Back in March, my husband and I took a much needed, 3 night getaway to Playa Mujeres, located about a half hour north of Cancun and set along the picturesque Caribbean Sea.
Getting There
We woke up early to catch our 9:35am flight from Baltimore. Less than a 2-hour drive from our house in Central PA, we had no issues getting to the airport, parking at my favorite parking area- The Parking Spot- and getting checked in for our trip. We even had some time to grab a pre-flight drink- I mean, it was St. Patrick’s Day after all!! Less than 4 hours later, our non-stop flight on Southwest had landed in Cancun and we were met with warmth and abundant sunshine. After breezing through Immigration, collecting our bags and going through Customs, we stepped outside and found our AmStar rep to lead us to our transportation. Our driver was very nice and we had a great conversation on the way to our resort. After passing through 3 security gates at the Playa Mujeres resort compound (for lack of a better word), we had reached our final destination- Secrets Playa Mujeres.
The Resort
From the second I stepped out of our van, I knew this was going to be a great weekend! We were greeted with warm smiles, a cool towel and champagne. After a brief wait in the lobby, we were checked in and also met with AmStar who was set up in our lobby to get some fun activities planned. More on that later! The lobby area is a bit of a way away from the rooms and main area of the resort, so to get around, oversized golf carts are used. The main areas of the resort are the lobby, restaurants, spa/fitness center, and main resort area. We never found waiting for a ride to be too much of a hassle. Upon first glance of the pool area, I was in heaven. I’m more of a pool girl than a beach girl and the pool area was like a serene, tropical oasis. The resort as a whole had a subtle modern feel. I liked how it blended with the culture.
The Room
So when I booked our room, I booked a Junior Suite Garden View. But, to my surprise, when we got to our room, we had been upgraded to what I would have considered a Junior Suite Ocean View room! I loved eating breakfast on our balcony every morning and looking out over the turquoise ocean. Our room was HUGE and measured 602 square feet. Call me a room snob, but I love spacious rooms, even when there’s just two of us traveling. We had a separate living area with a comfy couch, coffee table/ottoman, table and two chairs. Our King sized bed was super comfy and there were a ton of pillows, which I loved! We also had bathrobes and slippers to use. There was a large armoire to store all of my, er our clothes and a safe to keep our valuables locked up. A full length oversized mirror, luggage bench, and a refrigerator stocked with soda, water, juice and beer were out in the entry area. Probably the coolest thing I have ever seen was the Secret box. If you have your “do not disturb” on your room and order room service, the staff will put your food in this box, which you can access from inside your room. They also follow up with a phone call letting you know your food is in there. It’s the little things that excited me! Our bathroom was also ginormous! A jetted soaking tub that featured shutters to open up out into the main room, double sinks and large vanity area, walk in rain shower and separate toilet area. I was really impressed with the layout and spaciousness. Overall, the room ranked as a perfect ten in my book! Secrets Playa Mujeres also features swim up rooms, but I never saw anyone in the pool. Personally, I like a higher floor so I can get those great resort and ocean views!
The Amenities
The first day we were there, by the time we got settled, we just hunkered down at the pool and enjoyed some relaxation. Drink service is available at the pool and on the beach, so this was great. Not having to leave your chair to get a drink…yes please! The staff was incredible….very friendly and eager to strike up conversations with the guests. I kept commenting to my husband about how hard they worked and genuinely happy they were…I love that in a resort. Our second day, we had planned to spend most of the day on the beach. We easily found a chair in the shade for my husband and one in the sun for me! The beach bar was a very short walk away and had really cool swings to sit on. There was also drinks service down on the beach. We didn’t spend a lot of time down there, as walking through the sand was bothering my husband’s recovering Achilles, so we headed back up to the pool area and found a couple of chairs to relax and enjoy the rest of the day. Also, on the beach was a lot of seaweed. Due to climate changes, the seaweed likes to settle on the beach area…a known annoyance throughout Mexico and many other Caribbean destinations. The resort staff was working very hard to keep it as clear as possible, which was nice. Monday we knew we were going to be at the pool all day, so I went down early to reserve a few chairs for us poolside. You technically aren’t supposed to, but, the staff really doesn’t enforce it and by the time I got down there, there were TONS of chairs already claimed. Picked us a prime spot with an umbrella and we headed down after breakfast.
