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Hotel overview
Secrets St. James Montego Bay presents guests with a peaceful, relaxing oceanfront setting surrounded by the crystal clear waters of the Caribbean. The resort’s classic décor and echo the sophistication of the island's British colonial era with sumptuous suites and the ultimate in amenities with the Unlimited-Luxury® of gourmet restaurants, bars and lounges, and the paradise of Secrets Spa by Pevonia®. For those wishing to turn up the excitement, there’s the Secret’s Wild Orchid Montego Bay Resort right next door with its welcoming Jamaican vibe.
UNIQUE SELLING POINTS
• AAA Four Diamond award-winning resort since 2011
• Just 15 minutes from Montego Bay International Airport
• Exclusively situated on Montego Bay’s breathtaking peninsula, surrounded by the Caribbean Sea
• Luxurious all-suite resort with a British Colonial design featuring stunning ocean and ocean front views
• Romantically inclined, reserved, yet relaxing atmosphere
• Free-flow access for guests to Secrets Wild Orchid’s facilities next-door
• Butler service is available for all room categories*
Guests staying in the Preferred Club Swim Out or higher room category will receive personalized butler service at no extra cost. Guests staying in Junior Suites and Preferred Club Junior Suites can purchase the butler service for an additional cost.
• Promenade between both resorts featuring shops, restaurants, piano bar, theatre, game lounge and more
• Authentic Jamaican jerk chicken & beef patty carts at the beach and pool daily
• Boasts a 300-yard dedicated beach area with calm water that’s perfect for swimming, snorkeling and water sports
• Guests have access to the resort’s private catamaran (additional costs may apply)
• Recently enhanced spa featuring unique spa cabins, a yoga garden and more
• One of two Secrets Resorts & Spas in Montego Bay
• Features 3 Wedding Gazebos, 2 of which are on the piers overlooking pristine waters
• Boasts a state-of-the-art convention center, approximately 10,000 sq. ft.
• Located within close proximity of 5 major championship golf courses, 3 of which are world-renowned
• Situated near Montego Bay’s famous “Hip Strip” and other local points of interest
*Temporarily unavailable
Location
Montego BayProperty information
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Hotel details
Hotel advisories
General policies & fine print
Check-in Policy - Hotel requires a credit/debit card authorization or cash deposit upon check-in for incidentals; this will place a hold on your funds.
Convention Policy - Individuals attending a convention cannot book this property for their stay. If found attending a convention, guests may be subject to higher room rates upon arrival.
Hotel Spring Break Policy - Spring Breakers are not permitted at this Hotel. A student group consist of those that travel without parent or a responsible adult in each room. This could refer to but not limited to high school or college students booking multiple rooms. The hotel reserves the right to deny lodging to any reservation of this type.
Transfer Policy - A price may display when children stay free, if your vacation includes transfer to your hotel.
General Information - Room taxes and service fees are included in vacation price. Minimum night stay restrictions may apply. Reservation changes may not be permitted unless authorized by the hotel.
- No Show Penalty: 100% of balance due Applies: Sunday - Saturday 05May16 - 31Dec50
Ratings & reviews
TripAdvisor traveler rating
10013 reviews
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Dec 01, 2024All around best resort experience!
We had such an amazing trip! The food was delicious at all the restaurants, sometimes there were long wait times but don’t be turned away by it, stick around the courtyard while you wait. You’ll happen upon a show or event that you’d have missed otherwise. A few of our favorite moments were during our restaurant waits and on the other side of it, they don’t rush you once you sit down. It’s your turn to relax and enjoy your dining experience. I’ve never experienced a better staff! The entertainment staff was both talented and interactive, I loved Sashy and Quan’s dance lessons—I’m the worst dancer but they never gave up on me and were so kind! The bartenders were some of the best resort bartenders I’ve ever encountered. If you see Alvin at the swim up bar, grab a seat. He’ll make you laugh until your sides hurt! Renaldo created us a super tasty drink when we were having trouble deciding and a special shout out to Obrian and Shakina for A+ poolside bar service!
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Nov 29, 2024Jamaica is amazing but hard pass on this resort
Jamaica is an AMAZING island but this resort is no bueno. The smell in the lobby and elevators for the St. Jame’s preferred suites building was what I can only describe as a mixture between feces and vomit. I would literally gag on my way to and from our room. The tap water in the rooms also has an awful smell which made using our patio soaking tub very challenging. If you decide to stay at this resort, save your money and do not upgrade to the preferred club. Anyone could use any beach so no “perk” there. No one checked preferred status for the daily snacks/upgraded drinks. We walked right in to other preferred lobbies and used all their preferred stuff without anyone even questioning us. The “perk” to paying for the preferred club was daily harassment to attend a sales pitch. We declined THREE TIMES and even included our reason and that we were not going to purchase any travel packages. We finally did it so they would stop harassing us which (of course) was an awful experience. Fun fact - your concierge will completely ignore you after you sit for the sales pitch if you don’t purchase anything 🤦🏼♀️ The buildings are also very outdated with parts of the roof missing and other maintenance things needed. I could not recommend travel to Jamaica more (I’ve been more than once), but I do not recommend this resort at all.
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Nov 28, 2024
Amazing resort in Jamaica!!! To die for location! 5 stars!!!
I absolutely adored this resort. Beautiful spacious grounds, loved the connecting resorts. This is our fourth secrets property and we were not disappointed! The room was decent sized, the bars and restaurants are top notch I would highly recommend staying here my husband and I were very impressed
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Nov 28, 2024
Great Experience
My experience was Excellent! The professionalism, accommodation, and pleasantness of the staff were superb. The scenery was breathtaking. I will definitely come back and stay at this resort. The concierge was AMAZING! I Highly recommend the resort.
