Hotel Review: Secrets Resort - Wild Orchid

For our lifestyle section we have decided to add resort reviews, from a local perspective that is, because usually when you try to find reviews on hotels in Jamaica its normally from a tourist's point of view. I will start out by reviewing Secrets Resort in Montego Bay, St. James. My bf and I went to Secrets Wild Orchid in the summer of 2010 for 3 days and 2 nights and let me say it was AMAZING!!!

The resort was newly opened, so everything was brand new and modern looking. However, you could still see that minor things needed to be done around the resort. I will tell you about our experience based on different categories.

Service

The service at Secrets was absolutely remarkable from the moment we entered until we left. When we drove in there was valet parking which of course is a plus; after traveling for almost 3hrs from Kingston, the last thing we wanted to do was to drive around looking for a parking spot. As we entered the resort we were greeted with cold towels and a glass of champagne...so lovely :). The front desk agent that checked us in was also very pleasant, and she even sent us a complementary bouquet of flowers and a bottle of champagne (which is normally exclusive to honeymoon guests), so of course we loved that. The hotel staff in general were extremely helpful, we were treated like royalty; normally you would hear horror stories about staff only catering to tourists or if you tip in a foreign currency, but we never got that feeling.


Accommodations

The room was lovely, it was exactly as how it was described on the website. It's the perfect combination of modern and cozy. My favourite part of the room was the bedding, as the sheets were of high quality and extremely comfortable! The jacuzzi was also really good, however I think the layout of the bathroom could have been a little better.

Food
The food was a bit so-so. They have a wide variety of choices because there are several different restaurants on the property, but we thought the taste of the food could have been a little better. I remember going to the French restaurant and we ordered lamb, which was horrible! Their lunch buffet however was really good. Room service is also available and they come in a timely manner, which was good.

Beach

For me, the beach at any resort has to be top priority, because I am the ultimate beach bum. Secret's beach however was extremely disappointing. I thought that since it was in Mobay the beach would have been perfect, but it was far from that. I didn't like the sand and the water felt weird and it itched my skin. Also, it didn't look as amazing as they depicted it on the website. The pool was really nice though and towels were never in shortage!

Activities

They have the general activities that you would come expect from any all inclusive resort in Jamaica, nothing extra special. This is not a big deal for me because the resort is for couples and they focus a lot on providing a romantic setting and experience for their guests, which they have truly mastered.

Overall, I enjoyed my experience at Secrets and it was extremely romantic. I would recommend that persons stay on the Wild Orchid side of the resort, its a little more expensive, but I think its worth it. The downside to Secrets however is the price, it can be expensive, running around USD$500 per person per night. A tip however, to cut the cost is to ask for local rates, usually hotels have a special rate for locals. You should also try to go when its not tourist peak season, as the price is a lot less. The best time to go is between Mid-April to Mid- December. My bf and I went during the time of the Dudus Saga, so my bf says, we got the 'post Dudus discount'...lol, which was a good deal!

Rating: 4/5


Hope you enjoyed
Shannon