Secrets Cap Cana Resort & Spa — Hotel in Higüey

My husband and I just stayed at the Secrets Cap Cana for our honeymoon and our review is below.

We picked this resort because it was an all inclusive and the reviews were majority amazing. We were looking for a resort that was clean, safe and had great food. Majority of the reviews we read were great for this resort and ultimately influenced our decision to pick Secrets Cap Cana for our stay.

The food was NOT amazing like the reviews were claiming. The buffet food was a 4/10 at best. There were flies everywhere and the overall selection of food was sub par. The reviews claimed that there was a gluten free section as my husband cannot eat gluten and that did not exist. The food from the restaurants was just ok…. Nothing amazing. Edible enough to satisfy your hunger and keep you from starving but not great like the reviews claimed. Expectable from an all inclusive but still disappointing since the reviews we read were misleading. Room service: stay away! The room service food is so lacking and unappetizing. We ordered room service for dinner on the day we arrived since we were tired and didn’t want to go to the restaurants. It was not appetizing at all. Think of food you buy at a baseball stadium and make it a little bit worse. I would avoid ordering room service for dinner at least. We didn’t try anything else during our stay. Not sure how room service is on the preferred side of the resort. Pool/beach: the pool and beach were clean. There were workers constantly cleaning ensuring the trash was picking up. However, if you are coming here specifically for the clear beach water and the amazing views… you will be disappointed. The beach has a divider to try and keep seaweed and I assume animals out and the water is still murky and pretty gross. No fault to the hotel but just adding that in. Rooms: the rooms are outdated and need a refresher. I found dead bugs upon arrival and several lizards found their way into our room. We had the junior ocean view and the view was nice but for what we paid for we were expecting a little better of a view/room. Overall I’d give the room a 6/10. I do want to mention that you can hear EVERYTHING while in your room. Staff walks by in the morning and is extremely loud and ends up waking you up because the walls are thin and the opening under the room doors have no weather stripping to block out noise / unwanted creatures. Staff: the staff were the only great part of the resort. No matter who you interact with, they are all extremely professional and friendly. 10/10 Drinks: neither one of us are big drinkers but the resort does have a good selection of alcohol. We were comparing the service here to the service we received in Cabo at the RIU and the service is a bit lacking. We were expecting servers to come and ask you if you needed drinks while we enjoyed the beach and pool and they were actually kind of hard to track down. We had to get out of the pool / beach and get our own drinks multiple times because the servers were either hard to find or didn’t come up to us. Transportation: we used Amstar and it was a good experience. Book everything ahead and make sure you are in a group you will be fine. Safety: the resort is in a gated community and the driver has to show credentials to enter and the guests have to check their names off of a list to be allowed on the property. We did not leave the resort during our stay so I cannot comment on safety outside of the resort.

Overall the resort is decent and the workers are nice. If you are wanting a luxury stay, maybe choose another resort because this isn’t really “luxury” and it’s not worth the price tag to come here. 5/10 for the overall score due to the food situation not being great and the outdated rooms. The resort also had a lot of old/missing pieces to the structure of the resort which made it look...

