Secrets Puerto Los Cabos Golf & Spa Resort — Hotel in Baja California Sur

One of the nicest all inclusive resorts I’ve been to. I booked in the preferred guest section and absolutely loved the perk of being able to use that amazing pool and the service staff that comes along with it. They were all so great and accommodating. We ended up upgrading our room to the ocean front section(building 8) for the last few days of our trip and I highly recommend it. Nice and quiet except for the crashing waves which I loved every second of. Sometimes they were so loud they woke me up at night because we left the patio door open for the nice breeze. Even used the outdoor tub 3 times during our stay. They filled up fast and we’re as hot as you wanted. Perfect way to end the night watching the stars and listening to the ocean. We even spotted whales on many occasions during the day out in the distance.

Food was the best I’ve ever had at a resort. That being said, ask for what you want or ask the waiter what they recommend. The buffet specifically offered chefs at every corner to make you what you wanted and yet I saw so many people just grab what was in the troughs. The best meal we had was grilled right in front of our eyes and I didn’t catch his name but he made the best salmon, grilled octopus, shrimp and even a tomahawk steak for us the one day. Yes, a tomahawk steak! Sure it took 20-25minutes once I ordered it but we just went to sit back down to enjoy our bevy till it was ready. The Sushi guy (also fresh made to order)was amazing too! Let him pick the sauces that go on top and it will be 10/10. Breakfast omelettes or eggs done however you like with a HUGE selection of sides and fruits. Eat a donut, you won’t regret it. I actually wish they would have buffet at night too it was that good. All other restaurants were fine too. If you don’t like something, get something else. No need to be miserable about it. Cruz at Oceana as well as Salvador made for an exceptional last meal for us. Again, I asked Cruz to wow me with whatever he recommended and both my husband and I had the best meal I remember having in a LONG time let alone at an all inclusive. Service there was 10/10. Pools are massive with lots of chairs. Christian at the preferred pool deserves a mention as well as the server there with the cool shades ;)(sorry I forgot your name). If all the chairs were spoken for because some rude people still do the “reserve a chair at 8am with a towel and a book trick” and don’t come back for hours, Christian knows who’s been there or not and will actually clear their stuff out which I LOVE! I wish people would be more considerate to others. There’s so many cool places to lounge on that property that you don’t need to hog the chairs. Beach side chairs are amazing too along with the swings at the beach bar. Fernando was fantastic there although we didn’t do much drinking at that bar mostly because we just sat and read our books listening to the waves crash in the AM and then moved to the pools in the afternoon. The free activities offered were great too. Cons: -evening entertainment could be improved greatly. -no swimming at the beach(but we knew this) -Room service is extremely slow and restocking of beer is a joke even in the preferred side. Not once did our wine or beer order arrive within 60minutes. So, if you want wine or beer in your room, order it in the morning for the evening. -the preferred lounge feels like an after thought. Not somewhere I ever wanted to hang out for a drink. The staff/front desk there always seem too busy and overwhelmed. -no good orange juice anywhere. We actually just started adding pineapple juice to our mimosas instead :)

Tips:-don’t settle for coffee at the buffet when they will make you a cappuccino or latte :) So much better! -go to dinner early, or late. 6:30-7:30 is packed almost everywhere and you might as well plan accordingly. -upgrade to ocean front once you get there for a few nights. Very memorable and worth it for us.

-tip for better service just like everywhere else. Doesn’t have to be much but it’s certainly appreciated by all the staff and...

This hotel is about 35-45 mins from the airport, right on the water and very nice. We couldnt use the ocean as the beach was closed due to rough seas. It is an 18 and over place and when we went in June it was not crowded or too hot. It's not a particularly fancy place, but it is nice. It is part of Hyatt hotels, so they do try to get you into a timeshare (or rather time wasting) presentation that only takes an hour to an hour and a half (3 hours later we finally left, without buying into the actually interesting and almost convincing presentation).

But back to the hotel. They have 7 restaurants. Although they have 7 restaurants only 4 are actual restaurants, 2 poolside places with burgers, tacos, snacks, appetizers, that sort of thing. 1 buffet, 4 "fancy" places.

The buffet is good, they are only open for breakfast and lunch and are the only breakfast place for the common folk (ociana is breakfast for the "preferred" folk only), kinda hurt my feels when they turned us away, your not good enough, or rather you didn't spend enough to eat here, go away peasant.... As a whole the food at the buffet was not bad. Bfast was the same (for the most part) every day. Eggs, bacon, sausage, chiliquiles, potatoes, some random sashimi, breads, toast, cereal, and the like. Again, it was overall not bad.

The Italian place was just ok. I got Oso bucco which was horrible (all fat, and sinuey, the gravy was not particularly good either). Wife got the sea bass and it was very good. The wife ordered a beat salad (which she had at the buffet and loved) and they gave her a corn cake ball with a beet shmeer, not sure what happened there. It was ok. We did not try anything else but the pasta items looked good.

