We had originally booked at Now Amber, which is next to Secrets, to get a swim out. Upon arrival, we were able to upgrade to the Secrets side, which is adults only, & happened to be in the preferred club.
I want to start out by saying the that resort is lovely (both the Now Amber & Secrets sides).The wait staff (pool and restaurants) was amazing & friendly, the food was excellent, & there were plenty of chairs & towels available at any time of the day at the pool & on the beach. We appreciated the free on-site COVID testing the resort provided (required to return to the US.) Very convenient, & only took a half hour start to finish. The spa & restaurants were all open, but the casino was not. Lots of whale activity - they could be seen from the pool, from the beach, & even from the Oceana restaurant! The weather could not have been more perfect - high 60s at night, & low 80s during the day. No clouds or rain the entire time! And NO BUGS! The beach is a bit rocky, but smoother areas could be found just a short walk down the beach.
On the down side, we were a bit disappointed that there were not the usual amenities we’ve come to know & enjoy at Secrets, especially in the preferred club, such as the little bottles of booze, pringles, M&Ms in the room each day. There was no sunscreen in the room, & we had to ask for soap. I feel these amenities should not have to be asked for, they should just be provided. We also didn’t receive any resort coupons, which I don’t think I’ve ever used anyway.
The swim out room was lovely, but it was in the shade the entire day. We couldn’t not enjoy the sun from the swim out - we had to go to the pool area or beach. I understand this is due to the design of the resort, however, had we known, it would have influenced our decision to pay extra for the upgrade.
One other thing that was different about this trip was an increase in their sales pitches on the resort & the pressure to buy, buy, buy. I’m not talking about the beach vendors, that is to be expected. I’m talking about the resort staff. Every day at the pool we were approached by various people trying to sell bottles of alcohol, romantic dinners on the beach, or make special reservations for dinner that required the purchase of a bottle of wine, etc. This got very tiresome. We stay at all-inclusives because they are ALL-INCLUSIVE! We don’t want to pay extra for food & drink!
Overall good experience, but a few things that detracted from the trip