This hotel raises the bar on luxury holidays – everything from pools to dining is done on a grand scale.
This high-end, adults-only retreat has won awards from the likes of TripAdvisor and Condé Nast Traveler. Its setting will certainly have helped – it’s on a quiet peninsula, with over half a mile of private beach.
The plus points extend way beyond the tropical setting. There’s a huge pool, a host of gourmet restaurants, and Junior Suites come as standard. A world-class spa rounds things off with a flourish, and you can also make the most of what the neighbouring Secrets Wild Orchid Montego Bay has to offer.
The seaside grill offers you a variety of grilled dishes for lunch and dinner. You’ll need to remember the dress code here, leave your beachwear back in the room. And come the evening, it's full-length trousers and shirts for gentlemen.
The various treatments at this lavish 15-room spa will nurture your mind and body and leave you feeling relaxed, refreshed, and revitalised. Unwind in the sauna or indulge in massages, body wraps, facials or a manicure and pedicure.
All Preferred Club suites offer the following additional amenities and services. Private check-in and check-out, access to the Private Preferred Club Lounge, Access to dining, activities and amenities at Breathless Montego Bay, complimentary newspaper in Preferred Club Lounge and upgraded minibar service and bath amenities. A butler service is also available upon request*
Stay in Montego Bay
Choose from a selection of cruises that you can combine with a stay in this destination
Decided to take a spring break vacation and opted for Jamaica since it’s been 10+ years since we had been there. We are members of the vacation club and just enjoy relaxing on our vacation. We aren’t big into site seeing other than watching the “waves” crash up to the shore. We aren’t high maintenance travelers. We just ask for a clean room, comfortable bed and something decent to eat at each meal. Also we are members of the vacation club. We chose St James on some advice vs Wild Orchid. While 2 different resorts they are one in the same but St James was a little less expensive. Wild Orchid is closer to the restaurants and has a nice view of the mountains but if you have preferred privileges you can park your towel anywhere. We typically never sit at the preferred section, particularly the pool but this time we did. We enjoyed the relative quiet. It was very relaxing. In addition, with preferred privileges you get access to Breathless which gives you even more restaurants to choose from. We never ate at the same restaurant for dinner the whole week which was really nice. Weather was beautiful. The service was excellent. Everyone was super friendly. There was plenty of entertainment every night. Most of it was outdoor but they had a silent disco indoors but we didn’t get around to attending it. There is even a piano bar. Additionally there is even more entertainment over at Breathless that you can attend. Ocean was crystal clear. You can see a few fish snorkeling but not a lot, at least on the days I went. We got an 80 min massage but services are limited due to Covid. No hydrotherapy 😢. We love the hydrotherapy. Will have to wait until June for our next vacation. View from rooftop restaurant at Breathless is breathtaking. Highly recommend getting over there for lunch. Beautiful resort. We will get back there at some point for sure. Off to the Dreams in Curacao in June. More
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azdsmr, 46870
Don’t bring any valuables
The resorts bellhop stole my jewelry from inside my bag and when I reported it to loss prevention they took my information to investigate and contact me and have yet to do so. Don’t leave you stuff alone or at the front desk.More
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Fezsplash,
Disappointing, Far from Ultra Luxury
This trip to Secrets St. James was our 10th trip to Jamaica and our fourth trip to Montego Bay.
We were NOT impress by this resort.
Our room was nice overall until you tried to operate the Jacuzzies.
Great view
Beach in front of the St James Preferred was nice and soft sand. Small but nice.
Beach for Breathless and the main building for St. James was rocky.
Pool was VERY dirty. Could not see the bottom of the pool until day 5.
That's ok because it matches the same room service pizza dish that was outside by the pool trash for the same 5 day time frame. Lots of left over dishes, cups, straws, bottles and overall junk around the grounds and most of the hotel that I saw.
Food was the worst I have experienced at any Secrets, Sandals, Couples, Iberostar or Riu resort any place I have been in the Caribbean. Jerk Chicken from the cart and the deep fried patties were the exception.
After our 4th day, I could not keep anything in my system. I was not the only person at the resort that was feeling sick from the food. Must be all frozen and either fried or heated in an oven...very very bad taste and quality. I'm not sure if anything other than the eggs for breakfast is fresh. Far from Ultra Luxury.
