Which house sleeps 8

The houses that sleep 8 or more are Club Real Villa (12 guests, from $399 a night, Playacar Phase 2); Casa Marina Grotto (10 guests, from $399 a night, Playacar Phase 1); 3 Floor Beach Penthouse (8 guests, from $119 a night, Mamitas Beach).

asa Marina is the house that sleeps 10. Casa Carnival and the Fifth Avenue penthouse each sleep 8. The Leaf Oasis is the studio for two. The sentence at the top of this note is filled from the current nightly rates, because Glenn can discount a few dates and then return the house to its normal price. Read that sentence for the number. Read the rest for which house you actually want.

Casa Marina, when the group is ten

Casa Marina Grotto is four bedrooms in Playacar Phase 1, arranged around a private grotto pool, with the beach a short walk through the gate. The copy on the house says up to ten guests. Four bedrooms and four and a half baths leave room for a family, or for a group that actually wants to stay in.

The reason to book it is the water in the garden. Cascading waterfalls drop into the grotto pool. There is a tiki palapa treehouse, and the terraces are part of the day, not a balcony you look at once. Evenings tend to end at the edge of that water. A gated path leads toward the sand. Fifth Avenue is close enough for dinner and far enough that the street in front of the house stays quiet. Right outside the living room is a lounge for late-night conversation or for shaded hours when you want to sit still.

Choose Casa Marina when the count is closer to ten than to eight, when someone in the group cares about a private pool more than about being on Fifth Avenue, and when the beach should be a walk rather than a view from the roof. The kitchen, parking, and outdoor dining are on the property. You are inside the Phase 1 gate. You are not in a building above a beach club.

If the group is eight and happy, Casa Marina still works. You will have rooms to spare. You are paying for the grotto and the extra beds, not because you were forced to size up. If the group is two, do not take it. That is what The Leaf Oasis is for.

Casa Carnival, when the group wants to stay in and host

Casa Carnival is four bedrooms and four bathrooms in Playacar Phase 2, inside the Club Real community, with room for up to eight guests. The one-line description is an oasis pool in a jungle yard and the Leaf clubhouse next door. The longer truth is that the house was built to entertain.

There is a theater room and a fully equipped office for anyone working away from home. The kitchen is a large commercial kitchen with an oversized commercial refrigerator, plus the gourmet kitchen. Open shelves in the pantry hold pots, pans, and stockpots for the night the group cooks. The rooftop terrace looks over the jungle: a palm in a pot of white stones, lounge chairs toward the trees, a glass table in the sun. The garden runs out to an outside bar, an outside kitchen, lounges, and fire pits, and then to the pool. Outside, the dining and kitchen area seats up to 18, which is the number that matters if you are hosting people who are not sleeping in the house.

The living room has an aquarium and a 100-inch television. Each bedroom has its own television. The community paths reach tennis courts, swimming pools, and fitness equipment. Golf, beach access, and private security belong to Playacar Phase 2.

Choose Casa Carnival when eight people want a house they do not have to leave, when someone needs a desk, when a movie night is a real plan, or when you expect to feed more people than you are lodging. It is the wrong house if the point of the trip is to fall out of bed onto Fifth Avenue. Phase 2 is gated and green. Town is a ride, not a stroll at the end of the block.

The Fifth Avenue penthouse, when the town is the point

The 3 Floor Beach Penthouse is three floors above Mamitas Beach: four bedrooms for eight, a private rooftop, and the water in front of the building. A huge lap pool sits right outside the front door. One short block from Fifth Avenue’s restaurants, and one block from Mamitas Beach Club. Custom cabinetry, a large private wraparound terrace over the city, and a private rooftop Jacuzzi.

Four bedrooms and three baths sleep eight. The rooftop is the reason to book it. Sunset happens up there, and the ocean view is the one the building was stacked to catch. Under the stairs, a daybed is another place to sleep, which is useful when the eight are not a neat four couples. The kitchen is a real kitchen, dark wood against a red wall, with an island. This is a downtown apartment that happens to be three floors and a roof, not a villa in a garden.

Choose it when the group is eight and the plan is Mamitas, Fifth Avenue, and coming home without a car. Choose it over Casa Carnival when nobody needs a theater, a commercial kitchen, or a jungle yard. Choose it over Casa Marina when the beach club matters more than a private grotto. You are in a building. The lap pool outside the door is not a pool that belongs only to you in the way the grotto does.

The Leaf Oasis, so the smaller trip has a name

The Leaf Oasis is a one-bedroom studio for two in Playacar Phase 2, with a garden view and the community pools, gym, and café outside the door. Three large pools, a children’s pool with slides, a playground, a gym and a café at the water. A queen bed, a full kitchen, and air conditioning are inside. Beach access and the golf course belong to the community, along with 24-hour security. Pets are allowed.

Book it for two people who want the Leaf grounds without taking a whole house. Do not book it for eight. The beds are not there. If a couple is traveling with the group that took Casa Carnival next door in spirit, this is the studio that lets them have their own door and still share the pools.

How to match the count to the house

Count the people who need a bed, not the people who might stop by for dinner. Casa Carnival can feed 18 outside and sleep 8 inside. Those are different numbers. A dinner party is not a reason to size the bedrooms up, and a couch is not a plan for a week.

If you are 9 or 10, Casa Marina is the house that was written for that count.

If you are 8 and you want a gate, a jungle pool, a cinema, and a kitchen that can cook for a crowd, Casa Carnival.

If you are 8 and you want Fifth Avenue and Mamitas at the end of the block, the penthouse.

If you are 2, The Leaf Oasis.

The nightly rate on the first line is the normal rate as published today. A few dates can be discounted, and then the normal rate returns. The house page is where that calendar lives. Booking is direct with Glenn. He has lived in Playacar and Playa del Carmen for 25 years, and he is the owner of the houses, not an outside management company.

Which house sleeps 8