Secrets Resort

I came to Secrets Aura to SCUBA dive with a friend of mine, I booked my dives through Palancar divers, there are two onsite dive counters, Palancar and Light House, I found Palancar to be less money and very good.
Now onto the hotel:
The hotel is advertised as an «adult only hotel,» this simply means no kids, there is no nudity or freaky stuff going on… go to Cancun for that. The grounds of the hotel are very well kept, immaculate, the staff is great and always there to help.
Secrets is an all inclusive hotel and sits on a very long beautiful white sand beach however the water is very shallow and rocky, you need to swim out some distance to get into deeper water. There are two great pools at the hotel if you’re not into the ocean.
My room 1224 was very large, the bed was comfortable, AC worked great, lots of American channels and even free porn (definitely a great shock factor when flipping through channels)! My room had great blackout shades, it kept the room really dark in the morning.
The bathroom was great, big shower HOWEVER the shower head was broken and was spraying all over the place, and the shower control did not work properly. I told the front desk however it was never fixed. The other issue I had was the door that separated the bathroom from the hallway was glass, I was sharing the room with my friend, kinda awkward not having privacy from the room when in the shower.
Secrets has many different food options from casual to fancy-​ish however, the food is mediocre at best. The buffet at the Sunscape Hotel which is connected to Secrets (you can use their restaurants) is really bad, they really need to work on the food quality and how they prepare the food. A lot of items that should be hot are either cold or overcooked. I am not going to blame the hotel BUT I did have ceviche and had an upset stomach for several days pretty much started right after eating it.
If you’re looking for an all inclusive hotel, it’s very low-​key and relaxing, don’t expect too much from the food. The free WIFI works really good all over the hotel.
Secrets is about 15 minutes away from city life (not too much action) if you’re looking to escape for an evening, expect to pay about $ 15.00 each way for taxi.

Very disappointed with the resort, but snorkeling in the hotel’s waters is amazing. Rooms are tired:
1) worn/​wobbly hardware – this seemed like the norm in every location in the resort including doors and locks that required multiple attempts to lock, close, or made to work – including main door
2) hand rails in to room swim up had been replaced but the holes from the previous handrails were not filled in
3) repairs can be easily seen (plastering and caulking were done by a novice)
4) the beds are hard (read somewhere they would be sleep by number beds – haha) with worn mattresses and all linens smell musty
5) swim up pool had algae on tiles
6) slide from swim up pool to swim up bar was needing resurfacing and would have been like riding a cheese grater
7) paint was peeling in many areas
8) ceiling in shower had a nasty looking gap around the edges
9) wall are thin and neighbors could be heard watching tv, sometimes distinctly
These complaints were expressed by several guests. They, also, expressed how beautiful the location is.
The food:
1) breakfasts are simply sad, generic, and have little flavor or visual appeal
2) lunches are better than breakfasts, but are not very inspiring. Hamburgers and fries seemed like the best choice, but are ok, not great
3) dinners were the best meals with the Oceania (seafood) restaurant being our favorite because the ambience was nice and seemed more in line with a beach resort. Generally, it would be like standard airport fare.
4) dinner at Windows was excellent. We had beef carpaccio, vichyssoise, Argentinean beef tips, and shrimp curry. They were all excellent, therefore, I must upgrade from two to three stars. The time in the room cannot take away that much from the service and scenery.
Service seemed ok, and in some instances was very good; but given the likely salaries it is to be expected. Spa and massage prices seemed outrageous, even by US standards; most likely resort to the whale portion of the fee. This leads me to the «all inclusive» nature of the place. Tips were said to be included, but vacationing with a clear conscience would not make it easy to not tip. This seemed the unsaid common knowledge with the other more conscientious guests.
We did have the experience of leaving our safe open with our personal documents, a few hundred dollars in cash, and a couple cameras. The maid, Wilma, called security and made sure our belongings were secured. What could have turned out a downer on this vacation made us reaffirm our belief that the staff one interacts with is honest and are good people.
The push to join the «AMR Club» was hard. A firm «not interested» did do the trick. Read reviews about joining to make up your mind.
Snorkeling is awesome, if the sand has not been stirred by storms – experienced both clear and murky. Look under the pier and for rock formations under water in the swimming areas. Do stay in the designated swim areas since there can be a bit of boat traffic that would ruin any vacation.
The quality of the beach in front of Secrets is superior, by a sizable margin, than the beaches in front of Sunscape or the other adjacent properties (plenty of room, no seaweed, access to showers and bathrooms)
Other useful tips:
1) snorkeling tours – offered on premises, but from independent contractors – to the reefs and to see the starfish are worth taking. The waters are very clear and blue. We saw many fish, coral, and lobster
2) parasailing – also offered by independent contractors – gives one an excellent view of the beautiful scenery to be seen in this location
3) don’t be fooled by the occasional and heavy cloud cover in June, the intensity of UV radiation can cause severe burns if one doesn’t protect themselves (this is from experience – had a case of «Hell’s Itch» from burns after forgetting to reapply sunscreen on an overcast morning while lying under the shade of palm trees).

