Meg T.
Yelp
This is literally close to the worst experience I've had at a hotel and definitely the worst experience for an all inclusive I've ever had.
First off - BEWARE - if you are a foodie, or have dietary concerns 1000% do not stay here. Beyond Basmati our last night (great service and great food) 90% of the food was bland to the point of inedible.
Very early on we realized they didn't seem to keep to the dietary retsrictions I gave them. For EVERY MEAL, I would have to repeat myself, and my allergies, over and over again. I have ten different allergies and really prefer not to spend the first ten minutes of every meal listing them to someone who's already translating Spanish to English in their head.
Pro-tip for the dairy, gluten, soy free peeps who still choose to come here (I'm begging you not to) - they have white rice, bean, shrimp 'salad bowls' at the pizza oven bar during midday. I lived off that, bacon, eggs, and baked potatoes for several days after starting to only order off book via room service.
Honestly, every meal was such a hassle and put me in the worst mood. Because even after complaining to the food and beverage manager? That long list of allergies I gave them? The waiters, the staff, oh and room service - not a single one of them would have it in front of them when I would call or sit down and order (except Basmati who had the gluten free showing). I even walked out of one meal - not kidding.
Okay, so let's talk about the lavish extravagant swim up room. That in person looked nothing like the pictures on the site and at NO POINT in the day received direct sunlight onto the deck bed. It was beautiful, but of the two things we wanted it for: easy access to the pool (the pool in front of ours was freezing) and sunbathing, it had one. It also didn't have bar service room-side, which the pictures would lead you to believe.
I will say that some club rooms have both direct sun and were attached to a private pool, so even though they're all 'swim-up-pool' rooms, the experience you have is vastly different based on which room you randomly get.
What our room did have however, was loud music, microphone yelling during pictionary and dance off contests, cigarette smoke (apparently you can smoke at this hotel) and an overall really terrible cruise ship vibe.
We finally discovered a quieter excellence club only pool that had its own bar our last day and would have definitely been nice to have been introduced to our first day when we checked in. While we got a tour, I don't think it was as inclusive of the club level amenities as it should have been.
Prior to check in I also had no idea they had a dress code for men, luckily Excellence lent us a shirt, but still - it would have been nice to have had a heads up before we packed. (I normally bring a couple dressy things and a classy sandal so I was fine.)
Overall this hotel seems to be in style for empty nesters and people who want to take a cruise but fear the water. The rooms are opulent, but the corners they cut where is matters made the experience sub par. A ton of alcohol and restaurants that are only open for minimal hours (Why is the smoothie shack only open for two hours? Why is Basmati not open for lunch?) just made me want to throw up my hands and be done with the visit.
We like good food and the sun, the pools heated at night, and we like a short walk to everything. We don't need an attached jacuzzi, a theater, nine bad restaurants, or 'Lido deck-esque' music constantly. We don't care about twice daily cleaning, a separate mini bar stocking, and turn down service - all of which make the room almost unusable for daytime naps.
Save your money - they won't refund you any nights if you're disatisfied and want to leave. Which we almost did back to Live Aqua (which we loved last year).
After coming from the relaxing hands off, warm water, and good food of Jamacia, I think we're actually done with Cancun. Either way we will definitely NEVER be coming back to Excellence.