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El Secreto

2.5 star property
your current months are December, 2024 and January, 2025.
December 2024
January 2025

Photo gallery for El Secreto

Outdoor pool, pool umbrellas, pool loungers
Exterior
Massages on the beach, massage/treatment rooms, massages
Lobby
Bar (on property)

Reviews

8.2 out of 10

Very good

Popular amenities

  • Gym
    Gym
  • Bar
    Bar
  • Hot tub
    Hot tub
  • Pool
    Pool
  • Laundry
    Laundry
  • Parking included
    Parking included

Explore the area

Map
11 MILES NORTH OF SAN PEDRO TOWN, AMBERGRIS CAYE, San Pedro, Belize District
  • Bacalar Chico National Park & Marine Reserve
    22 min drive
  • Tranquility Bay Beach
    31 min drive
  • Secret Beach
    46 min drive
  • San Pedro (SPR-John Greif II)
    66 min drive

Room options

SPA Villa

  • Ocean view
  • Sleeps 2
  • 1 King Bed

Villa (Tropical)

  • Sleeps 2
  • 1 King Bed

Villa, Lake View

  • Lake view
  • Sleeps 2
  • 1 King Bed

Villa, Sea View

  • Sea view
  • Sleeps 2
  • 1 King Bed

Similar properties

Exterior
Matachica Resort & Spa - Adults Only
Pool
Hot tub
Spa
Free airport shuttle
4.8 out of 5, Exceptional, (309)
The price is NZ$694
for 1 night
includes taxes & fees
5 Dec - 6 Dec
Matachica Resort & Spa - Adults Only

About the area

San Pedro

When you stay at El Secreto in San Pedro, you'll be 2 minutes by foot from Belize Barrier Reef. .This hotel is 10 mi (16.1 km) from Secret Beach and 2.9 mi (4.7 km) from Tranquility Bay Beach.

What's nearby

  • Bacalar Chico National Park & Marine Reserve - 22 min drive - 7.2 km
  • Tranquility Bay Beach - 31 min drive - 4.7 km
  • Secret Beach - 46 min drive - 16.1 km
  • Belize Chocolate Company - 54 min drive - 18.6 km
  • San Pedro Belize Express Dock - 54 min drive - 18.6 km

Getting around

  • San Pedro (SPR-John Greif II) - 66 min drive

Restaurants

  • ‪Moon Bar - ‬23 min drive
  • ‪Rojo Beach Bar - ‬28 min drive
  • ‪John’s Escape Bar &Grill - ‬31 min drive
  • ‪Tackle Box Sea Bar - ‬15 min drive
  • ‪El Norte - ‬20 min walk

About this property

El Secreto

Hotel with free parking, a short walk to Belize Barrier Reef
El Secreto offers 13 accommodations. Beds feature premium bedding.
An outdoor pool and a spa tub are on site. Other recreational amenities include a fitness center.

The recreational activities listed below are available either on site or nearby; fees may apply.

Make yourself at home in one of the 13 guestrooms.
Don't miss out on the many recreational opportunities, including an outdoor pool, a spa tub, and a fitness center.
Enjoy a meal at the restaurant or snacks in the hotel's coffee shop/cafe. Quench your thirst with your favorite drink at the bar/lounge.
Featured amenities include laundry facilities and a safe deposit box at the front desk. Free self parking is available onsite.
El Secreto has a restaurant on site.

Property amenities

Parking and public transport

  • Free self-parking on site

Food and drink

  • 1 restaurant and 1 coffee shop/cafe
  • 1 bar

Things to do

  • Ecotours
  • Fitness centre
  • Helicopter/aeroplane tours
  • Kayaking
  • Outdoor pool
  • A hot tub

