Hyatt has opened a new all-inclusive resort in the Caribbean [Updated with new WoH Information]

Some links to products and travel providers on this website will earn Traveling For Miles a commission that helps contribute to the running of the site. Traveling For Miles has partnered with CardRatings for our coverage of credit card products. Traveling For Miles and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone and have not been reviewed, endorsed, or approved by any of these entities. Terms apply to all credit card welcome offers, earning rates and benefits and some credit card benefits will require enrollment. For more details please see the disclosures found at the bottom of every page.

Update 20 February 2024: Hyatt has confirmed that this property will fall into World of Hyatt Category D. More on what this means in the article.

Hyatt has announced the opening of Secrets Playa Blanca Costa Mujeres making it the latest resort to join the World of Hyatt’s ‘Inclusive Collection’. The adults only all-inclusive property sits on the northeast corner of Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula and is being opened across three phases.

Location

Secrets Playa Blanca sits just north of Cancun and a 45-minute drive from Cancun International airport.

Hyatt tells us that the property sits on ‘a secluded strip of idyllic, oceanfront coast‘ with ‘an expansive and pristine white-sand beach‘ and Google’s satellite images appear to bear this out.

It’s a short ferry ride to the nearby island of Isla Mujeres and Playa Mujeres Golf Course (a Greg Norman signature 18-hole course) the Puerto Cancun Shopping Centre are in ‘close proximity’.

The 3-phase opening

The property is opening over a 6-month period so as things stand, anyone visiting will not have access to everything the resort will finally offer.

A little frustratingly, the information we’ve been given doesn’t set out exact what is and what isn’t open right now, but we do know that the property is saying that we can expect the spa, fitness center, and theatre to be fully operational by June of 2024 … which tells us that none of those are open right now.

At a guess (and this is just a guess), we’d say that not all the property’s restaurants and bars are open yet either, as those are often the last things to be finalised (e.g. not all the restaurants at the InterContinental Bangkok Sukhumvit are open yet and that property has been accepting guests for two months).

The property

Please note that we haven’t been able to source any real-life images of this resort, so for now, all we have are renderings from Hyatt and from the property itself.

Secrets Playa Blanca is a 507-room adults only resort which Hyatt says will give guests ‘unlimited luxury’ options such as 24-hour room service, daily refreshed in-room mini bar, daytime and night-time entertainment, and a pool and beach wait service.

The standard or entry level rooms at this resort are called ‘Junior Suites’ (with no view assignment) and look like this:

As well as standard rooms, the resort offers ‘Preferred Club accommodations’ which include rooms with ‘swim outs’ as well as oceanfront suites offering an oversized soaking tub on the terrace.

Guests booking these rooms will have access to a personalized check-in and checkout, upgraded mini bar and bath amenities, concierge services, and access to the Preferred Club Lounge, an oceanfront Beach Bar, and an infinity pool.

As well as the club lounge pool, the resort offers a further four large swimming pools (including two oceanfront infinity pools) and ten smaller pools exclusively for those staying in swim out suites.

This is what part of one of the bigger pools looks like:

This is a swim-up bar:

And this is one of the other pools called the ‘jungle pool’:

From a dining point of view, the resort offers nine dining establishments amongst which guests will find El Patio, serving Mexican cuisine, Bordeaux, a French restaurant, traditional Japanese Tatami rooms serving handmade sushi and Pan-Asian cuisine, a seaside grill, and Portofino, an Italian restaurant offering what we’re told is one of the most exclusive and extensive wine cellars in the region.

In addition to the restaurants, There are eight bars and lounges serving ‘top-shelf spirits and premium brand domestic and international beverages’ on site, and guests can also book a variety of ‘culinary experiences’ such as a Chef’s Table meal, tequila tasting, and wine tasting at an additional cost.

World of Hyatt information

Although both Hyatt’s website and the hotel website are yet to be updated, we’ve had confirmation from Hyatt that this will be a Category D World of Hyatt property, and this means that a free night in a standard room (double occupancy) will cost between 25,000 and 35,000 points depending on the season (Junior Suite King and Junior Suite Double appear to be the standard rooms at this resort).

Standard suites will cost between 43,000 and 53,000 points per night, and an additional guest will cost between 13,000 and 17,000 points per night.

Because the websites haven’t been fully updated with this information, we still don’t know what the property’s off-peak, standard, and peak dates will look like, but because awards at this property are now bookable on Hyatt.com, we can at least see the cost of free nights in the days that we wish to travel.

Be aware: On the days that we searched, this property’s cancelation policy is onerous. Specifically, it says that ‘Reservations Cancelled Within 30 Days of Arrival Date Will Be Under Full Penalty and No Refunds Will Be Issued. No Show Reservations Are Also Charged Full Penalty, 100% of Reservation Amount“.

Cash bookings (ones that aren’t for ‘advanced purchase offers’) appear to have considerably less onerous restrictions (on the dates we searched a booking had to be cancelled at least 3 days before expected arrival).

Hyatt’s Secrets resorts offer guests the ‘Unlimited Luxury’ package whether the room is paid for with cash or with points. This is what is included:

• Limitless access to gourmet à la carte dining options without reservations required
• Unlimited international and domestic top-shelf spirits
• Unlimited natural fruit juices and soft drinks
• 24-hour room and concierge services
• Pool and beach wait service
• Daily refreshed minibar with soft drinks, juice, bottled water and beer
• Daily maid service
• Endless daytime activities and live nightly entertainment
• Theme parties, oceanfront bars and entertainment venues
• No wristbands required
• All taxes and gratuities
• Enjoy free Wi-Fi

The fact that all taxes and gratuities are included is a nice touch.

Bottom line

Hyatt has a new adult’s only all-inclusive resort on Mexico’s Caribbean coast, and it’s called Secrets Playa Blanca. All the information we have for now has come from Hyatt and all the images we have are renderings, so we’ll have to wait to get some real reports from people who have visited before we’ll know how good (or not) this resort is.

For now, I would hold off from making any bookings if you want to experience all that the resort has to offer because we know that the fitness center and the spa aren’t set to be ready until this summer, and I suspect that they may not be the only parts of the resort that are yet to be fully completed.

What are your first impressions?