My husband and I stayed at Secrets Capri June 26-July 1. We really enjoyed the resort and thought the accomodations were very nice and thought the resort itself was beautiful. Not really spread out so easy to get around. Overall we had a great time, but I thought there could be a few improvements to make this resort excellent! We loved the size of the resort! We passed by Excellence and I found that resort to be a little too big. A little background on us, we are in our late 20's-early 30's and have traveled to other AI in Mexico, Bahamas and Jamaica. Grand Lido Braco was probably our favorite AI that we visited and Secrets Capri was better in some areas and not as good in others.

ARRIVAL from Houston to Cancun no problem. American Express transportation was ready to pick us up to bring us to the resort. We waited a few minutes at the resort to get our room but were brought towels and champagne while we waited. The service and staff were excellent and we were shown to our room and around the resort by one of the staff members.

LOCATION of the resort was excellent. About a $12 cab ride into Playa del Carmen. The guards were very good about writing down when you would come and go and I felt very safe there. El Mandarin Hotel next door and then miles of beach if you walk the other way from SC.

ROOM was very nice. We were in a Deluxe Ocean View Room (212). Good view of the pool and ocean in the background. Very nice balcony. I did not find the beds were not as hard as others have said. We had a flower arrangement in our room and a bottle of wine waiting for us when we arrived. The room has a small table (ample for eating breakfast or room service), a chest for storing clothes, etc. and a TV armoire with dresser drawers and a DVD player. (We never used the DVD although you could rent movies at the resort). The bathroom was nice marble with a tub and seperate shower and toilet area and vanity area. It is open to the room but you can close it off. I found it to have plenty of privacy.
Nice closet , safe and shelves. Also ironing board, robes and slippers for use.

POOL was large and one side had the pool bar and the other was quieter. The volleyball net and a little bridge sort of separate the two sides of the pool. Nice pillow things to lay on in the shallow part of the pool. They had pool volleyball and water aerobics but other than that the pool was quiet. We wished there had been more poolside activities and some music at the pool. Lots of other guests while we were there also complained that some music by the pool would have been nice. We did see some loose tiles but in the evening time, we saw workers in scuba gear in the pool working to replace and repair any damages in the pool. The loungers by the pool were very nice and usually you could find one without difficulty. The floats in the pool were usually also available, but we did notice some rude individuals who would take the mats out of the pool and put them at their chair or one person floating on 2 rafts. The jacuzzi was very nice as well and a good size.

BEACH was nice and the sand was very light color and soft. The water was a blue green/color and any seaweed was cleaned up quickly. We loved sitting by the beach because it was a little cooler there under a palapa. Drink service at the beach was also a nice touch.

STAFF were very friendly and efficient. I did not find that they got as involved with the guests as at Grand Lido, but there were many more activities there, so maybe that is why. The Concierge service on each floor was non-existent while we were there. There was someone there maybe 2/6 days. We requested a new remote control for our TV every day we were there because ours did not work and never recieved one. Also, maid service came very late in the afternoon most days, but this could have been partially our fault since we slept in until about 9 most mornings.

INTERNET ROOM: Great for checking email and writing home if you needed to. There were 4 computers as well as a copier and fax (I think) and it was never more than a 5 minute wait to use them. Best thing was that they were free!

FOOD overall was great for an AI resort. A little breakdown of what we thought of each restaurant:

OCEANA: Good seafood, but being from Houston, we are a bit spoiled. Great service and pretty table outside with a view of the pool.

CAPRI: Lovely ambiance. We had the steak which I would not recommend, but risotto was excellent. Stick with the Italian dishes and not the steak in my opinion.

RIVIERA BUFFET: Fine for breakfast, though we preferred room service. OK for lunch and dinner but I think the other restaurants are much better.

SEASIDE GRILL: Ate here every day for lunch. Lots of really good choices from burgers, pizzas and sandwiches to fish and meat entrees. The chips and guacamole/pico de gallo were excellent!

HIMITSU: Our favorite restaurant. Ate here twice, once at the hibachi grill (Good but HOT) and once at a table. The sushi and grilled entrees were excellent.

ACTIVITIES/BARS: This is where I think the resort is really lacking. There was a games area which was nice with board games and books and such. Every evening there was a show at 9. We enjoyed the Caribbean show best. Desires Bar was lots of fun, especially Karaoke night; however, it cleared out around 10-11 pm every night. This is definitely not the place to party! We met some nice couples there but kind of wished we had gone with friends from home so we could have had other friends to hang out with in the evening. The La Habana piano/Cigar bar never had a person in there the whole time we were there. I think there could have been some fun piano sing alongs or something there that would have made it a little more lively. The lobby bar usually had the biggest crowd but very bright and not much going on there except a few mariachis one night.

SPA: We both had the massages which were excellent and also did the refresher facial, which was OK but not worth the $$. The spa and gym area were both very nice and clean.

WOULD WE GO BACK: Probably. Although it was a little pricier than other resorts, I felt it was worth the $$. However, we like a little bit of a livelier resort so if we went back, we would likely go with friends or go with the excpectation that we would just be relaxing and not much nightlife. Definitely worth a visit and a perfect choice if you just want to relax.