Search Results

Welcome to Secrets Maroma. One of our favorite All-Inclusive Resorts. Secrets Maroma ranks in the Top 3 of all the resorts we've visited. Two of their amenities, the beach and the food, rank #1 overall. Lets get some of the formalities out of the way before I over-indulge your senses with pictures of the beach and food. Below is the modest check-in area for guests. After checking in, your know you've arrived on vacation when you walk into this beautiful lobby. Here's a view from the other side of the lobby. This marble slab with falling water is the lobby's impressive centerpiece. If you are visiting as a Preferred Level Guest, this will be your check-in area. The Preferred Bar is a great place to get a drink during check-in. Sometimes we would walk over to the bar mid-day to stretch our legs and grab an adult beverage. This property has some of the best all-around views. Eddie is an early riser, and his walks around the property in the morning provide some great images. His walks always take him to the beach for sunrise. Secrets Maroma has one the best beach front properties in Cancun. Occasionally you may hear about seaweed. This can be a common problem for most beaches in Cancun.  The resorts can't do anything to mitigate seaweed but most of them have seaweed removal operations. Seaweed isn't present everyday either, it all depends on the ocean's currents. Much like the beach, the pool area is large are beautiful. Wow! Now this is what a “main" pool should look like. Pools We like to get to the pool early in the morning and enjoy some quality time before it gets crowded. A lot of times it feels like we have the pool to ourselves. It:apos:s Never Too Early To Start Hydrating In the afternoon we always had time to hang out with new friends! There's also a second pool that is very long and linear just steps away from the “main" pool. Check this out! This second pool is what I would call the “activity" pool but the main pool would host water yoga a couple times a week. Cool Activites Mini-golf Day or Night Lifesize Billiards Poolside Spanish Lessons Everyone wants to see the view from the room. As you wish… Sunrise Food and Beverage I won't bore you with listing all the restaurants and names of dishes, you just want to know if the food was good, right? Yes! When reviewing these pictures, I realized we eat A LOT of food, and most of it is poolside. Guilty! Enjoy. Guilty Pleasures of Maroma Well, that about does it for this trip report. If you're interested in Secrets Maroma or any other All-Inclusive resort, you know who to contact. Tammy can help you plan any trip…anywhere. Cheers to a good time. #playamujeres #Cancun #AllInclusiveResorts #Secrets #SecretsMaroma

