After being out one night we found ourselves locked out of the building – the electronic keypad no longer worked. It was hot, dark and desolate, and all our belongings, including our car key, were in the apartment! Tried every combination and banged loudly on the glass doors, but no one heard us. Sitting on the sidewalk we called the “emergency number” for Mexico that had been provided, and no one answered!!! We walked around the entire complex, trying all entrances on both streets. We were very puzzled since there was no one besides us locked out on the street! Finally, someone inside saw us and let us in. As soon as we got into the apartment we called the 24/7 Emergency contact number in the booklet left by the management. There was an unintelligible recording; we left our number and nobody ever got back to us, either that night or the next morning when we were prisoners in the apartment! We couldn't leave for fear of being locked out again. By going back into our records, my husband found the U.S. contact number for the owner, which is the management company North American Standards, which was not answered but listed yet another Mexican number. That number was answered by a person who told my husband, sheepishly, that the code had been changed, and “weren’t you told?” NO, WE HAD NOT BEEN TOLD!
So much for the "24/7 availability for emergencies" advertised in the North American Standards’ brochure! Imagine if there had actually been a dangerous emergency!
Even if this deal-breaker hadn’t occurred, I don’t think we would have wanted to return to this condo for the following reasons.
The private penthouse terrace is nowhere you’d want to be unless you enjoy sitting in an old Jacuzzi tub that only has cold water or on a wooden lounge chair that is missing it’s cushion seat and has no umbrella for shade. The usable rooftop above that is available to everyone in the building.
The condo is sparsely furnished; only comfortable place to sit is a soiled white 2-seat sofa. The bathrooms are ok, though fixtures are corroded and could use update. The pros: good a/c, comfortable beds, a parking spot.
The nearby beach (Coco) had a sulphur smell and a beach club with endless bass-thumping music (see reviews for beach clubs Martina and Encanto to see if that is the kind of beach experience you like), but that's typical for Playa del Carmen.