Family friendly

  • Laundry facilities
  • Outdoor pool

Conveniences

  • Front-desk safe

Guest services

  • Concierge services
  • Laundry facilities

Outdoors

  • Garden
  • Pool sunloungers
  • Pool umbrellas
  • Terrace

Spa

  • Massage - on the beach
  • Massage/treatment rooms

More

  • Beach towels

Room amenities

Bedroom

  • Premium bedding

Bathroom

  • Towels

Entertainment

  • TV

More

  • Phone

Policies

Check-in

Check-in time starts at 3 PM

Children and extra beds

Children are welcome

Important information

You need to know

Extra-person charges may apply and vary depending on property policy
Government-issued photo identification and a credit card, debit card, or cash deposit may be required at check-in for incidental charges
Special requests are subject to availability upon check-in and may incur additional charges; special requests cannot be guaranteed
The name on the credit card used at check-in to pay for incidentals must be the primary name on the guestroom reservation

We should mention

Reservations are required for massage services; reservations can be made by contacting the property prior to arrival, using the contact information on the booking confirmation

Property is also known as

El Secreto
El Secreto Hotel
El Secreto Hotel San Pedro
El Secreto San Pedro
El Secreto Belize/Ambergris Caye
El Secreto Resort San Pedro
El Secreto Resort
El Secreto Belize/San Pedro
El Secreto Hotel
El Secreto San Pedro
El Secreto Hotel San Pedro

El Secreto Reviews

Reviews

8.2

Very good

Rating 10 - Excellent. 39 out of 71 reviews" "
Rating 8 - Good. 17 out of 71 reviews" "
Rating 6 - Okay. 3 out of 71 reviews" "
Rating 4 - Poor. 7 out of 71 reviews" "
Rating 2 - Terrible. 5 out of 71 reviews" "

9.2/10

Cleanliness

8.6/10

Staff & service

8.8/10

Property conditions & facilities

Reviews

8/10 Good

Verified traveller

Stayed 7 nights in Jun 2018

2/10 Terrible

Verified traveller

Disliked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stay Away
When we arrived at the hotel, the whole site smelled of sewage. The restaurant area, the grounds, the pool area. When we asked why they said the pipes had broke. But when we tried to get our monies back and leave there was no manager at the hotel. The desk person said the manager lives in Mexico. When even Expedia tried to get in touch with the hotel to get a refund for us they coudln't get an answer.
Stayed 14 nights in Mar 2018

10/10 Excellent

Coco, Belize

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Private & Secluded....exactly what we needed.
We absolutely enjoyed our stay at El Secreto. The private pool and bedding was the icing on the cake! Estel was amazing! We will most definitely return.
Stayed 1 night in Feb 2018

10/10 Excellent

twodox, Cheshire, CT

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Total relaxation in an idyllic setting.
El Secreto is a tiny gem of a hotel, with 13 beautiful cabins on a lovely site. Ours was around a lagoon and others are on the beach. The service was outstanding and the food in the restaurant was excellent and varied. The hotel is on the northern end of the island.San Pedro is 30 minutes away by boat or 45 minutes by golf cart along a very bad road. The nearest restaurant is a mile away, so you will eat nearly all your meals there, which can be expensive. We spent about $140/day for two, without a major bar tab. Estell, the manager, is a gem - witty, helpful and charming. Rather than spend a full week here, I recommend staying on the mainland or in San Pedro for your adventures and coming here after to chill out for a few days. Perfect for couples; NOT for children.
Stayed 7 nights in Jan 2018

8/10 Good

Dianne, Peterborough ON

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Perfect place to get away from it all
My husband and I went to El Secreto for our one year anniversary. The hotel is stunning, and extremely private. We felt like we had the entire resort to ourselves. The staff were very attentive, but stayed in the background until you needed them. The grounds were stunning!! Every angle was like a post card. I had pretty high expectations but was very happily surprised. There were a few minor issues, we had trouble getting our hot tub turned on, out of the 7 nights we were there it was only turned on once, although we requested it every afternoon. Because of the time of year we went, the sand flies were quite bad (after the rainy season). The hotel did the best they could, and provided bug spray in all the rooms. In another couple of weeks they should be gone. We were looking for a place that we could escape the world, and found it at El Secreto. We still participated in the activities that we wanted to, but enjoyed the peace and quiet the most! We will definitely be back, and will highly recommend it to others we know who are thinking about Belize and Ambergris Caye as an option for a get away.
Stayed 7 nights in Nov 2017

