Secrets Royal Beach Punta Cana

Has such an incredible Anniversary celebration at this wonderful Resort! Strongly recommend selecting the Preferred package to make the most out of your experience. Such fantastic accommodations! You do also have the ability to utilize another connecting hotel, which had the most incredible pool area. The food was delicious, everything was prepared and presented so well! The highlight of the vacation was the warm and wonderful staff who helped make our trip so amazing! Wanted to thank Argenys for all his efforts , helped us out so much! The folks in the Oceanside Grill were wonderful and so friendly - Thanks to Yolana, Luis G, Melania, and Caesar, had a blast with you all! Joel and Hot Chocolate with the entertainment staff were great, loved the entertainment overall, all very talented individuals! Solina with food Prep group took such care and pride with the food preparation, Such beautiful arrangements in the preferred lounge! Magdelene and Antonio at the pool helped make our days brighter with their fun attitude! The room was so gorgeous , garden view, non preferred due to high occupancy , no matter at all there. The housekeeping made the most beautiful decoration with rose petals that took up the whole bed to help us support our special celebration. Thanks for the great memories!

We were a group of 3 couples, all celebrating our anniversaries together. We decided to return to Punta Cana, our 4th time here says allot about Punta Cana but to a different resort and decided on Secrets Royal Beach for a few reasons. The reviews seemed favorable and we got a great deal on the rates. Upon arrival at the airport, we made a quick stop at the restrooms to change into our tropical clothing and then located our driver. Transportation to the resort: We decided to have private transportation through Amstar so we could get to the resort quicker. This is definitely something I would recommend. The cost isn't that much and it prevented us from having to take the bus full of people going to all different resorts, being dropped off a few at a time until it got to your resort. We have gone that route before but won't again. That being said, we arrived at Secrets by around 12:30 p.m. which gave us almost an extra whole day of vacation. At times, arriving by bus, you don't arrive til late in the afternoon. Checkin: at the resort was quick. I will say the lobby area is in need of an update. Small, dreary and not very becoming. Beware of the guys in the gray shirts who are there for just 1 reason and that is to get you interested/selling in the time/vacation share. They are very nice, don't get me wrong but just say no thanks and leave it at that. They will approach you every time you go to the lobby area. The guys/girls in the flowered shirts, Amstar, are there to help you. We were all checked in and all but 1 couple was able to get into our rooms. They just put their bags in one of our rooms until their room was available which was later on in the day. Our room: Our room overlooked the garden facing the center of the resort. Our room was 5321 and was a Junior Suite Tropical View King Bed room. The buildings all intertwined on each side of the resort so you could enter near the lobby and walk all the way through to your room, without walking outside. We found that if you stayed inside the building even to get to the opposite end where the restaurants were, was easier. If you went through the gardens you were up and down on bridges, etc. It was nice if you were just out for a stroll. The rooms on the opposite side of the hall and our room did not have a great view at all. The backside of another building and a driveway. More, Our room: The room was a bit dated but clean. The bathroom had a walkin shower a double vanity and a separate “do your duty area” with a separate door. The bed was comfortable and beyond the bed was a couch, table and the mini fridge that was stocked with water, soda, beer, etc. Then the balcony/seating area. That was very nice. Our room was cleaned in the a.m., bed made and all towels replenished. Be sure to put your clean/do not clean sign outside your door so they know it's ok to come in. We did leave a tip every a.m. for our cleaning lady. Then later on in the day was turn down service. We decided not to have turn down service and let me say that lady was not happy but we really didn't want/need her in our room at that time. We didn't want to have to put all of our stuff away, every day at that time that we didn't want someone to move or see. Shared Privileges: Just wanted to mention this before I get too far in my review. Please take advantage of the shared privileges and know that when you go to Now Larimar, there are no wrist bands and no need for your room key. There are people stationed at the entrances to Now Larimar who are very friendly and doing their job to ensure we got there but they don’t come here. Secrets is an adults only resort and Now Larimar is not. The Now Larimar buffet is over and above Secrets. (more to come on that later) The beach: was beautiful. When you walked out to the beach, to the right there were many chairs and tall palms. Not much protection from the sun. Also, the barefoot grill was all the way to the right, along with the hobie cats. To the left, there were more chairs, along with thatch umbrellas for protection from the sun. Now I am a sun lover so for me that didn't matter so much but for some in our group, that did matter. So, to get one of those right along the edge of the beach you sure had to get up before the sun came