We arrived at 1:00 pm and our room wasn't ready so we went to the buffet for lunch.
While in the lobby waiting for our room, EDWIN the lobby waiter came up to us (he immediately noticed how we were weary from a long day of travel) and asked what we needed while we waited for our room. He offered to show us where the hospitality room was, which we declined. He spent some time patiently telling us about the resort, the layout, the restaurants and the pool. He happily answered any of our questions. Edwin started our vacation on such a great note and made a wonderful first impression for your resort!
When our room was ready, Jesus took our luggage and walked us to our room. He explained the layout of the property, about the restaurants. He came into our room and spent time explaining many different things about our room, the app, etc. Jesus was wonderful.
The room was beautiful, clean, spacious. There was a housekeeping concern so I went onto the Hyatt App and housekeeping was at our room within one hour to remedy it. The Hyatt app is fabulous. The beds were comfortable. We were overlooking the construction at Secrets which wasn’t a problem, except one morning they started jackhammering and/or using power tools at 7:30 am and we could hear it in the room. The maid came daily, early and kept the room well stocked. The air conditioning worked really well and the room was kept cool at all times. The water in the shower never got above lukewarm. We could not sit out on the balcony because the mosquitos were very bad.
The pools were beautiful. The bottoms of the pool were rough at times but not really an issue. We could find seats at the pool easily but I realized that most of the umbrellas appear to be “light filtering” (Nylon, perhaps) and very few actual canvas umbrellas. I was able to find chairs with what appeared to be a canvas umbrella and that provided us with true shade. We always stay in full shade on vacation except when we are swimming and we were glad to find one of the few umbrellas that provided us with great shade.
We loved that we could grab towels when needed but there was no pool concierge so moving the umbrella to keep shade was challenging. I asked one waiter, he said he couldn’t. The next day there was a new pool waiter named MIGUEL and I asked him if there was a pool concierge and he smiled and said “I’ll just do it for you” and as the week went on, he’d come over and keep moving our umbrella throughout the day as needed. He was so friendly and helpful, coming by frequently with drinks, and always checked on us to see if we needed our umbrella moved or anything else. He even came up to us before going on his short break(s) to see if we needed more shade before he left. Miguel, the pool waiter at the Mermaid pool was the absolute BEST and is truly one of your resort's biggest assets! Thank you so much Miguel for everything you did to keep us so comfortable during our entire vacation!
The beach was beautiful and clean but seemed to only have “light filtering” umbrellas. There were some palapas but they were set back too far and there was vegetation in front of them so that area did not seem to get any breeze from the ocean. The ocean was calm and not a lot of sargassum at all, in my opinion. The water wasn’t very clear, though, during the time we were there. I realize this is not anything the resort can control and is based on weather/the ocean. The resort kept the beach area immaculate.
We did go to the lazy river once a day to float. It was very nice. There didn't seem to be enough tubes, though, and many families had "claimed" the tubes and kept them near their belongings even when they were not floating. There were only two water slides, but they were good.
The grounds were immaculate at all times.
We found the food to be very good. The buffet had a large variety and something for everyone. The quality exceeded our expectations. Breakfast seemed to have the largest variety and also had a crepe station, which was great. They had many great toppings for the crepes which the kids seemed to enjoy. We were wondering why they didn't put out those toppings later at the ice cream bar, though, as well.
The sit down restaurants were hit or miss but were good, overall. Tides had outdoor seating for lunch and while they don’t do food service to pool chairs, they do wrap items to take to go. The food at Tides was good, as was the excellent service. We liked the Wrap place to keep grabbing our own waters and soda. They had other grab and go snacks, too, which was great.
Dolce was just fabulous. We'd stop in mid day for iced coffee and always at night for ice cream before heading to our room, and Adriana and Eunice always greeted us with a warm smile and provided excellent service. They were a great team and we loved the coffee, treats, ice cream and excellent service at Dolce.
The shows were good They were geared for a younger crowd, of course, but they were nice. We went every night because it was the only place to sit to get air conditioning! The open air lobby did not get any breeze and was very hot at night. The mosquitos at this resort were very bad. They gave us bug spray but it didn’t help. We went to the shows as a reprieve from the heat and mosquitos and the shows were good.
There were 1-3 weddings each day, which generally was not an issue except the first night we heard pounding music from the wedding in our room until 10 pm. The day before we left they were setting up for a wedding and they were building something right by the pool. It was loud as they used all types of power tools to build the stage, etc. They were also doing construction near the main area of the hotel outside of the restaurants and we heard the jackhammering all day long while at the pool. This was not a quiet resort with all of the construction for weddings and the main area construction. We got used to it, though. It was surprisingly crowded for early September because there were large groups for weddings, but it wasn’t a party type of crowd or resort. It was very low key and family oriented, which we appreciated.
My son enjoyed the tropical drinks. I could not drink any because they all seemed to have artificial sweetener in them. At one point, Miguel the amazing pool waiter came up to me to say “I can make you something non-alcoholic if you would like” and I explained that I can't have the "base" that has the artificial sweetener. He did offer a few other options that did not have the pre-mix in it. Miguel was so great.
I do like to drink hot lemon water and I could not find lemons at this resort, which was fine. One night we were at the buffet and OLIVER was our waiter. He said he could get me lemons and he came back with some! He told me where to find them when I wanted them. He also told me he would be at Gaucho the next evening and if I couldn't get them at the buffet, to come find him and he'll contact them to make sure I can have them. Oliver went way above and beyond to provide this level of service.
Paola was working at the Concierge when I stopped in to ask a few questions, and the best way to get reservations for the Hibachi restaurant. She was so patient and helpful with everything.
Overall this resort was very good. The biggest downside of this resort is the lack of true shade/quality umbrellas, as well as the loudness that some of the weddings bring for the setup or the loud parties at night that can be heard in the rooms. I also wish they had done something to decrease the mosquito issue, because we loved walking around the beautiful resort at night but were not able to for very long due to the mosquitos.
The upside to this resort was the medium size and great/easy layout, immaculate, nice pools, beautiful rooms, quality food and of course, the absolutely amazing service. Almost every single person we encountered went above and beyond to help when they could and worked to ensure we had an wonderful vacation. Thank you!
