The author was a guest of Secrets Mirabel Cancun Resort & Spa. All opinions are the author’s own, and Secrets Mirabel Cancun Resort & Spa had no input in any part of this review.
Secrets Mirabel Cancun Resort & Spa, formerly Now Emerald Cancun, opened in November 2025 after a 2 1/2 year renovation that included the construction of a new 17-story Preferred Club tower. The adults-only, all-inclusive resort, part of Hyatt’s Inclusive Collection, is located at the south end of Cancun’s Hotel Zone and has a great stretch of beach with gorgeous turquoise waters.
My June 2026 visit allowed me to fully explore the reimagined pools, dining concepts, activities, and entertainment. My Preferred Club room granted me access to an elevated room and experience, but is it worth upgrading? Let’s dive in.
Booking Secrets Mirabel Cancun Resort & Spa
Secrets Mirabel Cancun Resort & Spa is in World of Hyatt’s Award Category C for all-inclusives, and award nights range from 20,000 to 40,000 points per night. Cash rates range from $298 to $609, with award nights delivering around 1.5 cents per point in value (on par with our valuation of World of Hyatt points).
Location
The hotel is at the south end of the Hotel Zone and is only about 10 minutes from Cancun International Airport (CUN). Consider booking a transfer in advance; Amstar offers a shared transfer for $17 per person one-way.
Arrival
After arriving, we were offered a welcome drink and escorted to the Preferred Club check-in area. This had us passing through the lobby, and even though some areas looked renovated, it felt dark and dated, with mismatched earth tones and pastels. The dark wood and gray marble floors also closed in the space.
Preferred Club Junior Suite Ocean Front King
We were booked in a Preferred Club Junior Suite Ocean Front King, and I loved the layout, with the entire room focused on the sea view. The bed was remarkably comfortable, and waking up with that view constantly gave me “pinch me” vibes. The workspace delivered the best office view I’ve had in some time.
The room had a loveseat with a coffee table, a swiveling TV, a dining table with chairs, and a stocked complimentary minibar with coffee service and complimentary snacks. At the entrance to the room was a double closet with typical amenities.
After leaving the balcony door open for just a few minutes, condensation built up on every surface, making the marble floors especially slippery.
Bathroom
I was not a fan of this bathroom configuration.
I like privacy, and the toilet room’s frosted glass and large gap at its swinging door made me feel like I was basically using a bathroom out in the open.
The double vanity was well-sized for the space, and the tub was contemporary, with a tray with bath salts.
The shower was unexpectedly large, but everything shower-related took up one-third of the space, leaving a large empty area and a bench with room for at least 2 or 3 people. A second showerhead or better placement of the showerheads would have improved the experience.
Balcony
The balcony seats were comfortable and oversized, with a fantastic view. You could see all the way south to Club Med Cancún.
Deluxe Ocean View Balcony Room
I toured the highest category of non-Preferred Club rooms, which was a renovated Deluxe Ocean View Balcony room in one of the original towers. Even though this wasn’t a suite, it still had spacious features, like additional seating with a table, a work area, and a balcony with a sea view. The bathroom had a beautiful walk-in shower, and I liked the lighter tile used throughout the room.
Beach
The Caribbean is expecting one of the worst sargassum seasons on record (Source: The Weather Channel), but I found the hotel’s beach and the surrounding stretch reasonably clean.
The southern Hotel Zone has a wide expanse of hard-packed sand between the water and the collected sargassum, providing a comfortable, clean surface for beach walks. There was very little sargassum floating in the ocean.
We observed a tractor raking over a line of old sargassum, but leaving a line of fresh sargassum.
There were a few permanent palapa-style umbrellas with basic loungers on the sand, and a few daybeds for rent.
Pools
The hotel has 4 primary pools open to all guests and 1 pool and hot tub open to Preferred Club guests. The pools were not heated, but should be in the future.
The towel wars game was strong, with many loungers reserved early in the morning. I didn’t observe staff removing any unattended items.
The pools plunged into full shade in the afternoon and emptied out. We tried to access the Preferred Club pool after 6 p.m. one day and were told that it was closed. The primary pools are open later, though the swim-up bars closed at 6 p.m.
Dining
The property has 14 food and beverage outlets, with 3 exclusive to Preferred Club guests.
El Patio
The dinner-only Mexican concept had a unique menu that drew me in. We started with Chef’s Bites of sikil p’ak (a pumpkin seed dip), along with polcanes (masa fritters), guacamole, chicharrón, and codzitos (similar to a taquito). We then worked our way through various tacos (our repeat order of castacán (pork belly) was a standout) and mains of octopus and cochinita pibil. The churro with cajeta ice cream was a solid finish.
