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Secrets Playa Mujeres: A Comprehensive Resort Review · Travel Mug Podcast

• 0:00
  Meggan: Hey everyone, and welcome to the Travel Mug Podcast.
• 0:02
  Meggan: We hope you are doing well out there and January isn't treating you too badly.
• 0:07
  Meggan: It is the longest month in history.
• 0:10
  Meggan: I think it's about seven weeks long, but we're getting there.
• 0:13
  Meggan: And I am joined as always by my co host, Jenn.
• 0:16
  Meggan: How are you today?
• 0:17
  Meggan: good.
• 0:18
  Jenn: I am good.
• 0:19
  Jenn: I am cold, and I am excited to hear about your trip to the warm place.
• 0:26
  Meggan: It's, it's like it didn't happen, but let's dive in.
• 0:31
  Meggan: Well, as Jenn just alluded to, I recently returned from a trip to Mexico, and I am here to talk about the resort where we stayed, which is Secrets Playa Mujeres Golf and Spa Resort Adults Only.
• 0:45
  Meggan: We were there for one week, so it was a Sunday to Sunday, and we purchased a package through Sunwing Vacations.
• 0:52
  Meggan: That's how we traveled.
• 0:53
  Meggan: As most people who have been to resorts before know, this includes flights, the resort for the week and transportation to and from the airport on the day of arrival and of course departure.
• 1:07
  Meggan: One thing I did want to mention before we dive into the resort that has changed, I'm sure a lot of people already know, but since we were in Mexico in 2017, that prior to leaving home to go to Mexico, you actually now have to pay a visitor's tax.
• 1:22
  Meggan: It worked out to be about $45 Canadian, and then once you pay that, you are emailed QR codes for each person in your party.
• 1:32
  Meggan: And then also in advance, you must fill out a migration form online as well.
• 1:37
  Meggan: No one asked to see any of this.
• 1:40
  Meggan: Um, but I do believe the info was linked with our passport, either one of those, I'm not sure which it was.
• 1:47
  Meggan: So when it's put through the scanner on their end at customs, they probably could see that it was paid or that we'd fill out the form.
• 1:53
  Meggan: And we did print the QR codes like old people, but we only did that just in case our data was not working at the airport and they wanted to see it.
• 2:02
  Meggan: So I was just sort of being extra careful there.
• 2:05
  Meggan: And then our flight down was thankfully remarkable.
• 2:08
  Meggan: Once at the airport, things went smoothly with passport control.
• 2:12
  Meggan: And I have to say, my luggage was one of the last ones to come out.
• 2:17
  Meggan: And Peter kept like trying to reassure me, but I could feel like the inner heat building of like, I didn't even put a swimsuit in my backpack sort of heat.
• 2:29
  Jenn: Meggan!
• 2:30
  Meggan: I know, I was not thinking at
• 2:32
  Jenn: What?
• 2:33
  Meggan: Anyway, I was cursing myself as I stood there, but thankfully it came out and all was fine.
• 2:40
  Jenn: Meggan, come, like, do you even use our packing list?
• 2:44
  Jenn: What is wrong with you?
• 2:46
  Meggan: you even have a travel podcast?
• 2:47
  Meggan: No, apparently.
• 2:49
  Jenn: Put a bikini in my carry
• 2:52
  Meggan: my god, I was like, I'm going to have to purchase one.
• 2:55
  Meggan: It'll be $90 because they can hose you at the resort because they have all the Anyway It was fine.
• 3:02
  Meggan: I didn't have to worry too much.
• 3:03
  Meggan: It's
• 3:04
  Jenn: Will you learn your lesson and put a bathing suit in your carry on next time?
• 3:09
  Meggan: the first time I've forgotten in a long time, so I will say that.
• 3:12
  Meggan: It's not a typical thing.
• 3:14
  Meggan: But in the years, I won't be going next year, but in whatever year it is in the future, I will do it.
• 3:20
  Meggan: I promise.
• 3:20
  Jenn: Okay, all right.
• 3:22
  Jenn: Uh, just want to circle back to the visitors taxi page just for one second.
• 3:27
  Jenn: It was $45 was that per person or was at each?
• 3:32
  Meggan: Each.
• 3:33
  Meggan: No, sorry.
• 3:34
  Meggan: It was That was the same question.
• 3:35
  Meggan: It was all together.
• 3:37
  Meggan: 45 all together.
• 3:40
  Meggan: 45 all together for both of us.
• 3:42
  Jenn: Okay.
• 3:42
  Jenn: Sorry.
• 3:43
  Jenn: Bad question.
• 3:44
  Jenn: All right.
• 3:45
  Meggan: the form, you're able to put like up to six people or something.
• 3:48
  Meggan: So we were able, I was able to put all of our information in the same place.
• 3:52
  Jenn: Gotcha.
• 3:53
  Jenn: Gotcha.
• 3:53
  Jenn: Okay.
• 3:54
  Jenn: So how, like, what airport did you fly into?
• 3:58
  Jenn: What was that experience like?
• 3:59
  Jenn: And then how far away from the airport was your resort?
• 4:04
  Meggan: Yeah, this was kind of a treat because normally in the past when we've gone to Tulum and stuff It's about 90 minutes and this time our resort was about 30 minutes from the airport.
• 4:15
  Meggan: There were other people on our bus going to other resorts but ours was the second drop off point and when we got there only Peter and I got off at that particular resort.
• 4:25
  Meggan: And The airport was the Cancun International Airport and overall the experience was fairly straightforward.
• 4:32
  Meggan: On departure as well when you're leaving to come home, which is not something anyone wants to talk about, but there are restaurants of course duty free and whatnot to keep you busy in the airport as well.
