Ah, the November vacation to Mexico! I look forward to you so!!! I believe this is the ninth year in a row that the bear (my husband) and I have taken off for four or five nights of pure relaxation!

And every time, the day we get back, I blog to try to remember as many details of the trip as possible.

I booked this resort last November, knowing it wouldn’t open until February 2024, and kept watching the Facebook fan sites, anxiously waiting to see that EVERYTHING would be open before our arrival. The dates on certain areas kept getting pushed further and further back.

By August, however, everything was open, but a NEW problem emerged. I always book my room way before I book my flights. When I looked to book for this trip, flights going into Cancun were $1500 more on Thursday than they were on Wednesday!! What? are you KIDDING me??? To add another night to the reservation was going to be OUTRAGEOUS. So, I thought this was our chance to do something we had always talked about- spend the night before at a hotel by the airport.

After a lot of questions and research we went with Fairfield Inn. We were getting to Cancun a LITTLE earlier than we wanted to. We’re not the type to venture around and shop in downtown Cancun or do excursions, so staying out at the airport was fine with us. Landing at noon, however, was going to make for a long day of nothing.

As a seasoned Yucatan peninsula traveler, I know not to REALLY bother looking at the weather. It’s okay to look at AMOUNTS of rain; If it says more than an inch expected, there is likely to be significant rain. Anything else, just a few passing showers- and no worries. Still, our weather for this trip looked GLORIOUS- EXCEPT for our flight day. I was seeing thunderstorms for the whole morning. We crossed our fingers and took the two hour flight.

As it turned out, our timing was just about perfect. Our captain let us know that we were circling but looking for a break in the storms. We MAY have been diverted to Belize. I shrugged and didn’t really care. We could add another country to the list, and it would take up time before getting to the Fairfield Inn. In the end, we hit our window and landed in Cancun pretty much on time. Other people at our resort were not so lucky. Some had to take bus rides from other parts of Mexico when their planes were diverted or sit on tarmacs for hours- losing a full day.

When we exited the plane, immigration was virtually empty, and we just walked through. The longest I’ve ever waited in line is 30 minutes. There is no real reason to expedite in Cancun- and it’s SUPER expensive.

We stopped at the little duty free in terminal 4 to get a bottle of rum and a bottle of wine. The in-room liquor at Secrets is very limited, and there is no in-room wine at all. We prepared to wait for our luggage. Yes, I definitely have friends and family who are “team carry-on.” I don’t want to mess with all that! Bags are free on Southwest, so I just load up and take whatever I want. It took less than 30 minutes for our bags to arrive, and then I followed the directions on the Fairfield Inn site to go wait for our free shuttle to the hotel.

This made me more nervous than anything else on the trip. I always book with Kalido. I had them booked for our transfer from Fairfield Inn the next morning to Secrets and from Secrets to the airport, and I know I can rely on them 100% of the time. The bear and I trudged through the gauntlet and out to “slot 26” and I What’s Apped the driver and called the hotel desk. I was informed the bus would be there in about 30 minutes, so we waited. I could tell the bear was restless beside me. We were surrounded with exhaust fumes and not feeling certain about the ride, but in just about exactly 30 minutes a very nice bus showed up, and took us on the 15 minute ride to the Fairfield. I didn’t mind that it was a rainy day! It made me feel like I wasn’t missing out. If it had been sunny, there was actually a nice sized pool and a well stocked bar. As it was, we really just ate lunch, had a few drinks, and then put our firestick in the TV and hung out in the room waiting for our vacation to start.

I had scheduled to have Kalido pick us up at 8 o’clock the next morning to go the the resort. I LOVED this idea so much! The bear and I put on our swimsuits and coverups and packed our beach bags. Everything else was able to stay in our suitcases until our room would be ready later in the day. As usual, Kalido was early to pick us up. The resort was just under an hour away, past Playa Mujeres to the north. No champagne greeting that early in the morning, but we did get taken into the Preferred Lounge immediately. Check in was very smooth. I declined the orientation from a butler and also declined the presentation to get coupons. The vacation club did make me sign that I had declined, but that was the last we saw of them.

And we started our first day sitting beside the water at Sea Side for preferred club breakfast. There is no preferred restaurant at this resort,: Sea Side is for preferred only for breakfast, and is the only ala carte breakfast other than room service.

