We were very happy with the entire experience! We were there for our honeymoon. From the moment we arrived, we were treated like royalty. The entire staff was phenomenal. We especially enjoyed Alejandro (bellman) and Amable (Excellence Pool Waitress). The resort was immaculate inside and out and we have already recommended it to our friends for their 10yr anniversary. As far as the other people there, we met lots of wonderful people from all over the world. I would say this was a great vacation all around!

What a wonderful, unexpected vacation! We went to check the hotel out as my daughter wantsto get married there next summer. What we found was an unexpected pleasure. We stayed oceanfront and was treated to beauty everyday. My daughter was thrilled and so were we. The wedding coordinator-Noemi was fabulous and couldn't be more accomodating. Not only did we book the wedding and we are hoping to return before next July!!
The service was incredible and the spa was heaven!

I have stayed at other resorts that are more luxurious and customer focused, so I was comparing it to those the whole time I was there. First off, we did not have any items stolen and we did use the safe. As a "just in case," we only stored about half of our cash (about $250 total) in the safe at any given time.

* Check in: Upon arrival, they let us check in at 11:00am because our room was ready instead of making us wait until 2:00 or 3:00 for normal check in. The bellman walked beside us pointing out all of the restaurants and describing the shows that would take place later that night.

* With 440 rooms, the resort is fairly large. We got lost several times the first day or two.

* The numerous large, curving pools were very cool. We would enjoy them later.

Let me give you the NEGATIVES first:

* Once we got to the room, I quickly noticed several things that I would not expect from a "luxury" resort. The door had a gap at the bottom, like with the door closed, you could roll a nickel and it would roll right out. It wasn't a huge issue, but I would not expect a gap between the jam and the door at a luxury resort. I guess it might be foundation problems.

* The room has a few more issues. The railing on the balcony was all chipped. It wouldn't hurt to contract a paint crew to come out for a couple of weeks and paint the railings.

* The bed was hard.

* READ THIS: The toilet door does not go all the way to the ground. There is, by design, a 6-8 inch gap between the floor and the bathroom door. Where is the privacy? This is probably my biggest complaint about the property. Again, not something you would expect from a luxury resort. I find it odd that more people haven't commented about this.

* They should probably have a small first aid closet/station. My wife was stung by a bee on the first day and I had to buy the $9 medicine to spray on it. Insect bites/stings happen at all resorts sometimes. But the 3-star resorts would make you buy medicine, while a 5-star would not. Paying $9 is not that big of a deal, but I'm just saying that I thought this was a "luxury" resort.

* The restaurants were hit or miss. The breakfast was the only consistently good meal we had from day to day. Mosquitos were a huge problem our first night, but then they were gone. Don't ask me why.

* There was a group of about 20 obnoxious guests at the main pool each day who seemed like a bunch of prior fraternity brothers and sorority sisters. Come on, if you want to relive that "spring break experience," stay at one of the resorts in Cancun that caters to that party / loud music atmosphere. You could definitely save quite a bit too, because they are probably much cheaper than the $450 avg/night this place charges. Fortunately, because the resort has so many pools, my wife and I could easily escape to another pool or to the beach.

* I found it insulting that I had to pay $6 to use the computer/internet for 30 minutes. They said that I could have brought my laptop and had free internet access, but I wasn't going to take the chance of it being stolen, so I didn't bring it. Again, if you are a luxury resort, maybe you should provide computers/internet free of charge for guests.

Now for the POSITIVES:

* Staff was superb. Even when I commented to the conceirge that using their "business center" for internet should be free, he agreed.

* Property was very clean.

* Towels and chairs were plentiful.

* Lobster restaurant was the best for the evening meal.

Overall, this resort is properly rated as a 4 star instead of 4.5 or 5. Seems their rates are close to that of a 4.5 or 5.

Its 34 degrees in the shade and as our taxi pulls up to the lobby area we are greeted by an immaculately dressed member of reception staff. We have arrived at the Excellence Cancun. With great efficiency our bags are immediately taken from the taxi by the bell boys and labeled up ready for taking to our rooms. Next we are greeted with 'Welcome to the Excellence Sir' and given a cool scented towel to refresh ourselves. On entering the large electric doors you enter an ice cold reception area that looks immaculate. A glass of bubbly is handed to each of our party and we are welcomed by the head concierge. Alfonso takes the time to explain that our stay will be perfect and that if we want anything he is there at our disposal. Anna the deputy manager also introduced herself to us. I feel like I have entered a very classy hotel indeed. As we descend in the lift we emerge to the Martini bar where people are sipping cocktails and SOL beers with limes on the glass edge. As we are shown our way to Spa block 2 Alfonso takes the time together with Arturo to show us some of the hotels features such as bars,theater, Gymnasium,Shops,nightclub, restaurants etc. we were given a top floor room overlooking the Spa and lazy river pool below. We could clearly see the sea with the waves breaking on the reef not far off shore. We were shown the features of our room 2304 double basin,toilet, large shower, a huge bed, well stocked mini bar with beers, cool drinks, nuts,snickers,M&M's etc and a sit down area where one could enjoy a meal. on the table was a fresh bowl of varied fruit together with a bottle of bubbly in an ice bucket. Now thats a good start to a holiday. Over the next few days we took time to visit all the restaurants. Chez Issabelle was a classic European looking restaurant with high back seats and candle lit. We had the Chateaubriand and lamb which was lovely. The Toscana, Barcelona, Oregano, Grill, Lobster house, Agave were all good and didn't have any cause for complaint during our entire 2 weeks stay. I particularly liked the Asian SPICE. There are three rooms which hold about 8 persons and you are guests at your own food show. The chef made food fun with concentric onion rings on top of each other with alcohol set on fire to simulate a volcano – very clever indeed. It was a good opportunity to talk to other guests such as two couples from New York and Washington both of who were on honeymoon.
The main pool can get a little busy but I never found it to be loud and brash like I have experienced at other hotels. We stayed generally on the far side next to the Spa where is is piped music from the Spa building and people floating slowly past on the lazy river. Towels were never an issue although it would make good sense if you didn't leave it too late to secure a sunbed.
I never heard any construction noise during my stay at all. I never experienced any ants or bugs whatsoever.. What I liked most about the Excellence is that everyone were professional well presented and helpful. The Excellence was for me just the right size. Sometimes you couldn't believe that it was probably at 90% capacity. Now I am back in a much cooler England I wish i was back there again. They have a catch phrase at the Excellence which is at the Excellence 'Todos es possible' Everything is possible. The management staff, particularly Anna, Javier the restaurant manager, Alfonso Head concierge and Silvario the drinks manager always did everything possible to ensure their guests had a fault free stay . We have stayed at the Moon Palace and Playacar Palace before. The Moon Palace was very nice but a little too big for me but the Excellence for me was the best hotel I have ever stayed at and cant wait to go back. Hasta Luego.
Any questions feel free to email me. you will have a great time there dont take too much notice of the bad reviews I dont know how they can say those things. They must have stayed at a different hotel.