• 4:44
  Meggan: I do want to say though that we did run into a few people and I don't, I think they were from New Jersey.
• 4:48
  Meggan: Anyway, it was a few days after we arrived and they came in fairly late and Peter talked to one of the guys at the bar and he said that they had arrived at 2 p.
• 4:57
  Meggan: m.
• 4:58
  Meggan: And that customs was such, um, a mess.
• 5:02
  Meggan: I don't know if the lines weren't lining.
• 5:04
  Meggan: I don't know what was going on, but they didn't get to our resort until 9 p.
• 5:08
  Meggan: m.
• 5:09
  Jenn: Oh my gosh.
• 5:10
  Jenn: That's horrible.
• 5:11
  Jenn: Like
• 5:11
  Meggan: know.
• 5:11
  Meggan: So
• 5:11
  Jenn: lost whole half day.
• 5:13
  Meggan: yes.
• 5:13
  Meggan: So I don't quite know what their experience was and who got caught up in customs and whatnot, but so obviously there can be hiccups, but luckily we did not have any.
• 5:23
  Jenn: That's good.
• 5:24
  Meggan: Yes.
• 5:25
  Meggan: So upon arrival at the resort, the bellman met us with cold towels.
• 5:30
  Meggan: I'm not going to lie.
• 5:31
  Meggan: It was amazing because after you've been through an airport and on a plane, like my hands needed a refresher, they, they were felt feeling a little grimy.
• 5:40
  Meggan: So that was really lovely.
• 5:41
  Meggan: And then the lobby, which was interesting is for reception only.
• 5:46
  Meggan: So most resorts, the lobby is actually a hub for activity, including usually a bar.
• 5:52
  Meggan: People milling about.
• 5:54
  Meggan: But here, this area is used literally only for booking excursions.
• 5:58
  Meggan: So there were representatives, there.
• 6:00
  Meggan: And then the check in desk, and that was literally it.
• 6:04
  Meggan: So we got there around 2 p.
• 6:06
  Meggan: m.
• 6:06
  Meggan: or so, and our room was ready, even though check in wasn't until 3, so that was nice.
• 6:11
  Meggan: And then while checking in, they just needed our passports and some signatures.
• 6:14
  Meggan: Mexico has really strict smoking policies as well, including no smoking on the beach.
• 6:20
  Meggan: And on the resort as well, except in one designated spot.
• 6:25
  Jenn: Oh wow.
• 6:26
  Meggan: So it was actually quite nice to not have to worry about cigarette smoke being blown all over you all the time.
• 6:32
  Meggan: They also have a strict, uh, drug policy.
• 6:34
  Meggan: So both of those needed signatures that you agreed to them.
• 6:39
  Meggan: Which was fine for us.
• 6:41
  Meggan: And then during the check in process, we were actually able to sit down.
• 6:44
  Meggan: Normally it's like a regular hotel line and there's a bunch of people and you're just like standing there with your luggage, but we got to like sit down.
• 6:51
  Meggan: It was very chill.
• 6:53
  Meggan: They brought us a glass of champagne and a bottle of water.
• 6:57
  Meggan: And honestly, it was one of the most pleasant check in experiences we've ever had.
• 7:01
  Jenn: That sounds amazing.
• 7:03
  Meggan: It was, I was like, yes, sir.
• 7:05
  Meggan: I will take your water and your champagne.
• 7:07
  Jenn: Yes.
• 7:09
  Meggan: Indeed.
• 7:10
  Meggan: Um, so after that, which probably took maybe seven, eight minutes, maximum, um, we were then driven in a golf cart to the main area of this smaller resort, , where we were dropped off to another Bellman who had our luggage and then we were taken up to our room.
• 7:24
  Meggan: So we were in block four, essentially, which our room was 4 1 1 9.
• 7:30
  Meggan: And it was a very convenient location, which I'll explain in a minute.
• 7:33
  Meggan: And we were the first floor of rooms But on the very ground floor below us, which was like where the pool and stuff was, there were restaurants, a coffee shop, and one of the main bars, like, in our block of rooms.
• 7:47
  Jenn: Okay.
• 7:48
  Jenn: Right.
• 7:49
  Meggan: in the heart of it all, and there was not any additional noise from that.
• 7:53
  Meggan: So you would think Oh, dear.
• 7:55
  Meggan: Like the noise is going to rise up it for us.
• 7:58
  Meggan: We were kind of at the end, so it didn't bother us at all.
• 8:01
  Meggan: I can't speak if you're right above the bar, I suppose, um, but people usually aren't too loud, but we didn't have any issue with noise.
• 8:09
  Meggan: The only Noise, I would say we had in that particular spot was actually at the back because at the back where the door actually was to enter the room, it was right above where the staff entered and a lot of actual resort work went on there.
• 8:26
  Meggan: And of course, they start pretty early.
• 8:28
  Meggan: So the noise started a little bit early and it wasn't a huge deal.
• 8:32
  Meggan: I just put earplugs in and called it a day.
• 8:34
  Meggan: It was fine.
• 8:35
  Meggan: They have to work.
• 8:36
  Meggan: I understand.
• 8:38
  Jenn: Yeah.
• 8:39
  Meggan: Now, the room itself was nice.
• 8:40
  Meggan: It had a king bed, all the basics, so a mini fridge, a safe, a balcony, which actually overlooked the pool area, and a nice bathroom with heated floors.
• 8:49
  Meggan: Uh, there were double sinks, a tub, a shower, and then our own separate, like, water closet that had the toilet in it.
• 8:56
  Meggan: The room was clean.
