Secrets St. James Montego Bay

This was our 7th time in Jamaica and 2nd time visiting Secrets St James/Wild Orchid. The first time at SSJ/SWO was Christmas 2022 and it was such an amazing experience that we returned for Christmas 2024. We noticed that a lot had changed in 2 years and not for the better. In 2022 the resort was decorated to the 9s for Christmas vs this year where decorations were quite sparse. In 2022 Christmas Day was a big celebration with a parade leading to an afternoon beach party complete with food, bar, and lining up to sit with Santa for a photo. This year, there was a parade and Santa wandered around the 2 pool areas. In 2022, there was a whole courtyard party on Christmas eve and this year that didn’t happen at all. The worst was that in 2022, you could make a reservation for Christmas Eve dinner and/or Christmas dinner and enjoy a lovely experience. This year in order to partake in the Christmas Eve Dinner, you had to purchase a bottle of wine for $150USD or more and to have a non-buffet Christmas Dinner you had to purchase a bottle of wine for $75USD or more. The other big negative was the UVC Club sales pitch. BEWARE! We had been through the pitch previously but wanted to meet with them again as we were reconsidering. We said we only needed a condensed version as we knew all the basics so maybe 60 min vs the usual 90 min. The manager, Shenice, said that she would only give us $100 room credit not $150 if we were only going to be 60 min. Well, low and behold she had her salesperson hold us there for the 90 min and if we walked out without them checking us out, we wouldn’t get anything. When we asked to get the full $150 since we had given the full 90 min of our time, Shenise refused, despite 2 of her employees saying it was the right thing to do. Shame on Shenice for that - I hope the $50 credit she wouldn't give us was worth UVC Club losing the sale. ملاحظة: the sales pitch is 90 min but they want you to go for breakfast and a tour so be aware that you are giving them almost 3 hours of your time. Generally speaking, the resort was decent. It is in need of a refresh inside and out, but was clean. We did notice there were way fewer grounds keepers and maintenance staff so they likely can't keep up with the work that needs to be done. The beaches are great and the sun was shining. The food was generally good (some better than others) and the bars were decent (although premium brands were more scarce than on our previous visit). The staff are lovely although we did notice less joy and positivity from them compared to 2022. Hyatt works them hard and does not pay them well (you would think they would with tourism being their #1 industry but they don’t). Our check in with Tiffany was great - she managed to move us to a higher floor without any fuss and we really appreciated that. Dayona the conceriege was lovely and so helpful – she even made it possible for us to have dinner at Altitude at Breathless (twice!) and surprised us with wine and a cheese plate in our room one night. Ernel at the Baracuda Bar was great too, making sure everyone was looked after. We went to Altitude at Breathless for dinner twice and both times were amazing (can't say enough about both Troy and Andrine whose service made both nights very special). We liked that there were more sun chairs at the beach for people to use, however, there were way fewer at the pool and all the cabanas are lined up pool side so block the view for those using the few chairs at the pool. To use a cabana, you need to fork over $100+ for the day (another money grab) so they sat mostly empty taking up prime space for the 10 days we were there. It may seem like I am complaining and I guess I am a bit. Did we have a terrible vacation? No - we lowered our standards and found ways to enjoy and have fun. Did we have an amazing vacation (like we did in 2022)? No. Would we go back to this resort? No, I really don’t think so. We will go back to Jamaica again but will stay somewhere else. We have always been loyal Secrets customers but it seems that Hyatt is turning the Secrets brand into lower end properties with money grabs everywhere and so we are likely to turn our loyalty elsewhere for the future. If you haven’t travelled a lot and/or don’t know what Secrets used to be like, you will likely be fine at this resort but go knowing that it is not a premium experience (and bring extra money for the upsells!). Read less

This is our 4 th time to Secrets in Montego Bay. We always stay at Wild Orchid which is right next to each other and share all the restaurants and beaches. Once again, we had a wonderful time and love the beautiful beach., clear blue water and NO seaweed. The whole resort is surrounded by the ocean and all the restaurants have outside sitting. The food was a lot and good, slow servers and not too friendly which is too bad for them less tips but get the job done. There are many different places to have lunch or a snack all day & drinks. The shows each night are nothing to talk about but a show if you want one each night. It is a quiet resort not too much going on, mostly couples and middle age. We purchased an Oceanfront room and was given a Oceanview, had to wait one night but was changed to a beautiful Oceanfront room which we paid for & much happier! There are golf carts that can take you around if you do not want to walk a distance. Each one of the drivers are very friendly and happy, our favorite was a gentleman who each day wear a different color and hat, very sharp looking man and enjoy each trip with him. Cannot wait to go back. Read less