The Dining
We finally got to dinner around 9pm the first night and I was STARVING. All I had eaten that day was a muffin in the airport, around 8am, and a ton of Corona Light, lol. We went to the French restaurant, Bordeaux, which allowed us to dine outside. I have to say, this was the most disappointing meal for me personally. I don’t know if I was just overtired or overhungry, but my meal was not that great. I ordered the filet and it almost tasted freeze-dried. The best part of the meal was the bread. My husband had the duck and really enjoyed it. On Sunday, we enjoyed a poolside barbecue for lunch, complete with burgers, sausage, chicken and tons of sides. That night, we had teppanyaki at Himitsu. You can’t go wrong with a good hibachi and our chef was very entertaining. I had steak again and this time it was much better, so I wrote off the first night as a fluke! Himitsu offers sushi and other Asian fare, along with a few hibachi tables in the back. In order to get into the hibachi, you need to make a reservation the day of. This was the only reservation we needed. Our last night, we headed to Oceana, which is settled along the beach, and we had some pretty amazing seafood. For breakfast each morning, we ordered room service. It’s pretty cool the way you do it…each room has a tablet which allows you to see the daily activities, specials at the spa, order room service, order different pillows, check your account balance, check the weather, and more. You pick what you want, send off the order, and the food magically appears. There were a few glitches, so I did have to call the one morning, but it was still a painless process.
The Entertainment and Activities
Next door to Secrets, is the family friendly Dreams Playa Mujeres – another amazing resort, with lots of fun for the entire family to enjoy. I’m not going to lie, I was eyeing up the water slides and wishing I had time to go play! On Sunday, we spent the afternoon at the spa and had a couples massage. This was so relaxing and I just love the way I feel after a good massage. After that, we enjoyed some time outside in the hydrotherapy pool and then headed back to our room to get ready for dinner and our night out. We had gotten tickets to go see Rock of Ages, which was a Broadway style show set to the tunes of rock from the 80s and 90s. The show was amazing and I thought it was wonderfully put together. We got to the theater about 3 minutes before showtime – I forgot the tickets in our room and we had to leave our hibachi dinner early to race back and get them. I don’t know if I want to consider this a good thing or a bad thing, but, even with being so late, we were still able to sit in the second row. This show was so amazing and I wish the theater was more full to support the cast!!! But it worked out great for us! On Monday, we headed back over to Dreams Playa Mujeres and went to Delphinus Dolphin Habitat. Here we were able to get up close and personal with dolphins and even get to glide across the water with the help of our dolphin and one of his friends. Yours truly made it about 3 feet, but, the experience was still really cool! Later that afternoon as we were lounging, by the pool, we spotted the lead from the Rock of Ages show and chatted with him for a bit. I was nice to learn the backstory of the cast and we found out that many of them actually live at the resort. As of today, it doesn’t look like the show is being offered anymore, which makes me sad, because I would love for more people to go see this! There are so many activities at the resort, including water exercise classes, poolside games, cooking classes, live music, themed nights and so much more. Getting bored is not an option and I love that you can do as little or as much as you’d like. For the golf enthusiasts, there is a gorgeous golf course nearby, which is included with your stay.
Coming Home
Leaving the resort was a breeze as well. We checked out and our transportation arrived right on time. We arrived at the airport in plenty of time to do some last minute shopping and grab a quick bite to eat. Before I knew it, we were in the air, saying goodbye to paradise and back on the ground in Baltimore, just in time for a blizzard to hit. Overall, things could not have gone smoother with our trip and we had a great time! I can’t wait to plan our next Spring Break trip!
