Secrets Akumal Riviera Maya

We visited Secrets Akumal for the seventh time July 8th - July 15. Our last visit was in 2022 prior to the Hyatt takeover. We think this was our best visit yet and the resort has improved under Hyatt.

Check In : We had a glitch. Expedia never paid the resort. It took some time to find this out. We were frustrated. Selene at the Preferred Club Lounge was patient, professional and helpful getting this resolved. She's a great employee. We were assigned Room 5210. We had no view at all. It didn't matter. We were hardly in the room, which was spacious, spotlessly clean, and showed little signs of age. Zenadya kept our room spotless. Our concierge Monica was very attentive. After speaking with her, she anticipated our needs and made our stay wonderful.

Beach : the ocean has suffered a lot of erosion. It is small now, and there was a lot of seaweed. While disappointing, this didn't affect our stay. We snorkeled once and saw lots of fish.

Pools : We planted ourselves at the middle pool each day. There was never an issue getting a chair. There are an abundance. Most were still vacant at 10am. Between Pool Concierges Isaac, Antonio and Alonzo, along with Servers Abraham (he recognized us from previous visits), Francisco and Jose, we wanted for nothing. Our drinks were refilled often and quickly. Thank you to each of them.

Food : I start by disclosing I have spent 25 years in restaurant management and just recently retired. I take food safety, preparation, service and presentation very seriously. That said, food is an area where we believe the resort has improved. Make no mistake, the food was always good. We just thought the selection, variety and overall quality all improved.

Breakfast : Despite paying for the Preferred Club, we had breakfast every day at the Market Cafe. Standouts IMHO are the omelette station, well cooked, crisp bacon, high quality sausage, a wide variety of fresh fruit including strawberries, and delicious crepes. A bonus was good, hot strong cappuccino. Service was excellent.

Lunch : Many options. A dedicated Pizza oven, a poolside buffet with a changing menu, the Market Cafe buffet, the Barefoot Grill poolside service, and the Seaside Grill, which is where we ate every lunch every day. Why? The Manager Jaime, the hardest working man I have ever seen in 65 years, remembered us from previous visits. So did several of his staff. We were treated like royalty. Tender, perfectly cooked flank steaks, grilled garlic shrimp, fish tacos, chicken caesar salads, fajitas, soups, buffalo wings, and perfectly cooked burgers were standouts, as was the strawberry ice cream. The only thing better than the food was the service. By day three, our beverages arrived at the table at the same time or before we were seated, as the staff would see us walking to the restaurant. Each beer (Indio) was served a a frosted glass making the drink ice cold. We felt spoiled here, so we ate every meal here and sincerely thank Jaime and his staff (Vitalino, Jose, Alberto and Armando) for making every lunch so special.

Dinner : Every meal was very good to excellent. We ate Portofino and Himitsu (not hibachi) twice, Seaside Grill and Bordeaux. Our server Diego (with the glasses) in Portofino guided us through the menu and we followed his recommendations. He crafted us a phenomenal meal. Fried calamari, shrimp & fish appetizer, followed by arancini, and Chef's Special filet mignon with a tomato demi-glaze. This was possibly our favorite meal, it was that good. A very tender steak with a unique sauce. Diego's service was a solid 10/10, so we requested him our second visit. This time our main courses were pasta carbonara and linguini bolognese. Both were delicious, and the tiramisu dessert was excellent. Our meals at Himitsu consisted of good quality sushi, delicious shrimp gyoza, sweet & sour chicken (best I've tasted) and some spicy chicken dish my wife loved. Fried Ice cream was the dessert of the day. Diego and Daniel took great care of us at Himitsu. My wife and I each enjoyed the same meal at Bordeaux; french onion soup (deliecious), surf & turf, and creme brûlée. Everything was delicious. Jordan was attentive serving us. Our wine glasses were never empty. We were surprised Seaside Grill, a steakhouse, did not offer a filet mignon for dinner. Well, truth be told, we didn'tmiss it. We had salads, tomato cream soup, a sirloin steak & a baseball steak, each served with a baked potato and pepper sauce. My sirloin far exceeded my expectations for flavor and tenderness as did my wife's baseball cut.

Room Service : we had one late night snack that consisted of shrimp cocktail, quesadillas, and a chicken sandwich and the food was delivered hot, fresh and quickly. Delicious

Coco Cafe : delicious coffees, lattes, cappuccinos, ice cream, etc, all served with a warm smile

Entertainment : This as another area where we thought there was significant improvement over our previous visit. There was live music poolside most days, sometimes more than one show. We particularly enjoyed the mariachi band, and the guitarist. We also enjoyed the multiple live music shows nightly by the lobby bar, and the Rock Show in the theater is not to be missed. This band has been playing at this resort for 10 years and I understand why. THEY ARE GREAT!!!! We didn't participate in any poolside activities and games, but there were plenty. The entertainment staff was a lot of fun. Having a live pianist and/or a live violinist playing at Portofino and Bordeaux each night added elegance and a romantic atmosphere to these already elegant, dimly lit restaurants.

Other : We enjoyed the morning Mimosa Cart that made its way through the pool area around 9am or so. I don't care for champagne, but thought this was a nice touch and it seemed to be popular with the guests. What I didn't consume in champagne, I more than made up for with the afternoon Ice Cream carte and fresh fruit cart. Both were outstanding.

