Secrets St. Martin Resort & Spa - All Inclusive

Customer Ratings & Reviews

TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

725 reviews

• 

  Amazing resort!

  They are still under renovation from prior hurricanes. Was this a 5 star throughout? No. But it was certainly more than a 4.5 throughout hence the 5 star review. It appears they are choosing to spend their renovation dollars wisely. The Lobby is a great start with 5 stars, but then in the hallways to your room you may be wondering is this a 3 star? Then you open your door and it is luxurious 5 stars - the only better I have been in was in high-end Vegas. The food was fabulous, we did not have a bad meal or portion of a meal. Sometimes the buffet was better than the restaurants. The beer and liquor is name brand top-shelf stuff. All beaches on St. Martin are public, but since this is so isolated no issues there. White powdery sand for kms/miles. Turquoise gentle waters due to the partial reef offshore. Depending on the tide, winds, and current you may get some seagrass (seaweed) coming onshore. This only happened 2 days back to back during our stay. Once the tide turns, staff hand rake the beach within an hour. We couldn't get a straight answer other than the resort is fully booked, but it was definitely NOT at 100% capacity as at a guess only 50% to 75% of the rooms have been renovated so far. All restaurants were 'open', just not all the time. The Buffet (Market Cafe) and Himitsu (Pan-Asian) was open all the time due to specialized cooking equipment, but the rest rotated through a single physical location such that e.g. Portofino (Italian) was Day 1, Ratatouille (Mediterranean) was Day 2, Olio (French) was Day 3, then repeat. CoCo's Cafe was open 7 AM to 11 PM. The swim-up bar was not open, but backing it the main pool bar was open. 10AM for beer and 11AM for liquor. If you really suffer that badly to get out of the huge infinity pool or walk 100 feet from the ocean to get your drink this review is meaningless to you. The iguanas are large and 'friendly', well, at least used to us tourists anyway. Isolation: Great on one hand as it is relaxing and quiet. It may only be 18 km/12 mi from the airport but it takes you an hour to make the journey. You may want anti-nausea medication before undertaking this journey which is not for the faint of heart. The islanders say the same about driving in snow (they can't even imagine it), so it is what you are used to. The 2 hour round-trip for excursions really adds to the length of the day. All excursions take this into account so be prepared to start your day very early. Expenses: There are only 2 all-inclusive resorts on the island, one in the Dutch part and this one in the French part. This island produces nothing other than some fish and 2 kinds of lobster. EVERYTHING else is imported. Tourism is their lifeblood. Water is expensive, beer and wine is cheaper. A can of coke from a non-tourist variety store may be 1E (euro) for a small can (295 ml/10 US fl oz), which is more than $1.50 CAD, where we get 355ml/12 US fl oz cans. We noticed sticker prices were about the same number as CDN, except it was Euros, and often the sizes were smaller. This island is technically Europe, so there is no tipping, but just looking around at the devastation still apparent causes us fortunate enough to enjoy this paradise to reach a little deeper and pass on to those working through it. I am guessing that when the renovations are complete and this resort is truly fully operational, prices will double.

  Mar 23, 2025
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  GREAT CUSTOMER SERVICE!

  This was a great place, scenery is beautiful. There was few problems at the beginning, but the manager took care of us with complimentary massage & romantic diner. Our housekeeper Avril was always cheerful and smiling. Actually the whole staff we're very friendly Alexander & Hector at the beach bar we're awesome, always willing to play some Bob Marley... The food was really good, can't complain on anything We will definitely come back!

  Mar 23, 2025
• 

  Just an OK stay

  We have been going to Caribbean with my husband for the past 25 years, visited a dozen different islands, always staying in 4 or 5 star resorts. This resort doesn't measure up to our previous experience. We booked this place as a last minute deal because of the low price and so keeping that in mind we tried to enjoy our week the best we could. Resort has a great location with a very nice beach, where we spend the most time. However to get an umbrella and chairs I had to go to the beach before 7am. The pool is nice and big but surrounded by a fence, so from the infinity part of the pool you are looking at the fence and a wall separating the beach area. Our room was nice, comfortable, renovated and the housekeeping was also fine. The hallways though, have dirty carpets, and light fixtures in staircases are cheap looking. The food was also very good with plenty of selection for breakfast and lunch in the Market Place buffet restaurant. However the service was really bad. You can't expect to be served in the morning with water or coffee or other drinks as there was never enough staff and they were disorganized. For dinners we went to the a la carte restaurant next door where they alternated 4 menus during the week. The food there was good as well, but the look of the restaurant and the overall ambience is very poor. It bothered me to sit every evening at the same wooden tables with the same place mats. They should at least have tablecloths couple of times a week. This resort is 30 years old and really dated when it comes to the layout and the architecture. No small additional renovations can really change that. While, we tried to make the best of our stay, this is not a place we will come back to or recommend it to our friends.

  Mar 22, 2025
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  Great food, great service, looking forward to returning!

  We had an excellent stay at Secrets Saint Martin! We knew before arriving that the hotel was in between renos and not everything would be open. However, we were still able to have a great stay! The room was clean, the food was excellent, and the drinks were strong (and quality). They staff were so friendly and always went out of their way to make your day feel a little extra special. We are looking forward to returning after the renovations have been completed.

  Mar 21, 2025
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  3 maybe 3.5 star at the most!

  This resort is definitely not fully renovated (which we knew) but as we walked down the hallway to our room, I was beginning to be worried of what the room looked like. Old carpet with stains and not vacuumed the whole week we were there. Thankfully, the room was OK! Food is hit or miss! No TV all week but I believe some areas of the resort got their TV restored before we left. AC temp they said would go down to 17 but every time we set it to 17 at night it would go back to 20 or 22. Nice pool, great beach! Pricing needs to be lowered until they get everything completed with renovations. Menu at Market Cafe didn't change much. you would have a different fresh meat each night they cut off the bone for you like turkey one night, beef, chicken. Coco Cafe was out of several flavors for cappuccinos til last day. I would not suggest Preferred Club at this resort. There is one small room at the lobby for PC and that's it. Not really anyone monitoring it. When I say small, I mean small. Not worth the extra! We've stayed at several Secrets and Secrets has always been our "go to" resort. Since Covid things have changed! We love Secrets St. James in Montego Bay and on our third and last trip to St. James it was so disappointing. garbage ran over the top of the garbage cans and would stay on the ground for a day or two. I don't know what's going on with Secrets but they need to get it together or DROP those prices.

  Mar 21, 2025