Excellence Resorts?

[SJ]

DH & I are planning a getaway for my 30th birthday in November or December.

We will leave the baby with my parents, so we just want to eat, drink, and relax. We are leaning towards doing once of the Excellence AI resorts. I know many posters have been before, but I am not having luck searching.

The Riviera Maya resort is more than the Cancun resort. Is it worth the extra price?
Should we book on our own through their website or is there another way to save money?
Is the Excellence Club worth it?
Any other tips?

We have enough points for one free flight so I was thinking of booking our own separately.

[chicago]

I've been to Excellence Playa Mujeres. It was great for an adults only AI. Like any AI, food and drinks are good, not great.

I'm surprised that ERC is more expensive. EPM is newer and generally regarded as nicer, though Playa Mujeres isn't really close to anything off property. The beach isn't the best at either location, but we prefer the pool anyway.

I have always found the cheapest price to be through Expedia. Book your transfers through USA Transfers for $69 round trip for a private transfer.

I don't think Excellence Club is worth it unless you want the ocean view and better alcohol. We had great service, and drinks around the pool and at dinner are the same whether you are EC or not.

eta: I know lots of posters have been, but I can only remember @amoosed.

[emilyinchile]

We went to Excellence Punta Cana as our first (and so far only) AI resort back in Dec. We did the Excellence Club, and while I don't think it's actually worth the price, I also might do it again anyway. I really liked having the separate beach area with nicer loungers and what seemed like a higher ratio of staff:guests, and the spa treatment was really good (although if you just want that, it's cheaper to pay for it separately rather than getting the club rate). We did use the separate lounge area as well.

I'd look at finding a travel agent affiliated with Excellence hotels to see if you can either get a lower rate or if for the same rate you can get perks like the Excellence Club for free or a bigger room or something like that.

[SJ]

Thanks! chicago, you are right. EPM is the more expensive of the two in Mexico- I mis-typed.

[Purple]

We went to Excellence Riviera Cancun back in 2011. We didn't do the club level and were just fine with that. We booked through All Inclusive Outlet where air, hotel and transfers were included in the price. It was under $3k for 7 days. This was one of the better all inclusives that we stayed at. 

[escrow]

We just got back from EPM a few nights ago - highly recommend! Although the only other place we have visited is Couples Swept Away in Jamaica. We thought the service was amazing and the grounds and hotel, everything so immaculate. We did not do EC, we were just in the cheapest pool view room which was more than fine for us. We were blown away with what we got for the $ honestly. pp is correct in that the beach is not amazing or anything, but the pools and lazy river are so nice and the service around the pools is great.

We booked through Expedia. I think we did the math and it was around $265/night (airfare excluded).

[SJ]

If anyone else is interested Orbitz has a 20% off code "OUTTAHERE" which applies to EPM. Plus it's 6% cash back via Upromise. We are booking today or tomorrow!

[autumnfire]

We went to Excellence in Punta Cana and loved it. We did not upgrade to the EC. We had a great time. The only thing I wish I would have realized was our hotel was on the Atlantic side so the water was really choppy and you weren't able to do many water sports due to this. I am a scuba diver and would have loved to snorkel locally but again it was harder given the water. Our bad not the hotels. Overall it was a great stay and a chain we'll stick with in the future if we wanted to do an Adults only AI. Alcohol was also pretty good.

We brought some bubba mugs (less to refill) and booked a session with the onsite photographer (who did an AMAZING JOB!) as a photographer myself we don't have many professional photos of us. Going some where so beautiful and tropical I couldn't pass up researching photographers and hiring one. It just so happened the one I was seriously eying in PC was a vendor located at our resort.

Have a great time!

[vanillacourage]

EPM is amazing, we've even there twice. Isla Mujeres is an easy and fun day trip (no all-day bus ride like you get with more Cancun-based excursions).

[suzyp]

I'm like the one dissenter. We went to EPM for our anniversary, it was fine, but not the amazing place I was anticipating. There were several times that the food was absolutely disgusting (and I pretty much eat anything). We had fun, but we won't go back. The Excellence Club was definitely not worth it. Our "ocean front" room was far away from the actual ocean (as in the wedding chapel, a bunch of trees, etc. until you could finally see the ocean). You got better liquor, but I drink beer, so it's a bit lost on me. The EC room was also not that impressive and again, some of the food there was gross. I am definitely in the minority in my opinion though.

We married and honeymooned at Karisma resorts (Azul Beach and El Dorado Royale) and loved them.