Secrets Playa Esmeralda Resort & SPA

We stayed at Secrets Playa Esmeralda for 4 nights and overall had a lovely time! Though there were a few things worth noting for future guests, and areas of improvement for the hotel to consider. Getting there: We were reluctant to book this hotel due to the distance from the Punta Cana airport. While reading previous traveler reviews, we were convinced the drive would be worth it — and they were right! Is it our preference to sit in a car for an 1 hour 30 mins after getting off the plane? Definitely not. But for the days we were at the resort, we thoroughly enjoyed the privacy of a beach that stretches for miles on miles in both directions. It is truly one of the most stunning beaches I’ve ever been to. No one trying to sell you anything, no stray animals, no wanderers from nearby hotels. We’d recommended walking to the left of the hotel at sunset or sunrise! There are two caveats to consider for this location, however. 1) The airport transportation price is highly inflated since Miches is not a popular destination from PUJ. The recommended provider was Amstar and their round trip cost was $384. We struggled to find any other options less than that, whether it was a private or group transport. Ultimately, we ended up booking through Marriott Bonvoy Tours. It was $87 one way. They used a local car service, Jags Tours. The local car service was very chaotic leaving PUJ, and the car we drove in was old and falling apart. I’d recommend spending more money for something more organized and comfortable — but at the time this was an additional cost we were reluctant to pay. Something to certainly consider when booking this hotel. 2) In Miches, unlike Bavaro, you’re more isolated and don’t have easy access to a variety of excursions, nightlife, etc. This was fine for us as we didn’t mind staying on the resort property, but something to consider if you’re looking for more adventures off-site. Food/Bev: Overall, we’d say the food was a 7/10 and drinks were 6/10. Not amazing, but could also be much worse. We enjoyed the variety of restaurants on the property — although some were better than others. We loved hibachi and the Dominican restaurant. Didn’t love Italian or Mediterranean. Some of the food was extremely salty, especially anything with soy sauce. The buffet was average for breakfast, we avoided the eggs at all costs. Their lunch selection however was a bit better. Our favorite “restaurant” was the Coco Cafe. Every morning we’d get a caramel frappe with banana bread and fruit. We also loved the wood fired pizza from Barefoot Grille — a nice homemade touch! Best pizza I’ve ever had at any resort. There were a few areas where expectations didn’t quite match reality. For example, the Revive Bar advertised smoothies, but this bar was only accessible in the spa area and they didn’t even have smoothies, which felt very misleading. The Preferred Club restaurant and snack buffet were also disappointing. The buffet area was beautifully presented, but the food offerings lacked variety. We also noticed there were no drink menus anywhere on the property. It would’ve been nice to have suggestions for cocktails at the restaurants and bars. Especially considering the bartenders across the various bars did not use consistent recipes for cocktails. Service: Service was mixed. While some staff members were lovely, others seemed unfriendly and were offended if you didn’t speak perfect Spanish — which is a challenging expectation for international travelers. We loved Kelvin at the preferred swim up bar! Yeudy our butler was also wonderful and helpful. Note: tipping was very common, and seemed highly anticipated by the staff. In some cases tipping, or lack thereof, was reflected in the quality of service received. In most cases, after every meal or time we spent lingering by a bar, we’d give the staff a few dollars. Rooms/Amenities: Overall, the rooms and amenities were very clean! You could tell the hotel is a recent build. The decor and overall layout of the property is A+. The only area I would recommend needs a deeper clean was the bathroom in our room. The shower + sink specifically had some wear, and hadn’t been thoroughly cleaned before or during our stay. Otherwise, the property was practically immaculate. We loved the hot tub right outside our room, we used it every night! The music speaker in the room was also a very nice touch. The variety of pools was a nice way to mix up the scenery. While the property felt large, we loved our location in the Preferred Club Junior Suite Swim Out Pool room. We were adjacent to everything, while still feeling like we had some privacy. We also never had any issues getting beach chairs during the day, which was a lovely surprise. People definitely leave their towels + belongings and reserve spots even though it’s encouraged not to, but there’s more than enough chairs to go around. Preferred Club: A large point of confusion, and