SECRETS EXCELLENCE??? WHO HAS BEEN??? or any other place in the mayan riviera?

Fiance and I want to go there for our honeymoon!

Any ideas ladies!



Justine

Re: SECRETS EXCELLENCE??? WHO HAS BEEN??? or any other place in the mayan riviera?

we went to the Aventura Spa Palace, which is part of the Palace Resorts chain and in the mayan riviera... there is more info in my review,, but if you have any questions, please ask away!

Re: SECRETS EXCELLENCE??? WHO HAS BEEN??? or any other place in the mayan riviera?

DH and I went to Secrets Capri Riviera Maya in the summer of 2005.


Link to my review from the 06 boards:



Secrets

Re: SECRETS EXCELLENCE??? WHO HAS BEEN??? or any other place in the mayan riviera?

I've been to Secrets Excellence in Dominican Republic and LOVED LOVED it (doesn't hurt that it is where we got engaged!) I've heard that the Secrets in the Mayan Riveria are even BETTER then the one in the DR.
FH and I are thinking of going to the secrets in the mayan riveria since we don't think there is a resort that can be better than secrets. We were also in the mayan riveria this past May and loved it. We stayed in Playa del Carmen and it was great. Not crazy tourist-y but still enough tourism to make you feel comfortable.

Good luck!

Re: SECRETS EXCELLENCE??? WHO HAS BEEN??? or any other place in the mayan riviera?

Yes! We went there during June earlier this year and although it rained almost the entire week we were there, it was FABULOUS!!!!!!

I cannot say enough wonderful things about the staff, especially Fanny who was a waitress at the Seaside Grill and Raquel, a poolside waitress who was so fast at getting us our drinks that we got riproaring drunk two days beore we left lol.

Anyway, it is a very romantic atmosphere-its not for couples who want 24-7 action, but if you want to lay around the pool and just be embraced by luxury, go to Secrets. We booked there because it was the best rated by TripAdvisor.com (which btw is a fantastic resource) consecutively. We stayed at the Cancun one-Secrets Excellence Cancun. We will be going back for our wedding anniversary (because we are not having a real honeymoon due to financial tightness) to the new Secrets they are building in Maroma Beach.

The only thing I will say is that Secrets Excellence is isolated from other places so if you want to travel through mexico, you will have to take taxis and it can get expensive. However, the food is WONDERFUL for an all inclusive, the drinks are all included and you do not have to wear bracelets unlike most other all inclusives.

My vote is def, for Secrets.

Re: SECRETS EXCELLENCE??? WHO HAS BEEN??? or any other place in the mayan riviera?

Our honeymoon is at the Excellence Riviera Cancun (in the Mayan Riviera), which used to be a Secrets resort. Gets AWESOME reviews on tripadvisor.com. You should check that site out!

I'm pretty sure there was a bride who went there when it was a still a Secrets resort....blanking on who it was though.

Here's a link to Excellence website Link

Re: SECRETS EXCELLENCE??? WHO HAS BEEN??? or any other place in the mayan riviera?

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Posted by cjb88

we went to the Aventura Spa Palace, which is part of the Palace Resorts chain and in the mayan riviera... there is more info in my review,, but if you have any questions, please ask away!

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I'm going to the Aventura Spa Palace on my Honeymoon too!

Re: SECRETS EXCELLENCE??? WHO HAS BEEN??? or any other place in the mayan riviera?

Wow it changed hands? we were JUST there in June and it was still called Secrets. Thats really weird because till two months ago it was still listed on their website as a Secrets resort.. have to do some detctive work.

Re: SECRETS EXCELLENCE??? WHO HAS BEEN??? or any other place in the mayan riviera?

duh- realized you answered my own question haha!

I went to the Secrets website and it's no longer listed there...guess it was just a very recent change!

now it is has its own website

Re: SECRETS EXCELLENCE??? WHO HAS BEEN??? or any other place in the mayan riviera?

Well when we went it was fantastic-see my review above. However I just went onto both websites; the one for SECRETS resorts which are listed under preferred resorts and spas and the EXCELLENCE resorts and I am SUPER confused!

Ok So we stayed at Secrets Ecxellence Rivera Cancun which seems to now have dropped the SECRETS name. However it looks like the same hotel and listed on that website are punta cana and one in oyster bay set to open in 2008. But on the SECRETS website, they have Punta Cana listed as their hotel...same photos. And they are also opening a new SECRETS in Jamaica-in Montego Bay right next to Oyster Bay...

So my question is...did they really 'change hands' or did they just drop the name to branch out and cover more space?

