Secrets Akumal Riviera Maya

The grounds were lush, tropical, and beautiful. While some previous reviewers have commented on some difficulty navigating your way around the resort, there's always a staff member around that are will take notice if you might be lost and offer to assist you. It should take you a day, or less, to acquaint yourself with the layout. Having the abundance of flora & fauna is part of the charm of the resort's aesthetic. The three various pools offer you choice based on your mood - the most lively and active main pool by the beach, the less active yet still somewhat lively middle pool, and the quieter most relaxing third pool farthest away from the beach. The pool concierge & drink servers are very attentive. All food options at the resort provide fresh, quality food. The specialized restaurant options for dinner are varied and allow for flexibility of choice based on wishes and needs in the moment - not having to make reservations in advance was a huge plus (except for the Teppanyaki table at Himitsu - which we didn't try). The daily lunch buffet option between Pool 1 & 2 each day is varied, as well as the dinner buffet option which coincided with the evening shows (that was a nice surprise). The sargassum was not horrendous during our stay, and the staff did a great job of removing as much of it as they could in the morning, etc., when it washed in. Having said that, we only spent a half day on the beach. There are so many other areas on the resort to enjoy, along with off-resort experiences to enjoy, that the sargassum issue really didn't affect our stay. We cannot commend the staff enough regarding their level of friendliness, helpfulness, and approachability while maintaining professionalism. It was very evident that everyone worked hard and seamlessly at the resort (in all departments) with pride, so is our pleasure to give shout outs to all staff that we encountered (wish we had learned and written down more of their names), and in particular: - Jose (pool 3 & pool 2) whom always kept us informed about the daily activities, and anticipated our needs when at the pool area, such as umbrella adjustments, changing of locations in the case of upcoming private events, cooldown facial towels, providing bottles of water, etc. - Araceli (concierge for building 7) was very friendly, helpful, and accessible. Each morning, she sent a detailed message regarding the resorts daily activities, meal time options for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and reiterated her availability to assist us daily. We needed assistance with in-house laundry services, alternating days house keeping preferences, room-service pick-up, etc., and communicated with us in a very timely and effective manner. Additionally, we arrived to our room with thoughtful banners on our room door acknowledging dual celebrations, and were surprised one day with an in-room treat to further extend the acknowledgement. - All hosts and servers at all of the restaurants were second-to-none, and most notably at the breakfast & lunch buffet. From Maria, Isabella, and another hostess (sorry - couldn't remember her name) upon arrival, Maricela, Santiago, Raymundo, and other servers who took great care of us, to Eliazar (the buffet manager). On our last day, they went above and beyond and brought us a trio of sweets to wish us a good trip home. - Liz and Aranxa were part of the entertainment team and provided fun, helpful and engaging art & craft activities. Liz also went around to inform patrons of upcoming activities, such as physical activities in Pool 1, etc. - Oscar & Alan lead a safe, engaging, and memorable turtle snorkel tour. You can tell that they sought to provide participants the most out of the experience while protecting the turtles and other marine wildlife, and they abide by the conservation area rules. - The arrival/departure & lobby concierge team, along with the luggage porters, were fantastic right from stepping out of our transfer vehicle, checking in/out, arranging for a taxi, exchanging currency, seamlessly getting all of our luggage to/from our room, etc. Karina & Josue were two that we a name - there were many others. - Nilo, Hector, and another drink/food server at Pools 2 & 3 were fantastic, as well. They worked tirelessly in the heat, and were on the go all of the time ensuring that patrons had their requested drinks and food as quickly as possible. Again, we wish we had more names to include - all staff we had encountered were very responsive, friendly and helpful. Our one main feedback would be with respect to the bed size in the double-occupancy rooms - which were double size beds. Sharing a double with two people is a little tight. Queen size beds would have been more comfortable. Having said that, it wasn't enough of an impact to tarnish the resort experience. Read less

Overall an excellent resort with an excellent experience. A lot of over grown tropical areas which are beautiful but at night time there are some mosquitoes if you plan to eat outside or go to any outside events. Spray your ankles and legs Overall best food of any UVC resort we have been to. The pools are plenty big but do you get a little warm in the afternoon so they are not as refreshing toward evening. But it was over 90° every day so maybe somewhat expected Staff was amazing and always very helpful. Very clean resort. Read less

Ivan T and his UVC team would wake up early on our first morning (after a very late night) because we mentioned that maybe we would be interested in joining them for breakfast. We just said maybe, if we were there already. But they decided to call us back to back 3-4 times in less than 10/15 minutes in the morning just because. First of all you should not be calling you on mornings without previous notice (we said we might go, we never commited to anything). Second if no one responds you leave a message or can use other communication channels (e.g. messages), you do not keep calling even less on early mornings for people's vacations. And Third Ivan reached out to me on messages, and were like didn't you want the 200 dollars or anything like that. And no Ivan, no one goes on a vacation to lose time and sleep for merely 200 dollars, we pay to enjoy and be unbothered. Only UVC concierge Mauricio and William were helpful, but to be honest I would not go back to this hotel if Ivan and his team remain there, do not want to be bothered again. Read less

Everything was really great, the food, the service and the rooms were perfect but I do have a complaint about the UVC team (sales department) they were very pushy into wanting to make us do what they wanted and called us several times at 8:20 am our first morning there waking us up after a late night. William and Mauricio from UVC were amazing very cordial and helpful at all times but unfortunately I can’t say the same for the rest of the people we met. The entertainment team (Oscar, e Ixche) made the activities so much fun and they’re also always willing to help you out and make sure you have a fun time. Gerardo our concierge was great as well. Overall, if we haven’t had that hiccup with UVC my review wouldn’t be as bad. Read less

My husband and I stayed for 5 nights to celebrate my birthday and our 32nd anniversary. Our building 4 concierge, Diana, provided multiple surprises for us to celebrate both of these occasions. At the pool, Jose and Henry did a wonderful job of taking care of us - from changing our wet towels, cleaning our sunglasses, the refreshing afternoon washcloths, and of course delicious beverages delivered to our chairs. Portofino was definitely our favorite restaurant, with Yolanda providing a friendly welcome and Diego taking excellent care as our server with a smile! We actually went to Portofino twice during our 5 night stay! Each night before dinner we would head to the Rendezvous bar where Francisco always remembered us and my request for an orange margarita. Room service quality was the only disappointment during our stay. We will certainly look forward to returning to Secrets Akumal! Read less