10/10 Excellent

ELIAS

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Amazing getaway
Amazing getaway
Stayed 3 nights in Nov 2017

4/10 Poor

Mark and Jenny, San Diego

Disliked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Poor experience but quick response & refund. Bats
El Secreto is located in a beautiful, remote spot on Ambergris Caye. If you're not familiar with the layout of the caye, be aware that in order to get to El Secreto from San Pedro, you need to take a 30-min water taxi up the coast to reach the El Secreto dock. There is no road that goes there from town. The villas are nice and spacious. We arrived in the afternoon and intended to stay for two nights. We got to our villa and thought - why is the thatched palm frond roof so thin? We could literally see cracks of daylight through it. What do they do when it rains?? We figured that it isn't a huge concern since there was no rain in the forecast while we were there. We enjoyed the hot tub, had dinner and went to bed. Around 4:30am, we woke up to the sound of loud rustling inside our villa. I switched on a light to find a bat flying around inside our bedroom! It was bumping into the ceiling, presumably trying to get out. The bat finally found a crack in the ceiling and left. We packed up our things and checked out early that morning. The person at the front desk did not appear surprised at our experience. To us it seemed like they already knew that they had a bat problem. Despite the bad experience, El Secreto was quick to arrange a boat to take us back to San Pedro for free, and they were also quick to grant my refund request for both nights. We would love to recommend this resort, but until they fix their pest / bat problem, we can not honestly recommend staying here.
Stayed 2 nights in May 2017

8/10 Good

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Nice property
Great stay overall, staff was excellent very helpfull always and the property is ver nice

2/10 Terrible

Jennifer

Disliked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
DO NOT STAY AT THIS HOTEL!!!!
The staff that picked us up from the airport was friendly. The staff met us at the dock to welcome us to the hotel, but it was downhill from there. The restaurant was mediocre, there was one other person in the reastaurant but it took a very long time to get our food, which was extremely overpriced. The room upon first glance was ok, but quickly realized that coffee cups were flilthy, there weren't adequate toteltries and the hot tub was cold. Those items were addressed by the staff. After settling in we encountered a bat flying in our room. We contacted the front desk, and they were not very quick to respond. They eventually caught the bat and removed it from our room. After waiting for another villa to be cleaned, they moved us in the middle of the night. After a long day of traveling and the bat encounter I was ready for a good night sleep, as soon as the lights went out in the new villa again the bat problem. After bringing this to the managements attention, a very delayed response, we checked out and moved to another hotel. They did not refund our money, and said that it was our problem. The bottom line is, the hotel is not well-maintained, in addition to the bat problem, the overall condition of the hotel is poor. The onsite management is not equipped to handle situations that require refunding money to guest. I waited 2 1/2 hours for response from the corporate office that ultimately said sorry we're going to keep your money!

4/10 Poor

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness
Great location but "rip off" for food
The El Secreto is located at a great beach - just don't check 50m left/right from the hotel beach as it starts to be a dump. The stuff is friendly and helps in supporting a pleasurable stay. Due to the location a trip to San Pedro (or the next restaurant) is rather a nightmare and therefore: only the option for food and drinks at El Secreto is available. El Secreto does provide food but the price is (allow me to write) a rip off as the quality as well as the service is so lala. Additional: changes to a menu normally end in a "no" - which is far away from customer friendly. With that written: location and stuff great - amenities improvement highly appreciated!