up. One couple was early risers anyway and most days reserved our chairs before breakfast. We did spend most of our time at the beach and not at the pool. (more to come on that) Be aware that I did get some type of bug bite at the beach. Maybe sand fleas but definitely not mosquitoes. I would take along some type of after bite. You can’t see them biting but you sure can feel it later. A bit swollen and itchy. Like I said, the beach was beautiful. They groomed the beach every a.m. and at various times during the day when it needed it. (seaweed) You could walk forever on the beach. That being said, you will come upon "vendors" who want you to come to their "store" AND, some vendors who are selling along the beach, which they are allowed to do. They were not annoying and that is how they make money. If you are interested, they will negotiate with you. If you are not, just say no thank you or nothing at all. They don't hang around unless you want them to. The ones along the beach while walking want you to come to their "store". Now, walking down the beach to the left you pass various resorts and come to a "shopping mall." We did go in but I will say it was dark and not really clean. It had wooden flooring that was rough on your feet and dirty. This was not a comfortable environment as they all want you to come into their "store." We didn't stay long and didn't go back. They did have clothing, jewelry, artwork, etc. for you to purchase. Continuing along that part of the beach you come to a couple of piers. We didn't go much farther than that. The beach to the left of our resort was a beautiful walk for sure. We enjoyed that route much better and that had fewer vendors. You walked past various resorts that way too and saw all kind of boats out on the water. We are boaters so we enjoyed seeing the boats. A little ways down you came to JC PENY. (LOL) I will say if you are looking to buy a t shirt, etc. I would go there. It is just 1 store, pretty clean and organized with bright light and the people were friendly and not pushy. Back to the beach. Like I said, the beach was beautiful. Typically, while at a resort we have spent more time at the pool. Not this time. We were at the beach every day, almost all day. The ocean water was warm and clean so when it was time to take a dip in the water you could walk a short distance to the pool OR just go in the ocean. The servers at the beach were awesome. They came on a regular basis and were very efficient with returning. I wish I knew her name but the one girl was so upset with what happened; she certainly made up for it. Since we were celebrating our anniversaries, we all got a bottle of champagne. So one morning we decided to bring our champagne to the beach. We weren't finished with out last bottle when the beach servers' manager told our server to take everything away. She looked at us but did what he asked. She came back though. LOL She knew. She talked with us and said I knew you weren't done. I'll be right back. She came back with more glasses and champagne. She was the cutest and very sociable. The resort has a lobster dinner on Friday night that is an up sell. The salesperson comes to the beach to sell it. We did negotiate with him but he wouldn't come down to the price we wanted so we did not participate in that. He was willing to come down a bit but only if we all paid for it. Some of us don’t eat lobster and our dinner didn’t need to be upsold. LOL The entertainment crew kept us busy at the beach with activities every day. You could either join in or not, it's up to you but it was fun and we earned resort dollars for the auction. The auction occurred 3 times during the week. We all pooled our money together for the Friday night auction. There was rum tasting beforehand that we participated in but WOW, that was some rum. It did include mamajuana. So I was in charge of the bidding. We ended up making the first purchase at the auction. I can't remember for sure but I think it was $23,000 in resort $$ for a small bottle of rum. LOL It was fun. We will open that this Summer to share amongst us. There are various activities you can participate in on the beach as well, and we did. That included hobie cats and parasailing. One couple did the parasailing and loved it. They would recommend it. The hobie cat was fun when the wind was right. Beach towels: They were plentiful and very clean. The thing I want to mention here is, get your clean towel for the next day before you leave the pool/beach for the day. That way you have it ready to save your chairs the next day. I will say the chairs right around the pool near the pool bar are taken quite early and are not plentiful. Seems like chairs around the pool in general are not plentiful or in a sunny area. Some are in large thatched huts so no sun at all. Maybe that is your thing so you would appreciate that. The pools: The lazy river at Secrets was ok. It was clean and did wind around the resort. The problem was, it was narrow. So narrow you had to turn sideways if on a raft to let the others by. There were rafts to be had but I would suggest getting it 1st thing and hold onto it until you are done. People did share if you saw one just sitting and asked to borrow it. There was also a separate pool connected to the swim up bar but it was not very big. The best pool was over at Now Larimar. It wasn’t a lazy river but was big and warm with a swim up bar. The downfall there was trying to get service at the swim up bar. The bartender was working up top and down below. Too busy to take care of everyone efficiently. The drinks: