u/EasternCantaloupe1

It's been years since I've been on this sub, though I recall it having pretty strong auto-mod policy where questions were filtered out. Didn't see a mega-thread, hope this is OK!

So I want to DIY ceramic coat my car (leaning towards Armour non-pro), though I don't really have access to a hose.

Since Iron remover is pretty strong stuff- I'd prefer to skip it without doing a hose rinse.

This is what I was planning on doing APC Spray Soak > ONR Wash > Clay Towel > spot compounding if needed > 2 rounds of IPA Spray > Apply ceramic coating.

Think that will be OK, or is it a bad idea to skip an iron remover?

My MO is always the cheapest room in the best hotel, so with those rooms booked, Secrets Moxché came out to about $410/night, and Valentin about $260/night (two people, jungle rooms). We’ve stayed at numerous adults‑only AIs, and funny enough, these two were the most different from the typical AI experience—and even more funny, they couldn’t be more different from each other. I’d recommend either to someone looking to switch things up.

Pools & Grounds

Both resorts are stunning and unique, but in completely different ways. Valentin might have one of the most beautiful main pools, and quiet pools I've seen. And they’re both in the same resort.

Moxché takes a scattershot approach with basically five swimmable pools (excluding restricted‑access ones), each totally different from the next. It feels like walking into new themed areas at Disney World.

Both share the same con: they’re not ocean-centric from public areas. At Valentin, you practically never see the ocean—even the beachfront restaurant is more “partial ocean view.” At Moxché, you’ll see the ocean it from the lobby, buffet, main pool, and beachfront restaurant. (and obviously the rooftop/room if you pay for it).

Seeing the ocean also means getting an ocean breeze, and if you’re traveling in August, the lack of that breeze makes both resorts feel warmer.

Shade at Valentin’s main pool is at a premium. Most days you have to play the towel game to get a shaded spot. It wasn’t a huge deal because even in the shade it was still pretty hot, so we spent most of the time in the water.

Moxché surprisingly has towel‑game police, so we were able to get nice main‑pool spots after breakfast. I’m sure peak season is tougher. Seating is limited, and the resort is clearly designed for people to spread out across all five pools.

Breakfast

Breakfast buffets are about the same, maybe a slight edge to Moxché. Their bakery is significantly higher quality, and overall buffet presentation is nicer. We don’t particularly care, but it’s worth noting that base rooms at Moxché do not have access to an à la carte breakfast option.

Lunch

This is where the extra money at Moxché starts to show. À la carte lunches were generally very good—significantly better than Valentin. Valentin isn’t bad, but it’s closer to what I’d call “AI quality.” Moxché is much closer to “real life” restaurant quality.

Valentin’s best food overall might actually be the lunch buffet. They serve such a ridiculous amount of options that by brute force you’re bound to find something great—or at least something you’re in the mood for. Moxché’s lunch buffet is smaller, but that’s not a bad thing. You can skip the hike to the lobby and enjoy à la carte near the pool. That said the buffet prime rib at Moxché is probably the best free beef you’ll get at either resort.

Dinner

Dinners at Moxché are extremely good. Most dishes are creative, interesting, and pass the “would a real restaurant serve this?” test. It’s still an AI, so there are a few losers. Across AIs, I’ve found that dishes where red meat is the star have a high likelihood of being the losers, and that held true here.

Valentin is not bad, but I’d call it just OK and in line with what I’d expect at this price point. The menus are less interesting, and most dishes were “fine” rather than “great.” I’d probably rank Valentin’s dinners near the bottom of the resorts I’ve been to—maybe close to TRS, which was very mixed.

Restaurant Service

Valentin’s dinner service was well above average. Restaurants were never crowded, and service felt close to good U.S. restaurant service—drinks topped off, waiter always nearby, pacing between apps/entrees good, etc. 

Secrets’ dinner service is average. Not as great at checking in on drinks etc., but still in line with typical AI service. Their servers clearly handle more tables.

Pool Service

Pool service at Secrets is well above average. They have proactive pool concierges who introduce themselves, help with towels, adjust umbrellas, and check in throughout the day. I’ve only seen this at Grand Velas or non‑AI 5‑stars. Usually these guys exist, but only on request for initial setup. 

Drink/food service at the pool is also well above average at Secrets, though it varied day to day. Only at Excellence PM have we seen “hyperactive” pool service every single day—where you feel like you could lie there all day without worrying when the waiter will come back. We didn’t even get that at Grand Velas, so maybe it was a fluke. 

Valentin is average—you’ll see someone eventually, but it’s more of an “every once in a while” thing.

Bars

Pool drinks were significantly better at Secrets. They measure pours, and it shows. Secrets also offers some semi‑unique cocktails at the pool that, while not diabetes‑friendly, were remarkably balanced for pool drinks.

Surprisingly, nighttime craft cocktails are a weak spot at Secrets. Each restaurant has a specialty cocktail, but outside of that, there’s no nighttime bar with unique cocktails. I thought the “speakeasy” would have them, but it’s not a traditional speakeasy—it’s just a speakeasy entrance to their club.

I don’t think a single nighttime bar at secrets has a menu, except the tiki restaurant. It serves a few tiki‑inspired drinks, but they’re more rum‑punch‑style than true cocktails.

Valentin has unique cocktails with extended menus across three bars at night. Nothing we tried was amazing, but it’s still more fun to sample something new.

Rooms:

Thankfully I happened to hear in a TA Youtube video prior to my cancelation window that Moxche’s cheapest rooms have awful views. We spend very little time in our rooms, and opted to keep the ~20% savings. We figured it was unlikely it was that bad, or worse case scenario we could pay to upgrade.     It was not an exaggeration, the back half of the hotel is currently overlooking a bare dirt lot, and beyond that another hotel.  Really, really poor. They should not call the room tropical view room.  

I would have felt a bit cheated had I not known about this prior to committing the room.  

The room itself was nice/modern, though a bit mildewy and didn’t get below 71 at night.

Valentin of course is not modern but also nice in its own way. In a funny way the cheap rooms at Valentin have some of the best central locations which is an advantage in a resort this massive. Their rooms got cold and did not smell. 

Conclusion:

For the price paid valentin was extremely good- though I think clearly is in a bit of a lower class than many of the commonly recommended adults only AI options. The design of the resort overall is stunning with beatiful nature walks, but has the con of limited ocean viewability.

Secrets Moxche is extremely modern, unique, and beatiful, though I think I may be partial to a larger main pool that has more of the resort open to the ocean.

I understand indrive is a bid system, where you pay in cash, and there is limited feedback online of people using it to get to the airport. (There is some chatter about it being approved for pickup at CUN>PDC but I couldn't find one success story).

It looks like it's suggesting a bid of 540 pesos/$32 for PDC>CUN. About half the price of a pre-arranged shuttle.

Is this fare easy to get from PDC leaving around maybe 10am?