Bluewater Grill
The dinner-only steakhouse had an unusual atmosphere. We had to wait several minutes to be seated in a mildly crowded space where loud music competed with the sound of someone watching the World Cup on their phone. The recessed lighting along one wall was a bit aggressive, and the space felt too bright overall. The atmosphere had us prepared to be underwhelmed, but the meal was our favorite of the stay.
The bread service, octopus carpaccio, and beef empanada made a good early impression. The home run was the beef tenderloin, though my husband also enjoyed his ribeye, and we shared a plate of seared shrimp. Everything was perfectly cooked and well-seasoned.
Market Cafe
We enjoyed the breakfast buffet and light lunches at Market Cafe. An action station at the front always featured unique Mexican specialties. I liked the mix of traditional breakfast options with a heavy mix of savory options. A saucy shredded pork dish was my absolute favorite one morning. The egg chef crafted enormous omelets, and there were also salads, fruit, charcuterie, yogurt, and baked goods.
Other Dining Options
- Afternoon poolside dining (we enjoyed grilled seafood and heard about pork tacos the day before)
- Barefoot Grill: light bites for lunch
- Bordeaux: French for dinner
- Coco Café: 24-hour coffee and ice cream
- Desires: a nightly sports bar that turns into a nightclub
- Himitsu: Asian for dinner with teppanyaki and sushi
- Manatees: swim-up bar
- Olio Terrace & Restaurant: Preferred Club à la carte breakfast and Mediterranean for lunch and dinner
- Rendezvous: lobby bar
- Sugar Reef: Preferred Club swim-up bar
Amenities
Preferred Club
In addition to the oceanfront Preferred Club pool and hot tub, Preferred Club guests have access to the Preferred Club Lounge, where they can enjoy a light buffet and premium liquors. An exclusive breakfast service is also hosted at Olio Terrace & Restaurant.
The exclusive Sky Bar faces Nichupté Lagoon and has an infinity-edge pool with sunken seating. The pool is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. (closing before sunset), and the bar is open from 3 to 11 p.m.
Fitness Center
The gym seemed small for the space, but it had a solid selection of new Technogym cardio and strength-training equipment.
Additionally, the app listed a class schedule that included core, yoga, Tabata, Tae Bo, and body balance.
Spa
My husband and I enjoyed the hydrotherapy circuit, which was as gorgeous as we had hoped. We were guided through a series of experiences, including a sauna, an ice plunge, a fresh plunge, a steam room, a hot tub, a rocky foot bath, and pools with massaging jets.
We finished with a relaxing couples massage that turned me into absolute mush.
Activities and Entertainment
The app listed a solid schedule of day activities and night performances. The pool is the primary location for most daily activities, such as card games, ping-pong, bingo, trivia, and cornhole. There was something scheduled at least every hour.
For entertainment, we caught a violinist at the pool, a pianist in the lobby, and a circus show on the terrace.
Unlimited Vacation Club
After checking in, we found our room wasn’t ready due to our early arrival, and we were introduced to a representative who offered to arrange a property tour. He worked for Unlimited Vacation Club, a Hyatt membership program similar to a timeshare but with no property ownership. By agreeing to a 90-minute presentation, we’d receive $250 in Leisure Cash, enough for 2 hydrotherapy sessions and 2 massages. My husband and I thought that was a decent tradeoff, so I set my timer and off we went.
Over 105 minutes, we had lunch with a representative, toured a suite, and then quickly reviewed numbers. Once we made it clear that our time had elapsed and we had no purchase intent, several reps reviewed “final offer” promotions before delivering the Leisure Cash.
Bottom line: I couldn’t tell you exactly what was being sold. The options we were presented with ranged from $13,000 for 15 years to $19,000 for 30 years. I’m not sure what that investment delivered outside of a discount on rooms at Hyatt Inclusive Collection properties and points with RCI. We saw the same rigamarole throughout our stay with other couples, so be informed about what you might be signing up for.
Final Thoughts
Secrets Mirabel Cancun Resort & Spa has been open for less than a year, and we thoroughly enjoyed our stay, though it wasn’t without its quirks.
There was a solid activity schedule, we enjoyed every meal, and the service was mostly friendly and well-paced. The stretch of ocean was light on sargassum, which made beach walks one of the highlights of our stay.
I wasn’t a huge fan of the interior design of the public spaces. The floors could be slippery (the stairs from the Preferred Club tower to the lobby were not marked for safety), and the room’s toilet offered little privacy.
The highest-category standard room costs about as much as the lowest-category Preferred Club suite. Consider upgrading to a Preferred Club room if the benefits, such as more premium space and a private pool area, make sense for your stay.