Reading through any of the Jamaica message boards/forums you'll see the age old question, secrets st James or secrets Wild orchid. My wife and I have stayed at both and to be honest you can't go wrong either way, the resorts share one property. Really it's just which of the two hotels is a better fit, I'll try to give my pros and cons of each!
The first choice to make is preferred club or not. Each resort offers two levels for their rooms, regular or preferred. All rooms have some kind of ocean view, I wouldn't say the views are what separates the room levels, and actually preferred doesn't have huge amounts of perks, but we have become accustomed to them, and go preferred. The preferred club rooms have a lounge, with all day snacks and a private high end bar cart. They also have their own pool which is a quieter than the main pools and exclusive to preferred guests. The last perk, which I think is what keeps us coming back, the balcony soaking tub. There's nothing better than crashing waves and a hot bath in paradise.
Alright, first let me dive into Secrets St. James and the highs and lows. Our first stay at Secrets was here in the preferred club, we were in a fourth floor preferred club room, looking out over the private beach club that sits in front of the spa. The St. James side beach and pool
definitely seem to have a much more lax vibe than that of anywhere else on the resort. My wife and I are beach bums, and the beach at St. James is perfect for us. Less populated, furthest from the resorts restaurants, it's quiet and under appreciated. There's a nice little bar set just between the pool and beach that's perfect to get it of the sun and grab a refreshing drink. A circular bar surrounding by hanging chairs is the perfect place to take in the paradise of Jamaica. If you're looking for the quiet, laid back part of the resort, the St James preferred club area is perfect. The regular St James pool is another great place hang out, listen to the music, and participate in some of the great activities the entertainment staff organizes. They have corn hole, ping pong tables, and the staff is always getting different kind of contests going in and out of the pool. You'll also find the only restaurant on the St James side here, a great a lacarte restaurant with a salad bar for both lunch and dinner. Menu filled with fresh seafood and other fresh Caribbean style dishes shouldn't be missed.
The only thing that I see as a con to the St James side, would be all the walking, but obviously this is based 100% opinion. It never bothered us, I saw it as a great way to see the resort and stretch the legs all day, but all the other restaurants, including the full breakfast and lunch buffet are found all the way at the other end of the property on the Wold Orchid side.
Moving on to the Wild Orchid side of the resort, there's a few things I fell in love with on tbis side of the property. First of all, the sunsets. The Wild Orchid side is the end of the peninsula which the resort sits on. The sun sets on the west side of the island and Montego Bay sits more on the north side of the island. The peninsula sticks out west, giving most of the rooms, and all of the beaches and lagoon areas' views a glimpse of the gorgeous Jamaican sunset, which holds beauty like no other sunset. Our last stay at Secrets was in a Wild Orchid preferred room, and I'll admit it may be hard not to request on our next stay. Looking out on the fifth floor, second to last room we not only had the beautiful, private lagoon to look out over the gorgeous blue mountains, but out west to the ocean as well, being able
to catch the sunsets, from the comfort of a warm soaking tub.
If gorgeous views are you're thing I recommend the Wild Orchid side, but the restaurants and the outdoor performance area is all also bunched up on this side. While not having to walk is definitely a perk, the entertainment can be loud. You get less privacy on your balconies as the traffic runs between these buildings to the rear of the resort where the main buffet and specialty restaurants are. The bars seem to be a little larger and more upbeat on the Wild Orchid side. I may be wrong but I feel like the preferred area is larger as well, both in size, and the amount of rooms.
Well, that's teally my take on which side to pick at Secrets resorts of Jamaica. That's merely scratching the surface from a review standpoint, the food, activities, shows, etc is a whole other story!
Disclaimer er to all of this... All of my visits were before the newest in the AM resorts chain in Jamaica (and on this peninsula, AM also owns the neighboring resort, sunscape, a family friendly resort) Breathless opened. Breathless as scheduled to open mid December, but based on what I've head is yet to open. It was being built on my last visit. It is located on the lagoon side of the peninsula and apparently a bridge to walkover for access to the secrets beaches and all other amenities was built. This does worry me a bit as I hope the new traffic from the Breathless resort doesn't taint the amazing experiences we've had at Secrets. I'll be reading the reviews and feedback closely to see how this new resort effects the Secrets atmosphere and experience.
