Mexico honeymoon - SMB or VIM or both?

Knottie26038370 · January 2016

I've been to a lot of all inclusives with my family but this will be my first time going with my husband on our 10-day honeymoon.

We looked at St Lucia and other places but they seemed not to be as luxurious and "polished" as Mexican resorts and since we are going for 10 days, i wanted to have more than one restaurant to eat at so we don't get bored. So we have all but decided on Mexico for that reason.

The PROBLEM: We can't decide between Secrets Maroma Beach and Valentin Imperial Maya!

At SMB we found a great deal on Preferred Club Junior Suite Ocean View with a soaking tub on the balcony (it looks awesome) - but it's still $1400 more than a swim out or ocean view room at Valentin Imperial Maya. Is it worth it?

SMB is one of the best rated AI hotels in Mexico/the world so it seems like a no-brainer, but the pool area looks a little small and crowded and not very peaceful and private for a honeymoon - can anyone advise on this? Would we be better going for a swim up room so we get our own more private little pool area, or are the swim up pools busy also? The food at SMB seems to be better too, judging by reviews.

VIM doesn't look as fancy, over the top luxury but I love spread-out resorts and walking around lush garden paths etc. and VIM seems to have all that. The pools look way bigger but again less fancy. The beach apparently isn't as good as SMB but it still looks stunning to me in any photos I've seen.

I just cannot decide between these two! I don't want to feel claustrophobic at SMB since it's a lot smaller in area than I'm used to with AIs but I don't want to compromise luxury either, especially with the awesome deal that brings the usually crazy expensive SMB into our budget!

We can either pick one resort to go to for 10 days or maybe we could split our time between two resorts (5days VIM 5days SMB etc. - they're 10 miles apart). Is changing resorts during honeymoon a good idea or not? Can anyone advise what to do

sames52915 · January 2016

We stayed at SMB for our honeymoon and just booked a trip back for our 1yr anniversary. I absolutely loved it and would highly recommend it to anyone. I actually liked the fact that it wasn't huge because the pool, beach and a lot of the bars are all close in proximity. And if you're in a preferred club room you will be close as well. The restaurants, spa & main lobby are at the other end of the resort (again not that far.)

We went 6/1-6/8 and I think it was pretty full, but the pool wasn't over crowded at all. There were definitely times in the afternoon where the swim up bar was a bit packed, but once people got their drinks they usually moved away. The main pool is split into two, with a walk way/pool chairs etc separating them. The larger part has the swim up bar and then kind of wraps all the way around and kind of makes it seem like smaller pools or areas. Plenty of room to be by others or by yourself. The other half is an infinity pool that looks towards the beach and is much quieter. We only ventured to that section a few times, but there usually weren't too many people crowding around so it was more relaxing. Wherever you are their are servers coming around with drinks & food menus so you don't really have to get up for anything you want.
The beach is huge and again there are plenty of options to be by yourselves, or join in.

We stayed in a preferred club swim out suite and loved it. We were in building 26 which isn't the one right on the beach, but right behind it. I was a little disappointed at first, but I ended up loving it because there was a cover of shrubbery between us and the main pool. It was nice to be able to go hang out there and still hear the music and everything, but be by ourselves. The swim out suites are 6 or 7 (I think) rooms connected, not one pool that loops through the resort like other places I've been. So there isn't too much chance of them being crowded. When we were there we rarely saw other people in the pool at the same time as us.

As for the food, I thought it was fantastic! You never know with AIs how it will be, but we didn't have one bad meal. Even our least favorite restaurant wasn't because the food wasn't good, it was because we just loved all the others more! There are plenty of options, and room service is great too.

I haven't been to the Valentin, but I have read some great reviews on here. I just know we had the most amazing time at SMB and couldn't wait to be able to go back. Counting down the days now for our next visit!! (136

) Hope this helps!!

Mexico honeymoon - SMB or VIM or both?

Re: Mexico honeymoon - SMB or VIM or both?

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