• 8:58
  Meggan: The bed was comfortable, and it had a TV, of course, with lots of U.
• 9:01
  Meggan: S.
• 9:01
  Meggan: Cable stations, and also the ability to watch YouTube and Netflix if you wanted.
• 9:05
  Meggan: And of course, no one goes there to watch TV, but there was one night Peter wasn't feeling well, so we were able to watch stuff on YouTube in the room while we were just chilling.
• 9:13
  Meggan: So that actually worked out really well.
• 9:16
  Meggan: And a very odd thing, and I don't know why I smelled it, But the toilet paper had a nice smell.
• 9:21
  Meggan: I'm just, yes, I'm just going to throw that out there.
• 9:24
  Meggan: I think it's on the nose or something.
• 9:25
  Meggan: I'm like, what is that?
• 9:26
  Meggan: What is that?
• 9:27
  Jenn: Oh.
• 9:29
  Meggan: Now, in regards to the room for the maid service.
• 9:32
  Meggan: So I was kind of confused at first.
• 9:34
  Meggan: There was nothing to hang on the door.
• 9:36
  Meggan: So like a do not disturb or please clean the room.
• 9:39
  Meggan: But you actually just push a red or green light in your room.
• 9:44
  Meggan: And then it would come on outside of your door either red or green and then they knew of course if you wanted service or not.
• 9:54
  Meggan: And I hadn't seen that feature before so that was actually quite interesting and kind of handy
• 10:00
  Jenn: Yeah.
• 10:01
  Jenn: That is really interesting.
• 10:02
  Jenn: I've never seen that anywhere, but I can see from like a person working at a hotel, like you can look down a hallway and be like, Oh, there's a green down there and there's a green down there.
• 10:13
  Jenn: Like, go do those rooms instead of checking every single door for what's hanging on the door.
• 10:18
  Jenn: So
• 10:18
  Meggan: Yep, and like it was I've actually quite liked it as well.
• 10:23
  Meggan: there was also turned down service in the evening So they just essentially put little mats by your bed and they put chocolates on the bed and pulled the sheets down and whatnot.
• 10:33
  Meggan: Um, and of course they restocked your mini bar as well, but they wouldn't do this if your red light was on.
• 10:38
  Meggan: So you have to keep that in mind because it essentially meant do not disturb.
• 10:42
  Jenn: Yeah, that makes sense.
• 10:44
  Meggan: Yeah.
• 10:44
  Meggan: So the room itself overall, nice, a bit of a dark in the colors that were chosen for it, like the, the furnishings and whatnot, but overall we were happy.
• 10:53
  Meggan: Okay.
• 10:54
  Meggan: Now there is, of course, an option to pay extra as there always is, whether you're booking it before you go or on arrival, if it's available, is preferred club.
• 11:04
  Meggan: It's called there.
• 11:05
  Meggan: So you get a room with an ocean view.
• 11:08
  Meggan: Uh, there's a club area, quote unquote, with your own bar.
• 11:11
  Meggan: And I believe there's a restaurant too, that was specifically for preferred club.
• 11:15
  Meggan: And then down on the beach, you've got a reserved, like, beach bed, sort of like it looks like a canopy bed, um, for daily use.
• 11:23
  Meggan: However, I do want to mention with those beds, you couldn't see the ocean from them because they were in the dunes.
• 11:29
  Meggan: So it's, I mean, yes, it's a perk to always have something waiting for you, but also you're going to be in the sand dunes.
• 11:35
  Meggan: You can't see the ocean.
• 11:38
  Jenn: Interesting.
• 11:40
  Jenn: All right, let's talk about our favorite subject, which is food.
• 11:46
  Meggan: Yeah, definitely.
• 11:47
  Meggan: So as we know, I went to Cuba in 2023 and food was it was not good.
• 11:54
  Meggan: Um, so we were very excited to like try the food here.
• 11:57
  Meggan: And there were lots of options for dining, including like five or six a la carte restaurants.
• 12:03
  Meggan: Um, some had lunch and supper.
• 12:05
  Meggan: Some just had supper.
• 12:06
  Meggan: There was 24 seven room service, although there were a few times.
• 12:11
  Meggan: Very odd times that it wasn't available, like 10.
• 12:15
  Meggan: 40pm to midnight, and then 6am to 7.
• 12:19
  Meggan: 40am.
• 12:21
  Meggan: So, it was kind of weird because no one, to order breakfast, 7.
• 12:26
  Meggan: 40 to just order it is way too late.
• 12:29
  Jenn: right,
• 12:30
  Meggan: Like most other places, you'd want to order it like the night before or something and then have it show up for 7 or whatnot, but you can only order it at 7.
• 12:40
  Meggan: 40 here.
• 12:40
  Meggan: So we definitely did not do that.
• 12:42
  Meggan: We just went to the buffet instead.
• 12:45
  Meggan: A cool feature of the room was, and again, I've never seen this before, is that inside of your room by your door, you can open up this tiny door in the wall.
• 12:56
  Meggan: And when you're done with your room service dishes, you put them in there.
• 13:00
  Meggan: and reclose the door and then they can access that from the outside and take away your dishes.
• 13:07
  Jenn: They are living in the future this resort.
• 13:11
  Jenn: I
• 13:12
  Meggan: Maybe we just haven't spent enough money before to get cool features.
• 13:16
  Meggan: I don't This isn't This isn't even that high end of a resort, but I was like, that's clever.
• 13:23
  Jenn: I feel like someone listening to this podcast can be like, yeah, that's like pretty standard, guys.
• 13:28
  Jenn: Like, where have you been?
• 13:30
  Jenn: Um,
• 13:30
  Meggan: have you guys been going to one stars?
