Secrets Akumal Riviera Maya: An Honest Review - This Will Not Be Short But Hopefully Helpful

An Honest Review This will not be short, but I hope it will be helpful. Some things about a trip matter more to others, some don’t, take from this what you will if anything at all. I have been travelling all inclusive for about 20 years now. I have stayed at multiple 5 star resorts and many times in various parts of Mexico. My husband and I just came home from our 14 day stay at Secrets Akumal. We had a swim-up room. We are seasoned travellers and enjoy days of relaxation and peace as [... read more] well as fun loud party times. We experienced both, We had an incredible vacation. I do also have some advice/tips/suggestions etc.for the traveler and the hotel people in charge. Let’s begin: Hotel Itself: Beautiful, very clean, feels like a tropical paradise including iguanas that have their own homes on property with name signs. Hilarious. Hotel Ambiance: The sounds and smells are incredible. I felt like I walked into a massive spa like atmosphere. The instrumental music (this is around lobby areas and the quiet pool) was calming. By smells I mean aromatherapy slight scent not overpowering just enough to know that it’s a clean, well maintained resort. Swim-up room: Clean, well laid out. Love the long counter under the tv. The furniture was comfortable. NOTE: As a tip for any swim up room people - make sure that you place towels on the floor of your room because they patio portion is fine when you exit the pool. I entered the room still damp with a towel on and almost wiped out. Perhaps there should be a mat by the sliding door just in case? Con: The toilet part of the room has a frosted glass bathroom door. Not a big fan of that. TV : I know it may seem silly on vacation but sometimes you do end up in your room to chill out. They had a decent variety of channels that were in English. HBO channels, CBC, BBC, etc. It was really nice to sit in the air conditioning sometimes and just watch movies. Tablet In Room: This is to order room service, tray collection etc. It was great. Very easy to understand, we simply requested our room service, etc and it was sent. Room Service Menu: Pros: You could add details like “extra sauce” to your order which was helpful Cons: - Limited selection unless you’re in the Preferred Club. Even with a swim up suite. Annoying that you could only order certain items for certain times like milkshakes or smoothies. The food rarely arrived hot. 
Patio Con: I’m a night owl who loves to sit outside and read but the patio lights for our room we had no control over so you couldn’t do that at night after a certain time. I don’t remember the time and it’s just a small note in case that’s a big deal to some people.