the drinks were ok. Even if they didn’t have your favorite or a top shelf that you like they could come up with something close. My favorite drink became the coco loco. It’s full of calories but was really, REALLY good. Our favorite bartender was at the Secrets swim up bar. Alberto. He has a great smile and work ethic. His service was amazing and he was always ready to serve and please. Even if you weren’t in the pool you can stand up top so he could see you and he would be right there!! Hard worker. They didn’t have our favorite rum but he and my husband came up with a mixture that worked, gave it a name and each time we would just ask for that and he would make it. He was there most of the week. Please be sure to tip those guys. Even if the $$ is wet. The Now Larimar main bar near the open area had great martinis. They had a drink special each day. The service wasn’t the best but the martinis were great so it was worth the wait. The food: The food was hit or miss. Breakfast and lunch: I would recommend Now Larimar, Carnival buffet. It was great. I especially loved my breakfasts there. The crepes were great and the crepe maker always had a smile and was willing to fix you anything. As a matter of fact, my first day I got crepes. The second day I asked for pancakes and he said “what, no crepes today?” Remembered me from the day before. That’s pretty good. Everything was so fresh and plentiful. There was a variety of things for lunch as well. I tried to stick to salad as I knew I was getting enough calories from everything else. I will say their idea of salad dressing is not what we know here but I made the best of it. One day they did have ranch dressing but not like our ranch. The pizza wasn’t bad either. I know others have mentioned the Barefoot Grill but I personally did not care for it. We did have dinner twice at the Secrets Himitsu without the show. That food and service was great. My husband had the salmon and he said it was great. We had dinner twice at the Seaside Grille. That was pretty good too. I would skip Italian and the Mexican was just ok. I don’t think we ate at the buffet for dinner but maybe once. We did not use room service so I cannot comment on that. The shows: I realize a lot of work goes into any type of production and I’m sure they did their best and worked hard at it but compared to other resorts’ shows, the talent and content was lacking. The show we enjoyed the most was the fire show that was down on the beach. That was pretty good and I would recommend that one. Other than that, the shows were hit or miss. The resorts at night: were beautifully lit and when the moon was out over the palms and the sky was clear but lit with the stars, it was beautiful. I only needed a light sweater one night. The entertainment crew: Let me tell you, these guys keep the “show” going and are hard workers. Their main job is to keep everyone busy if they want to be and happy to be in such a beautiful environment. There is Dark Chocolate, Spaghetti, Jean, Garfield, to name a few. They all had great personalities and great smiles, all day long. They are in charge of activities around the pool and on the beach. It really made for a fun day and like I said you could either participate, earning resort bucks for the auction OR just be cordial and say no thank you. They were great and made our days enjoyable. Excursions: We didn’t do any excursions on this trip but have in the past. I wouldn’t recommend the free little shopping trip to the cigar factory, rum tasting, etc. Took a whole ½ of a day and wasn’t worth it. I would recommend the Saona Island trip. That was great and we have done that one a couple of times. One time we did the up sell of the lobster on the beach, which my husband really enjoyed.

To start with, the beach is as beautiful as one would expect. They clean the seaweed many times daily and the palm trees are beautiful and mature. They have lots of security everywhere, which was appreciated. The dining staff was ok just not very helpful at times. They can be a little pushy even when they are proven wrong. They gave the impression they needed tips for everything. Food was nothing great but that’s expected at an all inclusive. The room service was good the first day but all other times, it was slow and food was cold. They forgot items and said they would be right back but never showed. Now the bar staff as they will put it, “Excellente”. Allen in the preferred club can make great drinks and is very friendly and insightful. Jose at the cabana bar was absolutely awesome, his frozen pineapple mojito was perfect. Martin, our personal concierge, did his best but we really just wanted to rest and not be bothered but he was always there with a friendly face when needed. The pool for preferred club was really nice, very clean, and fully staffed. The cabanas became our favorite place but with a limited number you better get there early. Now for the bad. We were there as preferred club guests our room had an awful noise coming out of the ventilation all night and a bright red light over the bed (not part of fire alarm) a broken door between bedroom and bathroom so no privacy and the counter top was broken in half. As for the beach, the vendors will just keep coming and coming and coming! They will even wake you from a nap by kicking up sand and yelling to get your attention. The beach is also VERY busy with parasailing boats, jet skis and other tourist traps. All in all, it was a good time but save your money!! We have been to Puerto Vallarta and Cancun, spent less money and had better experiences.