Secrets Aura Cozumel - Adults Only - All Inclusive

“Not up to other Secrets standards”

Poor physical condition. Not same level of service as other Secrets resorts but cost same. Entertainment minimal.

“Average at best for a Secrets Resort”

We are Secrets fans. We’ve stayed at 6 or 7, lost count. So this review is a comparison of Secrets. It was avg to below avg at best. We had to change rooms twice due to maintenance issues but they upgraded us and honestly the upgrade saved the trip. The first room, which was an ocean view king ro... more

We are Secrets fans. We’ve stayed at 6 or 7, lost count. So this review is a comparison of Secrets. It was avg to below avg at best. We had to change rooms twice due to maintenance issues but they upgraded us and honestly the upgrade saved the trip. The first room, which was an ocean view king room (not the cheapest), was like an old cheap motel. The paint was chipping, the exterior door had large gaps all around it, decor was basic and old. The upgraded room (swim up garden view) was nicer and more modern. It was still subpar to other resorts we've stayed in. Our biggest disappointment was that for the same price we could have stayed at a nicer Secrets elsewhere. We should have read more reviews. We learned you can’t expect a certain level just because of the Secrets name. We chose Cozumel because of the snorkeling and the excursion we paid for was great. The resort beach was rocky and brown water. We never got in it. The weather was hotter than our Cancun and Jamaica experiences and there are limited air conditioned restaurant/bar options available there. We paid for the VIP/Preferred option so we could at least have the lounge (which was only semi-air conditioned but better than the outdoors.) If you were not in the pool it was (for me) miserably hot. Getting dressed up for dinner, hair fixed, makeup on, was almost pointless since the evenings did not cool off much. There was only about a 3 degree difference. We go the same week in August every summer and are Texans (no stranger to heat and humidity) but were expecting the cooler ocean breeze evenings and mornings of Cancun and Jamaica. No restaurant was open every night and so planning meals was a chore. It took us a few days to realize that if we wanted air conditioning we would eat at the same place. There are 3 restaurants that are cooled but only open on limited nights. We found out on the last day that one was open for us as Preferred members at lunch (air conditioning) but that was not communicated even though we specifically asked for air conditioned options. Food is either exceptional or not so good depending on what you order. It was hit or miss for sure. We are not picky eaters or “foodies” but simply comparing it to other Secrets resorts. Choices at each restaurant was limited, which is fine unless you are eating there multiple times like we did. The Preferred lounge options for snacks was not great except for the fresh fruit and was the same 3 hot food options every day. The pool service is limited and not available on the beach at all from what we could tell. We are used to someone practically tripping over themselves to lay our towels out for us on our chairs (one folded and placed as a pillow), ask for drink orders, etc at the other Secrets resorts. From what we could see, only 1 pool had servers that walked around taking drink orders and if you didn’t grab a towel early there would be no clean ones even though the pools had limited people. We just learned to grab early or do without. It seemed that they ran on as limited staff as possible. The “entertainment” is minimal, most nights with no entertainment other than a tv set up on the beach showing an old movie you could see anytime at home on streaming. We never saw anyone watching it. At other Secrets resorts there are indoor theaters where they have light shows, acrobatics, elaborate dancers and singers and themed parties each night. We were told that it’s harder/more expensive to get entertainers to the island. The daytime entertainment was limited. The crew was great but because the pools were so vacant (often 6-10 people), getting a group to participate was a big challenge for them. Few people made it quiet but also boring at times. Communication is poor. We felt like we didn’t know what was going on half the time. They give you a schedule for the week but it is limited in information. People are nice and helpful. However compared to other Secrets we did not feel it was luxurious or at all worth what we paid for the week.

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