See all properties

El Secreto

2.5 star property
Hotel near Belize Barrier Reef in San Pedro

Choose dates to view prices

Photo gallery for El Secreto

Outdoor pool, pool umbrellas, sun loungers
Beach massages, massage/treatment rooms, massages
Lobby
Premium bedding
Exterior

Reviews

8.2 out of 10
Very good

Popular amenities

  • Bar
  • Hot Tub
  • Gym
  • Pool
  • Parking included
  • Laundry

Explore the area

Map
11 MILES NORTH OF SAN PEDRO TOWN, AMBERGRIS CAYE, San Pedro, Belize District
  • Tranquility Bay Beach
    ‪19 min drive‬
  • Bacalar Chico National Park & Marine Reserve
    ‪32 min drive‬
  • Secret Beach
    ‪48 min drive‬
  • San Pedro (SPR-John Greif II)

Room options

SPA Villa

  • Ocean view
  • Sleeps 2
  • 1 King Bed

Villa (Tropical)

  • Sleeps 2
  • 1 King Bed

Villa, Lake View

  • Lake view
  • Sleeps 2
  • 1 King Bed

Villa, Sea View

  • Sea view
  • Sleeps 2
  • 1 King Bed

About the neighborhood

San Pedro

In San Pedro .A stay at this hotel places you within half a mile (1 km) of Belize Barrier Reef and 3 miles (5 km) of Tranquility Bay Beach. Bacalar Chico National Park & Marine Reserve is within 6 miles (10 km) and Secret Beach is within 12 miles (20 km).

What's nearby

  • Tranquility Bay Beach - 19 min drive - 4.0 miles
  • Bacalar Chico National Park & Marine Reserve - 32 min drive - 5.9 miles
  • Secret Beach - 48 min drive - 11.4 miles
  • San Pedro Belize Express Dock - 62 min drive - 13.2 miles
  • San Pedro Town Hall - 62 min drive - 13.2 miles

Getting around

  • San Pedro (SPR-John Greif II) - 66 min drive

Restaurants

  • ‪Moon Bar - ‬23 min drive
  • ‪Rojo Beach Bar - ‬28 min drive
  • ‪John’s Escape Bar &Grill - ‬31 min drive
  • ‪Tackle Box Sea Bar - ‬15 min drive
  • ‪El Norte - ‬20 min walk

About this property

El Secreto

Hotel near Belize Barrier Reef in San Pedro
El Secreto offers its guests an outdoor pool, a hot tub, and a fitness center. Along with a restaurant, there's a coffee shop/cafe on site. You can enjoy a drink at the bar/lounge.

El Secreto also features a terrace, a garden, and concierge services. Free self parking is available.

  • 13 guestrooms or units
  • Towels for the beach
  • Poolside lounge chairs
  • Umbrellas for the pool
  • Self-service laundry
  • Front-desk safe
  • Concierge
  • Terrace
  • Garden
  • Bar or lounge
  • Coffee shop
  • Dining venue
El Secreto offers 13 accommodations. Beds feature premium bedding.

Similar properties

Superior Condo, 2 Bedrooms, Beach View, Beachfront | View from room

Tres Cocos Resort

  • Pool
  • Kitchen
  • Pet friendly
  • Parking included
4.7 out of 5, Exceptional, 289 reviews
Tres Cocos Resort

Property amenities

Family friendly

  • Laundry facilities
  • Outdoor pool

Parking and transportation

  • Free self parking on site

Food and drink

  • A bar/lounge
  • A coffee shop/cafe
  • A restaurant

Things to do

  • Ecotours
  • Gym
  • Helicopter/airplane tours
  • Hot tub
  • Kayaking
  • Outdoor pool

Room amenities

Entertainment

  • HDTV

Bedroom

  • Premium bedding

Bathroom

  • Towels provided

More

  • Phone

Policies

Check-in

Check-in time starts at 3 PM

Children and extra beds

  • Children are welcome.

Important information

You need to know

Extra-person charges may apply and vary depending on property policy
Government-issued photo identification and a credit card, debit card, or cash deposit may be required at check-in for incidental charges
Special requests are subject to availability upon check-in and may incur additional charges; special requests cannot be guaranteed
The name on the credit card used at check-in to pay for incidentals must be the primary name on the guestroom reservation
Charges for extra guests may apply and vary according to property policy.
A cash deposit, credit card, or debit card for incidental charges and government-issued photo identification may be required upon check-in.
Special requests are subject to availability at the time of check-in. Special requests can't be guaranteed and may incur additional charges.
    This property is managed by a professional host. The provision of housing is linked to their trade, business, or profession. The name on the credit card used at check-in to pay for incidentals must be the primary name on the guestroom reservation.