My family and I came to this resort 3 years ago (review 22 August 2022) during this time Hyatt took over ownership of the resort. At that time there were so many things that we highlighted needed improvement, however 3 years later we found the same issues we mentioned 3 years ago along with many more areas we believe need to be addressed and improved. In particular the ridiculous rule at the pool that you can’t leave your belongings unattended until 12pm which severely affected our family holiday, as we had to take in turns to ‘guard’ our belongings to go for a little walk or use the toilet. My family and I decided to return to this resort trusting management would have taken feedback and customer concerns into consideration and made improvements, unfortunately this was a big mistake and we were left regretting spending our money returning to Secrets Cap Cana. the ridiculous rule “You shouldn’t leave any of your belongings in your lounge chair before 12pm, if you do they might be taken by the security department.” Which prevented us from having a morning walk all together as a family along the beach in order to avoid our belongings being taken. Although he had good intentions to bypass the issue by booking dinners for us we felt at the end to be in a “luxury prison” deprived of our freedom to move at our pleasure in the surrounding. as mentioned 3 years ago the swimming pool was pretty dirty full of puddles around the lounge chairs which where never swept , except one day that my wife asked specifically to remove them. Regarding the dirty condition of the pool (we were at the infinity pool as it was a bit quieter) my daughter and myself got Conjunctivitis which thankfully we managed with eye drops. However since then I swam with goggles to avoid contact of my eyes with the water. I was remarkable that in 10 days at your resort we never saw any member of the staff taking samples of the pool water to be tested. I think this is a serious health matter that the absent management should take in serious consideration. In all other resorts I have been to, I have seen pools being cleaned mostly every day and water tested, as opposed to the pool being cleaned once a week at this resort- 3 hours after the pool was meant to have been opened! Better don’t talk about pool towels that arrived at the infinity pool around 9.15am and most of the time left into the plastic bag few hours after the swimming pool is meant to be opened (you should take example from other Secrets resorts for example in Mexico where you can find the towels ready by 6am) even rolled on the lounge chairs) I would like to mention, I’m afraid not in a good way, the pool concierge called “number one” was rarely present to help guests (for example to open and move parasols etc.) however was more interested in having long conversations with same guests (maybe because they gave him tips constantly and they became his favourites). The beach which was one of the best attraction of this resort was this time orribile full of sargassum and horrible smell up to the rooms. Obviously I can’t blame the resort for that but now it doesn’t justify the price request. Restaurants are inconsistent and not 5 stars standard. we feel that overall the quality of this resort gone down. And it is a pity that a potentially beautiful resort is losing it’s character. Maybe the management is more keen to support the big bunch of guests that are happy to stay floating in the cloudy, dirty pool, filling their stomachs with sugary, cheap drinks rather than be a smart 5 star resort as they believe it is. Resort catamaran trips are the only positive note from...

UPDATE - After Sending an email to just about every Hyatt customer service email address I could find, providing thoughtful feedback about our experience in the hopes that they would use it as a teachable moment... They clearly don't really care about their customers experiences or any feedback provided because they haven't had the courtesy of even acknowledging my email. We weren't looking for anything other than acknowledgment and they failed there too.

Overall a Great Stay – With One Major Miss

We just returned from a phenomenal stay at Secrets Cap Cana. We were a group of six. My wife and I, our three adult children, and our daughter’s fiancé. Overall, we had a fantastic time and would absolutely return… with one notable exception.

The food and drinks were pretty much what you’d expect from an all-inclusive: nothing to rave about, but solid enough with plenty of variety and options to keep everyone happy. Top-shelf liquor was available, and the bartenders were great about keeping the drinks flowing.

The rooms (we were in the Preferred Club section) were clean, comfortable, and well maintained. Nothing over the top, but no complaints either. I can’t speak to the non-Preferred rooms, but ours met expectations for a resort in this category.

Now let me highlight what really made this trip memorable... the service. It was, without question, spectacular. The staff consistently went out of their way to ensure we were comfortable and well taken care of. Two absolute standouts: Milagros, our pool and beachside server, who was so good we literally followed her to whatever section she was working in each day. And Narissa, the pool towel and chair attendant, who was equally amazing, warm, helpful, and just a joy to see each day.

Now for the not-so-great part.

First, the beach. While the facility itself is beautiful and well-kept, the swimming experience was disappointing. The resort has a large barrier net up to catch the seagrass, understandable, but it creates a weird, stagnant bathtub effect: shallow, hot, and not remotely refreshing. If you’re a beach person, temper your expectations.

The bigger issue, though, was our assigned “butler,” Ricardo. I honestly don’t know where to start with his failures, but let’s just say he completely dropped the ball... repeatedly, daily. For someone who’s supposed to be the main point of contact and the one ensuring a seamless experience, he was completely disengaged and unhelpful. His lack of attention and follow-through not only failed to add value... it actively took away from what could have been a five-star experience. I don’t say this lightly, but Ricardo is in the wrong role. He should not be in a client-facing position under any circumstances.

Bottom line: Secrets Cap Cana is a gorgeous resort with top-tier service from 99% of the staff, but the beach setup and especially Ricardo knocked it down a couple pegs. If the resort leadership addressed that piece, this would easily be a 5-star...