We stayed at this property from December 2nd through December 16th, 2023 along with our Best Friends. The scenery here is absolutely STUNNING! It's the incredible views and the friendly Staff that keep people returning. Although this resort is looking a little tired it is very clean. Our first experience with a Hyatt Property was at Secrets Cap Cana, which was incredible and we had heard amazing things about this property. My Husband and I were slightly disappointed here in comparison. That did not stop us from enjoying our 2 week stay however. Afterall it is what you make of it! We were here on vacation with another couple to thoroughly enjoy some much needed downtime! :-) "Preferred Club" is not really worth the extra here, except for room location and Castaways for breakfast. No separate pool or identification for being Preferred unlike other properties. The Preferred Club lounge is very small and can only accommodate a few people at a time. There was always quite a wait and line up to check in or make requests. CHECK-IN was a bit of a nightmare. We had booked and paid for 2 weeks in a Preferred Club - 1 Bedroom Master Suite Swim up, so it wasn't a cheap vacation. Got there and were told were told we were not in the Preferred Section just regular, so we had to get that straightened out. Our Friends who I had also booked together with ours; the exact same type of Preferred Room were directed to the Preferred Lounge to check in. I found a couple of the Front Staff not so pleasant to deal and it put a bit of a damper on our arrival. I had emailed the resort 4 times in weeks prior to arrival to request rooms in Building 5 beside each other if possible. Was sent a confirmation stating they had it noted under both of our Booking Numbers that they would try to accommodate our request, After finally getting our room category sorted out, we were assigned Building #6 while our Friends were over in Building 5. Not even close to us. After considerable time they told us that they could move our friends next to us in Building 6 the next day; otherwise we would have had to wait 5 days to join them in Building 5. Our Friends were told to come by at noon and they would move them over to our Building right beside us. Had to wait till after 3:30 even though the room had been cleaned earlier that morning. We moved them over ourselves, no one showed up. Our arrival was a bit frustrating but things were pretty great after that. Install the "World of Hyatt" APP on your phone. Select Secrets Huatulco to find out information about special events, daily entertainment. a resort map etc. Use this APP to order your Room Serice or contact Housekeeping or Maintenance. YOU can also view this information on the television in your room. OUR ROOM: Master King Suite or also called a One-Bedroom King Swim-Up – Loved this room and it’s beautiful. It's two standard rooms in size – meaning the swim up pool is double in size too! It had a dining area, huge sectional couch, a king bed in its own area, and a massive bathroom space with double sinks, shower/tub wet room. The King bed was very comfortable too with comfy duvet and bed linens! The room layout with glass wall in between entrance and bathroom though was a bit weird. If room service or anyone walked in they could see you sitting on the toilet. There is also a half-bath off the dining/living. The small wet-bar area was a nice plus too (we moved our Nespresso over there at the start of the week for convenience instead of being hidden in the closet). The room had two sets of sliding glass doors that opened up 2/3 of the way to the spacious poolside patio. On the deck were 2 chaise lounges and a table & chair set along with a sun umbrella. We spent most of our afternoons out there and had waiter service right to our swim out. The nice thing is that we didn’t have to worry about playing the towel game. If you’re not out by the pool by 6 AM, most of the poolside loungers were taken. Bring a pool floaty so you can bask in the sun and stay cool in the water. We were close enough to the activities pool so we could see what was going on and hear the music playing. HOUSEKEEPING: Our maid was very efficient and kept the room spotless. She locked us out one day when we were out in our swim up pool after waving to us. Had to climb outta the pool and go request another room card to get back in. I learned to keep a spare room card outside with us while we were in the swim up after that. LOL!! Mini Fridge was stocked daily with beer, water & soda water. Snacks were left as well. Pringles, M & M’s and Nuts. We received our choice of liquor in our room the first day. We called the Preferred Lounge and asked for 2 feather pillows from the Pillow Menu. It took 2 days to get them after calling several times. ROOM SERVICE: Was very timely. We ordered breakfast a few mornings for 7:30 to enjoy in our beautiful room. The odd time your order was