Just returned from Secrets, Vallarta, in P.V., so my likes and dislikes are still fresh in mind. We are a professional couple who live in the northeast.

Likes:
The wait staff (not management) were very helpful and polite. Happy to see you come; we tipped so that helped too, but even if you didn't, they'd still be helpful.
The food was good but the portions are very small.
White wine was drinkable; red, not so much. You might want to buy from the wine list but prices are $$$.
Close to the airport

Dislikes:
The beach is terrible. Small & rocky and the water is green/brown. We did not see anyone in the ocean the entire week we were there. The hotel is next to enpty buildings and a vacant lot filled with garbage and stray dogs. There are vendors alway interupting you on the beach as you try to relax with things they want to sell you. Do you really want to buy a rug or get a temporary tattoo on vacation?? Also, there is loud, THUMPING music played ALL-Day long up to 10:00 PM.: Rap, rock, contemporay, oldies, etc. How many times do you need to hear Katy Perry in one day?? Good luck taking a nap or turning in early.The swim-out suite (upgrade) has a small pool outside your room, but you'll have to pick cigarettes butts out of the pool everyday since people above you use your pool as their personal ashtray. This is NOT a non-smoking resort so people are smoking everywhere on the property including cigars and pipes. We complained to management about the cigarette butts in our pool, but the best they could do was move us to another room, but there would be an additional cost to do so! (You can't make this up.) (In all fairness, after we complained the third time, we did receive a bottle of wine & cheese to our room.) Overall, I would not come back to Secrets or P.V. Playa Del Carmen is much nicer and the beaches are beautiful: white sand and blue water. We stayed at Grand Velas in Playa Del Carmen (RIvera Maya) last year and loved it from the moment we arrived. Grand Velas is truly a 5-Star property--nothing compares!

My husband and I spent a week at this resort from March 1 - 8 and we thoroughly enjoyed our stay. The climate was perfect with highs of 85 and evening lows in the 60s. The room was large, comfortable and hearing the sound of the waves at night was heavenly. The staff are friendly and provide great service. The food is very good and fresh at all times. I agree with a previous review that the restaurants were often understaffed. The staff work so hard! However, we enjoyed our long meals and not feeling rushed. We loved the fact that we had a taxi bring us to the resort and that we didn't have to wait for a transfer bus. We played tennis daily on their only court. It was sometimes difficult to book time on the court and it is not level - but we still enjoyed it. The timeshare sales people at the resort who trap you just after check-in are a nuisance. We would certainly go back to this relaxing and quiet resort.

We are a Unlimited Vacation Club member and have stayed at 4 different Secrets and 2 different Dreams resorts and have always enjoyed ourselves. As most people will say the staff is always friendly and helpful.
Since this is a new resort - it is incredible in its artistic design and decor - but as far as food goes - they tried to complicate or over gormet most dishes - we have clearly had better meals at the other Secrets and Dreams.
We did schedule ourselves to have dinner at the Dreams in Puerto Vallarta, one night, because we had remembered our best dinning experiences were there. We ate at thier Oceana and had our best meal of the week.
As far as entertainment - there really was'nt much - the hypnotist was fun, and the fire show was interesting - but that was it.
The best Secrets for entertainment is the Secrets Silversands in Mayan Riveria - they had live rock and roll bands that were very good and drew people into thier nightclub - the nightclub here was always empty - no attraction.
We will continue to revisit Puerto Vallarta but probably will return to the Dreams.

I just returned from a wonderful week at this resort March 8-15. It was a quick ride from the airport to the hotel. Check in was slow and really no one else around. Timeshare people were rather nice but hard to avoid. I would suggest they hound people after they have enjoyed the resort for a couple of days. The last thing I like to do after a very long travel day is to pay attention and listen to all those numbers. I just wanted to check into my room...

The resort was great. Plently of chairs and towels. The pool area is in the shade until 11am or so. I didn't see anyone from my balcony at the wee hours reserving a chair. It helps that the resort may have been 50% occupancy. The food was wonderful and enjoyed no reservations at resturants. We never had to wait. The lobby was awesome and enjoyed the sunset from the lobby bar every evening.

We had a swim out room and it was well worth the money. I found the pool warm and private. It was in the shade in the late afternoon but it was a great relief after being in the sun all day. I ordered coffee and breakfast for the secret box every day. It arrived within 20 minutes always hot.

The Sundial, a newsletter with the days event, is a great touch. We traveled with it everyday to plan our evening meal and activities. It is also indicates what resturants are open and dress code. We found the dress code is followed by most but some went above and beyond. If you are a man, just wear a collared shirt every night and you should be fine...

We had a wonderful time. I was amazed with the staff and how they could remember names. By the second day we were called by name...Very cool