Secrets Royal Beach Punta Cana

the best hotel and the staff is amazing especially Hector and Jacqueline our best servers we will for sure come back Food is delicious, alcarte restaurants are super. We really liked the French restaurant and the Oceana restaurant excellent service and food The rooms are very clean and when you need something you just call them and they will bring everything you need. We love the lazy river you can swim there or just walk or have a drink too Love this place

Please note none of these issues ruined our trip! I am just pointing things out, because I know some people might be really bothered by them and want to know before booking. I'm sorry in advance if this is way too long! :) Check in was smooth and easy, we booked preferred so we were whisked away to a different check in location away from the crowds. We never did get a tour of the resort though, had to find our way ourselves, and our welcome kit and map were in German. I hope we didn't miss out on anything! Its true this resort is older. I saw no issues with this though, just saw it as a complaint on several other reviews when we went to book. Our room had a couple very minor issues. The toilet had some flushing issues. It never failed, but sure seemed like it was about to with every flush!! LOL Our room was very clean!! It smelled so fresh, and the sheets were perfect and cozy. The mattress was so comfortable. The pillows left much to be desired. 3 of the 5 felt like bricks, One was overstuffed and lumpy, and the other was super thin. I also realize I am a huge pillow snob. However, I don't see how this is acceptable, pillows are an easy inexpensive upgrade that makes a world of difference! Turn down service was hit or miss. I think they do it too late, after drinking all day we crash by 10:30 usually, so we only got it twice. The grounds were beautiful. The beach was perfect. 3 of 5 days the seaweed was under control. 2 of the days it was kind of bad!! (nothing like what is happening in Cancun though!) They were running a tractor all day and night to keep it manageable.There was a vast difference, if you looked at the resorts on either side, way to go Secrets keeping up with it! Now for food. The buffet was just not good, average at best. Super dry fish and, and not a lot of options. That includes breakfast and lunch. Breakfast was so underwhelming, I just ended up getting fried eggs and toast. It really caters to a European style of breakfast. Nothing "bad", just not good. We tried Oceana, and it was amazing. We went to Capers at Now Garden, it was very good. And we also tried the Seaside grill which was so good we went twice!! I got the filet, and it cut like butter, and had such an amazing flavor. None of the desserts wowed us anywhere we went, most weren't even worth the calories. For one example the cheesecake at Seaside tasted rubbery and old, and the strawberry topping was almost solid from sitting around. Disappointing, but it isn't like we were still hungry!!! If you are wine drinkers like us, you will be disappointed in the house wines. They are both pretty bad. I am not a wine snob.... at all! I rarely buy anything over 12.99, and I've been known to enjoy airplane wine, which I thought was the worst! We brought a bottle with us from home. because we heard this ahead of time. We did look at the wine list, just in case, but its a bit sketchy. They were trying to sell Yellow Tale for $45. Are they crazy??!!! Thats like a $6 bottle. I don't mind paying for a good wine, and understand markups, but don't treat me like an idiot and rob me blind. Thats just insulting. The entertainment was good, We just hated the fact that so many people were smoking during the shows. We tried moving several times and it was still everywhere we sat. Would love to see them split the area into smoking/non smoking sections. I know that sounds so snobby, but I can't handle smoke, asthma causes my lungs to literally feel like they are being burned when I breath it in too long. (This was also an issue in any outdoor restaurant seating area, that could also be fixed with a non smoking area.) I've never had this problem in the many other resorts I've been to. So not sure if there are just more smokers in Punta Cana or if most have smoking areas and I never noticed. Now for our actual serious complaint and reason it wasn't a 5 star review. The preferred pool bar. Terrible. Loved the pool itself, we spent most of our time there (mostly because getting a chair at the main pool was impossible if you didn't get up with the sun.) The bar tenders however were spotty at best. Also, there is no service from the pool itself. Don't know why they have the awesome stools inside the pool with a bar, if no one will serve you from there. Usually at those pool bars is where the most fun is had, not at Royal Beach preferred. Other, bigger issue, the first day they had poured some cheap Dominican whisky in the Jack Daniels bottles and were trying to pass that off as a Jack & Coke. Several guests complained and they finally went and got real Jack from somewhere. The second day (even after a generous tip) we were forgotten several times. He would take our order and never come back. Drinks were also inconsistent throughout the trip,I think it could have been a language barrier. We kept trying to get dark rum instead of white. I think we got it 20% of the time. Then the last day we couldn't get a good drink for anything. I have no idea what they were trying to pass off as Vodka, but it was gross. I tried several times and they all ended up dumped, tasted like dishwater. I understand if they are out of things, but don't lie about it and give fake stuff, I would rather order something else. We finally started getting drinks at the preferred bar inside, but they came in paper cups that disintegrated if you didn't drink them in about 5 minutes. This was a pain though cause we had to dry off a bit and put on coverups and shoes just to get a drink. Was it the end of the world, no. Did it ruin our vacation, no. But we paid for preferred and didn't feel very preferred, we felt like outcasts. Anyway, I know that was super detailed, We made it work, but not the level of service we were expecting at a Secrets. Overall..... I would go back if the price was right.