Secrets Aura Cozumel

I am a member of unlimited vacation club and I have been to now 6 of there resorts. This by far was the worst of the resorts I have been to. Based on the other Secrets I been to it seemed like this was Sunscape that got converted into a Secrets. The room and furniture was old and poorly maintained. They had the same activities everyday and they weren't even good activities. I'm not even sure if they had any shows in the evening. The food was OK but was nothing compared to the restaurants at the other resorts. Also being a member no longer has any value in my book because you can now go to any website and book at member or lower prices and get more benefits like being preferred. At this resort I had to negotiate my "member discount" at the spa. Another big issue was the mosquitoes were everywhere and it seemed like they didn't spray until 2 days after we got there. So for two days you can barely enjoy being outside because you would get eaten alive. There were a couple of positives the spa was excellent and the bed was very comfortable.

First let me say staff at Secrets Aura were overall very courteous and friendly, and its location is breathtakingly beautiful. However, I've never experienced so much pleasure and pain during one vacation. My friends and I have been AMResorts loyalists for the past three years. 20+ of us have been to Dreams Cabo Golf and Spa and also to Secrets Wild Orchid Montego Bay. Based on the excellent service and treatment at those properties we never read reviews on Secrets Aura. Big mistake. On a trip to Secrets Aura with 20 or so friends and family 8/16-8/21, I experienced so many ups and downs with the service that I was often left bewildered. The check in for Preferred guests is inconvenient. After a long travel day and hot arrival, the Preferred lounge is yet another lengthy walk across the property. The glass of champagne we received at the lobby brightened that experience. None of the Preferred lounge check-in staff discussed any benefits of paying extra money for preferred status outside of the lounge and dedicated pools. Although we were a part of a large group, we all booked separately and had separate needs. Alejandro was especially unaccommodating with our requests, offering no options. Peeking into the lounge each day, I saw only the same cold mini sandwiches—nothing hot, nothing inspired. Secrets Wild Orchid did this excellently. We had reason to hang out in the lounge because there were new and delicious treats throughout the day. We were assigned a Preferred Tropical Junior Suite (I assume it is called tropical because there is a line of palm trees blocking the ocean view?) room that smelled mildewed and did not have working air conditioning, so the bellman asked us to wait there in suffering heat, while he alerted a maintenance person. Thankfully, we were able to call the Preferred desk to be assigned a new room quickly. On our first night (8/16) we ate at Oceana. The meal was lovely. The mosquitoes were not. We were all stung repeatedly before a waiter brought over one citronella candle for our table of 8. Over the next few days we were terrorized by mosquitoes all over the property, including a swarm hovering near our room door. It was a point of conversation with several groups of guests during our stay. There are 37 red marks all over my body which are uncomfortable and infuriating. Why hasn't the property been sprayed? Now we're all wondering if we've been exposed to Zika?!?! On 8/17 we spent the morning at the Preferred private pool. I had a delicious Cadillac margarita. Later, we spent time at the pool with slides and I asked for another Cadillac margarita. The bartender said he couldn't make the drink because there was no Grand Marnier stocked at the bar. This is an example of the inconsistencies we experienced. I had to beg them to stock the bar equally before they brought over the Grand Marnier and made the drink. If you don't ask, they will use generic liquor in your drinks. One bartender was making our drinks out of sight. On 8/18 8 of us had lunch at Oceana and decided to try quite a few things from the menu to share, mostly between two people. The waitress repeatedly questioned why we were getting so much food and said it would be too much although we had enjoyed the small plates served there previously. Finally, she asked a coworker to take our order because she couldn't understand that we wanted single orders to share. She walked away, shaking her head and judging us, with the order we had given her, so that we had to start over again with the hostess. That morning a man was cleaning the pool with a scrub pad while we were in it. One evening our villa neighbors left their room service dishes outside to be picked up. The dishes were there from 1 pm until the next day, despite us calling the night before to alert the staff that they were still there. Our maid service seemed spotty since several areas of the bathroom weren't wiped down daily. When we asked for turn down service later while we were at dinner, they never showed up. We had a terrific snorkel experience with Mena and enjoyed a bit of aqua aerobics, but witnessing the games the entertainment team created was a pitiful experience. One day they had people drink a shot of tequila, beat their chests like Tarzan and do a belly flop into the pool. They seemed to make it up on the spot. We had a friend who wanted to play but she doesn't drink tequila. What if someone wanted to play and couldn't swim? That was the extent of entertainment I saw, compared again to Wild Orchid, and also Dreams Cabo, which had robust games and things for guests to do poolside. Victor was a bright spot during our room service orders He was attentive and helpful. Unfortunately the same meals changed from day to day. "Buttered spaguetti" was delicious one night, dry and tasteless the next and accompanied by a breadstick (as described on the menu) a third night. The Penne Arrabiatta was delicious and moist one night, dry and barely sauced another, and switched to spaghetti noodles on a third night with a very sour tomato sauce. Philly cheese steaks were delicious but thinly sliced per the menu one night and chunks of meat on another night. These inconsistencies are not befitting "gourmet" meals. And that sushi restaurant. I don't understand what was happening there. We were served misshapen and uneven rolls that were 90% rice and 10% filling. I had to trim most of the rice from my rolls it was so much. I didn't even take a picture because I thought they were that disrespectful to the art of sushi making. Why is there a sushi restaurant if that is what is produced? Honestly, I've had better sushi made onsite at my grocery store. It was this horrible sushi restaurant experience that crystallized for me what these small occurrences together represented to me: There is no one in charge who truly cares about the guest experience. No one is setting the example that shows a great time to people who have spent their hard earned money for a break from their daily lives and for experiences to be remembered forever. There are dozens of staff doing a great job for guests everyday and others just doing a job, and I could feel the difference. With exemplary training, all the staff should be there to sweat the details that create great experiences for guests. That is the job of hospitality. Aura plays 70s and 80s music by the pool bars, and that could be a cool, kitschy feature of the property, but because so many other details and experiences were sub par or missing, it just feels like no one bothered to update the playlist.