My review starts with Secrets, because I contacted them before even booking plane tickets. Part of my vacation was for diving, the other for relaxation.
The Dive Shop (DIVE HOUSE) completely LIED to us, expecting us to just settle for what was offered once we were in the boat. We had ONE opportunity to dive on this trip, and we would have happily booked with another company, but Secrets Hotel assured us that their in-​house dive shop would take care of our request. The dive shop ALSO assured us that they would be able to take us to the dive site we requested.
It turns out that they never intended to even attempt to accomodate us, but instead completely misled us. Secrets so far has done NOTHING to rectify the situation, they only make excuses and say «we will talk to the manager». Apparently this «manager» is like the Wizard of Oz, because after days of waiting and asking, I keep getting different variations of the same thing: «Sorry your vacation was ruined, maybe if you pay us again we can give you different excuses next time.»
The food was «okay», the service was about average, but for the price here I expected a little better service. I did not get good service, and Secrets obviously only cares about collecting your money and trying to upsell you on the opportunity to experience more crappy service at their other locations.
I am in the Caribbean maybe 8 times per year, and I’ll simply say this: Secrets Resort, you should be ASHAMED at the poor service your facility is providing.
I would NOT recommend Secrets, or any of their other properties, to anyone looking for value or a good dive shop.

Paid too much, received too little. Not nearly as good as other secrets resorts. Look around for other resorts to spend your money. Maybe it kinda sucked bc it was in Cozumel. He other one in Cancun is much better. But the Cozumel island and beach is truly beautiful.

This place is such a scam!!! My boyfriend and I were here in November for a friend’s wedding. We paid for one of the most expensive rooms on
. It was supposed to be a swim up room with ocean view. We paid an extra $ 200 a night compared to the «preferred» section just for this room. We don’t travel a lot so we thought we would go all out. Well, when we arrived we were told our room was not available because the entire building was under construction!!! They placed is in the «preferred» section making it seem like we somehow got an upgrade. It was NOT an upgrade. Again, we paid an extra $ 200 per night for 5 nights. That’s $ 1000 extra we paid to have the swim up room. Oh and they offered up a complimentary 20 minute massage to make up for the inconvenience. Haha! I’m sorry but a 20 minute massage just seemed like a waste of time.
Upon booking, we were also told we were receiving a $ 200 credit towards the spa/​dining etc. cool, except the $ 200 amount is split up. You can only use $ 100 toward spa services, $ 60 towards dinner and so on. So either way you are still spending more money.
Our stay there sucked.
Anyway, the resort told us when we get back home we can contact
to see if we can get some money back. When bookit called the resort they said they will not give us any money back because they offered us the massage to make up for it.
I will never ever EVER even consider going to this resort or any of the other resorts they are associated with.

