I stayed at Secrets Maroma Beach in December. It was very nice. They said that a Secrets (or perhaps two) was/were opening on Coz on the east side. Has one or two opened? Has anyone stayed? Are the rooms up to snuff? How's the dive operation on the east side? Do you have to drive over to the west or north sides every day to access the best sites? I stayed at the Palace last March and it was very beautiful Food was mediocre. But Blue XT Sea picked us up at the hotel on the way to the dives. It was a great locale for diving as well as being very confortable. How do the Secrets Coz compare?
I booked it for 4 nights in June, but it's cancellable with notice so I'm keeping my ears open. Reviews have been mixed, but the conversion from Aura is still very recent and it makes sense that there are still bugs to work out. It is my hope that the Secrets Cozumel will live up to the Secrets reputation as well as the Cozumel Palace keeps up the Palace rep.
When I booked, there was a 15% off special running. Pool view rooms were a bit cheaper than Cozumel Palace oceanview, while Secrets oceanview rooms are $5/night more than Cozumel Palace oceanview. To me, that means that the rooms and food/drink and amenties had better be as good or better than the Palace.
AFAIK, you can still use the Sabor facilities, bars, and restaurants, it's just not reciprocated so Secrets Aura retains its "exclusivity" and child-free atmosphere. The Palace is not child-free so, at least for those who aren't traveling with kids, that could a reason to pay as much as the Palace rooms. Its location in the south can be positive or negative depending on your POV. It's a much shorter ride to the dive sites, means you can sleep in an extra half-hour or so and have more afternoon time when you return, plus the beaches are more sand and less ironshore than with hotels in town. The negative is that you won't be doing any northern sites with a southern pickup and it's a long and pricey cab ride to town if you want to go out for dinner, shopping, etc.
Food is clearly objective. I've found the food to be very decent at the Palace over two stays there, nothing really bad, many dishes excellent, overall much better than mediocre in my opinion. Breakfast and lunch buffets are incredible, at least when compared to the cheaper all-inclusives that I've experienced. I'd expect (hope) Secrets to be as good. Better would be great. It's certainly different, which is why I'm planning on spending 4 nights at each property. I have no desire to repeat restaurants at the Palace since I've already tried them all several times and they don't change their menus much. One night at each is fine, since I'll be with someone who hasn't stayed there before. But variety is nice and Secrets Aura offers French and seafood restaurants versus the Palace's Mexican, Italian, and "Asian".
If you can wait until June I promise a detailed review and comparison of the two, unless continually negative TA reviews convince me to look elsewhere for those 4 nights.
---------- Post added February 10th, 2013 at 04:43 PM ----------
Secrets? Sounds like a Hedonism type place. Are people running around nak'd?
Actually one of the TA reviews did accuse other guests of having sex on the beach and I don't think they meant the cocktail. But another review said that was BS. Who knows?
Personally I wouldn't let people running around naked ruin my vacation, unless they really didn't take care of themselves.
When I stayed at the Presidente years ago, there was a topless woman on the beach. I don't remember too much else about the stay there, but I do remember the topless woman.