We just stayed 4 nights at Secrets Excellence Punta Cana and were thrilled. It was a nice mix of luxury and service with convenience and easy access for the masses. The "all-inclusive" part really helped us relax, and we felt the quality overall was very high. Here are some thoughts.

GROUNDS ---huge, lush, open-air lobby and bar areas for lounging. Fantastic. Nice tiled walkways, tiki huts on beach. Beach volleyball. Lots of chairs.

POOLS ---main pool, with swim-up bar, went on FOREVER. May be the longest pool in D.R. Amazing.
We had a swim-out room on the back pool, which I thought was better. Private. Quiet. Also a bar back there but no swim-up.

BEACH - very pretty. Water was rough but I swam in it no problem. So did many others. Had a nice walk to shops on either side of property. Be tough and be ready to bargain. Can get some nice stuff. Also - had a great beach volleyball game with people from all over the world.

ROOM - like i mentioned, we had a swim-out and if you can swing that, do it. It's amazing. Open your door and you're at the pool. Request a room in building 2 or 3 if you can. We had room 1001 and the only thing was that we heard some noise from the entertainment at night but it wasn't bad. Other than that, room was clean and elegant and spacious, with jacuzzi tub in center.

WEATHER - hot, sunny every day. Patches of rain that immediately passed by.

FOOD - above average. Some things, like beef, didn't taste like NY steakhouse quality, but everything was very good. French restaurant and seafood were the best. No complaints. Breakfast was very good, try the omelettes. Cookout on the beach was great. Pizza man came around and gave out individual pizzas, they were great.

BARS --prompt, friendly service. Bars all around. Drinks were low on alcohol, but no problem asking for extra rum, etc. El Presidente beer is excellent.

STAFF - bright, smiling, mostly Dominican people. They were great.

RIDE TO SECRETS -long, about an hour. Wasn't scary or anything like I thought it might be. Just a bit sad, going through impoverished areas, on very bad roads. Just a minor inconvenience, and very much worth it. It's fine, makes you feel good about giving some money to this island.

TRAVEL PLANNING ---we went through Apple Vacations. I suggest doing something similar, that way you're transfers are all taken care of, etc. There's a rep for Apple there the whole time. Makes ya feel better.

This was a great trip. We were very happy and liked this almost as much as we loved Las Ventanas in Los Cabos years ago.

dc

Hold on to your hats.... a new Secrets is in the planning and will be built in La Romana.. and I can't wait.. I wasn't happy with the beach at Punta Cana.

I had heard the Secrets Excellence in Riviers Maya and Punta Cana were going to be under new management and by next year will no longer be Secrets resorts. Any one else hear any facts on this?

I don't know about that, but we were at the secrets capri in mexico in October and that is one well run, fantastic resort! We absolutely loved it!!!

Interesting about the Mexican resorts. We were returning from Playa del Carmen last year and were on the bus with people that had stayed at Secrets. They said they had been told that Secrets was in negotiation with Sandals. I never heard anything else after that so I put it down to rumors. It makes me wonder now......

Based on what I've read --- Secrets Exc. Punta Cana & Secrets Exc. Riv. Cancun are owned by the same person/corp. Apparently that owner is going to take over their own management of the 2 resorts. AM Resorts (Secrets, Dreams & Sunscape) is currently just a management company; they don't own the resorts. SEPC changes mgmt in Oct 2006 & SERC changes in Jan 2007. Secrets Capri apparently has a different owner & will remain the same.

I've been to all 3 Secrets & Secrets Capri was our favorite, so I'm glad no changes will be made there.

I've also read that AM Resorts (which is affiliated w/ Apple Vacations) is going to build a few of their own resorts (to own AND manage) -- Secrets Montego Bay, Secrets Maroma & Secrets Dominican Republic.

Anyway, this is what I've read on various sites, so none of this is hard fact !!

Jackie

There will be a new Secrets in La Romana I don't think ground has been broken yet..