We were here for 5 days for a wedding. We stayed in the preferred area of the resort, and it was lovely stay. However, I was not a fan of the restaurants, more specifically the cleanliness of the restaurants. I saw one guy open a package of pasta with his mouth, in plain site. Another gentleman, a server, scratched himself, again in plain site. And even though they told me at check-​in that they could accommodate my vegan diet, they never were able to deliver on that. I had the same thing for lunch and dinner every day because my options were so limited. The resort itself was lovely though.

This place is a solid 3 stars. The staff was amazing that is the only reason I didn’t rate it a 2. Especially Carlos in the preferred pool, he memorized our drinks and names and as soon as we started walking over had them ready. And when we walked by to the beach he delivered them to us out there. Amazing service.
The downside was that our first room had mold on the pillows! So disgusting. They eventually moved us to another room but it was so gross. They failed to move our bottle of tequila and welcome champagne which was a bummer but not a big loss at this all inclusive. The restaurants are sub par compared to other secrets resorts like Maroma Beach or wild Orchid. We were shocked to come from those facilities into this one which Agnes at the Preferred Lounge stated was still «in transition»
The lounge was a nice spot but the food or snacks they had in there were disgusting. Especially the sushi that is left out in a warm room from 11am until 4pm. Not sure how that meets any sort of food guidelines.
Overall disappointed in the price for what we received but the staff and activities added 1 more star to the review.

This place is sub-​par for the Secrets line. We just returned from a week vacation here.
The biggest problem with this resort is that is right on top of their sister resort Sunscape Sabor. Sunscape is their cheaper family budget friendly resort line. Secrets is one of their higher adults only lines. See where I’m going with this yet? To compound matters they placed the preferred section of the Secrets resort next to the Market Café buffet and that is the only buffer between the two resorts. So people from Sunscape were allowed to use the Market Café and there is no clear «You are entering the other resort» signs so there was a lot of drift of people who paid significantly less to come over an use the nicer amenities at the Secrets resort. The had a concierge in the preferred beach & pool area that had to spend a good deal of her time chasing off squatters. The other problem was the gym, theatre & some other amenities were only at Sunscape so it increased the intermingling. So my sour grapes are I paid for the adults only line and thus I do not want people routinely squatting with their kids on the beach in my resort. To the point where a couple with a very small infant kept coming over and having to get run off. I’m a curmudgeon and I’m ok with it, now get off my lawn… er beach!
Now on to the other issues. We are UVC club members already but since the staff trying to sell this was using the preferred lounge as their main hard sales pitch/​closing area it made it uncomfortable to just hang out there which stinks since it was the best bar in the place. A bar/​lounge with pool table sounds fun to hang out in unless it is a sales office. Next issue is the serious mosquito problem. I know it is a mostly open air resort and it is going into the rainy season but most of the bathrooms and other indoor spaces were polluted with them. Placing citronella candles in the bathrooms which are dark and dank would help keep them at bay. I really was getting eaten alive enough without descending into a swarm while trying to use the toilet. I’m not asking for them to do massive pesticide measures or anything to control their population just keep the non swimming areas with water like the fountain in the lobby from being a breeding grounds and some candles. They had some torches that might have had citronella oil in them at one outside dining area but I’m not sure it was actually citronella in them. I say this because citronella has a distinct smell and I did not get a whiff of it once all week. Now on to the food. So much worse than the other AM resorts we have been to. This was by far the worst food we have had at their resorts. Now Sapphire, Secrets Capri & Breathless in DR all had better food. The buffet was a sad sad affair. I really don’t think anything was fresh made other than the eggs in the morning. We tried to eat dinner here two nights and both times left and went directly to one of the other restaurants. The saddest was the «Mexican» food night. There are US chain restaurants that put out more «Authentic» food than this, I wish they had tried to do some regional dishes. The food in the other restaurants on site were all style with some nice plating but the food was generally bland and not cooked properly. They had to have been out of a lot of things or there was a serious amount of concept lost in translation because we ran in a lot of substitutions like field greens instead of arugula or pine nuts instead of walnuts.
For the accommodations we were in the preferred area and our room was very spacious and the cleaning staff did a great job. There were only two — four rooms per floor in this area so it was quite and the rooms well insulated so your don’t hear your neighbors. It is concerning thought that during the one thunder storm we had while there the whole unit lost power. They have wifi but is a joke though. It kept going out and just dropping the signal altogether. The TV reception is terrible with most channels being heavy static. The lights on the ceiling AC units are so bright that it was like having a nightlight on in the room which I guess could be seen as an advantage if you are stumbling around wasted in the middle of the night but for me it resulted in sleep loss.

