Lorry Perkins
Writer, Travel Blogger
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Secrets Playa Mujeres: The Truth About a Holiday Visit During the Pandemic
Katey and her husband Les recently vacationed at Secrets Playa Mujeres in Mexico during the week before Christmas. Pandemic travel hasn’t always been easy, but it can be done safely. I asked them to share their experience, the good, the bad, and the ugly, so that you can decide for yourself if international travel to Mexico is right for you. Their experience is based on travel the week before Christmas, with Omicron rearing its head, antigen testing window newly shortened, and airline travel having some bumps.
Choosing Your Resort
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Lorry: I know that you struggled with choosing a resort in Riviera Maya because the sargassum was an issue on the beach in many resorts earlier this year, and you prefer adults only. How did you decide on this resort, and did it live up to your expectations?
Katey: We decided to try a resort a little north of Cancun, with Isla Mujeres as a hopeful sargassum shield. We’d never been in this direction from Cancun and had always wanted to visit Isla Mujeres. We loved the location. Although there was a little vegetation in the waves some days, it was minor. The water was a beautiful blue, and the sand was like powdered sugar. We’d been to a Secrets before, so the brand was familiar to us. We really liked the resort overall. It had a different layout with three restaurants, the spa and the main lobby in one location, and the pools, other restaurants, and guest rooms closer to the beach. It was an easy walk (not actually a sidewalk, so be careful of fast-driving golf carts) or a quick golf cart ride away – transport was abundant back and forth if you wanted to use it.
Christmas at Secrets Playa Mujeres
Lorry: You vacationed there the week before Christmas. What did the resort do to celebrate the holiday?
Katey: The resort was beautifully decorated with many trees of many kinds around the property, as well as a lovely nativity on the cart path between the main lobby and the part of the resort closer to the beach. Some staff wore Santa hats and festive holiday masks. There was a caroling sing-along and a holiday show on Christmas Eve. We ended up being there on Christmas Day when our flight was canceled. We were treated to a festive celebration in the pool that included Santa arriving on a hoverboard attached to a jet ski (IN THE POOL!), dancing characters, and elves performing cirque-type acts with holiday music. Christmas Day, we were also greeted on the beach with a sand message with Christmas wishes, and the restaurants had special prix fixe type menus with holiday fare following a special buffet midday. I thought they did a really nice job with all of those things.
Beaches and Pools
Lorry: What were the pools and beaches like at this resort? Would you recommend this place for a beach or pool lover or maybe both?
Katey: I think the resort had a beautiful beach and pool to offer for lovers of both. The pool had a beautiful infinity end that got very shallow and looked like people were walking on water. There were lots of alcoves to wander in and out of so you could find more isolated spaces or more active ones, depending on what you wanted. There are some Bali beds around the pool that have to be rented for $60 a day, or there are some multi-day packages available. We didn’t do that, so I’m not sure whether availability was good or had any limitations.
The pool bar was terrific (is any pool bar bad?). There were plenty of umbrellas at the beach if you wanted shade and lots of beach space. The beach was very walkable, and you could walk both north and south as long as you’d like if you enjoy nice beach walking. The Bali beds at the beach are exclusively for the Preferred Club and seemed to be really easy to get in the week we were there. There were days where we went down and “staked our claim” earlier and some days later, but we never had trouble getting a bed. They will make a waiting list if all are full and keep track of if you disappear for an extended period of time. I think a nice tip probably secures your space, and we never had a problem if we went to lunch or took a walk though we were careful to take our things and let them know if we were leaving for the day so that someone else could enjoy.
Retaurants at Secrets Playa Mujeres
Lorry: What did you enjoy about the restaurants and food overall? Are there any restaurants you would recommend?
Katey: The food was very good, and some meals were excellent, but the buffet seemed to get very repetitive. Some resorts seem to do a better job of this, but we ended up tired of the lunch offerings and leaned towards the ala carte restaurants for lunch more. Our favorite meals were Portofino (Italian) and Himitsu (Hibachi) at Secrets. We particularly enjoyed some of the restaurants at Dreams Playa Mujeres next door, Mezze (Mediterranean) and the seafood restaurant for lunch – and the ice cream parlor, though be ready for a line with lots of kiddos wanting their ice cream treat.
Lorry: Secrets Playa Mujeres has a sister resort, Dreams, adjacent that you can use. Tell us about the resort and your experience there.
Katey: It is an easy walk over to Dreams next door, and I’d very much recommend that – it is a much larger resort, and the restaurants are bigger. I thought they had a little better “vegetarian-friendly” menus (a big deal for me), and the Preferred Club Lounge there was much nicer than the one at Secrets if you upgrade to Preferred. We also enjoyed sampling the entertainment there (which happened earlier than at Secrets though much of it was similar at both places – like having two show time options, knowing that at Dreams, the audience may include more age diversity with the little ones).
Lorry: In a luxury resort, the service is usually top-notch. What did the staff at the resort do to make sure to live up to their guest’s expectations?
Katey: The service was very good, and the staff took pains to smile and offer help. We thought the Preferred lobby staff could have done a better job. They were pleasant every time but not helpful in resolving very much for us. Primarily wait staff was wonderful, bar staff was attentive, entertainment staff engaging. Our room was very well cared for, and our mini bar was restocked every day with abundant water and other beverages that we enjoyed.
Preferred Club Package
Lorry: You purchased the Preferred Club Package. What did it include, and was it worth the extra cost?
