Relaxing week!!!

If you’re looking to unwind from a stressful job and just take a break in the most beautiful picture ass place in the Caribbean, this is your hotel just arrived. Home from a weekday. Staff was wonderful. Food was adequate but definitely quiet and relaxing.

Beautiful beach

The beach was beautiful however there were not enough umbrellas on the beach people were up early to reserve chairs and umbrellas and sometimes were left there empty for hours. The hotel needs some renovation hallway floors were stained. The room was clean. The food was ok. The buffet was limited not much variety. No drink service on the beach or by the pool like other secrets properties. Overall it is a beautiful location they just need to improve on service and food. Also while we were there t [... read more]he dump behind the mountain was on fire for 3 days this was concerning due to air quality.

Amazing resort!

They are still under renovation from prior hurricanes. Was this a 5 star throughout? No. But it was certainly more than a 4.5 throughout hence the 5 star review. It appears they are choosing to spend their renovation dollars wisely. The Lobby is a great start with 5 stars, but then in the hallways to your room you may be wondering is this a 3 star? Then you open your door and it is luxurious 5 stars - the only better I have been in was in high-end Vegas. The food was fabulous, we did  [... read more]not have a bad meal or portion of a meal. Sometimes the buffet was better than the restaurants. The beer and liquor is name brand top-shelf stuff. All beaches on St. Martin are public, but since this is so isolated no issues there. White powdery sand for kms/miles. Turquoise gentle waters due to the partial reef offshore. Depending on the tide, winds, and current you may get some seagrass (seaweed) coming onshore. This only happened 2 days back to back during our stay. Once the tide turns, staff hand rake the beach within an hour. We couldn't get a straight answer other than the resort is fully booked, but it was definitely NOT at 100% capacity as at a guess only 50% to 75% of the rooms have been renovated so far. All restaurants were 'open', just not all the time. The Buffet (Market Cafe) and Himitsu (Pan-Asian) was open all the time due to specialized cooking equipment, but the rest rotated through a single physical location such that e.g. Portofino (Italian) was Day 1, Ratatouille (Mediterranean) was Day 2, Olio (French) was Day 3, then repeat. CoCo's Cafe was open 7 AM to 11 PM. The swim-up bar was not open, but backing it the main pool bar was open. 10AM for beer and 11AM for liquor. If you really suffer that badly to get out of the huge infinity pool or walk 100 feet from the ocean to get your drink this review is meaningless to you. The iguanas are large and 'friendly', well, at least used to us tourists anyway. Isolation: Great on one hand as it is relaxing and quiet. It may only be 18 km/12 mi from the airport but it takes you an hour to make the journey. You may want anti-nausea medication before undertaking this journey which is not for the faint of heart. The islanders say the same about driving in snow (they can't even imagine it), so it is what you are used to. The 2 hour round-trip for excursions really adds to the length of the day. All excursions take this into account so be prepared to start your day very early. There are only 2 all-inclusive resorts on the island, one in the Dutch part and this one in the French part. This island produces nothing other than some fish and 2 kinds of lobster. EVERYTHING else is imported. Tourism is their lifeblood.

Complete Disappointment

The check in was odd but efficient. First impression was the complete lacking look of a luxury resort, nothing fancy by any means. Our room was pretty average considering it was a Preferred upgrade. There were severe signs of wear, mold and generally a worn out room. we had a daily infestation of millipedes. The breakfast buffet was the only morning option and it was adequate with your basic standards but again nothing fancy. The buffet room itself should have been updated 20 years ago. Lunch wa [... read more]s either at the pool for burgers/hotdogs or the buffet. Dinner was even more disappointing. No where did the Sunwing website mention that most of the restaurants were closed for renovations. We could have the buffet or hibachi. There was a small section of the buffet converted for a small theme area. Generally the food was good but just lacking on options. Again, far from a luxury resort. They class their coffee shop as a restaurant because you can get a cookie there. The Preferred lounge was far from expected, seating for 8 but open to everyone, preferred or not. Sunwing also "forgot" to mention the lack of nightly entertainment due to more renovations going on at the theatre. Their solution was a DJ at the lobby bar. Nice beach, the pool is nice but designed poorly for allowing enough chairs. There were never enough. An employee told us they were closing again at the end of May for 18 months for further renovations. It really needs it. The staff was great but many lacked enthusiasm and we could see why.