EXCELLENCE RESORTS

SECRETS RESORTS

Re: SECRETS EXCELLENCE??? WHO HAS BEEN??? or any other place in the mayan riviera?

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Posted by PeteysBride.

So my question is...did they really 'change hands' or did they just drop the name to branch out and cover more space?

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Soooo confusing....it's a mystery!

I just hope it's still reputable!

Re: SECRETS EXCELLENCE??? WHO HAS BEEN??? or any other place in the mayan riviera?

Keep checking TRIPADVISOR.com. INVALUABLE rsource!

Re: SECRETS EXCELLENCE??? WHO HAS BEEN??? or any other place in the mayan riviera?

Secrets and Excellence are the same company. I believe the only difference is that

Secrets-- adult only

Excellence-- allows family (ppl under 18 years old)


As cheesy as it seems there really is a difference at the resort when it is adults only.

Re: SECRETS EXCELLENCE??? WHO HAS BEEN??? or any other place in the mayan riviera?

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Posted by melissas28

Secrets and Excellence are the same company. I believe the only difference is that

Secrets-- adult only

Excellence-- allows family (ppl under 18 years old)


As cheesy as it seems there really is a difference at the resort when it is adults only.

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That's sooo confusing!!! Yet I go on to my resort's website, it says Adults Only! Yikes!!!

Re: SECRETS EXCELLENCE??? WHO HAS BEEN??? or any other place in the mayan riviera?

FH and I went to Iberostar Paraiso Beach Resort. I really liked Riviera Maya, but wouldn't recommend it for HM...too many families. There was a wedding when we went, and they all looked like they were having so much fun. Playa del Carmen is a fun touristy town that has a great night life. Plus, many hotels have free shuttles (ours did) that takes you there and back. (It's about 10 min) FM me if you need any info or want to see pics of the area. GL

Re: SECRETS EXCELLENCE??? WHO HAS BEEN??? or any other place in the mayan riviera?

MM but see I din't know why they would do that Melissa. Where did you get your info from? Because DREAMS is part of the SECRETS company-under preferred resorts. They have same setup but are not adults only-they allow families

I just went to trip advisor and no one has mentioned in the recent reviews, any change in the adults only status. We saw like 3 bad reviews consecutively but no others which makes me skeptical because they said the same thing; bed bugs and cockaroaches which makes me think might even be a plant because NO ONE else in the recent reviews mentioned that. Very odd. All I can say is we went in June and it poured and we still had the best time and would go back.

Re: SECRETS EXCELLENCE??? WHO HAS BEEN??? or any other place in the mayan riviera?

Royal Hideaway is fantastic & all inclusive. It's adults only and very romantic. I've been a couple of times and plan to go back. Pics are in my community album.

Re: SECRETS EXCELLENCE??? WHO HAS BEEN??? or any other place in the mayan riviera?

we went to the barcelo maya- on our way there we say secrets and adventura palace and I'm thrilled we stayed at barcelo- the buildings of the other two places looked awesome, but i was not overly impressed with their grounds- the barcelo has its own botanical gardens and was georgous (and cheaper!)

Re: SECRETS EXCELLENCE??? WHO HAS BEEN??? or any other place in the mayan riviera?

I definitely recommend aventura spa palace in riviera maya mexico!! the food, the pool, the drinks, the service were all wonderful!! my avatar pic is actually a drink we got while there. i was just there in july. i have pics in my album under me and FH. feel free to fm me with any questions.

Re: SECRETS EXCELLENCE??? WHO HAS BEEN??? or any other place in the mayan riviera?

Okay. sorry for the confusion. It is still confusing, but I think I have some clarification. Secrets and Excellence used to both be one. Apparently they split recently because there used to be resorts under the 'Secrets Excellence' name and there are no longer resorts going by the full name. The management company and the actually company who own the physical property no longer work together (the contract ends at the end of 2006) and that is why there is no more 'Secrets Excellence'

If you go to both the 'Secrets' and the 'Excellence' sites, they don't list any of the same resorts. For example the Secrets has one in Punta Cana and there is a link, but it is not opening until 2008. The Excellence site has the punta cana resort I stayed at earlier this year.

Same thing with the Mayan Riveria... The Secrets Mayan Riveria resorts (maroma) are set to open in 2008.

As for the adult only thing, I was wrong. I confused the three names (Dreams and Secrets and Excellence) in my head. So the adult only situation is whatever you know it to be. This means that Secrets and Excellence are both adult only. Dreams allows Children.

Sorry for any confusion I caused and I hope that this clarifies things.

btw- what does 'MM' stand for?
- from Peteysbride's post?