The tapenyaki restaurant was good. The reservation process is stupid. Stand in line at the birdcage bar, waiting for a lady with a clipboard to show up and fill the seats for the table at the service hours. The first time we tried we arrived at 4:10 and all the seats were taken. So we stood in line at 330 the next day and by 430 it was filled up. On the day we dined, there were empty seats, which means people made reservations and did not show up. Although they tell you, you can only order two proteins, they will give you more if you ask. All the food was very good, beef was tender, chicken juicy, tuna tasty, shrimp plump and sweet. Rice and veggies were good. Service was good, cook was funny and entertaining. Recommend. There is an Asian food place connected to the tapenyaki and we were there the next day. It was ok, they have sushi (with a Mexican twist, not always good), Chinese and Indian. The Mongolian beef was just ok, beef was cubed (same as the tapenyaki cut), but equally as tender. The flavor was just ok. The appetizers were all served on one plate, but were fine.

Ociana was just ok. Wife got the sea bass, it had a different preparation than the Italian place, but was just ok. I got the pallela and it was very salty, they used the wrong rice that was undercooked, so I did not enjoy it. The appetizers were ok, nothing special. The corn cream soup was pretty good.

The Mexican restaurant was pretty good. We got soup, appetizers, and chicken molé, and the skirt steak. Molé was very good, steak was just ok. Soups were ok, flauta was just ok, blue corn tortilla, but was over cooked, hard and chewy. The horcha drink was good.

The poolside grills are good, food was tasty and service was relatively fast. Burgers (just ok, kinda over cooked), nachos are good, wings are not bad, pizza at the poolside is good.

Overall this is not a bad resort. The service at all the restaurants was pretty super slow. But you're on vacation, so be patient and you'll get your food eventually.

Drinks are all-inclusive drinks. Some are good, some are cheap, some taste right, some are off. The bartenders know how to make the basics, but if you get into fufu drinks or mixilogical magic, don't expect an easy go of it. They will make anything you ask for but it may not turn out as...

Rooms: If you want peace and quiet, then when you check in ask for buildings further away (and not facing) the pool or the large grassy lawn area. The main pool is quiet until about noon when a large speaker is set up near the middle of the pool on the south (beach) side. It is a bit quieter at the end of the pool, away from the bar.

Pools / Swimming: For all pool and beach seating areas, if you want your first pick of pool lounge chairs, you will need to reserve them with a towel and personal item (e.g. book, hat) around 7 am.

The beach is closed for swimming. You can sign a waiver with the lifeguard down by the beach and go in, but guests are advised against it. I asked a lifeguard if anyone had drowned recently and he said no, but he had pulled three people out recently who otherwise might have drowned.

Excursions / Events: I went on the bike excursion, which was advertised as 3 miles each way, but it was more like 1-2 miles each way. You end up at a beach where you can swim (and there are bathrooms), so consider taking your swimsuit.

In the week we were there, on two different nights, there were special events out on the lawn. One night was called "Fuego" (Fire) or something like that, where they had an assortment of grilled meats, and a fire show that was great. Another night, they had Mexican food, and several nights, they had a taco station set up down by the pool.

Yoga on the beach deck for 45 minutes was at 8 and again at 9, with mats provided. It was led by Carrie, who was outstanding! She made it accessible, was friendly, and gave options for those of us who were new to it. From the beach deck we had sightings of whales, probably every several minutes, which was incredible.

Restaurants and Bars: The Coco Cafe is open 24 hours (!) and has delicious chocolate-filled croissants in the morning, my favorite pastry/dessert in the whole place. They also serve a few flavors of ice cream, though that was not on the displayed menu.

All restaurants are first-come-first-served. Dinner is from 6-11 pm. If you don't have to wait, get there right at 6, or consider waiting until the de-facto second seating around 8.

In the evening your hang-out bar options are the Rendezvous lobby bar, which is a bit sterile, or the Desires sports bar downstairs. There is, unfortunately, not anything like a quiet jazz bar.

Like many all-inclusive resorts, many of the drinks are made using syrups and are often weak. You may want to experiment to find out which ones taste best and ask for a shot on the side to stiffen up your drink. We particularly enjoyed the Xolo (pronounced Show-low), created by Prospero, one of the servers at the pool, who gave excellent service!

Tips: Even though the website indicates "Tips Included", the reality is the servers depend on your tips. Some of the staff I spoke to make only $10 (US) a day, so income for them from tips is assumed. They work hard and provide excellent service, so consider tipping a dollar per drink, for example.

More Shout-outs to staff: Juan was a great server, along with Fernando the bartender down by the beach.

Hostess Alexandra was lovely at El Patio restaurant. Matias was our server there and anticipated our needs.

At the Seaside Grill, Christian was a server with humor. At breakfast, Bruno did an outstanding job setting up our tables and providing service.

Problems: Overall our experience was great, with one exception. The hot tub was broken the whole time we were there. When I asked repeatedly about it I was given the run-around. I was told, "We just changed the water," "The programming needs to be fixed," "We've ordered a part". I understand that there may have been an issue, but lying about it repeatedly made me wonder whether to believe other things, such as all the promises the time-share salespeople make. They suggested using the "other" Jacuzzi, which was also cold.

Transportation: For airport transportation we had excellent and inexpensive service from Raul, who can be reached at cabousatransport@gmail.com or +52...