Secrets Cap Cana Resort & Spa

Resort was top notch quality and staff are very friendly and accommodating. Julio, our butler, went out of his was to make sure we had champagne and snacks in our room on a daily basis. His excursion recommendations were excellent as well. I would definitely return to this site on a future visit.

My review is actually a combination of both, my personal experience, as well as the thoughts and comments of others I met during my stay at Secrets Cap Cana. Hand's down, every guest I spoke with commented on this resort being the absolute best resort they had ever experienced. Every amenity was 5-star! The beach was the most magnificent beach I have every seen. Every moment was more special than the last. And the most amazing thing about the resort were the people. Julio was our "personal butler" during our stay. The purpose of our trip was to celebrate my girlfriend's birthday. On multiple occasions during our stay, Julio had provided a wonderful array of surprises, including wine & cheese plates, champagne and fruit and the most romantic set-up in our room, on the actual day of her birthday. Our trip was made exceptional, due to Julio's personal service. He is an amazing asset to this resort!

"Welcome Home" is their motto and they definitely make you feel at home at this resort! We honeymooned here for 8 days and had a fantastic time. The resort is beautiful, the food is fantastic (and we are both picky eaters - so many options) and the people who work there are WONDERFUL and so kind - special shoutout to Leonardo (best concierge onsite!), "Mr. Blue", "The Cat", "China" and "Diva" for always making sure the guests are entertained! Highly recommend and can't wait to go back one day.

We spent 7 nights at secrets Cap Cana. The resort it’s self is breathtaking, immaculate. Pools are all stunning, beach is perfect. Was a small amount of seaweed on the beach but this was cleaned up daily by workers. We upgraded to preferred club sea view. Room had amazing views and a bath on the balcony. The best benefit for us was the private beach, with butlers on the beach & beech bar. Now the not so good part. Food was very disappointing, we know going to the Caribbean not to expect the food to be outstanding but a resort as pricey as this should have great food. We had bad meals in all restaurants apart from the Italian & the Japanese which were average. Breakfast was really bad all mornings. Other bad side when we were there huge groups of corporate events were taking place. On the beach round the pool and in the hotel it’s self. Not good when your going for a relaxing holiday. Having said this, the small problems are easily fixed. We did visit January 2018.