We should mention

  • Reservations are needed for massage services. For reservations, contact the hotel before arrival using the contact information on the booking confirmation.

Property is also known as

El Secreto
El Secreto Hotel
El Secreto Hotel San Pedro
El Secreto San Pedro
El Secreto Belize/Ambergris Caye
El Secreto Resort San Pedro
El Secreto Resort
El Secreto Belize/San Pedro
El Secreto Hotel
El Secreto San Pedro
El Secreto Hotel San Pedro

Frequently asked questions

How close is El Secreto to the airport?

El Secreto is 11.6 mi (66-min drive) away from the San Pedro (SPR-John Greif II) airport, the closest popular airport to the property.

Does El Secreto have an airport shuttle?

Airport shuttle services are not available at El Secreto.

How close is El Secreto to the beach?

This hotel is 10 mi (46-min drive) from Secret Beach and 2.9 mi (31-min drive) from Tranquility Bay Beach. Don't forget your sunscreen!

Does El Secreto offer free breakfast?

El Secreto does not offer free breakfast.

Is there a casino at El Secreto?

No, there is no casino at this hotel.

What time is check-in at El Secreto?

Check-in begins at 3 PM.

Is there free parking at El Secreto?

This hotel offers free self parking.

Does El Secreto have a pool?

El Secreto features an outdoor pool.

Does El Secreto have a restaurant?

Yes, there is a restaurant on site.

Does El Secreto have a spa?

This hotel doesn't have a spa, but it does offer beach massages.

How close is El Secreto to downtown San Pedro?

El Secreto is 10.5 mi away from San Pedro.

El Secreto Reviews

Reviews

8.2

Very Good

Rating 10 - Excellent. 39 out of 71 reviews
Rating 8 - Good. 17 out of 71 reviews
Rating 6 - Okay. 3 out of 71 reviews
Rating 4 - Poor. 7 out of 71 reviews
Rating 2 - Terrible. 5 out of 71 reviews

9.2/10

Cleanliness

8.6/10

Staff & service

8.8/10

Property conditions & facilities

Reviews

8/10 Good

Verified traveler

Stayed 7 nights in Jun 2018

2/10 Terrible

Verified traveler

Disliked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort

Stay Away

When we arrived at the hotel, the whole site smelled of sewage. The restaurant area, the grounds, the pool area. When we asked why they said the pipes had broke. But when we tried to get our monies back and leave there was no manager at the hotel. The desk person said the manager lives in Mexico. When even Expedia tried to get in touch with the hotel to get a refund for us they coudln't get an answer.
Stayed 14 nights in Mar 2018

10/10 Excellent

Coco, Belize

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort

Private & Secluded....exactly what we needed.

We absolutely enjoyed our stay at El Secreto. The private pool and bedding was the icing on the cake! Estel was amazing! We will most definitely return.
Stayed 1 night in Feb 2018

10/10 Excellent

twodox, Cheshire, CT

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort

Total relaxation in an idyllic setting.

El Secreto is a tiny gem of a hotel, with 13 beautiful cabins on a lovely site. Ours was around a lagoon and others are on the beach. The service was outstanding and the food in the restaurant was excellent and varied. The hotel is on the northern end of the island.San Pedro is 30 minutes away by boat or 45 minutes by golf cart along a very bad road. The nearest restaurant is a mile away, so you will eat nearly all your meals there, which can be expensive. We spent about $140/day for two, without a major bar tab. Estell, the manager, is a gem - witty, helpful and charming. Rather than spend a full week here, I recommend staying on the mainland or in San Pedro for your adventures and coming here after to chill out for a few days. Perfect for couples; NOT for children.
Stayed 7 nights in Jan 2018

8/10 Good

Dianne, Peterborough ON

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort

Perfect place to get away from it all

My husband and I went to El Secreto for our one year anniversary. The hotel is stunning, and extremely private. We felt like we had the entire resort to ourselves. The staff were very attentive, but stayed in the background until you needed them. The grounds were stunning!! Every angle was like a post card. I had pretty high expectations but was very happily surprised. There were a few minor issues, we had trouble getting our hot tub turned on, out of the 7 nights we were there it was only turned on once, although we requested it every afternoon. Because of the time of year we went, the sand flies were quite bad (after the rainy season). The hotel did the best they could, and provided bug spray in all the rooms. In another couple of weeks they should be gone. We were looking for a place that we could escape the world, and found it at El Secreto. We still participated in the activities that we wanted to, but enjoyed the peace and quiet the most! We will definitely be back, and will highly recommend it to others we know who are thinking about Belize and Ambergris Caye as an option for a get away.
Stayed 7 nights in Nov 2017

