Secrets Akumal Riviera Maya

This is my second time at Secrets Akumal and just like the first, it was amazing! I finally brought my parents who were a bit skeptical but their elation when it was all said and done was everything. To the staff: YOU GUYS ROCK!! I can’t remember all the names but here are some: Gerardo, Jhovana, Ismael, Luis, Efren, Mauricio, Diana, Jose. Thank you all for making this trip for my folks magical. We love you and till next time… Read less

My wife and I just returned after a wonderful 10-day visit to Secrets Akumal. We travel to Mexico often and always stay at different resorts. We landed in Cancun at 8:20 AM on a Tuesday. There was no one in customs and our luggage came out quickly. We met Canada Transfer outside and we were on our way by 9:00. We did not hit traffic on this trip or when we left the resort. Both times it took about an hour and ten minutes each way. We arrived at the resort 10:15 AM and we were brought directly to the preferred lounge for check-in. We finished check-in and we were at the pool by 10:45. Our room was ready at 1:00. We booked a preferred room with a tropical view. We actually were given a 2nd floor room with a partial ocean view. The room was beautiful. It was spotlessly clean and beautifully appointed. We had a hot tub both inside the room and out on our balcony. Since it was our anniversary, they placed a bottle of champagne in our room upon arrival. The air conditioning worked great as did everything else. On our last day they decorated out room for our anniversary and left chocolate covered strawberries and a bottle of wine. A huge thanks to our concierges Diana and Gerardo. Overall, this was a fantastic visit. Unfortunately, and at no fault of the resort, the beach was unusable. The sargassum was so bad all 10 days. It smelt bad at times and was unpleasant to swim through to get to the clear water (about 20 feet). The resort did the best they could, but you can’t beat mother nature. On the bright side, the smell did not go beyond the beach. So there were no issue at the pools or other outdoor areas. We loved the pools. We brought our own floaties and we are glad we did. We are quiet people, but the quiet pool was just too quiet. No one was talking and there was no music. Some background spa music would have been nice. The middle pool was our favorite. Just enough going on to suit our needs. Great music and even better service. Big thanks go to our two favorite servers Fernando and Israel. One of the pool concierges, Augustin, was everywhere. In the morning, he was ensuring everything was set up perfect, changed out our umbrella when it broke, and then later in the day he was cleaning guest sunglasses. My sunglasses were like new when he was done with them. The pool with the swim-up bar was not for us, but many enjoyed it. All the pools were beautifully maintained. The water was crystal clear. We did the bike tour and it was a lot of fun. We had a small group of five guest and saw a lot in the area. Restaurants: We loved Bordeaux, Portofino, Seaside Grill, Himitsu & Santorini. We loved the atmosphere, escargot, filet mignon & Chilean sea bass at Bordeaux. At Portofino we loved the atmosphere, lasagna & caprese salad. We ate at the ala carte side of Himitsu and the food, especially the sushi was fantastic. We spoke to several folks who sat at the hibachi table and they all were underwhelmed. Santorini had fantastic food. Unfortunately, all of the seating is outdoors and it was very hot. I also don’t think the belly dancer added to the experience. The lamb shank was phenomenal. Seaside was great for ala carte breakfast. A great way to start the day. They had live music most days (saxophone, acoustic guitar, harp, etc.). The hosts and servers, Alexa, Marysol, David, & Balthasar) were like family by the time we left. This was also a great place for a sit-down lunch. Dinner was a big surprise as it was some of the best food we had. Try the pork mignon. We were underwhelmed with both Oceana and El Patio. The food at Oceana was mediocre. The scallops were so overcooked they were inedible. El Patio was part of the Market Café that was section off at night. It had no atmosphere at all and the food was just OK. The house wines were barely drinkable and the bottle prices were out of line. A bottle of wine that I could buy at home for $9 was $85 at the restaurants. We took a walk into town one day and I don’t think it was worth it. We did stop at few places for a Sol beer (which the resort does not have). Cuevas Pescador was a really neat place that Sol that was ice cold and the food looked amazing. Our server, Carlos, was super friendly. Other than that, there were very few places of interest in town. Areas of improvement: Live music: Very little and not great quality live music. I was very disappointed that the resort considered a DJ as live entertainment. I prefer to hear live music at the pool at some point during the day. Very little of the live music was very good and I am not very picky. It was also odd that none of the pool concierges knew if there would be live entertainment at the pool or what time it would start. We at dinner at Portofino one night and we asked what time the piano player started. We were told since it was Saturday night there was no piano player. Two minutes later a gentleman sat down at the piano and played for over an hour. Another day one of the pool concierges told me that they consider a DJ to be live music. The staff just has no idea about when or where live musicians will be. Preferred lounge: Great top shelf liquor, but never properly staffed. We loved going there around 6:30 for a pre-dinner cocktail. It was always very crowded with only one server working the entire lounge. None of the servers or bartenders ever showed a sense of urgency. Food was mediocre at best at the lounge. Would we return to this resort? Probably not. While it was fantastic I don’t think it was worth the higher price than others we have stayed at (Excellence, Live Aqua, Sun Palace). I would also rather stay closer to the airport. In my opinion it was just not worth driving an extra hour and paying a premium. Read less

The Secrets Akumal Riviera Maya resort is 5 star, 5 diamond and 5 times the service of any other resort I've been to. As an all inclusive resort, I almost expect a few things to be lacking. Often, all inclusive restaurants aren't the best, the drink selections are limited, and the staff is a bit unengaged, but NOT at this place! The food is as good as any restaurant I've been to anywhere in the world. From breakfast to the specialty international restaurants, every meal is outstandingly prepared, presented, and flavored. The drink selection includes anything you'd ever want, nothing restricted. The staff must have a great orientation program because they are consistently excellent, "it's my pleasure" the reflexive reply to any request you have. From pool servers to bartenders and restaurant wait staff, they are all equally outstanding. As a Preferred Guest, I had a concierge named Gerardo who OVER delivered on everything and exceeded my expectations on a daily basis, anticipating my needs and addressing all concerns with a huge smile and appreciation that made me and my wife, on our 25th anniversary, feel like very special guests. This is a very special place, not over crowded, nothing held back. If you have an opportunity to upgrade to "Preferred" status, I'd highly recommend it. They have not only impressed me to return to Secrets Akumal, but to seek out all the Secrets locations in hope that they are all as good as this one. Read less