Ratings based on 63 Verified Reviews
4.6 Room cleanliness
4.3 Service & staff
4.4 Room comfort
4.3 Hotel condition
Expedia Verified Reviews
by A verified traveler from San Diego
Poor experience but quick response & refund. Bats
Posted Jun 20, 2017
Cons: Construction of the villas can be improved in order to make it impossible for critters / bats to get in
Location: El Secreto is remote and secluded. There is nothing to do nearby. You need to go to San Pedro for bars / restaurants / nightlife (1hour by golf cart)
El Secreto is located in a beautiful, remote spot on Ambergris Caye. If you're not familiar with the layout of the caye, be aware that in order to get to El Secreto from San Pedro, you need to take a 30-min water taxi up the coast to reach the El Secreto dock. There is no road that goes there from town.
The villas are nice and spacious. We arrived in the afternoon and intended to stay for two nights. We got to our villa and thought - why is the thatched palm frond roof so thin? We could literally see cracks of daylight through it. What do they do when it rains?? We figured that it isn't a huge concern since there was no rain in the forecast while we were there. We enjoyed the hot tub, had dinner and went to bed.
Around 4:30am, we woke up to the sound of loud rustling inside our villa. I switched on a light to find a bat flying around inside our bedroom! It was bumping into the ceiling, presumably trying to get out. The bat finally found a crack in the ceiling and left. We packed up our things and checked out early that morning.
The person at the front desk did not appear surprised at our experience. To us it seemed like they already knew that they had a bat problem. Despite the bad experience, El Secreto was quick to arrange a boat to take us back to San Pedro for free, and they were also quick to grant my refund request for both nights. We would love to recommend this resort, but until they fix their pest / bat problem, we can not honestly recommend staying here.
Recommended
for Everyoneby A verified traveler
Nice property
Posted May 30, 2017Great stay overall, staff was excellent very helpfull always and the property is ver nice
Comment from Hotel Management
May 30, 2017 by Rob, Hotel Management
Thank you for your review. We are pleased to hear you had a great stay with us! Hope we can welcome you again in the future!
by Jennifer
DO NOT STAY AT THIS HOTEL!!!!
Posted Mar 23, 2017 on HotelsThe staff that picked us up from the airport was friendly. The staff met us at the dock to welcome us to the hotel, but it was downhill from there. The restaurant was mediocre, there was one other person in the reastaurant but it took a very long time to get our food, which was extremely overpriced. The room upon first glance was ok, but quickly realized that coffee cups were flilthy, there weren't adequate toteltries and the hot tub was cold. Those items were addressed by the staff. After settling in we encountered a bat flying in our room. We contacted the front desk, and they were not very quick to respond. They eventually caught the bat and removed it from our room. After waiting for another villa to be cleaned, they moved us in the middle of the night. After a long day of traveling and the bat encounter I was ready for a good night sleep, as soon as the lights went out in the new villa again the bat problem. After bringing this to the managements attention, a very delayed response, we checked out and moved to another hotel. They did not refund our money, and said that it was our problem. The bottom line is, the hotel is not well-maintained, in addition to the bat problem, the overall condition of the hotel is poor. The onsite management is not equipped to handle situations that require refunding money to guest. I waited 2 1/2 hours for response from the corporate office that ultimately said sorry we're going to keep your money!
Comment from Hotel Management
May 19, 2017
Dear Jennifer,
Thank you for your review and we will definitely use your review as an enhancement to avoid the same experience to our future guests as this is not what we offer.
Best,
Guests Services
by A verified traveler
Great location but "rip off" for food
Posted Feb 13, 2017
Pros: Beach, Stuff, and location
Cons: Amenities and Service in the hotel restaurant
Location: When one does not mind the dump at the beaches - a run along the beach is great! Additional - there is a little bar (El Norte) 1mi away from the hotel
The El Secreto is located at a great beach - just don't check 50m left/right from the hotel beach as it starts to be a dump.
The stuff is friendly and helps in supporting a pleasurable stay.
Due to the location a trip to San Pedro (or the next restaurant) is rather a nightmare and therefore: only the option for food and drinks at El Secreto is available. El Secreto does provide food but the price is (allow me to write) a rip off as the quality as well as the service is so lala. Additional: changes to a menu normally end in a "no" - which is far away from customer friendly.
With that written: location and stuff great - amenities improvement highly appreciated!
by A verified traveler
beautiful ammenities, but very remote.
Posted Jan 30, 2017
Pros: the amenieties
Cons: jacuzzi functioning, value for money
jacuzzi temperature did not work as desired, in general overpriced. beach very small, not good for swimming
Recommended
for Everyoneby A verified traveler from Ontario, Canada
Christmas in paradise
Posted Dec 27, 2016Excellent place to stay and relax, staff went the extra mile to make our stay one we'll never forget. The resort's attention to detail is unsurpassed by any other place we've stayed
Kudos El Secreto
Ernie & Suzanne
by A verified traveler
Isolated & bizarre... not in a good way.
Posted Dec 14, 2016 on HotelsWhile the pool area and restaurant on this property are very beautiful, the rest of the resort is not so great. Overall, we were pretty disappointed. We selected one of the ocean villas. The room smelled like urine. The palm leaf roof was covered in black mold, which created a constant musty, unpleasant odor. AC in the room stopped working the last night of our three night stay. It was 85 degrees & miserable. The mosquitos & sand flies are horrible, so you can't even open the doors. The shower water was salt water. Service is very slow at the overpriced & mediocre restaurant & bar. Sometimes housekeeping services your room but not always. When we checked in, the sheets were soft & comfortable. The next day, they were changed to a cheap, torn & itchy set. Towels were also torn. The private hot tub isn't warm, let alone hot. Well drinks are $15 at the bar. We felt like it was Hotel California. The energy is weird. Staff lives on property and their dogs go into fits of barking at all times of the day & night.There is so much plastic and trash on the beaches, if you step one foot off property it feels like a garbage dump. It is so sad. There has been no clean up since Hurricane Earl's devastation Aug 2016. Most of the staff speaks poor English, which is odd for an English speaking country. The other couples we met agreed it was a bizarre experience. I wouldn't go back.
Recommended
for Everyoneby A verified traveler
Remote luxury
Posted Dec 2, 2016 on OrbitzPerfect place to escape and unplug in style. The staff was amazing and very friendly and helpful.
Recommended
for Everyoneby A verified traveler from US
excellent hotel
Posted Nov 23, 2016 Excellent hotel. Did edge of a small but magnificent strech of beach. The villas are comfortable and clean. The stuff is a pleasure. The only complaint would be the mosquitoes but we got to admit that being tropical resort we have to allow for some mosquitoes. Overall a very nice place to be. If you want to have some rest and be deducted from the world and El Secreto is the place to be. We enjoyed our stay there
Recommended
for Everyoneby A verified traveler from US
Posted Nov 13, 2016
Excellent staff, room service, and amenities! Food was great as well