10/10 Excellent

ELIAS

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort

Amazing getaway

Amazing getaway
Stayed 3 nights in Nov 2017

4/10 Poor

Mark and Jenny, San Diego

Disliked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort

Poor experience but quick response & refund. Bats

El Secreto is located in a beautiful, remote spot on Ambergris Caye. If you're not familiar with the layout of the caye, be aware that in order to get to El Secreto from San Pedro, you need to take a 30-min water taxi up the coast to reach the El Secreto dock. There is no road that goes there from town. The villas are nice and spacious. We arrived in the afternoon and intended to stay for two nights. We got to our villa and thought - why is the thatched palm frond roof so thin? We could literally see cracks of daylight through it. What do they do when it rains?? We figured that it isn't a huge concern since there was no rain in the forecast while we were there. We enjoyed the hot tub, had dinner and went to bed. Around 4:30am, we woke up to the sound of loud rustling inside our villa. I switched on a light to find a bat flying around inside our bedroom! It was bumping into the ceiling, presumably trying to get out. The bat finally found a crack in the ceiling and left. We packed up our things and checked out early that morning. The person at the front desk did not appear surprised at our experience. To us it seemed like they already knew that they had a bat problem. Despite the bad experience, El Secreto was quick to arrange a boat to take us back to San Pedro for free, and they were also quick to grant my refund request for both nights. We would love to recommend this resort, but until they fix their pest / bat problem, we can not honestly recommend staying here.
Stayed 2 nights in May 2017

8/10 Good

Verified traveler

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort

Nice property

Great stay overall, staff was excellent very helpfull always and the property is ver nice

2/10 Terrible

Jennifer

Disliked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort

DO NOT STAY AT THIS HOTEL!!!!

The staff that picked us up from the airport was friendly. The staff met us at the dock to welcome us to the hotel, but it was downhill from there. The restaurant was mediocre, there was one other person in the reastaurant but it took a very long time to get our food, which was extremely overpriced. The room upon first glance was ok, but quickly realized that coffee cups were flilthy, there weren't adequate toteltries and the hot tub was cold. Those items were addressed by the staff. After settling in we encountered a bat flying in our room. We contacted the front desk, and they were not very quick to respond. They eventually caught the bat and removed it from our room. After waiting for another villa to be cleaned, they moved us in the middle of the night. After a long day of traveling and the bat encounter I was ready for a good night sleep, as soon as the lights went out in the new villa again the bat problem. After bringing this to the managements attention, a very delayed response, we checked out and moved to another hotel. They did not refund our money, and said that it was our problem. The bottom line is, the hotel is not well-maintained, in addition to the bat problem, the overall condition of the hotel is poor. The onsite management is not equipped to handle situations that require refunding money to guest. I waited 2 1/2 hours for response from the corporate office that ultimately said sorry we're going to keep your money!

4/10 Poor

Verified traveler

Liked: Cleanliness

Great location but "rip off" for food

The El Secreto is located at a great beach - just don't check 50m left/right from the hotel beach as it starts to be a dump. The stuff is friendly and helps in supporting a pleasurable stay. Due to the location a trip to San Pedro (or the next restaurant) is rather a nightmare and therefore: only the option for food and drinks at El Secreto is available. El Secreto does provide food but the price is (allow me to write) a rip off as the quality as well as the service is so lala. Additional: changes to a menu normally end in a "no" - which is far away from customer friendly. With that written: location and stuff great - amenities improvement highly appreciated!

4/10 Poor

Verified traveler

Liked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities, room comfort

beautiful ammenities, but very remote.

jacuzzi temperature did not work as desired, in general overpriced. beach very small, not good for swimming

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveler

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort

Christmas in paradise

Excellent place to stay and relax, staff went the extra mile to make our stay one we'll never forget. The resort's attention to detail is unsurpassed by any other place we've stayed Kudos El Secreto Ernie & Suzanne

4/10 Poor

Verified traveler

Disliked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort

Isolated & bizarre... not in a good way.

