2015 Our Three Day Accommodations in Conejos Bay, Huatulco, Oaxaca, Mexico

At Secrets Resort & Spa, Blvd. Benito Juarez Seccion Hotlerera 8, Santa Cruz Huatulco, Oaxaca, Mexico 70989, tel. 958-583-0500, www.secretsresorts.com, the Junior Suite (#1212) on the second floor was a nice room. We didn’t and don’t need an outdoor Jacuzzi or a swim out pool. Our room had privacy in front and on the left and right, which the rooms on the lower floors and the rooms in the lower buildings do not.

The size of the rooms was generally all the same, as was the décor.

Audre sitting on the balcony of our room at Secrets at Conejos Bay, note the glass balustrades

The air conditioning worked well and maintained the temperature set. The room had a small balcony with two chairs and a table. On the end of the room, near the balcony and sliding glass door was a chaise lounge/sofa with pillows at the back that made it acceptable for sitting and watching TV. In front of the chaise lounge/sofa was a coffee table. Across from the sofa were a desk, mini bar and two sets of drawers. There was plenty of room for us to unpack and stow our suitcase. The bed was a king and there were two bedside tables, one of which had a clock radio on it. The sink area was separate and had two sinks and lots of storage under the sinks (although very little around one of the sinks because the coffee maker was there.) There was a separate toilet room, a big closet and a room with a shower and inside Jacuzzi. The lighting in the room was okay but it would have been better to have brighter bulbs, particularly in the toilet room and the sink area. The soundproofing of the hotel was not good and during our first night, we heard the telephone ring (repeatedly) next door, the neighbor coughing or throwing up and someone knocking on the next door (as loud as if it were our door).

The wall treatments were good, as was the wood interest in the room. The full-length mirror in the room had something wrong with it; it was almost a circus-trick mirror. Audre did not like to have to sign in to the hotel’s wi-fi everything she opened her laptop. Very annoying. Another annoying thing was that the maid moved everything when she cleaned; we had to re-train the maid to leave things where we had put them. The first night we did not get turn-down service for some reason. The third annoying thing was that the towels were only kept at the exit of the elevators. It was a long way back if you needed another towel. The fourth annoying thing was that there were no peanuts to be found anywhere in the resort. We like them with our evening drink before dinner.

The view from our room was great; we really liked that the balustrades/barriers were all made of glass and kept clean. The view was unobstructed and we could hear the sound of the sea from our balcony. We were in the highest building which improved our view but resulted in our having to take 3 different elevators to the pool and beach level. As we walked the resort we were impressed with how clean it was kept (and how many employees there were). The employees smiled and greeted us as we passed them. When responding to our gracias, they would typically say “un plasir” rather than “de nada.” Much nicer. When we need a repair in our room the technico came quickly. When we checked in we were asked if we had a birthday or anniversary to celebrate. We told them that our celebrations were in the following month. Nonetheless we were bought a bottle of sparkling wine for our anniversary/birthdays with cake. Nice.

The Bahia de Conejos was calm, warm and beautiful—with no other buildings on it.

The beautiful Bay of Conejos from our room at Secrets

We liked using the free (included) water sports equipment and the free gym. The pools were a delightful temperature. The Jacuzzis at the spa were small and part of the spa package that was an extra charge, as were the steam and sauna rooms. The Jacuzzis had to be filled each time they were used. We really liked that the 300 rooms of the hotel were only partially full while we were there. The area is so humongous that it seemed as if there were very few guests. The architecture was pleasant; the various buildings were of different heights so they didn’t seem as massive as they were.

You can see just how humongous Secrets was

We couldn’t possibly eat or drink enough while we were there. There were many servers coming by as we sat at the pool or on the beach asking if we wanted something to drink. Neither the food or the wine was very good; it was okay, maybe good. The portions were gargantuan. The only restaurant we thought was very good was Oceana. One thing we couldn’t find, however, was anything to munch on when we had a drink at the bar before dinner. There were no peanuts anywhere in the resort, not even available in the store to buy. We were offered pretzels which we don’t like.