Secrets Royal Beach Punta Cana

My husband & I decided to travel Secrets Royal Beach for our 5 year anniversary. I worked EXTREMELY hard to get us there. We traveled to the DR just before the tropical storm, that hit the Bahamas, was supposed to hit. Luckily it turned but it still messed with our travels. We landed later than originally planned. I was not a force to be reckoned with. All I wanted to do was to get to the resort, get something to eat, and get in the pool. Upon arrival we had to sign a waiver about hotel behavior. It wasn't said out loud but it was regarding all the deaths in the DR. Then they wanted us to set down with our Am Star Agent to set up our departure. I just got there! Finally, we were bombarded with the Vacation Club speech. Oscar approached us all week. My husband made him a deal that if a rained we would sit down with him. Lucky for us it never rained. :) When we got into our room a maintenance man followed directly behind to apparently check outlets. This made me feel extremely uncomfortable with everything that had been happening to Americans. At first we thought we were the only Americans. We were definitely the minority. As the week went on we meet other Americans, even to couples from the same county! The fruit platter left in our room had bad fruit on it. The actual room service menu was dirty. There wasn't anything good to eat compared to the restaurants. Our sliding door was extremely hard to open. Loved the jacuzzi on the balcony. I can only imagine what has happened in them. ;) It does takes a looooong time to fill up. So plan ahead. I was disappointed that the tub was not filled with bubbles for our anniversary, like they did in Cabo. That was great. :) The bed so comfortable. There is a prono channel, if you???re into that. Now Lamiar was closed. That affected Secrets stay a bit because part of the preferred rooms were closed and the night club. People at without children were moved to Secrets. I did not care for the layout of the resort. I don???t know how someone with a wheelchair could get around. The ocean view from the pool was blocked by palm trees. I love the lazy river. You met all kinds of people floating around. Though the resort diligently cleaned the pool, the sides of the pool were still dirty. The bathrooms by the pool had a full time person to attend to them. Preferred had private part of the poll. Tour Point tours walked around the pool to sell tours. It took days for them to leave you alone. We did nothing expect eat, float & sleep. The beach was nice but there was a hurricane that out in the Caribbean. You were not able to walk out to the beach without being bombarded by locals trying to make sales. One of my least favorite experience. The first night we visited Portofino was all men that worked quickly but no attention to anything unless it was on paper. Seaside Grill was closed, due to renovations at Now, but every other night Portofino would be Seaside Grill. It was better food & service than our first experience to Portofino. Get the ribeye not the steak. Portofino was better the 2nd time. Only preferred people could have breakfast & lunch at Portofino. The Japanese restaurant service and food was not great but the Hibachi was great. Oceana has lots of seafood on the menu. If you are wanting Mexican food in DR it is not good. Stick with Mexico. The entire entertainment works hard. The shows, I thought, were very sexual. It was like they were looking for guest to slip them their room keys. I'm on an anniversary trip with my husband... The tribute & multinational shows weren't good at all but they worked hard to create the shows. The fire show was impressive. It was performed entirely by the entertainment team. At other resort they always hire outside people to perform. The rock show was decent. The belly dancing was NOT belly dancing. It rained for a short time the night of the tropical show. It was set inside so we couldn't see much. The variety show was the best. The 1st foam party started off not good but got foamier. The 2nd was better. They had silent disco & beach party to make up for the night club not being opened, due to Now renovations. There wasn't enough variety in music options. None of the fitness classes were serious but Chocolate is hilarious. Sometimes I showed up for classes & no one was there from the entertainment team. There was an entire afternoon dedicated to the Health & Fitness Festival. When you participate in the activities you get fake money to use at an auction. You better make sure you have a ton of money to get anything. Other guests that had been there before saved their money from previous trips & out auctioned out everyone. Overall, I thought the people of DR were rude & hard to understand. Angel is the BEST waiter by the pool. Hey Jamie :) Antonio Banders, works at Now, was an awesome bartender. FYI you can use part of the spa for free. We were excited to finally visit the DR, happy the hurricane missed Punta Cana but not super impressed. We were visit DR again but probably would check out Cap Cana.

The best part of our trip was meeting the most amazing servers who work at the resort (especially at Rosewater). Angela was so sweet and was very prompt and quick with her service. Wander was one of the best bartenders we have ever had, Clarisa always made us feel welcome and at home, Big Boy made the beach twice as fun, The Cat was extremely accommodating and a joy to be around, and Roberto And Ruddy were great servers at rosewater. Very good waiter skills! They were friendly, always there for us, always ready to serve and so fun! Meeting them was the greatest gift. We will miss them!

Secrets Royal Beach was amazing! One of our favorite features about this resort was the main pool. It resembles a lazy river and it was so nice to float around throughout the resort. ~Service: The service at Secrets Royal Beach is some of the best out of all resorts I have visited in Punta Cana. The staff is very attentive, kind, & FUN! - Especially by the pool and beach areas... We were only there a few days and the staff remembered our names and always greeted us with smiles, which made us feel very welcomed! :) ~Room: The room was nice. There is a jacuzzi tub on the outside balcony, and I LOVE their bath/spa products. The room is nothing extravagant, and it is not the nicest option out of all the Punta Cana resorts I have stayed at, but it does provide all your main wants/needs. I noticed they renovated the rooms on the website recently, so I will have to visit again to see the new and improved room categories. ~Restaurants: The food service was good, and the seafood restaurant was my favorite - I also like how there were no reservations required at any of the restaurants except for hibachi. ~Activities & Inclusions: One thing I loved about Secrets, was the fun activities and entertainment they included by the pool area. They have the amazing staff playing pool games with all the guests and being really interactive. This was a lot of fun! ~Resort: Overall, I think resort as a whole is where you get the best value. From the beautiful resort landscape and pool areas, to the wonderful staff that makes your stay special. It is a great option for Adult-only, honeymoons, & anniversaries that are looking for an overall good resort for the best value. It is not overwhelmingly big so it is easy to settle in within the first day or two.