Room Service Staff: Always friendly and attentive. Housekeeping Staff: We didn’t see them often as we weren’t in the room. They were very friendly and polite when we did run into them. Con: I had to make multiple calls for them to restock the toilet paper. They didn’t until hours later and gave us one roll. Pools/Pool Area: We were primarily at the quiet pool. Pool 1. It was wonderful. The waitstaff at the pool are fantastic. Always attentive, friendly, helpful. We found there were always plenty of towels, drink options, etc. Ibraham was our pool waiter. They had a pool attendant who stopped by to give us cold scented towels and books to read, etc. I cannot say enough about their efforts. Pro: I also want to mention the cleanliness of the pool area. I’ve experienced other resorts where there can be cups, glasses left over, attracting bugs etc. They were on it when it came to clearing items away. Room Concierge: Our room Concierge was Alejandro. This man is absolutely incredible. He made our stay fantastic. He is the epitome of excellence in customer service. Always friendly, knowledgeable, patient and hardworking. I was trying to learn some Spanish while I was there so he would teach me Spanish words. He made us feel like valued guests. He is a wonderful person and excellent at his job. Speaking of the Staff…. Secrets Akumal staff by far exceeded any staff we’ve encountered on our vacations. Every staff member was welcoming, friendly, kind and patient. I would like to specifically mention some. If you are planning to vacation at this resort these people will make your days brighter. Hostess: Marysol - what a wonderful, charming fantastic person. She made us laugh and has excellent customer service. Thank you Marysol ! Ismael at the fire pit bar. Incredible attentive service. Remembers your drink order days later. Always helpful, knowledgeable and friendly. Thank you. Same bar: the female waitstaff. I can’t remember her name I wish I could. She was wonderful as well. The Animacion/ Activities Team: This team is incredibly hardworking, energetic and amazing. Shout outs: (including activities we tried) We did turtle painting with Oliver. He is hilarious. He made our class fantastic. Con: The size of the object - it’s a fridge magnet that is tiny so it’s harder to pain with even small brushes and the activity takes like 10 minutes. Darios or “D” : We took his water aerobics class and archery classes with him. He is phenomenal. He is patient when he instructs, fun and incredibly friendly. D you’re the best! Con: This class should be longer. When you have a group of people you only get to shoot so many times because of time limits. This is something that is a good con because it means the class is so fun it should continue. Diana “tiny but strong” taught us in the Spanish class. What an amazing woman. She is patient, funny and has a heart of gold. She would run into me during our staff and we would practice Spanish. A true gem. We love you Diana. Miguel: For water volleyball he was so encouraging and fun. He took time during out stay to talk about Canada ( where we’re from) and made us feel incredibly welcomed. Thank you Miguel. Renee and the female Chef ( I can’t remember her name I’m sorry) gave us the BEST guacamole class EVER ! Renee was hilarious ! He had guests including us entertained, laughing and learning. Amazing job- thank you both ! Zayel: Manager on Duty: He was amazing. I was suffering from bug bites and nothing was working so he took time to recommend ice and cooling my legs (BIG TIP FOR THAT) which made a world of difference. He went the extra mile to visit with us and see that our stay was wonderful. Any concerns or questions we had he helped us with immediately.His customer service was fantastic. Thank you Zayel ! Bug Bites: If you unlucky enough to have this happen they are not like regular mosquito bites. Scratching them makes them expand. Heat irritates them. A tip I used was icing and/or then literally sticking my legs in the pool made a HUGE difference. Here is A Tip for the Resort: The problem with the activities is that they were limited by amount of people. Many activities had a limit of 6-10 people which is disappointing. For example pool biking. I didn’t get to do it because even though I came early, I missed out because people had already signed up. This is also an issue because the activities are not only limited to how many people, they are not offered every day. The other issue is that some of the classes aren’t long enough - e.g my archery point. And Last Food/Drinks: The Market buffet was for breakfast and lunch only. It was a nice option. The desserts and sweets were exceptional. Italian - the soup was cold, food was nothing exciting. The portion sizes are humorously small. Bordeaux (French restaurant) - The food wasn’t great. Same small portions. Seaside- not a great selection Himitsu - we didn’t get a reservation in time but we didn’t try that hard. El Patio - the menu was unappealing so we left. This is a hotel that should open their buffet for dinner especially for guests who stay longer than a week. After 2 weeks, the same menu got tiresome and we started eating larger lunches at the buffet to that we didn’t have to go to the restaurants in the evening. Coco Cafe: This is a great option for daily coffee and snacks. Great service. Drinks: The service for drinks was excellent. The fruity drinks tasted like they were mixes instead of fresh fruits. Ratings are hard because they don’t individualize - Here’s mine Service - 5 stars Room - 5 stars Food/Drinks- 3 Programs - 5 (when you can go to them) Restaurant Choices - 3 Hotel Cleanliness/Ambiance - 5 Transport to the Airport - 2 At the end of our trip when they ask for a survey I gave the food better valuation because of the buffet element. Ratings can be hard when they are blanket statements.

Secrets St. Martin: 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!

Secrets Akumal Riviera Maya: Good resort but not exceptional

Service and the landscape are the best part of this resort. The staff is very friendly and they really want to make your stay comfortable. The landscape is beautiful, you are practically in a tropical garden. A expansive variety of tropical plants, trees and flowers are everywhere, creating a feeling of privacy and comfort. The food is not the best. The quality of the ingredients are not the best and the vegan/ vegetarian/ gluten-free options are very limited. Not recommended for people who a [... read more]re on a specific diet or are interested in good organic food. The vegetables are not from the organic source. The best dinner restaurant is the Asian restaurant, but again, the vegetarian option is small. The service in the restaurants are very good. The worst aspect of this resort is the beach. Although the sea is very good for swim and snorkel, the beach is too small for the number of tourists in the resort, so it is crowded. Also, there are outside people using the beach, sometime the beach looks like a camping site, not like a five star hotel beach. I saw people with kids using the beach all day long, therefore the beach is not adult- only. Also, being crowded, you might end up inhaling smoke from the smoking people instead of the sea breeze. It is not the right place for a serene day next to the sea. There are some beds build on a part of the beach, just in front of the preferred section, but you have to pay an additional fee for each day when you rent them. There are 3 types of beds: 75$, 100$ and 175$, depending on the vision and distance of the sea. The rooms are outdated, but spacious and comfortable. The room service is excellent. Preferred club is giving you access to a special check-in service and a special bar.