Feel free to comment any questions you have about the resort below!
The first choice to make is preferred club or not. Each resort offers two levels for their rooms, regular or preferred. All rooms have some kind of ocean view, I wouldn't say the views are what separates the room levels, and actually preferred doesn't have huge amounts of perks, but we have become accustomed to them, and go preferred. The preferred club rooms have a lounge, with all day snacks and a private high end bar cart. They also have their own pool which is a quieter than the main pools and exclusive to preferred guests. The last perk, which I think is what keeps us coming back, the balcony soaking tub. There's nothing better than crashing waves and a hot bath in paradise.
Alright, first let me dive into Secrets St. James and the highs and lows. Our first stay at Secrets was here in the preferred club, we were in a fourth floor preferred club room, looking out over the private beach club that sits in front of the spa. The St. James side beach and pool
definitely seem to have a much more lax vibe than that of anywhere else on the resort. My wife and I are beach bums, and the beach at St. James is perfect for us. Less populated, furthest from the resorts restaurants, it's quiet and under appreciated. There's a nice little bar set just between the pool and beach that's perfect to get it of the sun and grab a refreshing drink. A circular bar surrounding by hanging chairs is the perfect place to take in the paradise of Jamaica. If you're looking for the quiet, laid back part of the resort, the St James preferred club area is perfect. The regular St James pool is another great place hang out, listen to the music, and participate in some of the great activities the entertainment staff organizes. They have corn hole, ping pong tables, and the staff is always getting different kind of contests going in and out of the pool. You'll also find the only restaurant on the St James side here, a great a lacarte restaurant with a salad bar for both lunch and dinner. Menu filled with fresh seafood and other fresh Caribbean style dishes shouldn't be missed.
The only thing that I see as a con to the St James side, would be all the walking, but obviously this is based 100% opinion. It never bothered us, I saw it as a great way to see the resort and stretch the legs all day, but all the other restaurants, including the full breakfast and lunch buffet are found all the way at the other end of the property on the Wold Orchid side.
Moving on to the Wild Orchid side of the resort, there's a few things I fell in love with on tbis side of the property. First of all, the sunsets. The Wild Orchid side is the end of the peninsula which the resort sits on. The sun sets on the west side of the island and Montego Bay sits more on the north side of the island. The peninsula sticks out west, giving most of the rooms, and all of the beaches and lagoon areas' views a glimpse of the gorgeous Jamaican sunset, which holds beauty like no other sunset. Our last stay at Secrets was in a Wild Orchid preferred room, and I'll admit it may be hard not to request on our next stay. Looking out on the fifth floor, second to last room we not only had the beautiful, private lagoon to look out over the gorgeous blue mountains, but out west to the ocean as well, being able
to catch the sunsets, from the comfort of a warm soaking tub.
If gorgeous views are you're thing I recommend the Wild Orchid side, but the restaurants and the outdoor performance area is all also bunched up on this side. While not having to walk is definitely a perk, the entertainment can be loud. You get less privacy on your balconies as the traffic runs between these buildings to the rear of the resort where the main buffet and specialty restaurants are. The bars seem to be a little larger and more upbeat on the Wild Orchid side. I may be wrong but I feel like the preferred area is larger as well, both in size, and the amount of rooms.
Well, that's teally my take on which side to pick at Secrets resorts of Jamaica. That's merely scratching the surface from a review standpoint, the food, activities, shows, etc is a whole other story!
Disclaimer er to all of this... All of my visits were before the newest in the AM resorts chain in Jamaica (and on this peninsula, AM also owns the neighboring resort, sunscape, a family friendly resort) Breathless opened. Breathless as scheduled to open mid December, but based on what I've head is yet to open. It was being built on my last visit. It is located on the lagoon side of the peninsula and apparently a bridge to walkover for access to the secrets beaches and all other amenities was built. This does worry me a bit as I hope the new traffic from the Breathless resort doesn't taint the amazing experiences we've had at Secrets. I'll be reading the reviews and feedback closely to see how this new resort effects the Secrets atmosphere and experience.
Feel free to comment any questions you have about the resort below!