While the pool area and restaurant on this property are very beautiful, the rest of the resort is not so great. Overall, we were pretty disappointed. We selected one of the ocean villas. The room smelled like urine. The palm leaf roof was covered in black mold, which created a constant musty, unpleasant odor. AC in the room stopped working the last night of our three night stay. It was 85 degrees & miserable. The mosquitos & sand flies are horrible, so you can't even open the doors. The shower water was salt water. Service is very slow at the overpriced & mediocre restaurant & bar. Sometimes housekeeping services your room but not always. When we checked in, the sheets were soft & comfortable. The next day, they were changed to a cheap, torn & itchy set. Towels were also torn. The private hot tub isn't warm, let alone hot. Well drinks are $15 at the bar. We felt like it was Hotel California. The energy is weird. Staff lives on property and their dogs go into fits of barking at all times of the day & night.There is so much plastic and trash on the beaches, if you step one foot off property it feels like a garbage dump. It is so sad. There has been no clean up since Hurricane Earl's devastation Aug 2016. Most of the staff speaks poor English, which is odd for an English speaking country. The other couples we met agreed it was a bizarre experience. I wouldn't go back.

8/10 Good

Arlen Jeferson, US

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort

excellent hotel

Excellent hotel. Did edge of a small but magnificent strech of beach. The villas are comfortable and clean. The stuff is a pleasure. The only complaint would be the mosquitoes but we got to admit that being tropical resort we have to allow for some mosquitoes. Overall a very nice place to be. If you want to have some rest and be deducted from the world and El Secreto is the place to be. We enjoyed our stay there

10/10 Excellent

Kyle, US

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Excellent staff, room service, and amenities! Food was great as well

10/10 Excellent

Phillip

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
This place is amazing! Especially if you need privacy. We rented a golf cart but that's not the way to go. The hotel will send a boat but we didn't know that. It's nearly impossible to find by road but if you do, turn toward El Norte Bar and drive down the beach for about a mile.

4/10 Poor

Verified traveler

Liked: Cleanliness
Disliked: Staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Overpriced, far away from everything, no area to beach swim.

6/10 Okay

Cheryl, Houston, TX

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Disliked: Room comfort

Too remote

Nice hotel but too far from anything. If you want quiet and relaxing, then it is the place for you. If you want access to restaurants, shopping, activities, then it is not. Only accessible by boat. the hotel sometimes has a shuttle to town, but not always, and they didn't always post the schedule until the day of. Had to us water taxi a lot and it got to be expensive.

10/10 Excellent

Emily, Austin, TX

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort

Most Amazing Relaxing Experience

I have traveled the whole world and this by far was the most relaxing and luxurious accommodation that I have stayed at. We absolutely love this hotel. If you watch the youtube video of the resort that is a complete accurate depiction of what this place is like. It is in a very remote spot far north on the island, and is so quite and peaceful. The beaches are clean and the water is beautiful. The staff is so friendly and helpful. The food was delicious. If you are looking for a complete getaway that is relaxing and calm this is for sure where you want to be. I can't recommend this place enough. I not only plan to come back with my boyfriend, but I want to bring my mom to this place as well.

8/10 Good

Tina

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort

10/10 Excellent

Ruth, Houston, Texas

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort

Our own resort

El Secreto is small and quiet. We felt like we were on our own resort. The staff was not hovering but yet they were always available when we needed something. They took care of our every need. We were treated like royalty. It is a beautiful location. The entire experience was magnificent.

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveler

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Beautiful place and very comfortable bed, loved the whole experience.

10/10 Excellent

Deborah, Santa Ynez, CA

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort

Best kept secret in San Pedro, Belize.

Every picture they post is exactly what we experienced. The Hotel and it's staff were more than amazing. We had the best trip ever and can't wait to go back... Hopefully on our Honeymoon.

6/10 Okay

Peter, Toronto

Liked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Disliked: Staff & service
Great property but terrible service.

4/10 Poor

Carribean Tim, Ohio

Liked: Cleanliness, room comfort
Disliked: Staff & service

Nothing to do

First ...be ready to travel by boat to do any activities. Second...be ready to pay a lot of money for food, drinks and any activities. Third ...be ready to wait for the staff for your meals, boat travel and everything you need. No one is in a hurry to do anything. The room was nice. The food was ok. But there is nothing to do but sit there and stare at the water. The water is muddy about a hundred yards out from the beach. You can not swim unless you go on a boat to snorkeling areas...Money, money, money...Very expensive to do any activities. You can't walk or ride bikes to any other locations around the resort. We tried and were attacked by dogs. The beach off the resort property is disgusting, trash every where. The service is not that great and again the food and drinks are very expensive. If you do not want to do nothing but sit and drink and eat and stare at the ocean....perfect, other wise stay some place closer to San Pedro. We will not be going back to this resort and for that matter we will not be going back to Belize period. This trip cost 2 times as much to do than any other trip we have taken in the past 5 years and we did not get to do anything we wanted.