Friendly Place

The staff at Secrets is absolutely wonderful. We couldn't have been more happy with the care we received. The drinks are incredible and made as if they were out of a magazine. The entertainment was different overnight but great.

Terrible Resort !!

The resort is scheduled to be closed at the end of April for renovations so they let thing go. We had no knowledge of this nor did the other guests -- The Pool was green and not working they advertise this to be the biggest Infinity pool in the Caribbean what a JOKE !!- Really sad it was slimy and green full with algae !! They where running out of inventory ( Alcohol and Food ) Only half the staff where working if that, But I must say the staff that where working did their best to keep the g [... read more]uests happy it was very difficult for them! Restaurants where limited and on a Saturday nite only the buffet was available!! Many guests had a Big cockroach infestation in their rooms!! We have been to all the couples Resorts and a handful of the Sandals resorts thinking we would have a similar experience boy where we wrong! - Secrets St Martin does not even come close to them!! My advise save your money do not go!!

Such a special resort!

I've just returned from a week at Secrets St. Martin and I would head right back tomorrow. After reading some reviews I was wary, but Secrets exceeded ALL my expectations. We traveled for my partner's 40th birthday and the resort went out of their way to help celebrate his special day. Our room was lovely and the cleaning staff did a thorough job each day cleaning and restocking anything we needed. The staff were all warm and friendly, going above and beyond to help with anything we needed, espe [... read more]cially the lobby staff. Alicia, the bartender at the lobby bar made great drinks and was a pleasure to chat with each day. The pool is outstanding with space for everyone. And the beach is beautiful, private and wonderful for daily swims. Lots of tropical fish to enjoy. All of the a la carte restaurants were a nice experience with no reservations needed (aside from the Teppanyaki restaurant, which is well worth it), tasty food and great ambiance. The buffet was a little underwhelming, but we only ate there at breakfast. We enjoyed the pool side buffet at lunch much more. The location is removed from some of the other bigger towns and cities on the island, which can be a positive if you're looking for relaxing. There's hiking trails close by as well as jet ski rentals (recommend renting from the marina at Island Jet rather than from the beach), and many excursions from the resort. A taxi to Grand Case cost about $13/person. There's also a number of shops just beside the resort that were fun to wander through. I could go on, but overall, I would highly recommend a trip to Secrets St Martin.

Secrets St Martin

Very nice, chill resort, excellent food, beautiful breach, attentive and friendly staff. Alcohol selection was better than a lot of resorts we have been to. Only complaint was that the evening entertainment was lame.

Ita a nice resort that has a lot of potential

Resort is nice unfortunately the service and restaurants are lacking even the front desk It seems like there is not enough workers working. if you purchase preferred club its not worth it your really not getting anything different so save your money.

This place needs a lot of work

The staff at this hotel, every single one of them was amazing. Their hospitality, attention to detail is something you would enjoy and expect from a resort. The rooms are updated and very clean. The grounds are in good shape, and the beach is beautiful. The problem with this hotel, is its food. It is one of the worst food experiences in my life. Basic 3-5 ingredient food would taste better than what I was given, which is why i'm absolutely shocked by how bad it was. The most edible plates [... read more] come from the buffet. My first night I got food poisoning from "FRESH" red snapper, which is a total lie. It was rubbery and raw at the same time = flash frozen. But I couldn't see how it was cooked, because there is no light to inspect anything that you're eating. That lead to 2 days of nibbling on processed foods to become well again. The next time i tried a restaurant dish was a pad thai, that had a pool of straight oil and black and burned peanuts, which I became sick from again. The sushi rice was like eating glue. The next day in the buffet the sushi rice was cooked correctly and was edible, I must add. Many other items my wife and I ate were just technically prepared wrong, and didn't taste anything like what it was supposed to. She had a putanesca once, that was like dog food placed on top of linguini or tagliatelle (pasta was horrible texture). On that dog food, was thick cut pieces of serrano ham that had gone RANCID. Okay... RANCID, I put it in my mouth and tasted the rottenness and acidity of meat gone bad. The juices in the morning were fermented! Bubbles of fermentation on the sides of its glass, the taste of kombucha in apple juice? orange juice? pinapple juice? I'm the least picky person when it comes to food, I eat everything. I barely ate here. They need to fix this ASAP.

Beautiful resort!

My husband and I stayed a week and couldn’t have been more happy! The grounds were beautiful the food was amazing, but most of all the views were spectacular! We overlooked the marina with a view of the mountain, it felt like we were in paradise!