wrong and sometimes they delivered your coffee without cream or sugar after being requested. I learned to keep some cream in the fridge after that. No biggie! Some sugar was provided with the coffee machine in the room. BEACH: Darker coarse sand in a beautiful cove. Bring your water shoes and you will be fine. You can also use the path to the left-hand side towards the calmer end of the beach to go to another beach area with stunning views. Nobody was ever over there. SCENERY: stunningly beautiful as far as they eye can see. Lot of birds and wildlife. We had a resident Coatimundi we saw around Building 5 quite often. There were a few living around the resort. RESTAURANTS: (they were all excellent) Castaways – Great breakfasts, lunch and dinner selections here. Ate here quite often! The Boys really enjoyed their steaks and they were quite tender! Oceana – It was good, but expected more seafood options Cin-cin – Pasta was really good – don’t order a steak here though, very tough, but why order steak at an Italian Restaurant, right? Tamarindo – great Mexican food & nice breakfast alternative to the buffet. Not as busy! Bordeaux – French Restaurant - Nice atmosphere and delicious food Spice – loved it here went back a few times, it was fun! Market Café – wait staff very efficient – but the buffet is closed most nights WINES: House wines were actually pretty good. The do chill their reds though. ENTERTAINMENT: Skybar had the most amazing views while enjoying a drink before or after dinner and listening to live music. The Theatre had nightly shows but we didn’t really see too many. We are more early risers enjoying an early breakfast, walks on the beach then on to a full day of enjoying lots of sunshine, and lots of cocktails. We don’t usually stay up too late after we enjoy a nice dinner and a couple nightcaps. The Plaza outside of all the Restaurants had live bands playing where you could dance and enjoy after dinner. Mexican Night in the Hall – great Mexican Show and huge Buffet Selection Poolside BBQ Night – music was far too loud while trying to have a conversation and enjoy dinner. The singer from the band thought he was Lenny Kravitz walking around while playing his guitar.....meanwhile the food line-up was so long and snaking through the tables. EXCURSIONS: We booked a Fishing Trip through Westjet Vacations in the Hotel. We were up at 4 AM to leave by 5. Got to see the sunrise from out on the ocean. Saw many sea turtles, dolphins and eagle rays jumping out of the water. Only caught one fish however. My husband reeled in a 30lb. Mahi Mahi, which he gave to the Boat Captain to feed his family. This was a bit on the expensive side but was fun! Our highlight was booking a Waterfalls Tour through Oswaldo Rojas of Grand Turismo Huatulco. Saul our Tour Guide drove us way up into the mountains by 4x4 and we then hiked up further into the mountains to see the most beautiful Waterfalls. Breathtaking scenery and so much natural lush jungle. Got soaked climbing up behind the falls to crawl through a small tunnel, then jumping into a grotto. We were in the water with the falls rushing over in front of us. A little scary, but so exciting!!!! Then we stopped to swim in one of the many natural pools that the falls drained into. Enjoyed an authentic Mexican lunch including a couple Cervezas and Hibiscus tea at a family-owned wood-fired restaurant before coming the rest of the way down the mountain. It was so delicious and included in our Tour!! HIGHLY RECOMMEND doing this!! We took a cab into La Cruceita one day to check things out there. A cab ride was on 85 pesos from the front lobby. Another day we walked into La Bocana. It is a small little town that if you go to the front gates and turn right you can get there by walking in about 30 minutes or so. We looked about and walked back to the resort. Go early in the day as it does get quite hot walking back after 10 AM. HONOURABLE MENTIONS! Gabriel – is the only person that shared any info with us. He is a wealth of knowledge and very friendly. You can find him around the booth at the bottom of the stairs by the Buffet entrance. Ximena – Preferred Lounge Bar – so friendly and accommodating! Salvatore – Thanks for being a great poolside drink server! Right to our swim up! Thanks to all the incredible Staff Members who go above and beyond. It's the little things and attention to detail that seem to break down in this resort. If they could polish this up it would be worthy of an excellent review and a true 5* experience. The GM there is also at Dreams too, so perhaps she is spread too thin. We were there 2 weeks and no sign of her around. The staff apparently rarely ever sees her, so perhaps the leadership needs to improve. All in all, we would go back again though if we could find a good deal. We did have a great time!! There are lots of stairs here so if you have mobility issues, it is not the resort for you.

