Another feature of All Inclusive resorts I’ve been to is that they have an activity schedule. That was the case with the Sunscape but options were more limited than what I’ve seen at other resorts (likely in part due to the smaller size). This comes in three major flavors from my perspective.
Activities You Can Do On Your Own – This includes items like kayaking, paddle boarding, and snorkeling that are included at no cost and you go rent from the local water sports vendor. We made use of the kayak rental a couple of times during our visit and had no issues. We did try to use the same vendor for parasailing but ended up not doing it because they wanted to charge about 40% more than the amount that was posted because “there boat was being serviced and they had to use another vendor”. It is also worth noting that they will not allow kids to use paddle boards.
Scheduled Daytime Activities – This includes things like yoga, guacamole making classes, and silly games around the pool. We participated in a few of these and had fun, though they sometimes didn’t start on time.
Evening Shows – We attended these every night and had fun at them. These were more limited than what I’ve seen at other resorts and one night there was only a movie being shown. It just generally felt like the budget for these were quite small. The exception was the Mayan show however, which was very good and I’d highly recommend.
Also of note was that they did all of the evening shows outside near the pool despite there being a theater off the lobby.
Internet and Connectivity
Wifi speeds at the resort were very slow at 1Mbps or less at all locations I tried. Coverage was reasonable though including in our room, the lobby, at the beach, and pool. Cellular service was available at some parts of the resort and was significantly faster.
Final Thoughts
We had fun at the resort, and I definitely don’t regret going, but we also ran into quite a few issues. Overall I would recommend looking elsewhere as I have had better experiences elsewhere in Cozumel and the Riveria Maya at similar or better prices.