Secrets Huatulco: Great reort!

Very laid back resort. A little on the old side for a Secrets resort but beautiful none the less. Not as chic as other Secrets but that was an appeal. Food was great and so was service. No complaints at all. Very private and gorgeous beach. Lots of free water activities. Overall a 4.5 out of 5.

Secrets St. Martin: 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!

Secrets Maroma Beach Riviera Cancun: Really nice resort

After going to Secrets Huatulco and Los Cabos for the last number of years, we decided to try Maroma. It’s a great resort with really nice rooms and a great beach and pool area. The drink service around the pool was second to none. Restaurants were the same as other Secrets resorts. Annoying to have to line up and give room numbers every time. Spa was good, massages were great. The aqua-therapy was not worth it.

Secrets Papagayo Resort: Outstanding Resort

Only 30 minutes from the airport to the resort. We have been to many all-inclusive resorts, this resort was the best ever. No shortages here and a very clean resort. The service was top-notch everywhere they could not do enough for you. The food was very good in all the restaurants, with no reservations required with the exception of the Asian Teppanyaki table. The entertainment team had activities during the day no pressure to join in and great shows at night. Most of the rooms are on hillside [... read more]s we were on the second level, we walked going to the restaurants etc and took the shuttle going up sometimes there is maybe a 5 or 10-minute wait if it is after the shows at night. Beautiful views everywhere you look. Highly recommend this resort.

Secrets The Vine Cancun: Time share trap

Resort is very nice but time share sales are their #1 goal. If you want a vacation not great if you want to buy a time share perfect spot. 10 am bar rules if you are on butler floor shit down 11pm. But no worries Hard Rock Party place next door is happening

Secrets Maroma Beach Riviera Cancun: Paradise in Mayan Riviera

We decided to splurge a bit for our honeymoon and booked here at Secrets Maroma. This hotel was absolutely beautiful. From the hotel grounds to the rooms, food, beach, people...it was wonderful. Hotel staff were lovely and always made sure you were taken care of. The most gracious people. If you want to be spoiled and pampered, this is the place to go. I cannot wait to return. It's a bit pricey but worth every penny.

Secrets St. Martin: 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.

Secrets St. Martin: 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

Secrets St. Martin: 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!

Secrets Akumal Riviera Maya: Amazing Resort

The resort was spectacular with amazingly friendly staff. The amenities were numerous and the food at the various restaurants was delicious. The entertainment provided at the resort is top notch! Just off the beach of the resort is a reef with coral and various sea life. The resort is 10 min walk from the local town that has some great restaurants.

Secrets Akumal Riviera Maya: Beautiful Resort

Secrets Akumal is one of the best all-inclusives I’ve stayed at. The design and grounds are beautiful. It has a very natural Mexican feel to it. The food and drinks are excellent quality and there is a lot of choice. The service is outstanding and I always felt well taken care of. The only negatives are the seaweed on the beach and the pressure to upgrade. The seaweed is managed as best they can, but be aware of it. I found the sales tactics a little annoying, but if you say no they stop. The  [... read more]Secrets chain is notorious for trying to get their guests to upgrade or buy different things at the resort. Be prepared for that.

Secrets Aura Cozumel: Fantastic Stay!