2 week stay Jan 10-24 and 3rd time at Secrets Huatulco. Many reviews mention the outdated rooms and common areas and those are true. If you need your room, pools, restaurants/bars to look perfect, then this is not the resort for you. But if you want gorgeous scenery, great food, consciencious staff, clean rooms, and the friendliest guests, you will love it here. To make your stay the most enjoyable, my suggestions are: - book a private car from/to the airport. You won't waste time sitting on a bus waiting for other guests and you will travel in air conditioned comfort and arrive at the resort before a whole bunch of other guests. More expensive than a taxi or the shuttle but totally worth it. We booked ours with our Westjet Vacation package through Maxi Travel. - Download the app. World of Hyatt Inclusive Collection. The app will let you see which restaurants are open, see the menus, view activities for the day, contact the concierge, contact maintenance or housekeeping. - Book your Teppanyaki Dinner at Spice Restaurant as soon as you can. Bookings are made through the Concierge office located around the corner from the row of Concierge desks. Bookings start on Sunday for the following week and cannot be made sooner. They start at 6 p.m. and go hourly. - Look at the website or app prior to packing as there are dress codes that are enforced if you want to eat inside the restaurants (in air conditioning). - Check out Secrets Huatulco Facebook groups - I joined and found very useful information there. - When eating at the restaurants, ask if there is a special for the evening. Servers only seem to mention the specials to a few tables. - When ordering a drink, especially if it is a "drink of the day", make sure you ask for alcohol. Many of the drinks of the day are non-alcoholic and if you want alcohol, you have to ask. - Do attend the Asado Theme Night (BBQ) which was held every Thursday evening around the pool. The staff spends a huge amount of time and effort setting up and bringing all of the tables, dishes, food, etc to this area every week. The food was excellent and so much variety. There was a great band during dinner, followed by a Fire Show. There is also a Mexican buffet evening (Saturdays) at the pool. On the nights there is an outdoor buffet, some of the restaurants are closed. - Do bring effective bug spray with you. The Secrets bug spray you may get in your room is not very effective. This is the first visit where we have been bitten many times around the pool and we think it is little flies. You don't see them or feel them bite, but they leave large red welts and itch badly for about 3-4 days. - If you plan on tipping with 20 peso notes, bring some with you. The front desk does not always have 20 peso notes and if they do, they will likely limit you to 10 at a time. 50's and 100's did not seem to be a problem. - Bring a floatie from home. The gift shop does sell them or you can buy them in town. - You can book dinner at one of the restaurants at Dreams through the Concierge. There is no charge but you do have to pay for the taxi to/from Dreams (it was 80 pesos one way). This is a good way to see another resort in the area, especially if you want to bring kids next time. -Phone calls to Canada and the U.S. from the landline in your room are free. I confirmed this with the concierge prior to visiting and it is also printed right on the phone. The front desk did not seem to know about this. Our favorite things to do: - Market Cafe for breakfast. Made to order eggs and omelets, fruits and pastries. - Coco Cafe for a morning iced frappe with Baileys. Mathilde always remembered our order. - Market Cafe for lunch. Made to order pasta, fresh veggies and fruit, sushi (not daily), made to order burgers, hot dogs and other meat/fish). Made to order crepes (crepe with warm chocolate sauce, bananas and coconut ice cream was exceptional) Going to the Market Cafe gives you time to cool off a bit and get out of the sun. - Spice and Bordeaux were our favorite restaurants. Spring rolls, sushi at Spice, Filet and stuffed chicken at Bordeaux. - Castaways has the loveliest atmosphere and view. It is open air (no a/c). We found the lunch menu a bit limited there. Open for breakfast for preferred members only. We did find that getting food made to order at the buffets was best. We did try some of the other options in the buffet trays but everything was ice cold when it should have been hot. The resort is under staffed but they really do try their best. I would like to acknowledge the great service from Ernesto (Front Desk), Mario, Celeste, Yoali, Alexis, Nathaly, in the Market Cafe, Matilde in Coco Cafe, Angela, Abraham, Salvatore at the pool. Every single staff member said hello, good morning etc when they walked past us everywhere. We hope that Hyatt will find a way to hire, train and keep more staff and that they will work on the maintenance and cosmetic items that should be addressed. There were 8 rooms on our floor alone that were not in use as they had been stripped of items needed in other rooms. Big loss of revenue, and that was just on our floor. We really enjoyed our 3rd stay and hope there are many more in the future. It is a testament to this resort that there are so many repeat guests.