Secrets Aura Cozumel

Smoking allowed, we can't be around smoke. There should be a designated area away from others that don't smoke. Hot tub was warm. Bad weather in the water caused no swimming for a couple of days. Red flag warning. Staff was great and very accommodating. Food choices were very good and lots of choices of where to eat. Very clean and kept up

We recently returned from a group New Years trip. The hotel staff were extremely friendly, especially Arbey from the entertainment staff, but that was about the highlight of things. We had more fun off the resort than at it, which is rarely the case at a Secrets resort. We've been to several Secrets resorts over the past few years (Silversands, St. James, Maroma Beach) and all those trips were great and the hotels fantastic. But Secrets Aura completely failed to live up to the Secrets standards. A few of the restaurants had decent food, but in large part the options were very limited and majority of the food was not very good. While the room service food was available 24 hours, it was terrible. The bar tenders and servers were very limited, they often would only have 1 bartender handling things at the pool bar and nobody at the swim up bar at all. The alcohol tasted awful, even when a new bottle of alcohol would be opened, it never seemed to be sealed and tasted like it had been refilled or diluted and mixed with something else. The margarita I ordered at the skybar wasn't even drinkable. I took one sip and had to stop. Even the preferred club lounge alcohol didn't taste right. I drank more bottled water than anything on this trip. We went in a group of 18, and ALL 18 ended up getting sick during the course of the trip. I was stuck in my room for 2 days with stomach issues. Luckily we had upgraded our room to the preferred club so we were in a decent room that had been renovated. Although there was a light that shined thru the bathroom window and directly to the bed making it difficult to sleep. Others in our group were not so lucky, they didn't even have some of the basic things like hot water and they had to rotate rooms to shower in. We booked this trip and suggested it to our group based on the Secrets name and reputation. Don't make the same mistake, this is a completely outdated resort that slapped Secrets name on the outside, I would never go back to this place.

This resort is not up to the standards we've experienced at other Caribbean and Central American resorts including Secrets Wild Orchid in Jamaica where we had an excellent experience. The room was large and comfortable but there was a plumbing problem that was dealt with and a broken door to the outside that was not. The spa was not as clean as it should have been and there were broken handles and spigots in the locker room and showers. A snorkeling tour was very disappointing in what we were able to see and the amount of time we were allowed in the water. We started at a reef where there were several other snorkeling boats, and it was crowded and difficult to stay with our group. Out boat left the area leaving two snorkelers behind in the water that we had to circle around to retrieve. Generally, the lower level staff (maids, porters, waiters) were friendly and accommodating, but the management staff was rigid and unfriendly. We also reluctantly agreed to a membership sales pitch which, while not as much pressure as others we've experienced, was still pushy.

Nice resort from appearances. Very friendly staff. The drinks were fine and preferred guests have top shelf, which I enjoyed. The food was terrible. Not only are the portions very small but the choices were poor to say the least. The quality was the worst I've ever had at a all-inclusive. And we are not picking by any means. We had no problem getting into any restaurant we wanted so they are excelling in that area. Some destinations that reservation policy can get people upset. No reservations here. We did try room service once, it was also the same food as the buffet so no difference there. The service was fine, and the pool and beach service was on spot. The beach, let me say if you want to frolic in the waves of Mexico don't come to Cozumel. This is differently a snorkelers vacation destination. I did not get in the water once while I was there. Rocks, waves, not clear. As I did see people in the water they were all snorkeling. The rooms were clean well equipped and mini bar was replenished daily, that was nice. We stayed as preferred guests and I could see a difference in the amenities. I would suggest going that route. This was a one and done for us in Cozumel.