I went here for a short trip with my girlfriend a few months ago. The staff in the resort is very welcoming and helpful. They upgraded our room to the solaris with private plunge pool! Amazing ocean view! We booked scuba diving from the resort and had a really memorable great time. It wasn’t the season for sea turtles but we got super lucky and saw one! The beach at the resort wasn’t that great for swimming or snorkeling so I would recommend renting a car because there are so many beautiful beaches within close driving range. The restaurants were really nice for all inclusive. I was very pleased with the service, and the general attitude from staff was always positive. The employees make a really mean chelada! (Our new favorite drink) Overall, we had a really wonderful time. Definitely coming back and would recommend it to anyone looking for an adults only romantic resort in Cozumel. Also surprised to find out they are really gay friendly which was nice for my partner and I to feel accepted.

This was an amazing experience. My boyfriend and I were celebrating our anniversary and the staff, food, pools, room, and beach were amazing. The staff were so nice and made us feel like we were home, a beautiful perfect home. Oceana was great for lunch and dinner, Market Café had wonderful omelets along with being a great place to grab smaller meals throughout the day. When we were on the beach or by the pool the staff were quick to check if we needed anything and make sure we were happy. A perfect example was at the Market Café one of the servers, Jorge, brought us our preferred drinks without even asking. I’m fairly certain the server the day before remembered so we were taken care of, that was Marcos. It was small details like that that were wonderful and really pushed our experience to the next level. A different Marcos at Oceana during lunch was so positive and friendly, loved him. Marlon was one of the waiters at Oceana in the evening and was so wonderful to help make sure my boyfriend and I were taken care of.
While everything is included if you tip the staff they will go above and beyond, which didn’t seem possible. Everything from the welcome experience with Yussell showing us to our room and giving us such a warm welcome to our last dinner on the beach where Jorge brought our drinks without even a request was an absolute dream. The views and beach are beautiful. The entire experience was like taking every image from postcards and movies into our vacation. Amazing!
We will absolutely come back and recommend it to everyone that will listen.

I couldn’t give this resort 2 stars, although I wanted to. Yes, it might be one if the nicer hotels on Cozumel, but my expectations were DEFINITELY higher for this hotel. It is NOT a 4 star hotel. It is a 3 star hotel. I was here for a wedding, and so 50 of us were in a number of rooms, from the most luxurious to the most basic. Personally, I upgraded my room to the Swim-​up Suite, and I was VERY disappointed. The room swims up to two water slides, which badly need to be resurfaced and hurt going down. What’s more, the bathroom water cannot hold a constant temperature; it’s either HOT or FROZEN. The food is disappointing, as well. If you’re staying here, coming with lowered expectations. It’s not the luxurious place it pretends to be online.

I got a complaint… I’ll update later with the positives. But right now we are in the Desires bar. The place is crowded and ready for fun. We’ve asked multiple people how to get music up here… But they said the music is an auto DJ down at the beach, which is empty, and in another hour a DJ will be here when he is done playing songs for the kid dance party at the resort next door.
Sooooo… That kind of sucks.

