Secrets Royal Beach is an adults
only all-inclusive resort in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic connected to NOW Larmiar - a family all-inclusive resort.. We stayed there
for 3 nights in May of 2015.
Restaurants
La Riviera - the Buffet
Seaside Grill - Caribbean
inspired
Gohan - Sushi Bar
Oceana - Seafood
Portofino - Italian
Plus a private room called
the wine cellar that sits up to sixteen. The restaurants do not require
reservations. The buffet is also open for breakfast and lunch. A barbecue lunch
is also offered on the beach. The Seaside Grill offers a la carte breakfast and
lunch for those in the Preferred Club. The
close proximity to NOW Larimar makes it easy to dine at any of its four a la
carte restaurants- French, Pan-Asian, Mexican and Italian. Plus NOW has two additional
buffet restaurants.
We ate dinner at Oceana at
Secrets and Mercure at NOW. Both restaurants had great service and adequate
food. Nothing was bad, but we weren’t wow’d by anything either. The decoration at both was impressive. Oceana
had a great Sea theme that complimented the food.
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| Menu at Mercure |
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| Loving dessert at Mercure |
Mercure had very elegant
decorations to complement its French theme. Both these restaurants were
air-conditioned. Neither had windows.
The Beach
Secrets offers two
sections of beach - one for preferred club and one for all guests.
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| Beach area for all guests LOVE all the shade! |
We didn’t
notice a big difference between the sections. Beach service is available. The
beach is nice. You can walk a long way as it connects several resorts. The
beach is public so vendors did approach us to tell us about their stores down
the beach. We didn’t see any vendors carrying goods. When we visited, seaweed
was piling up on the beach.
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| Seaweed on the beach |
The staff was out every morning with rakes and a
wheelbarrow. The ocean also has sea grass as you walk into the ocean.
Secrets offers these great
double decker cabanas for rent. One in pictured in the photo at the top of the page. Anyone can reserve one for the day. The pricing when we visited was $100 per couple
plus $20 per additional person. It comes with two beds - one on top and one
under the structure plus chaise charges and a table and chairs for dining. You have
butler service plus a bottle of champagne and lunch.
The Pools
Secrets has a two pools: a
large main pool connected to the swim up bar and a lazy river pool that winds
throughout the property.
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| One end of Lazy River Pool with Swim Up Suites |
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| Main Pool |
Chairs can be difficult to find in the afternoon if
you want to be around the main pool. We just put our stuff down on the ground
to the side and headed to the Swim Up bar.
The Activities
Each day, you receive a
schedule with the activities for day. Both the beach area and the pool area
have competitions and activities. The activities around the main pool in the afternoon
involved chugging a beer two of the three days we were there. For participating
in the events, you get Secrets dollars you can use during a souvenir auction at
5 pm on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. The mix of people at the resort was young
honeymoon couples and then a wide range of ages. In the evening, they had a
main show in the plaza. It was quite a production and a lot of fun!
The Rooms
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| Junior Suite |
Secrets Royal Beach has
two categories of rooms: Junior Suite and Master Suite. Within the junior suite category, the
upgrades are based on location and view. The Master Suites are the only rooms
with a full ocean front view as they are located on the ends of the buildings
closest to the beach. All rooms have a Jacuzzi tub on the balcony or patio. I
would classify these as semi-private to everyone in the pool can see my
business.
You can also opt for
Preferred Club. Preferred Club provides suites in better locations, an upgraded
mini-bar and upgraded bath amenities. With Preferred Club, WIFI is also
included and you have the ability to have it in your room.
Our Experience in
Preferred Club
I chose to upgrade to the
preferred club partial ocean view junior suite. The main reason I upgraded but
I really wanted to have a la carte breakfast and lunch. The Preferred Club also
provides access to a separate pool with a swim up bar with slightly upgraded
chaise loungers and a roped off section on the beach.
WIFI is included with Preferred Club. You request a unique log in and password from the concierge.
We tried both the Secrets preferred
club restaurant and the NOW preferred club restaurant for breakfast and lunch.
Breakfast - Now Preferred
Club has more interesting breakfast entrees than Secrets Preferred Club.
Secrets had more standard options like omelets, French toast, and pancakes.
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| Secrets Preferred Club Breakfast Menu |
Lunch - Secrets Preferred
Club had great ceviche! They also offered entrees similar to what you’d find in
a restaurant. NOW Preferred Club has more traditional lunch options such as
sandwiches and salads.
Pool Service - We had
great pool bar service at the Preferred Club. The bar waiter would make a lap
around the pool getting everyone’s drink orders then delivering drinks. It took
about 45 minutes total. So you would be getting a drink every hour and a half
if you ordered and then waited for a drink or every 45 minutes if you ordered
when he handed you your drink. We noticed a similar system around the main pool
and lazy river pool. One day they even handed out calamari at the Preferred Club pool.
The Preferred Club Concierge
was helpful answering our questions, arranging a taxi back to the airport and
with check out. Bell Services did a great job with luggage and confirming our
taxi.
Overall, my husband and I
were very impressed with the service at this resort. We look forward to
visiting again in the future.
Tips
- If you are in a large
group, be sure to visit the restaurants right as they open. The restaurants
only have a few large tables so this will minimize your wait time.
- The rooms do not come with
conditioner so bring your hair care products from home.
- Wine selection is
limited to generic white wine, red wine and champagne.
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I love planning all-inclusive vacations. Click here to request my Top 10 Considerations when choosing an all-inclusive resort for free.
If I can help you plan an all-inclusive vacation, please let me know.
Remember - my services are free to you!
