First look: Secrets and techniques St. Lucia

A dream I’ve had for over 15 years was to go to the island of St. Lucia.

The rolling, lush, inexperienced mountains; the clear, blue water; the litany of stress-free resorts. It captured an obsession of kinds from me again within the impressionable days once I was up all night time with a new child. A beautiful brochure about visiting St. Lucia I one way or the other ended up with grew to become my psychological distraction and gasoline once I was up all night time caring for a new child again in these lengthy days.

However, at the moment, St. Lucia felt out of attain. Too costly. Too far.

As a factors and miles traveler, St. Lucia was not on the high of my lively journey planning board for a few years, as whereas it was residence to some excellent resorts, they weren’t actually the sort I may ebook with lodge factors … at the least, not till just lately.

Quick-forward to the current day, and there at the moment are a number of methods to make use of your factors and luxuriate in that tropical island trip of your goals, which is strictly what we simply did because of having the ability to use World of Hyatt factors on the new Secrets and techniques St. Lucia Resort & Spa that simply opened in June 2025.

With each of my children fortunately gone the times of retaining me up at night time as infants, and each large enough to be away doing summer time actions for just a few days, my husband and I headed to this all-inclusive, adults-only resort to test it out. Right here, I am going to share what we discovered, in case St. Lucia has been in your journey want listing, too.

Associated: Finest all-inclusive resorts on the planet

First impressions of Secrets and techniques St. Lucia

We had a legit James Bond second as we arrived by personal boat switch proper as much as the lodge’s seashore, rolled up our pants and walked by means of the water onto the sand.

(And no, it wasn’t James Bond costs. It was about $135 to $150 per particular person from the airport to the lodge by way of Clearwater Tour Firm.)

We had been met on the seashore by our first of many exceedingly pleasant Secrets and techniques workers, a number of of whom in a short time discovered and remembered our names.

Since we had been getting into from the ocean, we walked from the seashore, previous the swimming pools and swim-up bars, towards the foyer that sits within the coronary heart of the 355-room resort. Aided by some stress-free huge band music enjoying within the background, the foyer evoked a bygone period, when issues moved slowly and taking within the second was the norm.

For sure, we had been completely happy to embrace that vibe and had smiles on our faces even earlier than our first (on land) rum punch of the journey.

And if I had any fears that this resort can be an excessive amount of of a base-music-thumping, 24-hour booze fest, given the all-inclusive nature of all of it, one stroll by means of the property just about put these fears relaxed. Secrets and techniques St. Lucia had a largely relaxed vibe with folks of quite a lot of ages and backgrounds who got here to loosen up, have enjoyable and absorb some solar.

Secrets and techniques St. Lucia is a brand new resort nestled into the sloping hills alongside the coast, which implies you’ll get your steps in as you head as much as your room or again right down to the swimming pools and eating places.

Whereas this resort simply opened in June 2025, know that it isn’t an all-new construct. This was once the St. James’s Membership Morgan Bay earlier than it closed for a multiyear renovation and rebranded to a Secrets and techniques resort, which, after all, brings with it pluses like mature foliage and minuses akin to some older amenities.

The rooms at Secrets and techniques St. Lucia

We stayed in constructing No. 1, which was one of many closest buildings to the foyer, simply up a hill (like I mentioned, you’ll get some steps in right here).

The room’s model was that of a timeless seashore resort, that includes a picket flooring paired with crisp white and blue decor.

Whereas we had initially been assigned a king deluxe room, once I requested at check-in about what advantages we could get as Hyatt Globalists, the employees ultimately modified our room project to at least one with a swim-out plunge pool at no further cost.

As this can be a newer integration with Hyatt, I discovered just a few instances that we needed to ask round a bit to study what advantages Hyatt elite standing introduced with it at this resort. I am not 100% certain I ever obtained a complete listing of perks, however we did ultimately study we may entry the Most popular pool and lounge, too, which is the place you may discover some elevated beer and cocktail picks.