• 13:32
  Meggan: I don't understand.
• 13:34
  Meggan: But yeah,
• 13:36
  Jenn: That's amazing.
• 13:37
  Jenn: I love that.
• 13:38
  Meggan: I know! Who wants to sleep with the scent of your like, half eaten or three quarters eaten meal in the room all night when you don't have to?
• 13:48
  Jenn: Amazing.
• 13:48
  Jenn: Love it.
• 13:49
  Meggan: I know, like, it is futuristic stuff.
• 13:53
  Meggan: Um, there was also the Market Cafe.
• 13:55
  Meggan: So this is where you could get your morning and lunch buffet.
• 13:58
  Meggan: We did not ever do the lunch buffet.
• 14:00
  Meggan: We tried one day, and unfortunately Peter had a tank top on.
• 14:06
  Meggan: And we could not get in because you needed at least a t shirt.
• 14:09
  Meggan: So we just went somewhere else.
• 14:10
  Meggan: It wasn't a big deal.
• 14:10
  Meggan: So we never tried the lunch buffet, but the morning buffet was delicious.
• 14:14
  Meggan: I'm sure the lunch was too.
• 14:15
  Meggan: I have no doubt about it.
• 14:17
  Meggan: And at breakfast, there was a guy, an older stately gentleman, who played the harp and sang every morning at the buffet breakfast.
• 14:27
  Meggan: It was lovely.
• 14:28
  Meggan: I have to say.
• 14:29
  Meggan: There was also the cocoa cafe, which was great for lots of coffee options, pastries, cookies, and sandwiches.
• 14:36
  Meggan: There's also a poolside snack bar and also a grill that you could go to all afternoon.
• 14:41
  Meggan: There was no lack of options.
• 14:44
  Meggan: And then you could go to the a la carte restaurants as many times as you wanted.
• 14:49
  Meggan: There were no restrictions, which a lot of resorts have.
• 14:52
  Meggan: Maybe you can only go to a la carte three times during your whole week.
• 14:56
  Meggan: So some resorts have places like that and you did not need reservations for these, which I also loved.
• 15:02
  Jenn: yeah.
• 15:04
  Meggan: And I'll sort of tell you why that is kind of the case here in a second.
• 15:08
  Meggan: we had good food experiences Um, I mean, overall, there was a few we didn't go to, but your choices included Japanese, Mexican, Italian, French, and seafood.
• 15:17
  Meggan: And they oftentimes set up lunch around the pool, which was really great.
• 15:22
  Meggan: just like a quick taco station so that you didn't have to formally go to the buffet.
• 15:27
  Meggan: Um, And oftentimes the lunch snack bar by the pool is quite busy.
• 15:31
  Meggan: So this was just a really quick option.
• 15:33
  Meggan: And then two evenings, they set up a buffet supper around the pool as well.
• 15:39
  Meggan: I tell you the setup and tear down those people do.
• 15:43
  Meggan: Every single day.
• 15:44
  Meggan: The staff there, it was incredible.
• 15:46
  Meggan: So much hard work.
• 15:49
  Meggan: Now, there is a sister Resort next door, which was called Dreams.
• 15:53
  Meggan: It's an easy walk or golf cart ride away.
• 15:55
  Meggan: We did have access to all their restaurants and bars too.
• 15:59
  Meggan: We did walk over and we had a drink one evening, but when I say it was Kids Central.
• 16:05
  Meggan: I really mean it.
• 16:07
  Meggan: , and we did pay for adults only, so we really just stuck to Secrets, but it is an option.
• 16:12
  Meggan: I mean, I don't hate kids, but there were just like literally, I felt like hundreds of them.
• 16:17
  Meggan: And so, but it is an option to go over there.
• 16:20
  Meggan: We heard people grabbing golf carts.
• 16:22
  Meggan: They were going to Dream.
• 16:23
  Meggan: So people do it.
• 16:24
  Meggan: It's just not a choice that we made.
• 16:27
  Meggan: One negative I would say about all of this, and it's certainly a problem that's not really a problem.
• 16:34
  Meggan: There was not a set buffet supper every night.
• 16:38
  Meggan: So literally every single resort I've ever been to, you have a breakfast buffet, a lunch buffet, and a supper buffet.
• 16:47
  Meggan: This one though, you were literally, literally kind of forced to go to a sit down meeting, not meeting.
• 16:54
  Meggan: Oh, I've been to work already, a sit down meal every evening.
• 16:59
  Meggan: And not every evening do you want to spend one plus hours in a restaurant.
• 17:04
  Jenn: Right.
• 17:05
  Meggan: It sounds great when you're home to go to a restaurant and have supper, but when you're down there, like, Every single night to do it.
• 17:11
  Meggan: I didn't like sort of being forced to do that because there was no other food option.
• 17:16
  Jenn: Right.
• 17:17
  Meggan: I know it sounds like not a big deal.
• 17:18
  Meggan: And again, it isn't but this is literally the first time I've ever encountered this.
• 17:22
  Meggan: And we've been to a lot of resorts.
• 17:25
  Meggan: So they're just no casual option.
• 17:27
  Jenn: Right.
• 17:28
  Jenn: So I guess that, like, makes sense why there's no restrictions on how many times you eat in an a la carte because it's your only choice for dinner.
• 17:36
  Meggan: It was your only choice
• 17:38
  Jenn: No, that makes sense.
• 17:40
  Jenn: How was the food compared to what you expected?
• 17:44
  Meggan: Yeah, like, we've been to Mexico before, the food's always been excellent, and it was excellent.
• 17:49
  Meggan: I have to say, like, breakfast buffet, whether it was the coffee shop, whether it was a la carte, the food was delicious.