4/10 Poor

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
beautiful ammenities, but very remote.
jacuzzi temperature did not work as desired, in general overpriced. beach very small, not good for swimming

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Christmas in paradise
Excellent place to stay and relax, staff went the extra mile to make our stay one we'll never forget. The resort's attention to detail is unsurpassed by any other place we've stayed Kudos El Secreto Ernie & Suzanne

4/10 Poor

Verified traveller

Disliked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Isolated & bizarre... not in a good way.
While the pool area and restaurant on this property are very beautiful, the rest of the resort is not so great. Overall, we were pretty disappointed. We selected one of the ocean villas. The room smelled like urine. The palm leaf roof was covered in black mold, which created a constant musty, unpleasant odor. AC in the room stopped working the last night of our three night stay. It was 85 degrees & miserable. The mosquitos & sand flies are horrible, so you can't even open the doors. The shower water was salt water. Service is very slow at the overpriced & mediocre restaurant & bar. Sometimes housekeeping services your room but not always. When we checked in, the sheets were soft & comfortable. The next day, they were changed to a cheap, torn & itchy set. Towels were also torn. The private hot tub isn't warm, let alone hot. Well drinks are $15 at the bar. We felt like it was Hotel California. The energy is weird. Staff lives on property and their dogs go into fits of barking at all times of the day & night.There is so much plastic and trash on the beaches, if you step one foot off property it feels like a garbage dump. It is so sad. There has been no clean up since Hurricane Earl's devastation Aug 2016. Most of the staff speaks poor English, which is odd for an English speaking country. The other couples we met agreed it was a bizarre experience. I wouldn't go back.

10/10 Excellent

Blake

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Remote luxury
Perfect place to escape and unplug in style. The staff was amazing and very friendly and helpful.

8/10 Good

Arlen Jeferson, US

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
excellent hotel
Excellent hotel. Did edge of a small but magnificent strech of beach. The villas are comfortable and clean. The stuff is a pleasure. The only complaint would be the mosquitoes but we got to admit that being tropical resort we have to allow for some mosquitoes. Overall a very nice place to be. If you want to have some rest and be deducted from the world and El Secreto is the place to be. We enjoyed our stay there

10/10 Excellent

Kyle, US

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Excellent staff, room service, and amenities! Food was great as well

10/10 Excellent

Phillip

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
This place is amazing! Especially if you need privacy. We rented a golf cart but that's not the way to go. The hotel will send a boat but we didn't know that. It's nearly impossible to find by road but if you do, turn toward El Norte Bar and drive down the beach for about a mile.

4/10 Poor

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness
Disliked: Staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Overpriced, far away from everything, no area to beach swim.

10/10 Excellent

JT, New York

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Our experience at El Secreto was nothing short of amazing. We received 5-star treatment from the pick-up to the drop-off. It was the most relaxing resort I have ever been to, and not to mention it is very beautiful and just like the pictures. A great secluded and relaxing getaway for couples.

6/10 Okay

Cheryl, Houston, TX

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Disliked: Room comfort
Too remote
Nice hotel but too far from anything. If you want quiet and relaxing, then it is the place for you. If you want access to restaurants, shopping, activities, then it is not. Only accessible by boat. the hotel sometimes has a shuttle to town, but not always, and they didn't always post the schedule until the day of. Had to us water taxi a lot and it got to be expensive.

10/10 Excellent

Emily, Austin, TX

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Most Amazing Relaxing Experience
I have traveled the whole world and this by far was the most relaxing and luxurious accommodation that I have stayed at. We absolutely love this hotel. If you watch the youtube video of the resort that is a complete accurate depiction of what this place is like. It is in a very remote spot far north on the island, and is so quite and peaceful. The beaches are clean and the water is beautiful. The staff is so friendly and helpful. The food was delicious. If you are looking for a complete getaway that is relaxing and calm this is for sure where you want to be. I can't recommend this place enough. I not only plan to come back with my boyfriend, but I want to bring my mom to this place as well.

8/10 Good

Tina

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort

10/10 Excellent

Ruth, Houston, Texas

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Our own resort
El Secreto is small and quiet. We felt like we were on our own resort. The staff was not hovering but yet they were always available when we needed something. They took care of our every need. We were treated like royalty. It is a beautiful location. The entire experience was magnificent.

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Beautiful place and very comfortable bed, loved the whole experience.

10/10 Excellent

Deborah, Santa Ynez, CA

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Best kept secret in San Pedro, Belize.
Every picture they post is exactly what we experienced. The Hotel and it's staff were more than amazing. We had the best trip ever and can't wait to go back... Hopefully on our Honeymoon.