We stayed at the White Sands for 5 days and very much enjoyed it. Here are the good and the bad:
Drinks bad. There is no real juice on the property, neither at the bar or the buffet. Everything is a weird cheap tasting artificial "fruit" flavor. Best of the bunch was passion fruit, depending on who mixed it for you; it was passable in a margarita or mojito. On day 3, I gave up and just had seltzer with lime. The house red wine is pretty good.
AC worked, but the room always felt damp.
Food: mostly mediocre. We preferred the buffets because you could always find something that was good. Tacos and Mexican food were great. Hibachi station at the Hacienda was great, too. Fruit always delicious. Service generally better at the Dahlia. The only good restaurant we ate in was Sumptuori, whose beef seemed to be better quality than the buffets, and our chef Paulino was great. The Paisana and Portofino had good salads, but none of us liked our entrees. Meat was chewy and pastas tasted weird--the butter in brown gnocchi butter sage sauce was margarine, I think, and there was no sage. The filling in the ravioli not good. Tiramisu nice, though!
Good: beautiful grounds, super nice staff, & immaculately clean pool at the White Sands. Loved the jungle paths from the WS to the Colonial. Lots of activities! We love archery with the fabulous Mafer, water aerobics with Miguel. and playing pickle ball as a family. The boys had a great scuba experience. We used the gym twice-very good!