• 17:56
  Meggan: We've been to the Italian one twice, um, I really love Italian food, so that was really good.
• 18:01
  Meggan: The French one was excellent.
• 18:03
  Meggan: So yeah, again, we didn't go to the Japanese one, and we didn't go to the seafood one, but I mean, I've heard lots of raving things about it as well.
• 18:11
  Meggan: So honestly, I don't.
• 18:12
  Meggan: I don't think there was anything bad that I had to eat there.
• 18:15
  Jenn: Yeah, and like lots of like variety of different foods for different like, you know people's preferences
• 18:21
  Meggan: Yes.
• 18:22
  Meggan: So there was, yeah, so there were definitely vegetarian options.
• 18:26
  Meggan: I can't speak to vegan and gluten free.
• 18:28
  Meggan: I honestly didn't notice, but there's lots of fruits and vegetables, lots of different options that way.
• 18:34
  Meggan: So vegetarian for sure.
• 18:37
  Meggan: Um, and a pescatarian for sure.
• 18:39
  Meggan: But yeah, I'm not sure about vegan and gluten free.
• 18:41
  Meggan: It's a good question, but I'm sure they must have something everywhere caters to sort of all those usually.
• 18:46
  Meggan: Um, and then lots of food in terms of not just being thankfully North American food.
• 18:51
  Meggan: Like there was A variety that way as well, which I love because I live in North America.
• 18:56
  Meggan: I eat that all the time.
• 18:57
  Jenn: yeah I'm ready for something different.
• 19:00
  Jenn: Oh, yeah.
• 19:01
  Jenn: I'm glad that you had a good food experience, especially after Your last going down south food experience.
• 19:08
  Meggan: Well, when we had our first meal, it was in the afternoon.
• 19:11
  Meggan: So we just went to the pool side, like a little snack bar thing.
• 19:15
  Meggan: And we ordered, I had fish tacos and Peter had a chicken burrito and all right on the table, there were condiments.
• 19:20
  Meggan: We're like, it's already different.
• 19:21
  Meggan: There's mayo, there's ketchup, there's mustard.
• 19:24
  Meggan: Things are looking up.
• 19:27
  Meggan: It's very exciting.
• 19:28
  Jenn: Yes.
• 19:29
  Jenn: Amazing.
• 19:30
  Jenn: So, let's talk about, um, pool and sort of like activities and that sort of stuff.
• 19:37
  Meggan: Yeah, so there was one main pool at Secrets, and, uh, there was a beach bar and a pool bar, and then beside the pool as well, there was the Oceanside Grill, which was an option for lunch.
• 19:48
  Meggan: The pool was fun, and great service around the pool for both drinks and food.
• 19:53
  Meggan: The staff were, again, worked really hard.
• 19:55
  Meggan: They were very friendly.
• 19:57
  Meggan: Um, Marcella was the one we sort of always ended up, who would bring us our drinks, and she was lovely.
• 20:03
  Meggan: And it that you just didn't see them like once an hour.
• 20:05
  Meggan: Like she would probably come by once every 20 or 25 minutes.
• 20:10
  Meggan: And not that we got something every time she came around, but you knew she was coming and it was really reliable and really great.
• 20:15
  Meggan: And you don't always get that.
• 20:17
  Jenn: Yeah.
• 20:18
  Meggan: And apart from the regular poolside lounge chairs that you usually get in or lay on when you're by a pool, there were poolside beds as well, which looked comfortable, but the price to rent those for one day was between $100 and $200 American.
• 20:34
  Jenn: Yikes.
• 20:35
  Meggan: Yeah, so to us it wasn't worth it and there were ones actually that had an ocean view and everything and those would be the best ones but I assumed those were the $200 ones and like I grew up across the street from the ocean.
• 20:47
  Meggan: I'm fine.
• 20:48
  Jenn: Yeah.
• 20:49
  Jenn: . I am not gonna pay $200 to lay and look at the ocean.
• 20:53
  Jenn: 200 US dollars, like $300 Canadian
• 20:57
  Meggan: exactly.
• 20:57
  Meggan: 3.
• 20:58
  Meggan: 75.
• 20:59
  Meggan: Um, and every day there was live music at the pool, variety of music styles, otherwise, like bands, literal bands came and played.
• 21:09
  Meggan: Yeah, exactly.
• 21:09
  Meggan: at the pool.
• 21:10
  Meggan: Yeah.
• 21:11
  Meggan: And they also did like exercise in the pool every morning, which I did take part in one day.
• 21:16
  Meggan: And that was really fun.
• 21:17
  Meggan: They're like animation teams, they call them.
• 21:19
  Meggan: They were, they were very energetic and very good.
• 21:23
  Meggan: Now in terms of music, if it wasn't a live band, otherwise it was the same playlist daily.
• 21:29
  Jenn: Okay.
• 21:29
  Meggan: Now the same playlist day after day did get old and a lot of resorts do this.
• 21:37
  Meggan: It never makes sense to me.
• 21:39
  Meggan: So even if you want to play sort of generic safe music that you think no one will hate, at least make like three to four playlists and then like mix it up a bit day to day.
• 21:52
  Meggan: We beg of you.
• 21:53
  Meggan: Like this is resorts everywhere.
• 21:56
  Meggan: If I had to hear like, do you believe in love or whatever it is, that Cher song,
• 22:00
  Jenn: Oh, no.
• 22:02
  Meggan: and then like Shania Twain, bless your heart, but shut up.
• 22:06
  Meggan: Like.
• 22:07
  Meggan: Anyway, this is my, this is my ask to all resorts, like, just make several playlists.
