Secrets Akumal Riviera Maya reviews
12339 TripAdvisor reviews
Excellent all-inclusive hotel in beautiful Riviera Maya
lucklassen90 (Regina, Canada) on Mar 23, 2024
After not going on warm winter holiday in 4 years, we decided this was it! We started researching the 100's of all-inclusive hotels in Riviera Maya and after reading reviews, decided on Secrets Akumal all-inclusive Adults only resort. We were not disappointed... Getting there: We flew direct charter to Cancun from Regina, SK, Canada on March 11, 2024. We booked for one week stay in the basic room (no upgrades), 1 king bed, balcony and jet tub. Flight was fine, took about 5h20min. Something new for us, and things have changed since last time we flew to Mexico, is that you do not have to fill out a tourist card on the plane manually - this is all automated now. We flew on a Westjet vacation package and during the booking / check-in process, the airline asks you to upload your passport, which I did. Upon arrival at Cancun airport, you go through immigration first, we showed our passports and that was about it. Then at customs, if you have nothing to declare you just whiz on by! The longest wait was for our checked baggage (about 45 min.) We then took the shared transport to the hotel, this was fine. It's about 1h 20min. south of Cancun to Secrets Akumal. Arrival and room: I will say that this is the 'fanciest' all-inclusive we have ever stayed at. It's a 5 star hotel and it shows. I almost wondered if it was going to be too 'posh' for us as we are really not that fussy or fancy. But I got used to it! We were greeted at the front and presented with a 'cold towel' to cool of. Nice. The there is no long front desk counter to check-in at. Instead there are individual small desks that you sit down at. It makes for a more informal, cozy and intimate check-in process. We were also presented with some lovely sparkling wine as well. The room was a regular room with king sized bed, balcony with small bench and table with two chairs and jet tub. It was really nice. Tiles everywhere which I just love. TV and mini fridge stocked with pop, water, beer and juices. You get about 6 or 7 water bottles in your room replenished every day. Never had any issues with this. A/C in the room worked fine, you cannot set it to 'freezing' levels but it worked fine for us and really make the room more comfortable. We found the bed really luxurious and comfortable. No issues there as well. I felt like a memory foam type of mattress which is what we have at home. There is also a safe in the room which worked well. We never tried the room service. Maid service was excellent and we made sure to leave a decent tip every few days. We were also led to our room upon arrival and then given a full tour the room and how everything worked as well. This was a nice personal touch. Our room was on the 2nd floor and facing some palms and plants and we could see the swimming area below for those 1st floor rooms with swim out access. We were in building 9b, room 9211. Grounds, beach and pools: The resort contains about 440 rooms (something like that) and there are about 9 or 10 buildings in total. So it's a decent size but not too bad. It takes a while to orient yourself onsite as there is a LOT of vegetation which is just great, really nice and well kept. There are a few maps posted and you can also get one from the front desk. It took us a few days, and we got used to finding our way. Really nice winding pathsways through thick palms, bushes and other various tropical plants. LOTS of birds as well and a few Coatis. There are three pools. One is the 'fiesta piscina' (party pool) with the swim up bar, and it's nearest the beach. One is an 'intermediate pool' so some music but way calmer and finally the super 'chill' pool which is very, very quiet and very relaxing. We did try the fiesta pool one time, and it was fine but at our age we much preferred the chill pool. There are floaties available and it's very serene. The fiesta pool is more for younger folks and there is a LOT of drinking going on! Also lots of crazy pool games put on by the staff. It's for sure a good time, but we were not into that. Beach is also very nice. Never had trouble finding chairs under a palapa. There is a section reserved for 'preferred guests' where they have full on cozy beds and such. Waiters will come serve you on the beach! (or at the pool) taking drink orders and sometimes even bringing you food! Yes there were some seaweed one day, but staff are good about cleaning it up. The water was nice to swim in as well. We had heard it could be rocky but we did not find this to be the case. You can go snorkelling right off the beach until the barrier, which I did. I saw a few fish and that was good enough for me. They offer guests a mask and PFD (personal flotation device) for free but if you want the tube for breathing, that cost $4 USD. I did not have a problem with that. Many people bring their own. For about $25USD (I think) you can go with a group and a guide and go