5* excellent resort that everyone needs to experience! I visited Secrets Cap Cana for 2 weeks from 26th March – 9th April (a little late writing the review) with my boyfriend and cannot recommend it highly enough. Now I am back I cannot wait to book another Secrets visit. Everything from the staff, food, entertainment and (near-enough) the weather was perfect and I shall break this down in to sections below, with small improvements for the hotel at the very end – hope it’s helpful! General Hotel First impressions of the hotel were amazing. When we arrived after a very long flight from the UK we were greeted by champagne and a cool towel. Check in was a breeze and the staff were so welcoming. I cannot fault any aspect of this hotel in general and would love to visit again. Room We read reviews before we arrived on the construction going on next door, which we really did not want to ruin our luxury holiday, therefore we emailed the general manager, and our travel rep (British Airways) beforehand. We were pleased when we were placed in block 5 in room 5208, away from any noise or construction disturbance. I would highly recommend requesting this room number as although there were 2 queen beds instead of a king bed (which I actually think gave us more space), we had a balcony which then went out on to a large astro turf terrace. Not many rooms had such a large balcony and as there was no fence, the balcony felt huge and view was great over the resort and restaurants. Only down side to the room was that it was on the same level as the lifts and right outside was an ice machine that was very noisy at night – we ended up unplugging it ourselves! Pool The pool area is great with lovely views over the beach. We tended to sunbathe near the top of the pool, closer to the hotel reception as found it was a lot quieter and there is a gentle slope in to the pool. Waitresses are great and bring drinks and ice cold water to your sunbed. There was also an amazing pop up bar round the pool on one of the days which the bartenders spent so long setting up and perfecting. Only downside is reserving sunbeds was very annoying and guests did this well before 8am and didn’t even return until around lunch time. Beach Lovely beach with plenty of palm trees for shade and a few umbrellas, although these were reserved early morning. Sunbeds could have been a lot comfier on the beach, which is why we spent the most of our time round the pool. Seaweed is collected daily and was minimal whilst we were visiting in early April. Restaurants I would recommend trying all the restaurants except the Mexican (El Patio) as each one was delicious. I cannot fault the food at this resort and there is something for everyone. Brief highlights are the Bordeaux and Oceana. Seagrill for lunch is a delicious option and I’m so glad it wasn’t just a buffet the was available. Bordeaux (French) – 5* - This was our favourite restaurant. I’ve never tasted meat as good anywhere – not even in Paris! I would highly recommend waiting it out for a booth-style table with curtains round as felt so traditional and private. French Onion Soup and Brie were amazing starters. The Duck, Steak and Pork Cheek were amazing main courses. Make sure you go early enough to get the pancake station for desert as that was delicious and they cook it live in front of your table! Oceana (Seafood) – 5* - Delicious seafood restaurant where every dish was delicious. We only went a few times but I wish we had gone more. The ambiance by the sea with the fire pit it lovely and the best decorated restaurant. Himitsu (Japanese) – 4* - Tapinyaki was amazing but the whole experience relies on you dining alongside fun people. We were paired with a couple who spent the whole experience on their phone! Food is very tasty though, but don’t go here if you’re a fussy eater as there isn’t much choice. Dining from the Al a Carte menu was much better, and I highly recommend the sushi from here. Portofino (Italian) – 4* - Sitting outside this resultant is lovely, although it’s not Italian as we know it in the UK! Still lovely though and one to try. Seaside Grill – 4* - For lunch, this was a great option and we went every day, except one where we tried the buffet. Sushi was amazing and I had this most days. We couldn’t have wished for a better lunch option, although we didn’t try it in the evening as it seemed to be the same menu as the daytime. El Patio (Mexican) – 1* - This was our least favourite restaurant. Took ages to get a drink and the food was average at best. I heard a lot of reports of people getting ill after eating here but we weren’t. Personally, I wouldn’t waste your time trying this one out. Only two downsides to the restaurants: You can’t book in advance and therefore I recommend ‘trying’ to get a table before you go for drinks, to which they then give you a buzzer to let you know when your table is ready. If you could book in advance it would save this hassle but understand that people may then not show up. Also, restaurants need to open later. As this is an all-inclusive resort that you don’t leave there isn’t loads to do in the evening, and if you’re a foodie, this is a big highlight of your night and we enjoy eating later on holiday – we sometimes found ourselves the last in the restaurant with little atmosphere. 5* entertainment team Wow – the entertainment team made this resort. When reading reviews before we set of I thought the names mentioned (Mr Blue, Eddy Murphy) were cheesy and it would reflect on the level of entertainment, but as soon as you meet this lovely team you feel as if you have friends for life. The team ran the daily activities such as pool volleyball (which we loved), aqua aerobics, darts and bingo – there really is something for everyone. Most of all, a big shout out and THANK YOU to Mr Cappuccino, who really made our holiday. He made time every day to chat to us, teach us Spanish and play games – he really was hilarious and a credit to the entertainment team for being so genuine. Evening entertainment Check the iPad in the room every day as it lists the evening entertainment. Every evening there was a singer in the lobby bar and it was lovely to sit and listen whilst you had pre or post dinner drinks. Some nights there are shows on for an hour in the theatre and these are definitely worth going to! The Circus show was our favourite and quite similar to Cirque De Solei – the performers were all so talented and even if you’re not overly in to sitting and watching a performance, there is a pool table and bar in there to enjoy. Weather Within the first week we were there we had 2 rainy days, which can’t be helped and the weather is obviously quite unpredictable in the Caribbean. There are activities put on if there are any rainy days but we just enjoyed time relaxing in the bath on our balcony. Seaweed was not an issue at all and the slight bit that did wash up was cleared each morning. Traveller tips - Bring bubble bath with you, if you have a room with a bath on the balcony – although this did seem to be chlorinated water. - Make sure you get up for sunrise at least once as it’s stunning over the sea! Sun sets behind the resort with an ugly building in the distance ruining any nice photos so don’t expect any nice sunset photos. - If traveling from the UK, bring a pen on the plane with you as you need to fill out entry and exit forms - We were questioning when we booked whether to upgrade to preferred club but we are so glad we didn’t! There are little benefits and if you pay extra to sunbath round a quieter pool, you miss all the great entertainment. If you’re sociable people I wouldn’t pay extra, however perhaps you would for a honeymoon or if you’re after a really chilled holiday. Hotel recommendations - The pool, outdoor Jacuzzi and balcony bath were very highly concentrated in chlorine and therefore sent my partners swimming shorts green, which I am yet to be able to remove. I’ve never encountered this in chlorinated water before so I can only imagine it is very strong or some other chemical was the issue. I therefore had to stay away from wearing any white bikinis for the duration of the trip and we will have to fork out to replace my partner’s designer swimming shorts. - Sunbeds were reserved from very early in the morning, even though there were several signs saying this was not allowed. All the lovely sunbeds overlooking the beach had been ‘taken’ with just a towel and book, but no one present, by 7:30am. Some people then didn’t come back to their reserved sunbeds until very late in the day, which was very irritating. - People seemed to be able to reserve the hotel-supplied lilos and kept them next to their beds. The pool staff were actively giving them to individuals which I don’t think should have been allowed as it spoilt it for others as they were clearly for all guests. - The sun lounges on the beach were very uncomfortable compared to the ones around the pool, which I think needs upgrading. - It would have been so lovely to visit each of the themed restaurants at night and be offered inclusive wines from that country. Instead, the wine was standard across the whole resort but was quite nice. - There is an ice machine outside of room 5208 which is extremely noise at night. We ended up unplugging this ourselves each night. - Room service was quite slow to arrive, and also for plates to be cleared. Also, to say this is an ‘all inclusive’ resort they are a little funny about giving you a bottle of wine to enjoy in your room. Overall, this was the best holiday we’ve ever been on (we’re travelled to Dubai, Europe, America) and I would thoroughly recommend this Secrets resort. I can’t wait to try other Secrets hotels across the world! Don’t hesitate to book your next holiday here.