On our fifth day of the trip, my wife was stung by a jellyfish swimming inside the rope line. Not the resorts fault and they changed the flag once she was stung. The problem is the normal life guard was off and the Sunday life guard was working. This resort had 1 life guard to watch over the Exclusive Breathless beach, the preferred St. James Beach, the main St. James beach, St. James preferred pool and St. James Main pool--FIVE DIFFERENT LOCATIONS WITH ONE PERSON?
After the bartender called the supervisor because we could not locate the life guard (approx 15-20 min), he finally shows us and goes to the life guard hut to get the vinegar......guess what......no safety items in the hut. He spent another five mins walking back to the aqua hut to get the needed spray bottle.
Wow, I spent all this money to go to an Ultra Luxury resort to have a clear lack of safety. Luckily it was a jellyfish and not a heart attack.
And oh yea.....Did I tell you it took 2 hours to get room service coffee in the morning in the preferred section. Don't want to wait...walk to the other side of the resort to wait for 30 mins in the line to get a cup of coffee on your ultra luxury vacation.
We only saw the beach get manicured once during the week. The two ppl raking were both wearing their mask incorrectly. One was pulled down onto the chin and the other was pulled down to the lips. They were raking directly in front on many guests.
In my opinion, I would seriously consider NOT staying at this overpriced two star quality resort. Next year we have 8 couples going to Jamaica. We will NOT waste our money at this resort.
Please note that not all the workers at the resort are equal. We had a great time with the normal life guard, (Tusiane-spelling incorrect) and the bellman that set us up with Momma at the WO lobby bar before leaving (sorry, I don't have his name but Thank you).
After all the problems, the resort offered to pay my tab at the gift shop. Great...they charge me $5 for a candy bar because their food is disgusting and then they are nice enough to comp my bill. Only one catch, sign the release form that states you cannot post on social media about your experience or pursue legal action due to their clear lack of safety measures. Obviously, I told them to charge me for the gift shop junk so can post and hopefully stop others from making the same mistake we made. Go to Sandals or Couple for the same money and enjoy your vacation.
Jamaica is great, this resort is not.More
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tonydW7641HF, 50940
Excellent and Safe Vacation!
My wife and I decided at the last minute to escape the pandemic and travel to Jamaica. We stayed at Secrets St. James in Montego Bay for the 2nd time, and once again, it did not disappoint.
The staff is amazing, their ability to remember you by name, remember your favorite drink, and their all-around fun attitudes are what brings us back to this resort.
This was our first travel since the pandemic broke out, and the resort made us feel very safe, yet still provided a fun atmosphere. They took great care to ensure everything was clean and sanitized, and at no point did we think we were in any kind of an exposed situation.
Our favorite aspect of the vacation (other than the perfect weather) was the nightly entertainment. The ability to sit outside and listen to live music, whether it be the nightly performers or the piano bar, was absolutely amazing. A special shout-out to our favorite bartender, Oneal (Piano Bar bartender). He was fantastic and always quick to pour us our favorite cocktails!
We knew going in that not all the restaurants were open each night, and it turned out not to be a problem at all. The resort always had 2-3 restaurants open each night, and the neighboring Breathless property always had their rooftop bar/restaurant open, so options were aplenty.
Thank you Secrets St James and the wonderful employees there. We will be back again (hopefully soon)!More
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Robb T, 60325
Secrets Rocks!!
I can't say enough about our trip. We were there from March 13-20. We stayed in the Preferred Club at Orchids and you have access to all hotels. Premises are beautiful and well kept. May I add everything is very well sanitized and cleaned all the time. No worries no problem. The staff was great and very nice. I have to say my girl Keri Ann at the Preferred outside she is the bombed. She works very hard to accommodate everyone and remembered me everyday. Kiesha inside in the evening at the Preferred made sure all of us and our friends were taken care of. She worked hard and ready to pop any day now. Make sure you tip our friends while you are there they deserve it. I want to mention our dive shop boys. They were a lot of fun during snorkeling and when my husband went scuba diving. You have to go get a massage and ask for Jocelyn she was the best. Beaches are beautiful. I do have to say they need to open up more restaurants now. Do try the places to eat at Breathless. Even though you have to go all the Covid testing is well worth the trip.More
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