snorkelling just down the beach where I believe they take you to where you will see turtles...There are also kayaks and paddle boards you can rent, but this depends on the wind and sea conditions. You can walk on either side of the beach for a ways and we did this a few times. There are some vendors present as well, but they are not allowed to directly approach you. We spent a lot of time on the beach and quite enjoyed it. There are bars nearby and/or waiters will come take your drink order right on the beach! Food and drinks: I believe this is the best food we have had at an all inclusive. From the buffet breakfast to the a la carte restaurants, it was all excellent. Again we are not overly fussy eaters... We ate at the 'Bordeaux' (French), 'Portofino' (Italian), 'Oceana' (seafood) and 'Seaside Grill' (Argentinian steak house) - all were good. And there is a dress code for these. Although Seaside Grill is more casual. Never once did we have any gastro issues either. The quality is excellent. The drinks were fine we enjoyed the Margaritas! Coffee at the buffet was fine as well. Excursions: We did one full day excursion to Isla Mujeres. About $300 USD for two people. We booked this tour at the hotel from the 'Amstar' rep in the lobby. It was painless. Our pick up time from the hotel was at 9:10am. And we had to get to Cancun (so 1 hour 30min). We then arrived at the port where our Catamaran took us to the island. It was windy that day so we could not snorkel. The catamaran over was really fun, drinks on board and a really nice lunch! (I will be doing a seperate review of this trip). We had about 3 hours free time on Isla Mujeres. We were in the tourist zone, so it was crawling with tourists of course and souvenir shops everywhere, but it was fine. We shopped a bit and I had fun using my Spanish. It was HOT, so we made sure to wear our hats and hydrate. We returned to the pick up point and there is a restaurant and bathrooms there. We also had the best margarita of the entire trip there! But I think they were $16CDN/$12 USD each!!!! (210 Mexican pesos each). Well worth it. This was a fun day and nice to get off resort a bit. Another morning. I did the bicycling tour which is free from the hotel. They allow up to 20 people per group. It's offered Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. You meet at the tennis courts for about 9am. There are two guides. I really enjoyed this. They take you out on the side of the main highway just for a bit then you duck back into the small residential streets off the resort, where there are private residences and villas. There are a few stops along the way, on a rocky beach, then at a beautiful lagoon. The guides talked a lot about preserving the environment. The bikes are comfortable and I really, really enjoyed this. Please bring a small backpack with water, sunscreen and a hat! it was HOT, HOT, HOT.... Entertainment and activities: There are nightly shows in the main 'teatro' but also random setups done on various nights of the week such as a pirate show, art festival and a mexican night. These are all setup outdoors around the pools with tables and food station/grills. (a major logistical operation!) We attended a couple of these and they were quite fun. We did not see too many shows but the one we did see was really good. 'Delyria' - acrobatic performances and also really sexy good looking performers! They were legit and really talented, really good show. There are also tons of daily activities posted such as guacamole making class, pool aerobics, yoga/stretching on the beach, pool/aqua cycling/spin class (yes they drop a metal stationary bike under water in the pool), and others! So you can do as much or as little as you want with never any pressure whatsoever. Staff are all high quality, professional, courteous, friendly and very hard working. They run a really tight operation. Really impressive. it takes a LOT of work to run such a tight resort and it really shows. There is never any pressure to tip but we did quite a few times (but sometimes you don't and it's fine!) The sun can get really HOT at that longitude. We were there in early March. We made sure to cover up and apply/re-apply sunscreen and hydrate! No issues with bugs at all. There are also some shops onsite for souvenirs, or snacks, sunscreen, clothes, etc...but a bit overpriced of course. Some vendors show up during some of the outdoor dinner festivals as well. Some really nice things here. Trip home was fine. Took a shared transport again (you can book private transfers if you want) but we didn't. It was fine. The airport at Cancun was NUTS...super busy. It seems everyone is going on vacation again after pandemic! But we had felt posh (well I did) and booked premium seats on the plane (there and back) so getting through check-in was easier this way. Lots of options at the airport to eat and duty free shop. Great experience and although we tend not to go back to the same place twice...Secrets Akumal might be the exception! Thanks for reading.