We stayed at Secrets Aura Cozumel from June 14-June 28 and had a wonderful time! My hubby and I haven’t been away together in 12 years without kids. So we chose an adults only resort. There were a couple bumps and I want to get them out of the way first. We booked a swim up room that was behind and above the Manatee bar pool. We had a slide down into the pool that was great! Unfortunately it was turned off for 5 days during the first week. They also had a problem with Mustard Algae in the [... read more] pool that week too. We chose not to swim in the pool for 3 days because the algae was so bad. They worked hard on it and got the pool all clear in a few days. We still had 2 other pools to enjoy! We spoke to Carlos at the front desk about our issues and he upgraded us to an ocean view room that had a gorgeous view of the ocean and second pool! Now for all the good stuff! The rooms were clean and well kept. The air conditioning worked all the time. The bed was comfortable and the bar fridge was stocked daily The room service was great. Though it does take about 45 minutes to get your order. The grounds were being all trimmed up as it was spring and the plants we’re growing like crazy. It was quite beautiful to see all the flowers and greenery. The pools were very clean and the beach was fabulous! It is a coral beach so have water shoes for the rough sand. I snorkelled right on the beach and saw some very nice fish. The food was fantastic! We liked everything we ate at all the restaurants. We had a romantic dinner on the beach with our own private waitress. The waitress was perfect and meal was scrumptious. The view at sunset was breathtaking!!! All the staff were the best! Wilberth and Angel at the Manatee bar you rock! The hostesses Nataly(Oceana), Veronica(Market buffet), Rosanna(windows), Esmeralda(El Patio) were beautiful and greeted us and seated us quickly. Our waiters Miguel, Mario(Oceana), Julio, Jesus and Sergio(Market buffet), Juan(El Patio) we’re quick and friendly waiters. We always had something to drink and the food came quickly. Paulina from guest services came around the pool area a few times during our stay to make sure if everything was going well with our vacation. Ruben from Fantasy Travel Excursions helped us plan our day trips and arrange transportation to the airport because we extended our stay and has to get our own taxi. Everything was wonderful all in all. We were treated like family and welcomed back by everyone, and we will be back!! Thank you all for the best vacation we could have😍

Secrets St. Martin: 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.

Secrets Royal Beach: A Royal Trip

The Transat rep Patricio assisted us in getting a room change within less than 24 hours. The buffet choices were fairly good especially the desserts.The attendants were exceptionally friendly and went out of the way to help.The premises and rooms were spotless The speciality restaurants needed some more creative choices but were ok. The beach was not handicapped accessible which was a downer. Some serious safety issues in the room need to be addressed before there is a serious accident. There i [... read more]s a loose marble slab on top of the fridge and it slides and swivels. It could easily detach and injure your foot since it is not fastened. The drain plate in the shower detach easily and you could break an ankle. The sink stoppers in the jacuzzi and washbasin do not work. This is my fourth Secrets and this resort does otherwise maintain a high standard.

Secrets Royal Beach: Best Vacation Ever!

This resort has it all! We highly recommend the Preferred Club members package, and request Julio Sterling as your butler. In a resort with so many amenities, he quickly identified our interests and helped us navigate our options. He went above and beyond without ever being intrusive! Big shout-out to our agent, Robyn, who set-up the best vacation ever!

Secrets The Vine Cancun: Definitely NOT a 5 star hotel

We booked at Secrets The Vine because it was listed as a 5 star hotel. However, we firmly disagree with this rating, as we would never consider this hotel to be a 5 star rated hotel because of the following: 1. Quality and cleanliness of the rooms. Mattress and bedding was of very poor quality. 2. Cleanliness of the pool and beach leaves a lot to be desired. 3. Noisy and party-like atmosphere where it is nearly impossible to find peace and quiet (a 5 star hotel should NEVER resemble a spring- [... read more]breakers hotel). 4. Persistent and pushy sales pitch that was basically force-fed to us to sell us a dubious vacation club with questionable quality and which seemed plagued with dishonesty. More importantly, this whole thing took half a day, which basically ruined the day for us. One of the few good areas in this hotel is the human quality of the majority of the staff (cafe, restaurants, etc.). These are genuinely great and valuable people. The hotel itself is "fake fancy".

Secrets Playa Mujeres: Disappointing

The beach was amazing - beautiful white sand, warm water and it was easy to find chairs on the beach. The hotel rooms were typical of Secrets. The food was average except at the sister resort next door. The drinks were abysmal for a Secrets resort. I’ve visited other Secrets resorts and the quality was much better.