Very disappointing!

This resort is nothing as advertised. We made the best out of our vacation. Staff was very friendly. The Preferred Member status was a joke. Don't pay the extra $, everyone gets the same treatment, no perks. Beach was an extreme disaster. Certainly not what was advertised. during the entire stay, the beach was partially cleaned once. There were only a couple restaurant choices. If it wasnt for the friendly staff, bartenders, trip would have been a bust!

Lovely Property; Tired Resort

The setting for this resort is stunning and the beach is truly spectacular. The facilities however require a major facelift in terms of general maintenance such as paint, tile work and overall landscaping. The staff at the resort are warm, friendly and sincere in their quest to provide good service. The food choices are limited, especially after hours, but tasty and well presented.

Very Relaxing

If you're looking to party this not the place, if you want a romantic getaway then this is perfect. The staff was great, food was good, entertainment was what you'd expect. They are still trying to get up to secrets standards but are almost there. Pool and ocean were fantastic. We had a swim up suit and was definitely an added bonus. The resort is in a small bay surrounded by hills and only on other small resort there. Very pretty area. Overall I really enjoyed my stay there

Great resort. Amazing views

The resort was great. The views and scenery were amazing. Every day i commented thay it was the most beautiful place weve every been to. The tempurature never went below 27 and we barely saw rain during the day. We stayed in a Marina view swim up in building 4. We had full sun from 7am to 2 pm. The swim up pool was clean and warm. The main pool could have been cleaner. They vacuumed it daily but the edges needed to be scrubbed. We were there the week after Canadian Thanksgiving and th [... read more]e resort was pretty empty. This resulted In rotating closure of the restaurants nightly. There were always 2 open and while the selection was limited the food was always excellent. The breakfast and lunch buffet had lots of options. Coco Cafe always had lots to choose from. We had room service on our last night and were NOT disappointed. Everyone was super friendly and very helpful. There weren't a lot of activities but again - it wasn't busy. Everyone said it's the slow season so it's understandable. They have a free shuttle the Philipsburg on Thursdays - be sure to sign up early as the bus fills up. We did jet skiing through the Marina next door and had a fantastic time. We also took a taxi to Pinel Island for some snorkeling and a change of scenery. It was disappointing that all excursions started on the Dutch side of the island and that you had to pay extra for transportation to get there but it's only a 30 minute drive to get to most places. I would definitely go back. This is not a resort if you need lots of entertaining but it was a fabulous relaxing resort and it was one of the best vacations we've had. There was a mix up with our room and didn't get to our correct room until nearly supper the day after arrival. I don't think this was the resorts fault - more so a booking error. The resort was able to rectify the issue though. The beach isn't long and we like to get for long walks but managed to find a nice trail just outside the resort and felt very safe walking it daily. There are massive iguanas everywhere but they didn't bother us. Half of my pictures were probably of them!

Very underwhelming

The resort rooms are very nice and clean, the staff was very nice, but all other aspects of the resort were very underwhelming. Restaurants/Bars: The pool restaurant (the Grill) was not open for 5 of the 7 days we were there... the bar closest to the beach was only open 1 day out of 7 so we had to haul ourselves from the beach all the way around the pool to the pool bar. They had a daily drink special which was good but the line ups were not good, on the last two days they had someone on the be [... read more]ach taking orders thank goodness. While the food was pretty good the choice of restaurants that were open was not good having 2 restaurants available per night meant line ups and the sushi restaurant was only open once while we were there, also the sports bar was not open at all while we were there. We ate off resort two nights to alleviate the boredom of the buffet. Water: finding water for the last 5 days was brutal, they ran out of water at most of the bars and you had to go up to the coffee shop at the front of the resort to find cold water. The Beach: The first three days we were there the beach was disgusting, no one raked, there was seaweed everywhere, broken umbrellas and just an overall lack of care... the view at the beach was amazing. This is one of the most expensive all inclusive resorts we have stayed at and it totally was not worth the money we've had better experiences at some 3 star resorts. Also people were leaving early and we almost left early but met an amazing couple so we stayed and stuck it out.

3.5 star resort

Excellent location, they are short staffed for sure. Only 2 restaurants open on a daily for dinners. Rarely get chairs with umbrellas on the beach unless you are there 7am, they should have more chairs and umbrellas at the beach and poolside since there is only one pool. Only entertainment was live karaoke or 3pc band, no other entertainment, maybe due to covid not sure. Serving staff were really nice but not enough to get service. Restaurants don't need reservations but if you go after 7:30 you [... read more] might be waiting upto an hour then another hour to get food. 24 hour Cafe need more food and deserts available. Overall if they are better staffed then this would be a great relaxing getaway.