Mas o menos.
Three nights here. Last minute trip with husband. Based on reviews, we expected more as weve stayed at many tropical all-​inclusives and checked reviews for Secrets.
This was by far the worst all inclusive resort as far as food options, we have ever stayed. The food was not awful, by any means however choices, hours, flexibility, good service– not to a four star standard. A Breakfast option was buffet, with horrible set up, felt like I was at a toll booth– free for all. service was horrible. My husband got up numerous times to fill our own drinks with water. Another option was Windows, a la carte, basic options– yogurt, cereal, america egg & meat plate, about ten unimpressive options. Again, getting someone to fill your water — not attentive. Didnt utilize room service. Lunch and dinner– same, Windows, buffet (which italian night was a joke– not a soul in there and again, ZERO service, my husband poured my drink, and options were so bland that we left after a small bite).
The things theyre doing right– Oceana and Bordeaux. Dinner was great at both of these. The hostess from Wed evening at Oceana was so sweet. Each of these menus was good for an experience and seemed to be staffed much better to offer better service. I will note, it doesn’t take much to satisfy when it comes to food and service– have a good salad bar, friendly staff, and keeping atleast the water full.
The beach had good access, no one hustling you to buy stuff, pricey spa services, snorkel gear had a limit and we received a handful of broken masks-​annoying, free wifi, hammock on balcony, no elevators in our villa. The drink service at pool and beach was again, way below par.
Resort was large, and set up strangly. Took us about two days to figure out how to get where we needed to go.
Adults only, Playboy TV offered complimentary– dying to of sat in on the deciding conversation of should or why every room needs PlayBoyTV. Annoying, when our remote didnt work.
Overall, id say it was a good experience but expected better. When your paying $ 300 a day, I’d like better beverage and food service.

The rooms a huge and nicely done. I love the large bath area and shower. There was a great balcony with a seating area. Room service was great and all the food in the resort was tasty. The drinks could be better, but I think it really depended on the bartender. My main complaint is that the people who work here do not seem very happy. We had a couple of great employees, Marcos and Martin at the Barfoot Café and Felipe at the preferred club bar. They were upbeat and friendly and did not act as if we were bothering them. Otherwise, the others all wore sour expressions and really did not care. Such a difference from Secrets Capri in Cancun, where everyone was absolutely amazing and enjoyed their jobs.

We went here for our honeymoon and hit some snags that ordinarily would’ve left us very disenchanted and unwilling to return. However, the resort as a whole is so incredible and the staff so amazing that we would not only come back, but we are already planning our next trip back.
The all inclusive feature is stellar. We ate and drank our little hearts out and everything– even tip– is included. Tips are welcome and the staff is super appreciative. There were some definite annoyances on this trip, but I think the majority of it was that the resort was VERY busy while we were there.
Pros:
* Two words– ALL INCLUSIVE.
* The restaurants were great, with the exception of one experience which I will list in the cons.
* The staff is absolutely incredible. They will do anything you need and are genuinely friendly. It was so nice to see REAL smiles. Anyone you ask clearly loved their job.
* For all the snags we hit, they made up for it greatly. We were given a discounted rate to upgrade, a free continental breakfast with a bottle of champagne and 2 free massages
* the upgraded room was ahhhhhhmazing. To die for. My apartment is slum in comparison.
* the resort is SO CLEAN. They maintain it pristinely.
* ADULTS ONLY! No screamy children. YASSSSS.
* TRY THE JUNE BUG DRINK. THEN TRY IT FROZEN. YOURE WELCOME.
* After requesting that our mini bar get restocked, because they had apparently skipped us that day, they not only double stocked it, but left us a tray with a full bottle of tequila, shot glasses, limes and salt. SCORE!
* the staff. Yes, I know I mentioned them already but it deserves mentioning again. They were so personable that we actually went around before our flight saying goodbye to them!
Cons:
* STAY AWAY FROM SUNSCAPES. DONT DO IT. It sounds like a good deal but oh my god– don’t. It’s smaller, dingier, LOUD. You don’t get access to the whole resort the way you do on the Secrets side, even though they advertise as such. The rooms are literally one room and a bathroom, and that’s not a big room.
* be very careful when you book. We booked a honeymoon package and king room with a view and we got a crap room, no package and 2 twin beds… on our honeymoon. STAY AWAY FROM SUNSCAPES!
* request a specific time for the nightly turn down service or they’ll come… whenever. 10:30? 7:00? 9:45? It varied daily and became an annoyance.
* Same for maid service. They will pound and pound and pound on the door at weird hours during the day… even when you’re yelling to go away.
* Bordeaux, a French restaurant on the Secrets side, is always packed and busy, but the food is tasty. It’s the «fancy» place to go for dinner. However, it was so slammed one night that after putting our names in at 8:15, we didn’t eat until 10:30. 75% of the way through my chicken cordon bleu, I discovered that it was raw on one end. Guess who was loving the toilet the next day?
* The spa is excellent– seriously excellent– but skip the gel manicure. Overpriced and all around not good. It took 2 hours!
* The shopping sucks. They have 6 small shops and they’re wicked overpriced. We paid $ 26 for a bottle of sunscreen! Apparently you have to go into town for the good shopping, but we were kind of lazy and didn’t want to leave the pool and free drinks. Why pay to leave when you’re all inclusive?! More shopping would definitely be awesome, though.
All in all– fantastic place. We WILL be back! If it hadn’t been for the crap check in and the food poisoning, it would’ve easily been 5 stars!
(shout out to Mariana, Jose and Isabel. WE LOVE YOU!)