I additionally should add that my favourite pool on the Secrets and techniques St. Lucia was the Most popular pool positioned up on the hill. It had nice views, was at all times calm whereas we had been there and had extra snug loungers to learn in.

That is additionally the place you may discover the Most popular pool bar with some upgraded drink choices.

New accommodations usually include some quirks at first, which is to be anticipated, particularly at a seashore resort on an island. With that mentioned, we did meet quite a lot of company who had some very actual points with their rooms, starting from water leaks to no operating water for lengthy intervals of time. Even one visitor we spoke with on the pool claimed to be coping with quite a few crabs attempting to take up residence of their room.

Fortunately, our room did not have these actual points, however it did have an odor to it that wasn’t fairly sturdy sufficient to make us ask to be moved however was noticeable each time we walked in.

I do not know if it was associated to some prior water points or one thing else totally. Do pack your persistence if coming within the close to future, and do not be shy to flag any room points that necessitate reassignment, as this did not appear unusual there proper now. That mentioned, the employees seemed to be doing all it may to help, from what we noticed and heard.

Eating at Secrets and techniques St. Lucia

Let’s get to the good things — all of the included meals and drinks you care to get pleasure from on the resort’s eating places, which embody:

• Himitsu (hibachi and pan-Asian)
• L’Creperie (crepes and tapas)
• Portofino (Italian)
• Market Cafe (the buffet, open for breakfast and lunch)
• Morgan’s Pier (French)
• Seaside Grill (steakhouse and seafood)
• Oceana (seafood and ultimately a la carte breakfast for Most popular Membership company)
• Coco Cafe (espresso and lightweight snacks)

I beloved that eating at Secrets and techniques St. Lucia wasn’t a aggressive sport, that means you did not have to struggle for reservations.

The truth is, apart from the hibachi tables, reservations weren’t accepted. After all, this might change because the resort will get busier, however for now, it was a pleasant change from another all-inclusives we’ve visited.

A must-try is the Italian-themed restaurant, Portofino.

It has indoor seating, very attentive service and a few tasty dishes, which began with the fluffy bread with vinegar and olive oil and continued by means of the appetizers and onto the shrimp scampi.

I might additionally like to offer a particular shoutout to the pan-fried garlic shrimp and fried calamari at La Petite, which was a scrumptious and straightforward lunch choice for while you’re not feeling the buffet.

The meals we had wasn’t all residence runs, however none of what I attempted was unhealthy. Most of it ranged from ok to fairly good. It was not but persistently on the stage of the meals we loved on the Secrets and techniques Moxche Playa del Carmen in Mexico, however once more, we’re grading on a curve of kinds, as this Secrets and techniques resort remains to be very new.

What I loved loads was the truth that we weren’t getting a invoice for every chew of sushi, plate of barbecue on the seashore, glass of wine or dessert.

That feeling of getting all of it included really is relaxation-inducing. Additionally completely noteworthy was the employees, who by no means let a water glass go dry, checked in on us often all through the meals and was the type of pleasant that basically makes you smile and really feel welcome.

Relating to included drinks on the bars, anticipate finding beer such because the native brew, Piton, together with Heineken and Crimson Stripe.

Within the Most popular Membership lounge and pool bar, additionally, you will discover Guinness. Within the Most popular areas, a few of the alcohol selections embody Gray Goose, Ketel One, Glenfiddich, Glenlivet 12, Johnny Walker and Makers.

Location and logistics of Secrets and techniques St. Lucia

Secrets and techniques St. Lucia sits on the northwest facet of the island close to town of Castries. That locations it near an hour by boat from the primary airport or, I am informed, about 90 minutes by automobile.

The island is not particularly massive, at 14 miles throughout and 27 miles lengthy. Nonetheless, the roads are winding and hilly. As somebody vulnerable to movement illness, I skipped doing any actual distance on the island by automobile and as an alternative booked our transfers to and from the airport and for excursions by boat.