• 22:13
  Jenn: Yeah, just a few different ones.
• 22:14
  Jenn: It'd be great.
• 22:16
  Meggan: really all we're asking.
• 22:18
  Meggan: One thing I want to mention is there is an app.
• 22:20
  Meggan: So this was a Hyatt run resort.
• 22:23
  Meggan: And Hyatt has an app where you can find your resort on it.
• 22:28
  Meggan: And you can, they give you a key packet when you, um, when you check in.
• 22:32
  Meggan: There's a qR code on it where you can get the link to the to the website.
• 22:37
  Meggan: You download it and it's actually really super handy with information about restaurants, what time they open, activities throughout the day, so you know every single day what is happening on the resort.
• 22:49
  Meggan: So that was very, very handy, and you can actually make a digital key on your phone through this resort as well.
• 22:55
  Meggan: Because they only gave us a physical, one physical one, and then Peter made one on his phone so he could open the door with his phone.
• 23:01
  Jenn: Perfect.
• 23:02
  Meggan: Futuristic as well.
• 23:04
  Jenn: Literally
• 23:05
  Meggan: I know.
• 23:05
  Meggan: Um, there's also a shop there in case you forget anything on site, you will pay through the nose, but it is there.
• 23:12
  Meggan: And there was also a random jewelry store as well.
• 23:15
  Jenn: Yeah, just in case,
• 23:17
  Meggan: just in case, you know.
• 23:18
  Meggan: And then there were daily activities with the team that included like making guacamole, tequila tasting, darts, a ping pong tournament, you could learn Spanish, uh, just to give you like an idea and the app again had all the times for all of that daily.
• 23:32
  Meggan: They also have a basketball court.
• 23:34
  Meggan: and a tennis court and then two lookout towers.
• 23:36
  Meggan: You can climb up and sort of get some views of the resort.
• 23:41
  Meggan: We like seeing and hearing new birds because we're the 40 plus crowd.
• 23:45
  Meggan: Um, so we did go on several walks with our little Merlin app open to learn about all the birdies there.
• 23:50
  Meggan: So that was fun.
• 23:51
  Meggan: And they do have a spa.
• 23:53
  Meggan: So we got two calls during our stay telling us that we had a$200 USD credit that if we wanted to use it, which I thought was super generous, like too generous.
• 24:06
  Meggan: So really when we looked at the spa services on the app, the prices were insane, like $349 US dollars up to over a thousand for a couple's treatment,
• 24:21
  Jenn: Oh, whoa.
• 24:22
  Meggan: dollars.
• 24:24
  Jenn: Yeah.
• 24:25
  Meggan: Like if you have that to spend on that, obviously do it, but I was really shocked by the prices and I've done spa services at resorts before and it maybe cost $100 to $150 and This, in my opinion, was astronomical, and this resort, I would say it's upper middle class.
• 24:43
  Meggan: It isn't super high end, though, but it's not low end.
• 24:47
  Meggan: So if you are there, you're not rich.
• 24:50
  Meggan: Like, you've got some money, but you're not rich.
• 24:54
  Meggan: Otherwise, you wouldn't be there.
• 24:55
  Meggan: Like, you'd be on a yacht somewhere, or like a very exclusive resort.
• 25:01
  Meggan: So therefore, I just found these prices very over the top for the clientel.
• 25:05
  Meggan: That's just my opinion, but I've never seen spa prices like that.
• 25:09
  Jenn: Yeah.
• 25:10
  Jenn: Whoa.
• 25:12
  Meggan: Indeed, like enjoy it if you got it, but holy cow.
• 25:15
  Jenn: Yeah.
• 25:15
  Jenn: It's just interesting.
• 25:16
  Jenn: Um, marketing wise, they're like, you have this credit, come use it.
• 25:22
  Jenn: But also these prices are crazy.
• 25:26
  Jenn: Like,
• 25:26
  Meggan: That's what we both said.
• 25:27
  Meggan: We're like why $200, that seems like a lot.
• 25:29
  Meggan: I'm like, well it has to cost a lot, and sure enough
• 25:32
  Jenn: surely, surely it does.
• 25:34
  Jenn: Even with the credit though, it doesn't bring it down to
• 25:37
  Meggan: No, just $800
• 25:39
  Jenn: Yeah, Yeah,
• 25:40
  Meggan: Yeah.
• 25:41
  Meggan: And then finally, nightly entertainment, which is a big thing at resorts.
• 25:45
  Meggan: There was a desires theater, it was called.
• 25:48
  Meggan: So it's essentially the theater where they put on the shows, including like an led light show or burlesque show.
• 25:54
  Meggan: On Monday night, they had like this giant screen, which is always there, and it had like Monday night football on it.
• 25:59
  Meggan: So it was like a sports night.
• 26:01
  Meggan: So there's usually something going on nightly.
• 26:03
  Meggan: They even had a casino night as well.
• 26:06
  Meggan: So that stuff is really interesting if you're into that.
• 26:09
  Meggan: We did do a couple of shows.
• 26:11
  Meggan: We saw the casino night as well.
• 26:13
  Meggan: And in that theater, they also have some snacks, a bar, and a pool table.
• 26:17
  Meggan: And then where the theater is, there are also the three of the a la carte restaurants are there, so it's away from the main area where the pool and the rooms are.
• 26:27
  Jenn: Gotcha.
• 26:28
  Jenn: Oh, neat.
• 26:29
  Jenn: Uh, is the, like, how big is the resort?
• 26:32
  Jenn: Did you feel like it was like a long walk from your room to get to the stuff you wanted to do, like the pool and the beach and the restaurant?