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Nov 26, 2024It was another good trip (3rd time), but with new big negatives.
Resort/room- Our room was in preferred St. James and had no issues. They gave us a room that met our preferences. Everything in the room was up to standard, and the bed was good. We got excellent maid service and turndown service every day. The resort has some missing small pool tiles around the edges and some flaking paint in spots, but nothing is terrible. Some areas do have a slight smell. I don’t know if it is from the plumbing, but it smelled around the Barracuda Bar and in our room when I turned on the sink. My wife did not smell this, but I did. The resort is fixing some roofs and areas around the Wild Orchid preferred building. We stayed in St. James to do something different as we were previously in Wild Orchid. Please note St. James preferred is down by Breathless, and you can access Breathless (if you have preferred). The pool beach/water is nicer on St. James' side, but not much different. It is a 10-minute walk to the main restaurant area but quieter at night. Food- The food menus are much more limited than the previous visits. We were disappointed in the French, as this was the best in the past. The best meal was at Altitude, and the view was fantastic. If you are staying in preferred, visit the Altitude bar, restaurant, and pool, as this was an excellent option to make the day seem a bit different. Generally, the food quality was the same as in the past: good, not exceptional. Long pants are only required for men in the French and Altitude. Reservations are required for Altitude and the Hibachi. Make them as soon as you get there. Employees- Recently, people have complained about employees; they are not the same as in the past. The employees here were good. Were they the same as 30 years ago? No, but they are a different generation, and the employees in the U.S. are also not close to the same regarding work ethic, being glad to have jobs, etc. Not one employee was rude. Most said hi when you walked by, some did not, and some were outstanding. Alvin in the Wild Orchid pool bar has been here for a while and is fantastic. Entertainment- This needs to be improved in terms of shows or outside acts such as Secrets Cap Cana. The house band is good. Other shows have the same in-house shows that have been here for 10 years. The daily set-up lunchtime shows/parties are the same Jamaican rap, and entertainers dance. It's nice that they do stuff, but it's all the same. They call it something different, loud, and not very interactive with the guests. Activities- are lacking, and there is little participation or effort. Beach/water: We go back here because the water is clear and blue and the beach is decent. It is calm most days, and the weather was great while we were there last week. Water sports—Free: kayaks, paddle boards. Pay extra for scuba diving, Hobie cats, tow behind, and boat trip snorkel. They have a free snorkeling trip off the beach daily at 9 a.m. and 10 a.m. If it is calm and clear, you can see lots of colorful fish, etc. This is all located on the beach between the resorts at the beginning of St. James Beach. App—Download the Hyatt Inclusive Collection app to see activities, menus, and what is open on what nights. You must switch resorts in the app to see all activities at all three resorts. General info- Tipping is accepted and greatly appreciated but not required. Not everyone tips; maybe 40% do. We are not big tippers, but we tip $1 for drinks, $2 for breakfast, $5 for lunch, and $10 for dinner. We also leave $5 for the maid daily and $2 in the fridge. The reasons we may not go back…Management should address The most significant issues that may keep us from returning here. #1- We paid extra to be preferred to avoid having to save chairs. The first day was Sunday, and every chair on the beach(preferred) in the front row or with shade had a towel on it @ 7:30 am. Now, a butler with signs saved some, and we were OK with this, but only a tiny amount. We discussed this with the beach towel guy, and he said we could not get towels until 8:00 am and asked if the ones with towels you can't get until 8:00 am were available. He acted like the guests saved all of them with old towels. Now, a tiny few had a book or personal items, but the beach guy set up most since they were folded all the same. We said this is ridiculous and people are saving them, and he agreed and said he would monitor them and remove them. He never did, but we saw people come out after noon and be directed to those chairs. The next day, on my way to the gym at 6:00 am, I took our stuff down to get chairs in the shade, and the beach guys were saving all the good chairs with the towel cart rolling from chair to chair. We also saw people coming out without butlers or labeled set-ups and getting saved chairs later as the beach guys took their books back off the chairs. So, this is unacceptable as it was bad enough that people saved chairs and never used them, but the staff is doing this for non-butler people. We also spent some days on the other beaches with the same issues. We mostly dropped our stuff by 7:00 am on the way to breakfast and returned after, but minimal seating on the beach was available after 7:00 AM as we sometimes got the last seats. #2. Remove the giant cabanas blocking all the pools. These are ugly; they removed 50% of the chairs around the pools. Not only do the cabanas take up the space of four chairs and umbrellas, but they also reserve two additional chairs for each one. So, if it was not bad enough to get a chair, now each of these takes up six spots for two people, and they are mostly empty. They block access to the pools. If you want to keep these, move them to the back rows. Suppose management can do the math. If one a couple a week does not come back @ $5,000 divided by $150/day cabana rentals, you must rent 33 of these to break even. I would guess maybe three a day were rented around each pool. So, If you cannot get chairs on the beach or around the pools at an all-inclusive beach resort paying $5,000, do you go back??? We saw people having to sit directly on the beach because every chair was taken or saved. At other resorts, only actual guests and a small number of butlers saved chairs, and the pool/beach people would remove items if the chairs were not being used for hours. We only booked and preferred to get a spot on the beach in the shade. That said, we left Sandals for Secrets years ago when the all-inclusive resort was not all-inclusive anymore. I am fine with people paying for better rooms, etc., but paying even more for preferred rooms and still not getting a chair in the shade @ 7:00 am without renting a cabana is unacceptable, especially if the pool/beach guys have a side gig to make more cash at guests' expenses and management allows it.