Secrets Playa Mujeres reopened in January 2026 after a 250-day renovation. All 424 suites were redesigned, the Preferred Club moved into a new two-story beachfront building with its own restaurant and beach club, and the dining lineup changed. Here’s what I saw firsthand, plus what to know before you book.
Thinking about Playa Mujeres? Tell me what you’re planning and I’ll let you know if it’s a fit. No pressure, no obligation.
First, the short version
I stayed at Secrets Playa Mujeres for my husband’s birthday, and I toured it again after the renovation wrapped. Same bones. Very different feel.
The old version leaned dark — heavy wood, warm tones, a little dated next to newer neighbors. The new version is lighter, calmer, and more coastal. It reads modern without trying too hard. If you looked at this resort a few years ago and passed, it’s worth a second look.
Here’s what actually changed, and what you should know.
Book the wine cellar.
Portofino keeps a private cellar that seats ten, walled in bottles from Argentina, Chile, France, Germany, Italy, Mexico, Spain and the US. We celebrated my husband’s birthday down there. The sommelier walked us through the chef’s menu course by course, building each pairing as it arrived and explaining why it worked, and by dessert the staff had come in to sing. The whole evening had the feel of being let in on something. There’s an extra charge. It’s the money I’d spend again first. Ask me to arrange it before you go.
Where it is, and why the location matters
Secrets Playa Mujeres sits inside a private, gated community about 35 minutes north of Cancun International Airport and roughly 10 minutes from downtown Cancun. It’s an adults-only, all-suite property — 424 suites, AAA Four Diamond since 2014 — wrapped around an 18-hole Greg Norman golf course.
The gated-community piece matters more than it sounds. You’re not on the Hotel Zone strip. No through traffic, no vendors on the sand, no walking past six other resorts to reach yours.
You also have free-flow access to Dreams Playa Mujeres next door, the family-friendly sister property. That’s 10 more restaurants, more bars, more pools, and a waterpark. Two resorts, one booking. If you’re Preferred Club at Secrets, your Preferred status carries over at Dreams too — including their lazy river and the Hideaway bar.
What the renovation changed
Hyatt closed the resort in April 2025 and reopened it in January 2026 after about 250 days of work.
The suites
All 424 were redone in a lighter coastal palette — softer colors, more open layouts. Junior Suites run 602 sq. ft., the Preferred Club Master Suites 1,162 sq. ft., and the single Presidential Suite 1,744 sq. ft. with a dining room for six and a kitchenette.
When I walked the renovated categories, I was genuinely impressed. Three that stood out:
- Preferred Club Master Suite Ocean Front — top floors of the beachfront building
- Preferred Club Master Suite Ocean Front Private Pool — ground floor, oversized private pool, direct beach access
- Presidential Suite — there’s exactly one
Small detail I appreciated: the rooms now have screens on the doors. Airflow without company. Nobody puts that in a brochure and everybody notices.
Every suite has a Nespresso maker, a 55″ TV, and a “Secrets Box” for private room service delivery — the door hatch means you’re not answering in a robe.
Is Preferred worth it here?
More than at most Secrets properties, yes. You’re getting a second dining venue, a private beach club, Bali bed access, 20% off spa treatments plus a complimentary 20-minute treatment per person, and your Preferred status honored at Dreams next door. Preferred guests staying three-plus nights get one Ki’ Ki’ Che dinner included. Non-Preferred guests can book it for a supplement, currently around $150 per person.
If your trip is short or you plan to be out golfing, standard suites are still lovely. Let’s talk through the math on your dates.
Dining
Ten venues total — a buffet, seven à la carte restaurants, a grill and a café. No reservations required. Anything you read from before 2026 may be out of date:
- Bordeaux is gone. In its place is Ayara, an Amazonian-inspired restaurant pulling from Brazil, Peru and Argentina.
- Ki’ Ki’ Che is new, in the Preferred Club building.
- Coco Café was reworked and is one of the largest I’ve seen at a Secrets property. Open 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., then late-night bites from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m.
- Portofino got a Tuscan refresh.
- Desires is the music lounge and nightclub, with a sports-bar side.
Oceana, El Patio, Himitsu (sushi bar plus three hibachi tables), Market Café, Seaside Grill and Barefoot Grill all carried through.
Worth knowing: Market Café, the buffet, serves dinner only on theme nights and special events — not every evening. Plan on à la carte for dinner, which is the better meal anyway.
The layout: two zones and a nature preserve in between
This is the thing people don’t expect, and it’s worth understanding before you arrive.
The resort is split in two, with a protected flora and fauna area in the middle — native vegetation, birds, iguanas, and a bird watch tower, crossed by golf cart paths and a jogging trail.
The front zone holds the spa and hydrotherapy circuit, the theater, Desires nightclub, the convention center, fitness center, tennis and multipurpose courts, plus three restaurants: Portofino, Ayara and Himitsu — and the wine cellar.
The beach zone holds the arrival lounge and front desk, all the suites, both pools, the beach, the Preferred Club, the wedding gazebo, and the rest of the dining: Coco Café, Market Café, El Patio, Oceana, Seaside Grill, Barefoot Grill, Ki’ Ki’ Che.