But you can also elect to just get food at the preferred club lounge or pick things up from Coco Café. Market Café is the buffet for breakfast, and it is EXTENSIVE and gorgeous! I don’t know that I’ve ever seen so many separate “stations” for food. Personally, though, I find buffets quite overwhelming and I am uncomfortable going to stand and wait at stations while someone cooks, so I prefer a restaurant menu. My first morning choice was a fail. The egg white frittata was somehow both over and undercooked and had no seasoning at all. It was supposed to have goat cheese, but didn’t. The bear’s Motulenos were good and so was the French toast we shared. The yogurt parfait was AMAZING. I had one every day! I was excited that this resort DOES service bloody marys and mimosas before ten- no other alcohol until ten, but you can get those at the restaurants. You can also get Coco Café to add a little splash of liquor to your drink.

All of my other breakfasts on the trip were good – particularly the Croque Madame at Sea Side. The only other fail was the watery, under-seasoned egg in the preferred club lounge. Still, the croissants in there MORE than made up for it! Such buttery goodness!

Our butler Rafa got in touch with us through What’s App and let us know that he would find us later in the day to take us to our room so we wouldn’t need to go back up to the lobby to get room keys. We decided we’d start at the club pool. This is NOT an early riser “towel game” resort- or at least it wasn’t at all while we were there. Rafa told us they were at 90% capacity, but we never had any trouble finding a place to be. Before arriving, I had planned to rent a Bali bed, but the shaded loungers on the preferred side are no longer for renting, they are included. I didn’t really want one on the main pool, and the ones on the beach are WAY far down on the preferred side I never did see anyone in those.

In the end, I ended up in the SAME lounger in the shade at the preferred pool every day and loved it. I chose the one at the end closest to the pool entry and just down the path from the restrooms.

Some of my odd questions about resorts are about pool entries and restrooms. There were restrooms EVERYWHERE at this resort, which is great! By the preferred pool, there is one beside the bar in the outdoor lounge, BUT there is also a larger hidden one BEHIND the preferred lounge.

Also, I’m fat and have bad knees and stepping into pools can be treacherous. They were all great here. It’s a TINY first step: not quite a beach entry, but easy to navigate, and none of the surfaces are slippery in the pool or out of it.

The loungers were VERY comfortable and adjustable. I did venture to Market Café for lunch one day, and I had big intentions of going to Oceana. Instead, we either got snacks from the Preferred club lounge or had the pool servers bring us lunch from the Barefoot Grill.

Things are so close and compact, we EASILY could have gone over there ourselves, but when you get so comfortable…

At around two, I messaged our butler to see if our room was ready, and it WAS! We had booked a tropical view room, but when we showed up to check-in, I was told we had an ocean view room? I certainly wasn’t going to correct them. We ended up on the top floor of building 4- room 4508- overlooking the “social pool” and the “infinity” pool, and it was GLORIOUS! There is ZERO filter on any of my pictures. Yes, that IS the color of the water.

I realized I neglected to take pictures of the room, but this is the room video. If you see a strange creature lurking in the water closet, worry not, that is just the bear in there, standing up, and staring at his phone because he didn’t want to be in the video. It’s not the greatest video, but I felt like I couldn’t blog without including room pictures. Still, all the club rooms look basically the same, so you can find MANY pictures of them everywhere. The shower floor is river rock, which is a little odd. The bear didn’t like it on his feet, but the room overall was great.

I did find the layout of the pools in the main part of the resort to be unusual. Other than the jungle pool, which is almost exclusively for reserved/paid beds, there are only these two other pools, and they are side by side. The “social” pool has a few rentable Bali beds and then plenty of other seating around it. The only usable swim up bar (there is one in the jungle pool, but it doesn’t look like they intend to use it) is in the “quiet” pool- which can never be quiet because it butts up against the “social” pool. And, much like Moxche, I never saw anyone in their swim ups. There is very little privacy, but also no way for servers to be able to come to the swim up. I would not like them.

Actually, everything was pretty close together. The preferred pool is just on the other side of the Barefoot grill, so some of the sound from the activities drifted over there during the day. One day, in particular, a LARGE group (around 400) of travel professionals were having a beach BBQ for a few hours in the afternoon. There was no way to be at any of the pools on the main level or on the beach without hearing the bass thump. People go to resorts for different reasons. That group was definitely there to party.

Me? I go to relax and read during the day and enjoy date night dinners.

I often plan out every meal before we even get to the resort, and I THOUGHT we were going to do Asada on the first night, BUT due to that convention of travel professionals some of the resort events were changed. They didn’t do Asada. and there were no shows at the theater-instead they were moved out to the main bar- Rendezvous.