A gentleman names Jose Luis Ponce who I believe was a Quality Control Manager at the resort approached us on at least 4 occasions asking what could be done to improve guest experiences. If you've read my review to this point, you know the answer was nothing.

IMHO, Secrets Akumal is step above other resorts. Its service is a step above throughout the resort, no matter where you eat or drink. Its dinner restaurants delivers a level of elegance and a romantic intimacy for couples that other resorts do not. Currently, it provides a lot more live music than competitors such as Valentin, Majestic Elegance, or the Excellence chain. It surpasses all but Valentin in terms of food quality, and while Valentin's food is good, the restaurants lack the intimate, candle lit, romantic ambiance that sets Secrets a step above for couples looking for that experience.

A lot of my pictures would not upload, but the Surf & Turf did.

IMHO, anyone disappointed at Secrets Akumal is just hard to please.

Excelente! All of the staff embrace and exude the promised mantra ‘going the extra mile’. They are all so thoughtful, friendly and cannot do enough to make your stay special! I have an amazing time and beyond thanking everyone of the staff including those behind the scenes. There’s such a wide variety of restaurants, as a vegetarian my favourite was the Italian. Even when the hotel is full the restaurants don’t feel crowded and you are never hurried! The Entertainment staff need some special mentions! Erik made the ‘snorkelling with turtles’ experience memorable pointing out lots of grazing turtles, as well as a barracuda and a sting ray. He is so knowledgeable (for me this activity was why I chose this specific resort as the turtle sanctuary is right on the beach). Like Erik, Ari-Ari made the water sports, pool fitness and guacamole class full of fun! Carlos’s Jungle tour is a new edition this year and definitely interesting to find about all the plants and wildlife you are staying amongst!! Alan and Anthony were always around with smiles, encouragement and organising everything so efficiently!! At the pools Israel, Isaac and their crew keep the drinks flowing and make sure everyone stays hydrated! The pool concierges are also always around to straighten your towels, adjust umbrellas and generally make sure you have everything you need too!! The rooms here are of such high quality, spacious and full of amenities, I have been to a couple of other Secrets and would say these are superior! I will definitely be back!! Thank you all so much!!

It's a bit of a late review, but I had to do one!

We stayed at Secrets Akumal Riviera Maya for two weeks, and our time here was splendid! From the start to the very end of our trip, we felt valued and cared for. The grounds are beautiful, the wildlife is amazing, the food is great, the service is brilliant, and there was so much to do.

The service here is top-notch, with the staff being friendly and accommodating. Our concierge, Alexandra, was amazing. She picked up on any issues, small or large, we had, such as the fact that I don't eat meat and one of the special dinners only served meats or vegetables that touched meat. She was able to get us a special table and meal for me so I could still enjoy the night. Alexandra, from this moment on, made sure any restaurant we booked knew about any dietary restrictions and that they were accounted for. She also sorted out some decor and complimentary gifts for celebrations we had during our stay. We were also upgraded later on in our stay as we brought up an issue we experienced, and Alexandra quickly dealt with it and moved us to a new building. Here, our concierge was Karen, who was also lovely and made sure we were cared for.

The food at all the restaurants was amazing. We loved the Italian (Portofino), Mexican (El Patio) and Japanese (Himitsu) restaurants in particular. The buffet was also great as there were stations you could get fresh food at, like steak, fish and pasta too! The hotel also sets up different style lunches such as burgers, tacos and fish near the pool every day where you can take your food back to your bed to eat or sit in Oceana and eat. Ice cream and fruit trolleys also come by the pool too what is great when you want a refreshing treat. The Bar staff were friendly and quick to get drinks too! Room service is also complimentary, so if you ever get hungry or need more refreshments like Coke or tea, you can get some to your room. There is honestly so much to choose from.

The entertainment is plentiful with Bingo, water activities, Karaoke, etc., and because it was the World Cup, they also transformed Desires lounge into a screening area for this. The shows were amazing, and they held so much talent. I loved the turtle painting as it was relaxing but gave us the chance to talk with other guests too!

The concierge by the pools was very helpful, and if the pool is busy, they will make sure to get you a bed as soon as you can. But getting a bed is not really a problem unless you are a very big group; most days we could still get a bed at 10 am as a group of four.

I am a big snorkeler, but we knew sargassum was likely to be present, and the staff were out their constanlty dealing with it. We could still snorkel on parts of the ocean on some days where there are some lovely fish and corals towards the right side. We were also lucky to see one turtle; however, the majority of the time they were past the barrier where we could not go, as you had to pay for 'the turtle experience' (the hotel charges about 50 pounds for this, I think, but there are also guys on the beach too) to see these turtles.

Things I would recommend: -Get the Hyatt app; you can browse the hotels amenties, restaurants and actvties, and if you put your room deatils in you can order room service and any other amenties you may need -Go on the jungle tour- it was great to hear about the hotel and its nature -Mosquito spray!! I used a DEET-free one, but was still bitten a lot. -The Himitsu restaurant itself, not just the Teppanyaki; the sushi and the food are amazing! But the noodle dishes are very filling. -Turtle painting and Macrame: They are fun and free activities you can do, and bonus, you get to keep what you make! But besides this, there are so many activities to do, and if it rains, the team has rainy-day activities too! -Go on trips: We went to Tulum to experience its history and cenotes, and we also did the Whale Shark Trip, and this was breathtaking. We used Ocean Tours, but the hotel also offers these experiences.
-Relax