You get around by golf cart, and there are four cart stations. Which sounds like a hassle, and here’s the thing — the ride is the part nobody tells you about. You dress for dinner, catch a cart, and for the next few minutes you’re crossing a protected stretch of dune vegetation with iguanas sunning themselves on the path and birds working the scrub, a watch tower off to one side. It’s a small thing. But arriving at dinner having just crossed a nature preserve makes an ordinary Tuesday feel like an occasion. It also keeps every car and van up at the front of the property, nowhere near where you’re actually relaxing.
One practical note: cart lines back up around 6:30 to 7 p.m., when everyone heads toward dinner at once. Build in an extra 15 minutes and it’s a non-issue.
If you stayed here before 2025, note that check-in moved during the renovation and now sits down near the guestrooms. Preferred Club guests check in at their own building.
Activities around Secrets Playa Mujeres
Golf at Playa Mujeres
My husband and a friend played Playa Mujeres Golf Club — a Greg Norman signature 18, par 72, sitting between the Caribbean and the lagoon about two minutes from the resort lobby — and came back sold on it. Guests get discounted green fees plus transportation, which is discounted, not included, so it’s worth budgeting for. Book an early tee time, bring extra balls and bug spray, and leave the crocodiles alone.
Pools, beach and where to actually sit
There are two pools, and neither one is a rectangle with chairs around it. The main free-form pool wanders — it curls around planting beds and swim-up ledges so you keep rounding a corner and finding another stretch of it. Then there’s the oceanfront infinity pool, where the water runs out to meet the Caribbean and the seam between the two more or less disappears. I know “stunning” gets overused. Stand at that edge around six o’clock and you’ll forgive me for it.
There are also four hot tubs, two of them looking straight out at the water, and the main pool can be heated in winter.
A few things worth knowing:
- Bali beds — 23 on the beach, 20 by the pool — are designated for Preferred Club guests in Hyatt’s current agent materials. If a Bali bed is part of your picture, book Preferred.
- Standard loungers on the beach are readily available. If the pool deck feels competitive, the sand usually isn’t.
- Cabanas at the infinity pool take a reservation. Ask at check-in, not at 11 a.m. on day three.
Two things that surprise people
Small dogs are welcome. Under 22 lbs, $65 per night, in specific room categories only, with vaccination records required at check-in. Not on the beach or at the pool, and there are rules about leaving them in the room. An adults-only all-inclusive that takes your dog is unusual — if that changes your trip, ask me and I’ll confirm the room categories.
The spa is one of the bigger ones in the Hyatt Inclusive Collection. Roughly 16,000 sq. ft., with one of the largest exterior hydrotherapy circuits in the collection — cold plunge, hot tubs, sauna, steam, ludic pool. Nine individual massage cabins, five VIP couples’ cabins, and a dedicated bridal room. There’s a juice bar in the relaxation area.
A quick word on weddings
I walked the ceremony spots on my site inspection and stopped talking for a minute, which anyone who knows me will tell you is unusual. The gazebo sits where the lawn gives way to open water. The over-water setup at the infinity pool holds about thirty people and looks like it’s floating. There’s a beach that takes a crowd, a ballroom for when the weather has other ideas, and a gazebo out on the golf course that was clearly built with six o’clock in mind. Nine locations in all, plus an oversized bridal suite at the spa for getting ready.
The thing I keep coming back to, though, is the Dreams property next door. It means you can put the adults-only crowd at Secrets and the families with kids at Dreams — one wedding, two room blocks, nobody stuck at the wrong resort. That solves the hardest problem in destination wedding planning, and most couples don’t know it’s an option until someone tells them.
There’s a lot more to say about the packages, the legal side, and what things actually cost, so I gave it its own post Click Here.
What to know before you book
I’d rather you hear this from me than find out on arrival.
Swim-out suites are on the smaller side. The plunge areas feel private and sit close to the main pool, which I liked. But if you’re picturing a full private pool, that’s the Preferred Club Master Suite Ocean Front Private Pool category, not the standard swim-out. Manage the expectation and you’ll love it.
Sargassum is a real consideration. Playa Mujeres sits north of Cancun and gets some shelter from Isla Mujeres, so it typically fares better than beaches facing the open Caribbean. It is not immune. 2026 is tracking as a heavy year across Quintana Roo, and the peak window generally runs May through August. If your dates are flexible, November through April is the safer bet. If they aren’t, we’ll set expectations honestly and choose your room location accordingly. I will say, the resort had crews out every morning.
Accessibility: there are three accessible suites, all Junior Suite Swim Out, on the ground floor near the restaurants, bars and Preferred Club lounge, with full-size beds, safety bars and wider bathroom entries. Subject to availability, so book early. The spread-out layout isn’t the obstacle it looks like — there are four cart stations and the carts do the work.
Who this resort is right for
A good fit if you’re: a couple celebrating something, a golfer traveling with a non-golfer, a first-time-to-Mexico traveler who wants a gated and easy-to-navigate property, or a wedding couple with a mixed guest list.
Maybe not your fit if you: want to walk to shops and bars from your lobby, need a compact resort where everything is 90 seconds away, or want your kids on property with you.
Ready to talk it through?
I’ve stayed here, I’ve toured it after the renovation, and I know which suite categories are worth the upgrade and which aren’t. If Secrets Playa Mujeres is on your list — for a getaway, an anniversary, a honeymoon, or a wedding — let’s set up a quick call. I’ll walk you through the options and you can decide from there.
You can always reach out with questions, even if you’re months away from booking.