If Disney built a tropical all-inclusive resort, The Valentin Imperial would be the blueprint. The theming of the property is reminiscence of a Spanish manor: Large, wrought iron chandeliers, peaceful water-features, mosaic tile, and lush vegetation. You immediately feel as if you're the special guest of a wealthy Spanish land owner. Beautiful marble tile floors and expansive, high archway welcome you to the one the most beautiful lobbies in the Cancun area. Lobby Check-In Area The expansive, well-landscaped property contains wide, stamped concrete walkways that make you feel like your hundreds of miles from civilization, yet all the meandering walkways make everything on the property conveniently located. Wide, stamped pathways lead the way to everywhere. Night lights illuminate all the paths after sunset. Your morning and evening walks will be enjoyed with the subtle music being played through speakers that line each walkway. The Valentin Imperial has the LARGEST pool of the 10+ all-inclusive resorts we've visited in Cancun. A second, quiet pool, is just steps away from all the amenities surrounding the large pool, yet somehow maintains its peaceful and relaxing feel. Trust me, this pool may look “plain jane" or boring but that's exactly what you want at the “quiet" pool. The palapas surrounding the pool provided welcomed shade, or you can pull your chair out into the sun – either way, this is a great place for “nap time". My morning walk provided this great image of the quite pool. Before I leave the pool conversation, I want to point out the only food available at the pool is from the Pool Bum Food Truck. But it offered plenty of variety. You could choose to eat at one of many tables under the shade or grub on your food of choice lounging poolside. What about the beach? Well, well, well…Valentin has one of the best beaches! Not only does Valentin Imperial have one of the largest (and nicest pools), they have a fantastic beach! Check out the walkway to the beach…subtle, yet it builds anticipation. Early morning champagne in hand....beach time! Just before you access the beach, the Sunrise Bar greets you on the left with a fantastic view and colorful drinks. The Sunrise Bar is a great location to swing or sit at a table to enjoy a great ocean view or just to contemplate life… :quot:There:apos:s no place like...the Riviera Maya:quot: Or dare I say it….check emails! There's Tammy – always working. Always checking on her clients! We grab our drinks and head out to the beach. Wide, expansive, and plenty of palapas to choose from. Cheers! Let's visit the rooms. We were fortunate to stay in the Junior Suite Silver Superior building. When you first look at the property map you may think, “it's not close to the pool" or “it's not close to the beach" or “it's not close to the restaurants". On the contrary, this location was perfect…it may not close to any one particular area but it was super convenient to everywhere. Of course there wasn't a pool or beach view from our room but if location convenience is high on your priority list, this is a great option. Building 1 was surprisingly convenient to everything. After a short golf cart ride, we make the quick walk to our room through the lush landscape. Here we go! Time to tour some other rooms! Astrid and Tammy leading the way! Let's get to the good stuff. Welcome to the Junior Suites Emerald. Now this is a walk-in shower...with a view! Relax the day away with this view. On our way to the Golden Pool area! Walking along the Golden Pool Not to be outdone, this next room is part of the Junior Suite Golden options. All the rooms in these buildings have either a view with quick access, or swim up access to the Golden Pool. Great view of the Golden Pool This would be your view for a swim up room. And our room tour is complete! Thanks to Astrid for showing us around and answering all our questions! Astrid rocked those high heels like a pro! Food! What about the food you ask? Well, there was plenty of it…and it was ALL delicious. We ate Mediterranean (L'Olivo), Mexican (LaHacienda) , Japanese (Ginger), and Surf/Turf (Mar y Tierra Restaurant) during our stay. We did not have time to visit L'Alsace (French Cuisine) or Taman Sari (Asian). I'm just going to post these pictures below and let you delight in their presentation. Ginger - Sushi Ginger: Teriyaki Beef L:apos:Olivo: Chicken Breast stuffed with mascarpone and saffron sauce. If you have a someone in your family who just wants good 'ol fashion bacon, sausage, eggs, etc for breakfast, well, they have that too! Plus a crepe station for the more refined members of your family 😉 Oh! I almost forgot to mention our favorite after-dinner spot: Don Miguel Bar. What a beautiful, sophisticated bar. Elegantly decorated and home to several signature drinks. My fave was the Blackberry margarita. Well, that brings us to the end of another trip report. I hope you enjoyed this quick look at The Valentin Imperial Riviera Maya. Here a quick summary of our Pros/Cons of Valentin: Pros: The resort has a soul, meaning you feel like family. The roadway entrance is impressive, and the drive onto the property is very prominent and tropical. The Lobby (Majestic in all its grandeur) Service Food Truck – The Pool Bum Ginger Restaurant Ambiance Don Miguel Bar Areas for Improvement: No restaurant directional signage Lack of Beach/Pool Towels (You are provided one towel each in your room for the beach/pool) Small Fitness Facility No poolside pizza Remember, you can also follow Tammy on Tiktok @travelagenttammy or Facebook: Exclusive Travel by Tammy. We look forward to sharing more resorts with you soon! Until then – cheers! #AllInclusiveResorts #Cancun #RivieraMaya #ValentinImperial

This blog will be dedicated to trip reports and useful information for your vacation, but I am also hoping this blog will show you the benefits of using a travel agent!   So my first question – why wouldn’t you?  We are FREE!  Suppliers build in a commission so you are paying the same price whether you book through an agent or not.  You don’t want to give up control?  You don’t have to!  The only thing that is required is making the payments through the agent.  Everything else you can still do (but why would you want to?)  Here are some top reasons for booking with an agent: FREE service (did I mention that already?!) We alleviate some (if not all) of the stress of planning a vacation We LOVE to talk about trips!  You have a built in friend that gets as excited as you do about your trip who you can bounce ideas and questions off anytime! We travel – a lot – and therefore know all the latest and greatest info/tips that we love to share We will be your voice in dealing with any travel related issues (Hello – do you remember Hurricane Irma?) We have access to a world of knowledge – if we haven’t been there – we have a colleague who has! We save you TIME & MONEY.   Why spend hours doing research when you can spend that time with your family and I provide you all the information in one place?   Why get up at 6:00am to make dining reservations for Disney 180 days in advance (that’s right – 6 months!) when you can tell me what you want and I will do it for you!  If a discount comes out after you’ve booked and applies to your reservation – I will automatically apply it!  Who wouldn’t love waking up to an email hearing that they’ve just saved $$$? Booking incentives such as on-board credits for cruises. Check out my post on how to save money on your Disney Cruise! Travel Agents spend a lot of time in trainings and educations so we can help you have the best vacation ever! Bottom line, even if you love planning and have hours to spend doing research….why not support small business instead of giving money to large corporations?  I’m sure we all have family and friends who own a business – wouldn’t you recommend supporting them? Have I convinced you yet?  Great – let’s get to planning!  🙂  Fill out my quote request form here.