Secret Bay

Given the ratings/reviews & my experience with similar caliber properties around the world, I was disappointed in certain things. The security guard at the front gate of the property was extremely rude. Didn't welcome us but asked what we were doing there. Our driver was very taken back by his behavior & said he's never seen anyone so rude at this establishment. Two days prior to arrival, I was sent an email form w/ one of the questions asking when we'd be arriving. I selected the noon-2pm option & we arrived at 12:30pm. We were told that we were going to have to wait until 3pm to be taken to our villa. Check in had been advertised as 3pm, so I'm not exactly sure why they even provided a noon-2pm option on the form - it was misleading & set wrong expectations. They took our luggage to the villa & told us we could utilize the pool or beach while we waited. Well, our bathing suits were in our luggage so they had to fetch our luggage so we could change into our bathing suits. 3pm rolls around and no word. We ask at the pool bar & someone comes to us at 3:15pm to let us know we would be picked up in about 15min. Having to wait until AFTER the advertised check in time when we had been waiting 3hrs was extremely irritating. Another disappointment was the lack of bathroom toiletries that would be default at other places of this cost. Blackout blinds on 3 walls of windows but not the 4th in the bedroom. The view, privacy, activities, & hostess were great.

If you want seclusion and quiet with beauty surrounding you then this is the place. It felt like our own private resort. The property is gorgeous with fun things to do not far away. We hiked Trafalgar falls and Middleham falls in the same day. If you're in shape then that's doable. Otherwise you will be sore. Middleham falls requires lots of steps! We stayed in Ti-Fey II and loved everything about it. Wish there was a little more view of Ocean but also loved the privacy and getting in our private pool. Not many restaurants nearby so we did some cooking in our villa and ate a light dinner on our own.

The cyclical weather of Dominica was the perfect metaphor for our trip to Secret Bay. The sun: Akima, our villa host, was one of the highlights of our stay. Pleasant and kind, she made us feel welcomed. Our villa was clean, private, and well appointed. Perhaps we were expecting more of a sea view, but we grew to enjoy the lush rainforest while watching the indigenous birds from our covered deck. We were pleasantly surprised by our plunge pool (Hillside Ti-Fey IV). It had a waterfall edge, was deeper than other plunge pools we have experienced, and was warm. We spent several afternoons there sipping drinks. Restaurant Zing Zing's menu was both carefully curated and whimsical. Zing Zing's open air setting made it a delightful place to enjoy a meal. The recently hired mixologist crafted some fine drinks both at Zing Zing and the hotel pool. Also of note was Secret Bay's spa. Listening to the waves while having a massage was relaxing. The rain: Our luggage took a separate vacation remaining in Puerto Rico. After traveling since 3am and jumping through countless Covid protocols (understandable), it put a major damper on our arrival. Judging by the other hotel guests also missing bags and the number of people we witnessed at the Dominica airport filling out missing luggage papers, it seems like this is more than an isolated incident. Several days later, we did get our luggage after repeated follow up on our part.

The stay was good overall. The property is very beautiful and well maintained. The villas are huge and well appointed. Very nice place to stay. We enjoyed it very much. However there were some major problems which will prevent us from coming back here. We had several issues, some of which were addressed and some were not. You are in the jungle, so there are ants. Pretty much anything on the counter (including the nightly treat they leave) are infested with ants in about 5 minutes. Told them several times, but still had ants eating our food. There is no breakfast options, but your room has a full kitchen and they provide some basics. If you want anything additional (butter, milk, almond milk, cheese, cold cuts) they charge you. That's fine, but the prices are not. Butter is $9, a small 18 oz almond milk or regular milk is $16. The prices go on. This is a problem. The restaurant is really poor quality cuisine. The food is always a prix-fix, and its $130 a head without drinks. That would be fine for a Michelin star restaurant; however, this was nowhere close. The local restaurants outside of the property are much better and 1/15th of the price. However booking a car to get there is also exorbitant ($100 USD). The last problem is the shower. It was only so hot you couldn't shower, they tried to fix it 5 times. Showering in this type of water is not really possible. It was a problem.