Rendezvous is the hub of the resort, and the bear liked that. He did not enjoy that Impression Moxche only had small bars sprinkled throughout the property. Some afternoons Javier did classes at Rendezvous. Both the tequila class and the cocktails class were fun and interesting. Sitting at the bar itself is a little odd because the chairs are very low, and the bartenders serve from a sunken area.

There is a TON of seating outside the bar, too – including many firepits. Firepits are actually all over the resort, and they’re gorgeous. The weather while we there at night was in the high 60s so sitting by them was terrific. The ones on the beach just outside Sea Side are a little odd because you have to walk in the sand to get to them, which can be tough if you’re dressed for dinner. This is a brief video of that area at night.

Getting down to the beach itself, though is great. There is a boardwalk from both the preferred area and from the infinity pool . Then, there is a boardwalk that stretches between the preferred area and the regular area behind the dunes. It is flanked by pool bars with swings on both ends. I thought it was surprising that so many loungers were set up behind the dunes, but there are plenty in the front as well. The beach is very long, but not very deep. It appears that maybe the preferred side isn’t quite done, yet?

There were no tractors picking up seaweed because there was no need! A few people were out there with rakes, but the water was crystal clear. The red flag was up the whole time we were there. I did see a few people in the water. I can’t speak to whether or not water shoes are necessary because I’m someone who likes to LOOK at the ocean, but I don’t like sand. I go to the beach every morning for sunrise before retreating to a pool, and this beach was AMAZING for sunrise.

This video shows a little more of what the beach is like in the morning (and you can hear the sound of the waves.)

Part of what I love about a four or five day beach vacation is falling into that same routine. Every morning I naturally wake up just before sunrise, and I make my way to set up “my spot” before spending the next thirty minutes watching the sun come up. Then, I go back to “my spot” until it’s time to go back to the room to get ready for dinner. (This video shows the walk from building 4 to “my spot” on the preferred club pool.)

Even if I usually end up doing a lot of nothing, I love resort apps that have daily activities listed. Secrets’ app is great, and our butler also sent us a daily message. I didn’t love the daytime activities at this resort. They had a lot of pool type activities (aqua bike, water aerobics, water volleyball), and physical activities but not a whole lot of other things. I do think there was bracelet making one day, but rarely were there things like tours, or cooking classes, Bingo, or trivia games. The entertainment team was definitely hard working, and this is a new resort. I’m thinking they’ll add more things in more locations in the future.

One afternoon, we did go to the spa. With preferred, the hydrotherapy is supposed to be included; but getting that booked was more difficult than we expected. At first, we were told it was subject to availability and all spots were full the entire time were were there, BUT we would be able to get it if we booked a massage. The bear did book a massage, and they told him to get there about 45 minutes early for his hydrotherapy. I mentioned this to the spa concierge, and they told me that I could accompany him for HIS massage and get my complimentary hydrotherapy at the same time. When we got to the spa, the receptionists seemed confused and somewhat annoyed, but we had confirmation numbers, so they were able to get us in. The hydrotherapy area was close to empty, so I’m not sure what the problem was, and the people who led us through there were WONDERFUL. We were able to enjoy it as a couple. The spa is GORGEOUS, and this was one of my favorite hydrotherapy circuits EVER. The sauna and steam room were at the perfect temperature, the ice bath was FRIGID, and the hot tub was hot. All of the jets were amazing. I did not do any add ons, but the bear said his massage was great.

While he finished his massage, I wandered the resort’s other level

Almost everything is in a semicircle at the pool/beach level around Rendevous,

Up one flight of stairs from the main area is the spa, the indoor sports bar/night club – Desires, the gym, the theatre, the Jungle Pool, and the outdoor sports bar – Sugar Reef, which is beside the jungle pool. The ballroom and courtyard are also on this elevated level.

I had intended to get a bed and hang out in the jungle pool since it was 3:30 in the afternoon. Still, ALL of them had reserved signs on them. I didn’t ask anyone if I could just try one out for an hour or so. I wasn’t going to pay for a bed that late in the day. Still, the pool is a beautiful area.

Ultimately, I ended up at the Sugar Reef sports bar, watching the Bears lose… Again. It’s very odd that they have these HUGE lamps and decorations hanging up IN FRONT of the TV’s above the bar. Not very good design, but still very cool to sit in a bar in the middle of a jungle watching some football!

After daytime activities, we would go back to the room. I would get a BIG glass of wine-to-go from somewhere; then, go sit on the balcony to listen to whatever band was playing that afternoon at the social pool. We are VERY MUCH wine drinkers. We travel for wine. The wine at this resort was no better or worse than others. I mostly stuck to the Sauvignon Blanc and the Carmenere (assuming the carmenere hadn’t been opened too long!)