March 2024 trip
Jenn7037 (Cleveland, Ohio) on Mar 23, 2024
Stayed at the resort recently with my spouse for a short getaway & some much needed relaxation & sun. Our trip was short - just 2 night which only really allowed us to spend one full day at the beach and one full day at the pool. We upgraded to a preferred swim out junior suite since we had never experienced a swim out room and were in building 3, so not ocean front but very convenient to the beach, oceana restaurant and the 2 primary pools. Room: Our room was great, a Minor issue with an outlet not working, but that’s easily overlooked. Our swim out pool never really received direct sun so we didn’t use the amenity after all. I don’t know that we would select that feature when we return. If we did it would have to be a full ocean view room which would kick up the price point - but those rooms/swim outs looked perfect! Food: the grilled poolside lunches each day were amazing. Much better than the sit down lunch at Seaside. Overall I felt the grilled meals available at oceana and seaside were better than the meals we had at Santorini or Portofino. Those meals had a feeling of banquet food more than freshly prepared from the grills. It was truly my personal preference as my partner said he enjoyed all his meals. And That’s not to say the menu options were not extensive at those restaurants, they were vast. We always sampled multiple appetizers, entrees & desserts. Drinks: outside of wine lists, we never saw a drink menu at the bars or restaurants. Maybe this is because you can request anything but I find the drink menu helps me try new things rather than relying on my usual G&T. Concierge Services: feel like we didn’t have the most amazing experience with our concierge. We are early risers and were at the pool/beach by 9, only to rerun at 5 or 6. Never really crossed paths with our concierge. Maybe they hook you up with stuff but we seemed to always have a missed connection. Preferred upgrade: turns out I like to eat at times that don’t line up with the restaurants & pool/beach service schedules. Like I want lunch at 11:30 and a pre-dinner snack/espresso at 4:30. Both days I tried ordering at the pool & beach and was told sorry - Not open or already closed. We ended up using the club to fill in these gaps. They offer light snacks and desserts and it worked out fine. Didn’t really notice the difference in alcohol choices as others have stated. We also used the preferred seating on the beach. Seemed easier to find chairs, perhaps a little less crowded in that section. Other Stuff: we snorkeled with our own gear right off the beach and saw the sea turtles and fish. It was awesome and the literal reason we selected this property over resorts is PDC. We booked a private airport transfer and were glad we did as it allowed us to maximize our time at the resort. The quiet pool was amazing, so nice to have that peaceful experience as an option. Visited the spa for the hydrotherapy circuit and a massage. Spa facilities were great and my treatments were wonderful and priced reasonably. I’ve told the hubby that I hope we return next year for our spring break. We had a great time and look forward to brining friends & family with us on the next visit.
Beautiful Resort with Pros and Cons
RWtravelgal (Colorado) on Mar 23, 2024
Secrets Akumal is a lovely resort with wonderful staff who attend to your every need. Pros: Staff - absolutely the best! Property and landscaping are beautiful Rooms are very comfortable and well stocked, cleaning/stocking service several times a day Food and drink is plentiful. Lots of options. Activities at night will keep you entertained. Cons: To use the kayaks or paddleboards, you have to go on a "guided" trip, which is included, but is only offered on certain days, is short and can be easily canceled if windy. Big disappointment to not be able to take out equipment solo. Activities in general were not scheduled often enough and often filled up, meaning you'd have to wait for another day. I don't think that activity instructors were certified for the most part - classes seemed a little haphazard. Yoga/stretching was the exception. Some of the food was good, some not so good. I actually expected better. But it was all beautifully presented and service was excellent. Special shout-outs to: Rene - best Spanish teacher! Spanish should be on the agenda every day and Rene should be teaching it! Vitalino and Jose - best waiters at Seaside Daniel - best poolside concierge Fernanda - best room concierge Absolutely everyone was great!
Best Secrets
Mark C on Mar 23, 2024
This was the finest of many Secrets we have been to. Staff was fantastic, food was excellent, and large room was over the top. Beautiful, lush property is perfectly maintained. Beach was great. Can't recommend this resort highly enough.
Amazing weeks vacation at Secrets Akumal ??
sharon s on Mar 23, 2024
My husband and I went to this fabulous resort in March and I cannot say enough great things about it. Everything was amazing, our room was lovely, the staff and our concierge were so attentive and the service impeccable. The grounds are immaculate and every restaurant was amazing. The selection of food and drinks is incredible. The beach was beautiful and if there was any seaweed it was cleaned before you arrived at the beach in the morning. Thank you for an amazing vacation Secrets Akumal, I would definitely go back again.??