Gene Bush
Great resort!
Very friendly and welcoming staff.
The resort is very well kept and clean.
Preferred club has access to all three resorts on property.
Secret St. James and wild orchid are basically like one big resort. Can't really tell where one ends and the other starts. Breathless is also connected but security will stop you and ask for your name and room number.
Charlotte Comley
We had high hopes for our stay here, but unfortunately, it didn’t live up to its advertised image. The overall experience was disappointing for several reasons.
First, the hotel itself looks tired and dated, with dirty areas in our room that seemed like they hadn’t been properly cleaned in a long time. To add to our frustration, room service took over two hours to arrive—completely unacceptable for what is supposed to be a premium establishment.
The pool area was another letdown. Half the sunbeds require an additional fee to use, a detail that was never disclosed on the website or by our travel agent. What’s worse, the pools felt more like an 18-30 holiday destination with extremely loud music and guests drinking excessively. This was a far cry from the romantic, tranquil atmosphere depicted in the hotel’s promotional photos.
Dining was another nightmare. The food was mediocre at best, and unless you ate as early as 6 PM or as late as 9 PM, you faced over an hour-long queue to get a table. There simply aren’t enough restaurants to accommodate the number of guests staying at the hotel. To make matters worse, we found out that guests with butler service could book restaurant tables in advance, but we weren’t informed of this option when booking, leaving us at a distinct disadvantage.
A serious safety issue in our room added to the list of problems—our balcony door didn’t lock, leaving us feeling uneasy throughout our stay.
As if all this wasn’t bad enough, we were unlucky to be there during a staff strike on November 12. This caused a cascade of issues: restaurants and bars were closed, fresh towels weren’t available, our room wasn’t cleaned, and there was no water to drink anywhere. Only one buffet was open for 350 guests, leading to massive queues and subpar food quality.
Overall, we left feeling incredibly disappointed. The hotel fails to deliver on the luxury, romance, and relaxation it promises online. We wouldn’t recommend it to anyone expecting a premium experience or a romantic getaway.
M Singh
this was my first stay at Secrest. I was not a big fan of quality of food with all inclusive option. we tried the French restaurant and a few other restaurants while we were there. We were not happy with the taste quality and menu options. The best food there was the morning breakfast. The Property was well kept and clean. The bed was very comfortable but the property had some maintenance issues. Part of the roof was damaged in the last hurricane, but has never been repaired overall I give the resort 3 out of 5
hank marshall
The staff at check in and check out are the reason for this review. Once in/on the property, you should have a good time. The check in staff as well as check out staff are rude, understaffed, unqualified, and overwhelmed. The process also makes matters challenging for them AND for the guests. Not rocket science ... You should figure this out. Too many other nice places to stay to put up with this ... You are paying for this.
Tim Edwards
Good. Not Great.
The staff was fantastic. We did experience an employee strike that left us short of food, water and amenities for a full day. It seems the company has not taken care of the staff in a way that would have proactively mitigated such an event.
The good:
- staff
- Watersports on site
- Comfortable beds
The bad:
- Tipping required to supplement underpaid staff
- Sloppy construction and maintenance leading to minor annoyances
The mediocre:
- the food. None of the restaurants serve much better than mediocre food.
- The drinks. Low quality sugar bombs. Even for NA options. We drank water.