My husband and I returned to EPM for a ten day stay in June- this was our second trip as we visited for five days in January of 2008. I must say that even though we had a fabulous time in January, we had an even better time in June and noticed some significant improvements since our last stay.

Overall, the property has grown into itself; the gardens are getting more flourish and the service was fabulous. I must say that a lot of people on here say that the Excellence Club is not worth the extra money, but I wholeheartedly disagree. This is our fifth visit to an Excellence property and we have noticed a difference between club service and non club service. The Excellence Club itself offers top shelf drinks such as Belvedere, etc., and great snacks, newspapers, and a book and magazine depository in case you run out of things to read. This is great since they do not sell books in the gift shop and magazines are $10 plus each. Moreover, the personalized service in the club is amazing. U.S. Airways lost our luggage and we did not ultimately get it until the ninth evening- right before we left! Members of the concierge in the club kept calling the Cancun airport and U.S. Airways to get the status updates, and even arranged to get my husband long pants to borrow for the restaurants until we were able to get out to buy clothes. They were so helpful. The club rooms are the same as the regular rooms, however, our view was much better, as they are all ocean front. We requested building 9 and an upper level in advance by e-mail, which we got. The view was amazing. What is also nice about club rooms is the floral arrangement they put in the room, which gives a nice tropical touch, the Bvlgari toiletries, which are much nicer than the regular room toiletries, and the club room service menu, which has extra stuff available over the regular rooms.

We had great experiences at all of the restaurants- we still think the French is overrated and the Mexican (Agave) is the best! We tried the Tapas this time, which was fab, and is a great choice for pre dinner apps on a night that you want a late dinner. Also, this time we tried the X-lounge, which I have to say is now one of my favorite features about the property. The X-lounge has couches and beds to sit/lay on, and a bartender to bring you’re your beverage choices, while you can look out at the night sky and views of the ocean/Isla Mujeres. The other cool thing is that they play lounge-type music that are remakes of great rock songs by Bon Jovi, the Rolling Stones, etc. It is really cool to relax and listen to try to figure out the covers because they are so different! I requested a copy of the CD from the Club concierge and they gave me one to take home! It is great for entertaining! It is only one example of how great the service is.

Regarding the spa, the last time we were here I had the Excellence massage, which was your typical sweedish. I like sports massages better though, so this time I tried the high tide- it was perfect! Try that one if you like a harder massage.

We also took a trip to Isla Mujeres one day. We took a short cab ride to the ferry (I think it was $10 or $12), and then took the ferry over ($7 pp round trip). We walked around the town, went to Playa Norte, and went snorkeling, which I highly recommend. There were two snorkeling options, being with or without lunch, for $20 or $25 pp.

At the hotel, there were also plenty of activities such that you didn’t even need to leave. They have Hobie cats, water kayaks, beach volleyball, and even a zoo! The bike ride activity takes you to the zoo on the property, where there are parrots, jaguars, iguanas, and more. It was really cool. We have now stayed at this property twice and ERC twice, and absolutely recommend this property over ERC. We have also looked at other resorts before going back here and found that you cannot get this quality elsewhere for the price- this is the best deal out there and incredible quality. We can’t wait to try the Jamaica property next year!

Great place. Pictures online do not do it justice. Food was impressive to see but slightly lacking in flavor. It is off the main cancun strip which can be a good thing. The beach quality is so so. It is more of a bay than a real ocean. The island playa mujeres is directly off the coast which forms a bay like feel. It is still very nice. Pools are outstanding. This a very classy resort. The staff was outstanding and always happy. Their disco was jumping for a resort. You will love this place if you want a fun romantic get away.

I just thought I'd write a review to say what a wonderful time my husband and I had at this resort in May of this year.
We've previously stayed at the Excellence Riviera Cancun, and whilst that stay was also wonderful, this one just surpassed our expectations. I had read alot of the reviews on here before booking it and was a little nervous at some of the negative reviews but all I can say is, were they at the same resort as me? I don't think so.

Rooms

We paid a little extra to stay in the Excellence Club. Was it worth it? Well that depends on what you want/expect. Free internet access in the Excellence Club. Separate area of palapas on the beach. Bulgari toiletries in the bathroom and spirits/wine in the room as well as the mini-bar. The spirits were premium brands and both those and the wine were replenished as soon as the bottle was emptied. We never had to ring to ask them to do it. If that floats your boat, then yes it's worth it. If not, then I guess a standard room would suffice. Day bed on the balcony, big comfy four poster in the room. What more could you want?

Food

What can I say about the food. It was absolutely wonderful. We tried all the restaurants and found each and every one to be fabulous. My husband had the fish baked in salt one night and that was just something else. I think it was in the mediterranean restaurant. I can highly recommend that dish.
The teppan-yaki dish at the oriental restaurant was also a favourite of ours.

Grounds/Pool/Beach

The gounds are fabulous. Well tended, flowering shrubs everywhere, palm trees - everything you would expect to see.
The pools were great to lounge around in especially if you could grab one of the blue floats. The pool around the spa was particularly quiet and relaxing. The rowdiest was obviously the pool next to the swim-up bar but even that wasn't absolutely riotous. The beach was lovely. Whether you want to walk it or just lay on it all day. Waiter service on the beach - it even got to the stage where we didn't have to order, the waiter just brought us ours automatically. Were we really that predictable?

There was some building work going on next door but I can HONESTLY say it never bothered us. You couldn't hear them and if there had been a row of palm trees blocking the building site out I honestly don't think I would have realised what was going on.

Overall, I would recommend this hotel to anyone. What I would say though, is that anyone wanting to be in the thick of the action (ie the hotel zone), next to all the nightlife and who wants to be out clubbing till 3 or 4 in the morning, well then they will probably find this hotel a little quiet for their liking. Anyone who wants to totally chill out and relax for the duration of their break though, well then I cant recommend it enough.

we have just returned from 2 weeks of total heaven,this hotel was fantastic we have no complaints whatsoever about this resort apart from the loud mouthed amercians,hotel staff are by far the most friendliest i have ever come across espeicaly jamie @ breakfast buffet who made our stay so special, also louis from the entertainment staff who made our evenings eventful.all staff work so hard i myself tipped @every meal which i didnt see many people doing. i will be going back next year to meet up with all of the great staff.