Secrets Royal Beach Punta Cana

We were incredibly disappointed with our stay at this hotel from the moment we checked in. After 15 hours of travel, we had to wait 45 minutes for a “butler” to take us to our rooms. Eventually we felt forgotten, and I had to ask again. Eventually, someone else showed us to our rooms. The food was mostly terrible—dry, bland, and often stale. A lot of the dishes were undercooked, including eggs at breakfast and rubbery nachos by the pool. The room service chicken wings were tough, tasted old, and seemed like they’d been stored in a fridge for days before being reheated. The sushi was awful—stale and barely edible, and you could probably get fresher sushi at a supermarket. Even the fruit juices tasted like they were made from concentrate. We tried the gyoza, but it was soggy and fell apart as soon as we lifted it. The risotto at Olio was undercooked and left me with a stomach ache for the rest of the day. Housekeeping was another issue. They didn’t follow through on simple requests. I asked for hangers three times on day one, but never received them. Turn-down service was inconsistent—sometimes we were forgotten or they came too late. On some days, the coffee and snacks in the room weren’t replenished either. I also made several requests, like swapping our welcome bottle of rum for a different liquor (since they don’t offer miniatures in the minibar, and we don’t drink rum). Only when I spoke to a manager did they send us a bottle of local gin. The wine selection included in the Preferred Club was disappointing—one white and one red, both undrinkable. As a result, we were forced to pay for bottles of wine during meals. It felt like the whole Secrets experience was a strategy to upsell at every turn. When I requested a bottle of wine to be sent to my room, they brought it—but without a corkscrew. I had to wait two days of repeatedly asking before I could open it. In the end, my butler gave me his corkscrew. The sunbed situation in the Preferred section was frustrating. It seemed like the hotel overbooked Preferred guests, and non-Preferred guests were using the area too. If you showed up at 9am, all the beds were taken, even though you’d paid for access. Guests would reserve beds at 6am with towels or bags, then leave them empty for hours. Service at the pool was hit or miss. You often had to go to the bar and wait in line to order. If you didn’t specify that you wanted specific brands like “Grey Goose vodka” or a particular tequila, they gave you local brands. Also, straws were hard to come by—they “ran out” by 9am. Another issue was the staff’s basic English skills. Simple questions like “Is this beef?” or “Is this bottled water?” were often met with confusion. For a luxury hotel, this is a safety concern. On one occasion, I asked housekeeping to empty the hot tub to prevent it from overflowing with rain. Instead, they emptied it and refilled it! When I ran after the staff to ask her to fix it, she told me she didn’t understand and left. I called housekeeping, and the guy on the phone actually said, “Of course housekeeping doesn’t speak English.” The attitude from staff was often rude and indifferent, which felt unacceptable at a hotel marketed as a 5-star, all-inclusive resort. The whole experience felt like they were cutting corners and charging premium prices for the bare minimum. By day five, my partner had had enough and couldn’t wait to go home, and I was starting to feel the same way. I spoke to a manager, and she was equally dismissive. When I mentioned the wine selection, she replied, “What do you expect? It’s house wine?” When I brought up the spa and how we felt ripped off because we weren’t even allowed to use the hydrotherapy pool without paying extra ($275 for a 50 minute massage), she didn’t seem to care. I mentioned our previous stay at Secrets Moxche in Mexico, which was a much better experience, and she said, “You can’t compare hotels in different countries.” By this point, I was livid because they wouldn’t take responsibility for their shortcomings. Dinner service was another letdown. If you arrive at 7:30pm, expect to wait until 9pm for a table. There are no reservations—just a waitlist. By the time we finally got our food at 9:30, we regretted not just ordering room service, as the meal was far from worth the wait. If you have any expectations or standards, this hotel is not for you. It feels like an upselling scheme, where they charge a fortune but offer only the bare minimum. You end up paying even more to get what you thought was included. That said, my butler Alfredo caught wind of my initial complaint and directed me to a different manager who made efforts to address them. He booked us dinner at specific times, arranged off-menu food (the lamb chops were incredible), gave us Bali beds (usually an extra charge), offered 20% off chargeable wines, and even gave us a 3-day pass to the hydrotherapy area (although it still required booking and had limited availability). Overall, some restaurant staff did go above and beyond, Shaggy and J.Frozz bought an Incredible amount of energy to all the entertainment programmes they conducted. Alfredo did try his best to make things easier for us, unfortunately his team didn’t follow through on his instructions. Most of the staff at this resort work incredibly hard, and they do put their heart and soul into everything they do. However, I still don’t believe this hotel is worth the hefty price but I hope this review helps others avoid making the same mistake we did.

Great food, service and entertainment!!! The people working at the resort were absolutely amazing, they were always smiling and willing to stop and check in. We were a group of 14 and we were accommodated for in every way. We truly loved every minute of this vacation!