• 26:39
  Meggan: It's a good question and I think it's good too for like people who maybe have like mobility issues or don't want to walk in the heat, just whatever your preference is.
• 26:47
  Meggan: Overall the resort is small, so the room amount was 424, rooms in total for the secrets.
• 26:54
  Meggan: And as for the grounds, you can walk everywhere.
• 26:57
  Meggan: easily, um, or you can get a golf cart.
• 27:00
  Meggan: Those are manned 24 7.
• 27:02
  Meggan: And there's usually wherever you are, there's like a button to press.
• 27:05
  Meggan: And if there's not a golf cart there, which most of the time there was, one will be there within moments.
• 27:11
  Meggan: The service was very fast.
• 27:13
  Meggan: I would, I mean, if that's your fancy, you can always get a golf cart.
• 27:17
  Meggan: Now the main area where we were, of course, our rooms were with the pool, the buffet, It wasn't big.
• 27:24
  Meggan: And then the walk to the beach from there also was fairly short, probably like two minutes.
• 27:29
  Jenn: Okay.
• 27:30
  Meggan: So besides that area, um, like I just mentioned, a few of the a la cartes and Desire's theatre are away from that.
• 27:38
  Meggan: But besides the away from that area, the resort's quite compact.
• 27:42
  Meggan: And because of the size though, you wouldn't be able to spend much more than seven or eight days there without leaving the resort.
• 27:50
  Meggan: For an excursion or something to do.
• 27:53
  Meggan: So if you hope to spend two weeks here, plan to either spend a lot of time that dreams as well or plan for an excursion into Cancun or to Isla Mujeres or something like that.
• 28:06
  Meggan: Um, it just would be too much.
• 28:08
  Meggan: We sort of said that at the end and don't get me wrong.
• 28:10
  Meggan: We weren't whatever, but if we had been there longer we would have probably had to do an excursion, which we did not plan to do this time.
• 28:17
  Meggan: I kind of considered going into Cancun, but it's just a big city and I was a little bit scaredy cat, I guess.
• 28:24
  Meggan: I don't know.
• 28:25
  Meggan: Um, so I just stayed on the resort.
• 28:27
  Jenn: Yep.
• 28:28
  Meggan: Like I mentioned earlier, there were bars at the beach, the pool, desires, of course, as well, there's an outdoor rooftop bar type area where one evening there was a live saxophonist, I suppose.
• 28:41
  Meggan: And then like I mentioned, there was the bar in our block of rooms on the ground level called Rendezvous, the drinks were good.
• 28:47
  Meggan: High quality with lots and lots of options.
• 28:50
  Meggan: Um, and there in the evening at rendezvous as well, there was often live music.
• 28:55
  Meggan: The performers who came to the resort, whether it was at lunchtime or whether it was in the evening, were all really talented.
• 29:02
  Meggan: And then finally, there was actually a few evenings where there was vendor markets around the pool as well.
• 29:08
  Meggan: Yeah, so they took credit card, Apple Pay, or cash.
• 29:13
  Meggan: Um, they can be a little persistent because of course they're trying to sell their wares.
• 29:17
  Meggan: I did get a nice pair of earrings I probably paid too much for, but c'est la vie I say.
• 29:21
  Jenn: Yeah.
• 29:22
  Meggan: I've spent more money on stupider things,
• 29:25
  Jenn: Yeah.
• 29:25
  Meggan: so
• 29:26
  Jenn: Fair.
• 29:27
  Jenn: Yeah.
• 29:27
  Meggan: yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 29:28
  Meggan: And of course, it's a golf resort, so there is a Greg Norman designed golf course, uh, if that is your thing.
• 29:36
  Jenn: Right.
• 29:37
  Jenn: Is golf included?
• 29:39
  Jenn: Do you know or do you have to pay
• 29:41
  Meggan: You have to pay, so you have to, you can buy an unlimited golf package that you can utilize during your stay, but it's not included in sort of just a base like rate that you're paying.
• 29:53
  Jenn: Right.
• 29:53
  Jenn: Yeah.
• 29:53
  Jenn: So if you're into golf, pay for the package.
• 29:56
  Jenn: If you're not into golf, you save a little money.
• 29:58
  Meggan: And then during the trip I ran into this really nice lady and she was looking for somewhere to play Mahjong.
• 30:03
  Meggan: And so we had a little conversation and she was a group of a hundred and eighty people from Fresno, California who were there on a golf trip.
• 30:11
  Meggan: So one day they would play golf.
• 30:13
  Meggan: The next day they would do, like, whatever they wanted.
• 30:15
  Meggan: The next day it was golf, and then, anyway, they were there for, like, six days.
• 30:19
  Meggan: A hundred and eighty of them!
• 30:21
  Jenn: That is a lot of people.
• 30:23
  Jenn: Yeah.
• 30:23
  Meggan: I know! Like I only know like 12 people! Like, anyway, good for them.
• 30:32
  Jenn: So we haven't really talked about the beach except for the really expensive beach chairs.
• 30:37
  Jenn: So how was the beach?
• 30:39
  Jenn: The
• 30:40
  Meggan: Yes, The beach?
• 30:41
  Meggan: It was really good.
• 30:43
  Meggan: , Mexico has been a little bit hit and miss over the years, with beaches, rockiness, seaweed.
• 30:49
  Meggan: whatever.
• 30:50
  Meggan: This one was really good.
• 30:52
  Meggan: They had great sand, and then it was, once you got out past a few pebbles, it was very sandy underfoot when you were in the ocean as well with no rocks.
• 31:02
  Meggan: the water was warm.
• 31:03
  Meggan: I loved it.