Sometimes we ordered room service as appetizers. None of it was great, but it was all pretty good. They do have the “magic box” that many resorts have, so the food is delivered without your needing to open the door, and then you can put the plates back in there after for pickup.

Anyway, on that first night since Asada wasn’t happening, we decided to go to Bordeaux (the French restaurant) for dinner. The decor at the restaurants was GORGEOUS. They all have both indoor and outdoor seating. Men need pants if you’re going to eat indoors. The food at all the restaurants was hit or miss, BUT the managers REALLY wanted feedback -positive or negative. They said that they were all still learning at a new resort and were committed to being a top resort. When I’m looking back at my pictures from Moxche, which I would give 5 stars when it comes to food, I can see a lot of difference in technique, and I know the flavor was different. Playa Blanca is about what I expect from AI food.

Bordeaux: I’d give this meal 3 out of 5 stars. Service was great, and things were paced well. Things were tasty, and all was beautiful.

El Patio There were ENORMOUS groups at El Patio. It was the travel professionals’ free night, and groups of 10 to 12 were coming in. They had also been at the Preferred Club lounge beforehand. They were very nice, but any group that large does change the vibe of certain places. The restaurant handled it very well and put the larger groups in different places. I’d also give this 3.5 out of 5.

Himitsu- Teppanyaki It was surprisingly difficult to get this one scheduled. I was told by one person that scheduling could only happen on the app and that they opened at midnight for the day of only, another person told me it was at noon, and I could look several days ahead. Eventually we did get it scheduled. It was our first time to do the hibachi/presentation style at a resort in years. We usually forgo the “show” but decided to do it here. The room itself and the restaurant are both STUNNING. The service from the waiter was great, and it was wonderful to have some sushi and miso soup before the presentation. Each room seats 8, and it was just like any other hibachi I’ve been to, except I believe the food was better. I didn’t love the tempura ice cream: it was a little mushy. Still, I’d call this one 4 out of 5.

Mexican fiesta On our last night, we could have gone to Italian or one of the seafood restaurants. I WANT to like seafood, and I can find things to eat anywhere, but I just don’t love it. We always seem to put Italian at the bottom of our lists at any resort. We like it, but it usually doesn’t make the cut for us on a three or four night list. The bear absolutely LOVED the Mexican fiesta that Excellence Playa Mujeres used to have. The last few times we had been to EPM, it had been pared down a bit. We had high hopes for Secrets. As with the rest of the resort, the courtyard experience was stunning. The food was all good, but none was exceptional. They did have taco stations and quesadilla stations, but not quite the variety that I would hope for at a Mexican fiesta. Still, another 3 out of 5 stars.

But the entertainment at the fiesta was WONDERFUL. The bear is a South Texas native so he ALWAYS loves some good dancers, a lasso show, and incredible mariachis…

The bear and I are by no means the late night party kind of people. I love that the shows started here at 830, and most nights I was at those solo. There was no chance we were making it back to the nightclub for karaoke or silent party, but the people whom we met who had gone gave them RAVE reviews.

The shows here are the same kind of performers that I have seen at every resort. They work hard and do a good job. During the early evening, there are generally live musicians. The first three nights we were there they had a fire show on the beach, a magic show, and the “elements” show -which was pretty interesting with dancers and a live band. I would like to see it when they do it full scale in the theater.

The best part was that whatever we didn’t feel like staying out to watch, we could at least hear from our balcony at night.

I can’t ever help comparing resorts. I have loved every one I’ve been to – I just loved some more than others. Secrets Playa Blanca was amazing, and I’d love to return in a few years as the resort has a chance to grow.

For right now, I’d probably have it in 3rd or 4th place or the resorts I’ve been to. If I’m FORCED, my ranking looks like this:

1. Secrets Impression Moxche
2. Excellence Playa Mujeres (particularly 6 or 7 years ago)
3. Valentin Imperial Riviera Maya
4. Secrets Playa Blanca
5. Excellence Riviera Cancun
6. Live Aqua
7. Haven Rivera Cancun
8. El Dorado Maroma

Again, this is not a knock on any of those in the bottom half. I loved them, too (and have reviews for all except Live Aqua if you’re interested)

So next November, it’s Excellence Coral. We drove by it on the way to Secrets, and WOW this stretch of beach is amazing! I’m excited for next year!

I may have another trip coming up in April as well- before I’m off on my third river cruise in June – this one from Paris to Normandy.

Oh, how I love vacations!

Feel free to ask if you have any questions…