A Sub-Par Resort At A Premium Price

This resort is badly in need up very significant upgrades. At best it’s a 3 out of 5. The rooms have been renovated and are nicely appointed, but the test of the resort is no better than a run-of-the-mill resort, but it comes with a premium price tag. There are NO beach facilities of any kind other than sand, chairs, broken umbrellas, and foul smells. On a good day a waiter might come buy once. The pool area activities are sadly lacking. The pool is in need of an overhaul. None of the wate [... read more]rfalls were in working order. The swim up bar looks to be 25 years old. The hot tub was closed. The activities desk was useless. There is water available in the gym, but it comprises bottled water that is warmer than room temperature. No tv’s or even music in the gym. On more than one occasion the resort ran out of beach towels by 10:30 am. Stray dogs are allowed to roam the premises. One buffet restaurant for evening dinner is hardly what I would expect from a resort having the reputation of a Secrets. Resort washrooms were in some cases so badly in need of repair that guests were required to return to their rooms. The price for 1 week at this resort is not significantly less than the cost of a week at a Sandals resort, however, there is simply no comparison. Sandals resorts are far superior in each and every way. I won’t be making the same mistake again and will not be going back to a Secrets resort. I regret my choice in this instance.

Just what we needed

Clean secluded resort, just opened recently so still has some bugs to deal with but overall a good relaxing vacation. With everything Covid we wanted something quiet and secluded, hotel was just over half filled so not a typical all-inclusive in the sense they only had two restaurants open a night (food was very good) The activity director had a challenge to get things going by the pool and the nighttime activities were very limited but the entertainment in the lobby bar was a different musicia [... read more]n every night. It was nice to not have to fight for a lounge chair either by the ocean or by the pool. They definitely had issues with staff being ill, and the manager was constantly walking around day and night making sure you were taken care of and greeting the guests. St. Martin is a beautiful island with amazing beaches, we will definitely be going back once the world gets back to normal.

I hope I get this right

You have a lot of options for your travel money so I hope not to sway you one way or another but to let you know what to expect. Secret's is a little more expensive than other options (at least when we went, November 2021), however you soon realize if you travel around the island that transportation is pretty expensive and Secret's is about as far from the airport as possible. So I little has to be allocated to that. When you arrive you will be underwhelmed, there is no formal welcome and a se [... read more]curity guard will point you to a chair to wait until someone is available. We were brought a glass of champagne which was nice. Processing is fairly easy and painless and from there you are off to your room. Rooms are generous in size, bathrooms are large, more than enough closet space, great TV, king sized bed (very good mattress), couch and a standard sized balcony. For us, the room was more than just ok. None of the rooms have ocean view, the main buildings face each other but there is lots of space between them so it's not like anyone is staring into your room. Some first floor rooms have a walk out to a shared pool with your neighbours. We did not see many people using the pools though and I heard through one person that the temperature was too cold so not being used. This is not first hand knowledge, so judge the info accordingly but I will confirm that we did not see many in the water. The general pool is great, the pool bar is great, the booze at the bars is great, food at the pool is great, the beach is outstanding, the service at both the beach (Loranne) and the pool (Rolinda, German) outstanding. The pool and beach are quiet, there is music at the pool but not blaring. Just what we wanted. The food is good. You won't be wowed but you shouldn't be disappointed either, I wonder if once more people start returning they may open up another restaurant but I don't know. The Hibatchi restaurant was very good and the main dining hall was above average compared to other all inclusive. I would recommend taking a $ 20 taxi to Grand Case and there they have a couple of outstanding French restaurants that you will never regret spending the money on. 7-9 page wine list, just to give you an idea. Also there is an incredibly good restaurant down the beach that I would highly recommend but it closes at 5pm, so more for lunch or late afternoon. Very worthwhile to go to, if you like unique French cooking. Orient Beach is a $ 20 cab ride away and has more hotels and beach bars on it, if you wanted to have something with more action. Covid was extremely easy, there is a doctor's office on site. Book your swab as soon as you arrive or the next day and results came back within 24 hours of taking the test. We would definitely go back again. Hope this helps PS the picture on this page associated with Secret's St. Martin is not from the resort. Not sure why they put up a stock photo.