• 31:04
  Meggan: It's, it's my dream to just bob in the ocean.
• 31:07
  Meggan: There was also zero seaweed, um, so that was really nice as well.
• 31:12
  Meggan: Of course, they had regular beach chairs that did allow you to see the ocean.
• 31:17
  Meggan: But there were not enough umbrellas, in my opinion, because really staying longer at the pool or the beach, for me at least, depends on the availability of shade.
• 31:27
  Jenn: Hmm.
• 31:27
  Meggan: I am incredibly white.
• 31:29
  Meggan: Um, overall though, the beach was excellent, great for walking, the water was perfect.
• 31:36
  Meggan: So I have to say it was probably the best Mexican beach we've been to.
• 31:42
  Jenn: Nice.
• 31:43
  Meggan: Yes.
• 31:43
  Jenn: Good to know.
• 31:44
  Meggan: Then like every trip, the day came that we had to leave.
• 31:49
  Meggan: I know it happens to the best of us.
• 31:52
  Meggan: Um, luckily check out was super easy as well.
• 31:54
  Meggan: If you don't owe anything, you get a letter under your door that you just present to the main bellman when you catch like your airport transportation back to the airport and you call it a day.
• 32:06
  Meggan: So essentially we just took our stuff On the last day down from our room.
• 32:10
  Meggan: We got a golf cart 20 minutes prior to the transportation arriving.
• 32:15
  Meggan: We waited for a little bit, gave the letter and left.
• 32:17
  Meggan: It was so smooth.
• 32:18
  Meggan: Like literally the front desk job there is the cushiest job on that resort.
• 32:23
  Meggan: You don't even have to see the people when they're leaving.
• 32:27
  Meggan: Anyway, so that it was very honestly check in, check out, a breeze.
• 32:31
  Jenn: Amazing.
• 32:32
  Jenn: So we've kind of like joked about them being in the future, but like how old Is this resort?
• 32:40
  Meggan: Yeah.
• 32:40
  Meggan: So this is where a little caveat comes in.
• 32:44
  Meggan: So the resort, Peter looked on like Google Earth and in 2014, it was still being built.
• 32:50
  Jenn: Okay.
• 32:51
  Meggan: So I would say it likely opened late 2014 or early 2015.
• 32:55
  Meggan: So honestly, it isn't that old at all.
• 32:58
  Meggan: But one thing I do want to mention for sure that we learned while we were there is that there's a new secrets resort fairly nearby.
• 33:05
  Meggan: I assume that this secrets that we stayed at is losing business to the new secrets.
• 33:11
  Jenn: Hmm.
• 33:11
  Meggan: Even though it's all the same company, people are probably going to choose the newer property if they can afford it.
• 33:17
  Meggan: So this particular resort is closing April to December of 2025.
• 33:25
  Meggan: So catch it while it's hot, folks.
• 33:27
  Meggan: And they're closing not for good, but for renovation.
• 33:29
  Meggan: So from what I understand, Jaime at the pool, he told us they were upgrading the air conditioning, they're moving the preferred members club, and they're updating the guest rooms with brighter paint and more of a minimalist feel.
• 33:44
  Jenn: Okay.
• 33:44
  Meggan: guess trends have changed in the 10 years.
• 33:47
  Meggan: Honestly, I guess I can't see the nitty gritty, but it didn't look like it needed an upgrade.
• 33:53
  Meggan: A 10 year old resort in Cuba is pretty much brand new,
• 33:56
  Jenn: Right.
• 33:57
  Meggan: but Hyatt must have the money, so I guess that's what they're doing.
• 34:01
  Meggan: So just keep that in mind if you'd like to go here.
• 34:03
  Meggan: It's lovely, but April to December of 25, it's closed for renovations.
• 34:08
  Jenn: Okay.
• 34:09
  Jenn: Interesting.
• 34:10
  Jenn: I guess you'll have to go back after it's renovated and give us an update, I
• 34:14
  Meggan: if I can afford it, because I'm assuming I'm assuming that's going to be part of it.
• 34:18
  Meggan: But anyway, overall, very enjoyable stay with great food, friendly staff, a great beach.
• 34:24
  Meggan: And I would have to assume, like I just mentioned, that it'll get even better.
• 34:29
  Meggan: I'm assuming with the renovations, it's not going to get worse.
• 34:32
  Meggan: Um, it just might get a little bit more expensive, so we'll have to stay tuned about that, but hopefully not too much more expensive because it's going to squeeze out a lot of people from being able to enjoy sort of that middle ground resort, if they really jack up the price for some paint and some air conditioning.
• 34:49
  Meggan: I don't know.
• 34:50
  Meggan: So I guess we'll have to stay tuned on that, but overall I have to say it's been a really enjoyable experience.
• 34:55
  Jenn: Nice.
• 34:56
  Jenn: Well, thank you so much for sharing all that because I know, like, a lot of people look for personal experiences before they book a resort because, you know, Sometimes things are deceiving online or like things change, like we mentioned, this resort is going to change, but hopefully for the better.
• 35:13
  Jenn: But, uh, yeah, so I think Meggan, you're going to share some photos of the resort over the next few weeks over on Instagram and Facebook.
• 35:21
  Jenn: So be sure to follow us there at Travel Mug Podcast.
• 35:24
  Jenn: And you can also check us out on our website, travelmugpodcast.
• 35:28
  Jenn: com.
• 35:29
  Jenn: You can support our lovely show here through buy me a coffee, You'll be the first to know about what's coming up next for the travel mug podcast.
• 35:38
  Jenn: So if you want to be a VIP, come join us there and until next time, bye.
• 35:45
  Meggan: Bye, everyone.