Had a horrible time at this resort. We were upgraded from Sunscape sabor to here and thought that would be wonderful, but we were woke up repeatedly during the night and early morning by the broiler on the roof of our building. It would cause a very loud noise that earplugs couldn't drown out, and shake the building. Out of our one week stay, we was woke up very early on three mornings. One morning, we had maintenance, security in our room. Our last night, we was woke up late at night and we had an early flight the next morning. The resort offered to move us to a different building, but not until our last day and we already had an excursion planned and didn't want to miss it and spend our last day packing to move. Neither the manager or the concierge contacted us, I did ask for one at checkout, and I was told to send an email once we got home by the lady that checked us out. We was there July 15-22 and I haven't received any acknowledgement from the email I sent. This was our third stay at a Secrets resort in a little over a year and by far the worst experience we've ever had at a resort.

The service at this resort was great, however as many have previously stated, the hotel itself is an older facility and could use a facelift. That being said, the only real complaint I have would be the food. It was medicore at best and that was a common theme throughout all of the restuarants. The watersports were great and it was very helpful having the pier at the facility. If you plan on doing any deepsea fishing or other charters they can pick you up there which will save you the $15 cab ride into town. Overall, we enjoyed it.

This was my first visit and it was wonderful! The beach is incredible. The snorkeling right at the hotel beach was so calm, the water is crystal clear and has lots of beautiful fish! The staff here could not be more professional and courteous! Everyone goes out if their way to be helpful! A special thanks to Eugenia, Alfonso, Gibran and Armando for taking good care of my friend and I. The resort is clean and small enough to get around easily, but you can access amenities at the resort next door as well! Nightly entertainment was nice and restaurants were great too! I hope to come back with my whole family sometime!