Katey: We thought the Preferred Club was worth it for two reasons – our room location was wonderful, and we loved the Bali Beds on the beach. Some amenities were not as great, but I’d do Preferred again for the two reasons I noted. Preferred gives you access to an ala carte breakfast at Oceana, and we were underwhelmed with the food and service at that meal, so we didn’t go back. It also gives you access to a Preferred lounge which, at Secrets, was nothing special. There was a bar, but it was scant, and there was almost no seating. The staff usually referred us elsewhere whenever we needed anything, so we weren’t thrilled with that. Check-in was supposed to be different/better. We also thought that, based on other resort check-in experiences, this was worse than other resort “normal” check-in (no cool towel, drink, we’d be left sitting for long periods waiting for someone to come back – we didn’t know if this was a staffing issue/covid-related but it didn’t feel “better”). As noted earlier, the Preferred Club at Dreams looked much more like what we’d hoped.
Lorry: What was your experience with the airline? Did you have any delays or difficulties with the travel itself? And what covid protocols were in place overall during your travels?
Katey: Historically, the charter flight from Pittsburgh is a dream! It was a deciding factor for us to go to Mexico vs. another Caribbean destination. This time, it was less great than we’ve experienced before, but we also traveled at a time when it seemed like the airline industry was turned on its head. My largest complaint would be that notification of delay/cancelation was LATE coming. We chose to travel when we did, and I don’t think the delay/cancelation we experienced could be helped. What could have been helped was how we were notified, and I don’t know if that would be the airline or the tour company we used (Travel Impressions). On the way down, we were delayed 2.5 hours but only found that outright at boarding – we learned later that this had been known since 2 am for our 7:30 am flight. Once on the plane, we had to wait another two hours for clearance to take off, during which time you could walk onto the jet bridge and use the lavatory, but there was no water for handwashing, only hand sanitizer. On the way back, our flight was canceled. By chance, I learned of this before we left our resort from a friend traveling to Mexico that day. Other travelers had a long day at the airport, learning of the cancelation 7 hours after we did and spending much of the day in the airport trying to figure out what to do. We were able to extend in our room, and I was grateful for that – but the airline and travel company get no credit for that – lady luck and good friends made the difference! Thankfully, the flight home went off without a hitch the next day, and we got to see the wonderful arrival of Santa at the pool and lounge on Bali beds for one more day.
Final Words About the Resort
Lorry: Any last words or recommendations about this resort?
Katey’s response:
- I was worried about COVID protocols and testing. I felt very safe at the resort and thought they did a great job with testing, getting results to us, directing us to the forms we needed for the airport.
- I would also recommend that you need a smartphone to travel. Most have one, but everything is QR Codes. Menus at restaurants, questionnaires, and certifications to go home, proof of Visittax payment. Beef up your data plan to ensure that you have that as a backup. The resort had an app that you downloaded to see events, schedule covid testing, etc. Sometimes the app wasn’t clear on entertainment location, so you’d need to go to one of the marquis boards, and, at times, we got tired of being directed to the app for everything, but it was handy, and this is likely the wave of the future.
- We booked a water taxi to Isla Mujeres from the beach between Dreams and Secrets. This seemed super convenient, and we wanted to explore that island.
- The good – we easily walked to the pickup space and got over to the island. We loved the island itself, especially the rustic southern end that is a Mayan temple ruin/park and offered gorgeous views. We enjoyed a stop at The Joint, a reggae restaurant with live music, and exploring the island on a golf cart.
- The less good – we were picked up by a small boat that we had to climb into from the sand – if you aren’t pretty able-bodied, that would have been impossible and, even so, it was scary. We then had to transfer from that to a large speed boat in the middle of the water. All made it safely, but it was precarious, to say the least. We were ushered to a jewelry store, and it seemed like we had to rent golf carts there. I don’t know if that was true, and we hadn’t agreed to that, but we were pushed to do that and then hounded by jewelry store staff to buy something in a crush of people while we waited for our captain to come back at pick up time.
- I’d go back to Isla Mujeres in a minute, but I would probably take a larger ferry to get there and then choose a golf cart to rent that had no time limit (we had to be back in a couple of hours) and was not as rickety as the one we ended up with.
Thank You, Katey, for Sharing Your Experience!
All photos are submitted and used with permission.
Great post. I have always wanted to try an all-inclusive experience on land (versus the Cruise option). Your tips, pros, and cons are great for future planning.
It is always interesting to get personal feedback on travelling during these challenging times. And good to read more about Secrets Playa Mujeres. I was not really aware of the sargassum issue. Always good to read that the food did not dissappoint even if the buffet did get repetitive.
The pandemic has really changed the way we travel and the way we plan our trips, not all for the bad. We haven’t stayed at a resort since, good to know that you still felt safe. Looks like a great place to visit!
You had a beautiful trip! I’m going to visit Secrets Playa Mujeres as I plan to spend three weeks in Playa del Carmen soon. So I appreciate your tips, especially on where to eat. Lunch at Oceana Restaurant seems perfect for me.
I went on a isla muerejes day trip from cancun previously. I like the golf cart suggestion for a longer stay. Not sure secrets hotel is for me though.
Well, since I’m travelling very individually, I’m facing different challenges. My biggest concerns are flights getting canceled or me ending up in quarantine. Since I’m still holding a day job, I have to show up at work as foreseen, so… Until now, everything went well so far.