disappointment, was the “Preferred Club” distinction. There didn’t seem to be a clear way to differentiate between Preferred Club members and regular guests, which made the benefits of upgrading unclear. No one was required to wear wrist bands or prove that they had paid an additional price to use the Preferred Club pool, beach area, or buffet. Guests who were staying on the regular side could have easily entered the swim up bar in the preferred pool and received top shelf liquor upon request. Also, the “butler service” did not seem worthy of an “exclusive” addition. Our butler texted us the daily agenda, but otherwise we didn’t really interact with him much. If we went back, I don’t think the preferred club additional cost would’ve been worth it. Hotel Entertainment: The resort gets an E for effort regarding entertainment. We appreciated each night they had some sort of live performance with singing and/or dancing, but we weren’t thoroughly impressed. We did really enjoy the piano bar with live piano + saxophone. We also enjoyed the sports bar, considering there were some major sporting events taking place during our stay. Many of these “venues” stay open late, so you have the option to stay out long after dinner which we enjoyed. We were there for St. Patrick’s Day and enjoyed the entertainment they held during the day! Overall the hotel entertainment was enjoyable, and could’ve been better but also much worse. Spa: The spa area is very beautiful, well kept, and relaxing. I was looking forward to getting a massage all week. During the massage my masseuse continued to scratch me with her nails after I asked her twice politely to please be mindful that one of her nails was sharp. Towards the end of the massage, the fire alarm went off for what felt like a solid 6-7 minutes. While the alarm was going off, my masseuse didn’t say a single word. Didn’t assure me everything was ok, or apologize for the interruption. It was very strange, and unfortunately affected the overall relaxation of my experience. Finally, while of course a trip to the spa is a treat, it was wildly overpriced. With a $40 voucher, I still ended up paying $180 for 50mins. The water journey looked very lackluster, and was also overpriced, so I’m glad I didn’t choose to add that on. Overall, I wouldn’t return back to this spa as I felt the service and massage itself wasn’t worth the cost. Misc: - VIP Services: During our stay, we were encouraged to stop by the VIP desk to pick up our vouchers. The vouchers included “promotions” for add-ons within the resort: spa coupons, wine coupons, and a private romantic dinner coupon. Considering these add-ons were already priced very high, we felt we weren’t really getting a deal with the vouchers. We only ended up using the one for the spa and discarded the rest. During this exchange, they assign a very friendly salesman to try to persuade you to attend a private breakfast - with the caveat of bringing your credit card with you to purchase future stays. The salesman was persistently calling us to ensure we were attending. This exchange felt a bit too pushy and gimmicky for our liking. My partner was also approached several times during our stay by other staff members trying to push the Spa + Romantic Dinner. We understand the desire for the resort to encourage people to commit to their next vacation, however, we were focused on being present and relaxed while we were there.

Looking for a secluded paradise where you can get away and truly unwind, this is your place. The Preferred Club room with swim out pool and deck jacuzzi was intimate and amazing. After reading other reviews, I was pleasantly surprised about the resorts cleanliness. The staff was amazing! The bartenders were so energetic and the staff, especially Yeudy, our personal butler, went out of his way to make sure our stay and day to day activities were perfect. Highly recommended!

This was a great vacation! This was our honeymoon and the experience, location and staff were great. The beach was fantastic with little sargassum. The food was definitely good for an all inclusive. An exceptional part of the experience was the staff. They all loved their job and was a pleasure to interact with. Shaggy IS THE BEST! He is the most valuable staff member and made our entire experience excellent. (He does all the activities for the preferred pool side). Kelvin the preferred pool bartender is awesome as well as the runners taking orders. On the inside, Kenny and yonida are some of the best bartenders around. Areas of improvement: consider stopping dreams guests from coming into the secrets location and determine a way to identify preferred vs non-preferred guests.

Go somewhere else not worth the visit, lied to and not given what we booked, food is average, drinks are good. Staff is friendly but not real helpful. They try to sell you vacation club and lots of upgrades. Won’t bust here again.

Perfect service , good guy. Enjoys vacation