My husband and I went here for our 10 year anniversary. I thoroughly love the idea of an adults only resort, especially since we were leaving our little ones at home. But, the resort felt like it needed a face lift. Our room was nice. I think it was recently redone. But, the rest of the resort felt like it also needed to be redone. We upgraded to receive a premium experience. This allowed us to share resources with their sister resort next door. This was nice. With the premium experience, there were a number of great restaurant options, but the food was not the best that I have had. The Mexican restaurant was my favorite. We also paid for all inclusive food and beverages. The drinks were well liquour and lower end wines. If you pay for the premium experience, you can upgrade to top shelf liquor (but the wine is the same). Pools were nice. Entertainment was fun and there was plenty to do.

I adore this place. The check in was fast, the staff incredibly friendly. The food is delicious. Truly better than i expected. It wasnt until day 3 that a few things hindered my enjoyment of this stunning resort.
My neighbouring guests apparently would go out drinking and return after 3 am without their key, and felt the need to yell and kick the door until their apparently hearing impaired friends would get up and let them in. Not the hotels fault. I should have called the front desk but i didnt.
The next day, i was sitting in my rooftop pool (glorious!) and smelled cigarette smoke. Yuck. My neighbours were smoking. I had thought it was a non-​smoking facility. I could be wrong. But WE were threatened with a 300 $ USD room cleaning fee if our room was deemed to smell like smoke. Ok then.
The next day, while on the beach, we noticed people walking across the roofs going in to different rooftop pools. They didnt go to ours, but went to the others. It made me very uncomfortable and I felt like i needed to return to the room. Again, not the hotels fault. I should have called the front desk about it.
Positives:
The food is simply amazing. Its always hot, fresh and wonderfully plated. Art.
The staff is wonderful. Very helpful and sweet.
The pools are gorgeous.
The large beach area is clean and attractive.
The free drinks are quality, not bottom shelf liquor.
On day 4 I had finally had enough of the neighbour idiots. I went to the lobby, told them about the smoking, the pool/​roof jumping, and the early morning, 3 am percussion sessions. They quickly offered my husband and i massages. I grudgingly accepted, im so glad i did. They were both talented massage therapists. Very good.
I will go back, but if something problematic happens i will call the front desk and get it handled instead of stewing about it. They were happy to try to fix things once i did tell them there was a problem. Great place.