Secrets Bahia Real Resort and Spa

Having previously stayed in some high quality All Inclusive hotels in the Caribbean and being fed up with long haul travel we booked Secrets Bahia expecting it to be not quite as good as our previous experiences. However, we we proved very wrong.

From arrival to departure we found all the staff friendly helpful and genuinely interested in you having a great time.

Our room and all the public areas were spotless, the pool area was large with plenty of beds & umbrella's. The pool opened at 9am and in theory no bed reservations allowed although some people ignored this, which was unnecessary due to the number of beds available. We didn't use the small public beach area or the Balinese Beds on the jetty.

The Market Cafe (buffet restaurant) is open daily for breakfast & dinner, which offered a great selection of quality food & the Seaside Grill open daily for lunch, offering an good menu with lots of choice. The specialty restaurants (4) were open on different days, so you had a choice of a minimum of two restaurants including the Market Cafe for evening meals. All the food was of high quality, portions on the generous side & delicious. You could book the specialty restaurants via reception or on the 'app' up to 5 days in advance. Also, a nice touch was you could have a bottle of wine on the All Inclusive package rather than having to waive down a member of staff for a top up.

In the evening we had a night cap in the Rendezvous bar which was open 9am to midnight & had a balcony overlooking the sea. There was nightly entertainment (band & or singer).

The local harbour area was a short taxi ride away or a 45 minute walk according to Google. But we did not venture out, however, those that did seemed to enjoy an evening out.

Slight negatives were some of the sunbeds were a little uncomfortable as you could feel the bed frame through the mattress, not enough hangers in the wardrobes, only one restaurant open for lunch & strangely even on the All Inclusive package the snacks (crisps, nuts) with your minibar were an extra charge. The entertainment was a bit mixed in quality. But I am being a little picky here.

Overall a very good hotel which we would highly recommend.

Overall a great experience, you can’t fault the cleanliness and service. Rooms are spacious and comfortable, I had a sea view room on the 1st floor. Restaurants on offer serve great food, my best meal would have to be in the Olio restaurant. The Japanese restaurant was my second favourite. Be sure to download the app and book the restaurants as soon as you can. The buffet restaurant serves a good variety of local cuisine and has a number of counters where they cook the food for you fresh so if you are like me and don’t like buffet food as you don’t know how long it’s been sitting there your in good hands here. Good selection of drinks and cocktails. A couple things to note: there is no beach to speak of you can’t just go for a dip in the sea to cool off as it’s very rocky you can however walk up the sugar reef and enter the sea there. The pool area is beautifully cleaned but gets busy and does not open until 9am so there is often a queue waiting for them to open as it’s cordoned off until then. Also don’t just wonder off and leave the towels on the beds as they will be cleared away. Another very important note: if you are all inclusive this ends at 12pm on your departure date which means if you have a late flight you then have to pay for all your drinks and meals after 12pm, this I think really ruins the holiday. I have travelled all over the world and this is the only hotel I have stayed in which applies this utterly ridiculous rule. It really does ruin your last day of your holiday. Please also note to be sure to keep all belongings in the safe, I had approx €20/30 disappear as I’d forgotten to take if out of my handbag and put it in the safe, yes I know it’s my fault but do not want this to happen to anyone else. A final word has to go to Herby who works in the beachside bar, super friendly and kind and made the best cocktails. Thank you Herby for helping me with my Spanish during my stay and the fabulous cocktails you made for me.

SERVICE - either amazing or blank stares. The Buffet staff understand basic English so you give up explaining what you want. Even TEA was not understood.

FOOD - Only ONE place to eat at lunch. The beautiful pier restaurant is ‘temporarily’ closed but that’s due to short staff and so you are stuck in one restaurant and one menu everyday.

FOOD - BOOK THE RESTAURANTS before you come. We did. We would not have had à la carte options if we’d left it till arrival. At checkout we saw several people upset as they only had Buffet. (I would have checked out)!!!

Breakfast in the buffet is good. Dinner is awful! It’s very basic bland hot meals. We went around making party food type dinners as nothing went with anything.

ROOMS - beds are comfortable. Rooms are clean. No AC! We had a thermometer and it stayed 22 degrees with full AC! The bathroom has no ventilation- you are left with steam for hours! Awful when trying to get ready!

POOL - small but nice. Lots of loved up couples floating around. Make of that what you will. lol! Little pool Service limited! So you end up having to Go and get your own drinks. Pool drinks don’t taste premium. Bar/Reception drinks do.

CABANA - we paid for this. NOT WORTH IT! No staff! The staff run from restaurant to Cabana! You are left in 30 degrees with no drinks. The glass is smashed in one area too.

WiFi - good!

Overall - UNDERSTAFFED AND OVERRATED Think before you book.