As talked about, we used Clearwater Tour Firm for our journey from the airport to the resort and our switch to the second resort we tried on St. Lucia, the opposite Hyatt all-inclusive, Zoetry Margot Bay St. Lucia.

To return to the airport, we used the FunToSee Island ferry, which operates on a set schedule and picks up and drops off in Castries, a brief (included) automobile experience from the Secrets and techniques resort.

I extremely advocate utilizing a ship to get to and from the airport and the Secrets and techniques resort, if potential. It was enjoyable, beautiful and, in my view, far preferable to tackling winding roads in a automobile.

What it value to remain at Secrets and techniques St. Lucia

Another excuse I am not being too harsh on this resort regardless of some bumps within the street is that it’s priced decrease than another all-inclusives we’ve loved.

For me, it’s affordable to have considerably decrease expectations for this resort, which is a Class C resort within the World of Hyatt all-inclusive chart and begins at 21,000 factors per night time, than Secrets and techniques Moxche (and even the Zoetry on St. Lucia), that are each Class E resorts and begin at 35,000 factors per night time.

We paid 25,000 World of Hyatt factors per night time for every of our three nights, which, once more, is a stable deal in my ebook, contemplating that it included all our meals and drinks in the course of the keep for each of us.

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In case you are paying with money, these charges appear to start out at round $450 per night time for double occupancy throughout lower-demand dates.

Accessibility

I’d not think about this resort particularly accessibility-friendly.

First, the hillside terrain means there’s usually not a flat pathway to get from level A to level B. I additionally didn’t discover any pool lifts, and when trying to find accessible rooms on the web site, I didn’t see any choices displayed.

Issues to know earlier than staying at Secrets and techniques St. Lucia

I’ll sound like a damaged document saying that, as a visitor staying inside the first couple of months of operations, it’s common and anticipated for accommodations to have some service hiccups and points they’re nonetheless figuring out, so a few of that is doubtless to enhance with time. Nonetheless, if you’re contemplating a near-term keep at this resort, listed here are some issues to notice so you may determine if it’s a good match for you.

• Whereas there have been some included water, juice and mushy drinks, there have been no snacks or alcohol in our room’s minibar. It is potential this was simply an oversight or could evolve over time. Moreover, the inventory within the minibar was not refreshed throughout our three-night keep.
• Room service, and generally dinner service within the eating places, can take some time to reach at instances.
• Outdoors of the crepes and tapas, which had been nice, the noon snacks on the property are just a little underwhelming.
• Whereas there are some actions, there’s not but a ton to do on the resort past the bars, seashore and swimming pools.
• The TV reception within the rooms was a bit glitchy.
• Some rooms have issues akin to a scarcity of water, leaks, critters and odors.
• The resort is 60 to 90 minutes from the airport.

I am going to additionally add that if you’re inclined to bug bites, you could wish to use bug repellent diligently.

Backside line

I went into this journey wanting St. Lucia to stay as much as the vacation spot I’ve had in my goals for years … and in some ways, it did.

Whereas I believe the island is definitely beautiful, your particular near-term experiences at Secrets and techniques St. Lucia itself will doubtless be influenced a bit by whether or not you might be in search of issues to get pleasure from or issues to get pissed off about, as there’ll doubtless be a few of each.

The luck of the room project can also play a job in your expertise. An extended-than-desired wait at dinner is one factor, however a few of the points company have been experiencing within the rooms in latest weeks, together with doubtlessly the one we had been in, are one other.

All that mentioned, we had a soothing, inexpensive and gratifying keep general at a resort that I believe has the potential to be a stable choice on an extremely stunning island. Proper now, it may be a very good vacation spot if you happen to can roll with some not-always-perfect issues and wish to view issues with a glass-half-full perspective, as we did.

In any other case, let some extra months go by and see how issues evolve at this St. Lucia all-inclusive resort by the ocean with extremely pleasant employees and what’s going to hopefully be a protracted and gratifying future.