Just returned from a wonderful honeymoon at Excellence Playa Mujeres....perfect choice for us!!
We had arranged transportation through the hotel and they used Famar...they were waiting for us upon arrival and upon the return also....
We arrived to cool scented towels and a glass of champagne and then shown the property and checked in at the excellence club...We chose an excellence club ocean view...the rooms are amazing...very large...the shower is the best!!! the jacuzzi definitely big enough for two and had an ocean view!!! also loved the bed on the balcony for relaxing....
The pools are great , however there were a few float hoggers but for the most part there was always a float when we wanted one..the beach was kept very clean....great lounge called the X lounge on the beach that was great at night for a cocktail and stargazing....very romantic...and also beds set up on the beach
We booked a couple of tours right at the Aqua World stand on the property...We took a jungle trek tour on jet skis for about $60us dollars and then took a couples parasailing for about $30 us dollars...both were great....
The food was very good...breakfast buffet was awesome...make sure you get the french toast!! very wide selection.....Lunch we usually ate at The Grill or they had a grill set up by the pool for those who didnt want to go that far from the pool....the bar service by the pool was VERY quick....basically as soon as your glass was empty they were checking if you wanted another one..
Dinner selection was something for everyone....we ate at The Grill(steak)....Agave(mexican) dont forget to ask for the mexican coffee....Toscana (italian) and Spice (asian) which was our favorite...we ate dinner there twice....
They had a Caribbean Night that was ok....we enjoyed the music tthat was played outside nightly as we were there to relax and didnt want the fast pace environment that i have seen in other resorts....
The only negative i have is a small one but not enough to ruin our vacation.....the housekeeping was never the same time..we were out of the room by 9:00 and there were a couple of times we got back to the room at 4:00 or 5:00 and it still wasnt done and yes we had been tipping too!! and turn down service is usually pretty late...once they knocked on the door at 10:30 for turndown....but then a couple of times it was done early....
Overall this was the best vacation i have ever had...the resort was beautiful...we were in building 8 and the construction never bothered us...we did hear the music from outside during the day and at night but go with the flow....enjoy the music......
would i stay there again?? ABSOLUTELY!!!!!! i'm ready to pack already!!!!!
cindy

Some background on me: I am an avid review reader, but never a poster. I decided to write a review because of how heavily I relied on reviews to make my decision on where to go. The reviews for this resort were better and more consistent than any other I came across for a Caribbean vacation, so it was for that reason that I chose to spend my weeklong vacation at the Excellence Playa Mujeres ("EPM").

The resort did not disappoint. The service and facilities were all first class. I would say that my experience reflects the consensus view on this site. The hotel itself is beautiful and well laid out. The pools are all the perfect temperature. There are pools that are secluded and quiet and then there's the swim-up bar where most of the action is. The rooms are well designed and luxuriously appointed. The bed is a king size and a little on the firm side, but still comfortable. The room had many modern features including a wall mounted plasma tv, dvd player, wi-fi access, and an alarm clock that had an ipod docking station. The toilet thing is different, but not a big deal. The shower is huge and very relaxing (rain shower lives up to the hype).

SERVICE
We found the service to be outstanding for the most part (one waiter at the Lobster House was awful). We were greeted by two glasses of champagne and highly proficient English speakers upon checking in. We were "upgraded" to the Excellence section of the resort which I'm not convinced made much of a difference (room was located on construction side of hotel, which was not a bother at all). We did have access to the Excellence Club which is nice and convenient (computers snacks etc..).

Some of the employees (mainly the ones selling tours etc.) can be very long winded, especially if you don't speak Spanish, so know what you want to do before you talk to them or have some patience.

Maid service does come at inconsistent times, but we were rarely in the room, so it didn't matter. Theft wasn't a problem (I left my laptop out on the desk the entire time).

Service at all of the bars and resaurants (minus Lobster House) was great. ASK MANUEL FOR A MANNY SPECIAL at the poolside bar, you'll love it.

FOOD
DON'T expect 5 star meals. This is an all-inclusive resort. If you want to eat incredible food, go to NY, Vegas, or LA. The food is good for the most part (great at Spice and the French restaurant). The Lobster House was a disaster for us. The server practically ignored us (I even speak Spanish) and messed up my girlfriend's order twice and mine once. The food there was mediocre at best anyway. If I could do it all over again I would only eat at Spice and the French place for dinner. Breakfast is buffet style at Barcelona and not bad.

OVERALL
Great time. The activities were wonderful. My girlfriend and I enjoyed pingpong, sailing, volleyball, deep sea fishing, jet skis, and water polo.
WE WILL GO BACK.

P.S. For those that have rain in the forecast, don't worry. We had scattered showers and t-storms predicted for the entire week. It rained on only two days for no more than 2 hours each day.

As honeymooners, my husband and I were searching for a hotel that was secluded, well-kept, and full of amenities--something that would offer us decadence and tranquility. Excellence Playa Mujeres satisfied 85% of our wishes, with missteps coming mainly from sub-par (all-inclusive) food, disappointing housekeeping, and rowdy(er) guests. Below are some highlights and lowlights.

Highlights: wonderfully gracious staff; diverse and tasty breakfast and lunch buffets at the Barcelona; wide selection of clean and large pools to choose from; yummy frozen drinks at swim-up bar (Russel is great!); unbelievably relaxing couples massage on beach (ask for Deisy- she has amazing hands); refreshing pre-massage hydrotherapy treatment at the spa; huge room and even larger deck (we stayed in a Jr. Rooftop Terrace and were fortunate enough to get the corner room on the fourth floor - try to secure this for yourself - by the looks of it, rooms ending in -404 or -408 all have larger decks!); away from Cancun madness; Agave (Mexican food) is a delicious dinner option; The Grill (Steak House) is a delicious dinner option; Chez Isabelle and Barcelona were good, too; highly recommend using Olympus tours to plan off-campus tour - we went on the Selvatica zipline and sinkhole swim tour and it was amazing; perfect weather (only one day of rain; don't let the "scattered showers" reports bring you down!); great treadmills in gym; nice greeting with champagne and cool towel; beautiful landscaping; great shower!

Lowlights: inconsistent housekeeping and turndown service (e.g., turndown service showing up super early at 6pm on majority of nights, when we were having a seista!; room often went uncleaned until 2 or 3 pm; husband had ear infection, bled some on pillow sham and sham never changed by staff--we had to remove it ourselves!); bad, bad, BAD food and service at The Flavor Market (please don't waste your time here--though I heard the cheese plate is a nice appetizer before having a meal elsewhere); lots of exposed breasts, mainly Europeans (who knew you could go topless??); lots of lower-back-tattoo and tribal-band crowd drinking until they couldn't see straight in main pool with swim-up bar (again, I chalk this up to it being an all-inclusive and some people not knowing when to say when); smoking allowed practically everywhere, except in restaurants (as an East Coaster, I found it offputting to be reacquainted with smoking at the swim-up bar and martini bar--bars here have been smoke-free for months.); odd "sewage" odor in hotel room now and then; two porn channels (I mean, who needs more than one option, really??); gross sushi at the buffet and at Spice--every roll was filled with cream cheese, I suppose to please the masses--the most "exotic" offering was California roll.

Overall: Countless romantic charm and friendly atmosphere; make the most of it and try to ignore those folk who unfortunately bring it down with their "We're in Cancun, y'all!" dispositions. Would go back again in a heartbeat, knowing better to avoid The Flavor Market and Spice.

This place is amazing! If I didn't have one of those things called a job I would have never come back.

The food is excellent. the staff is very friendly, helpful, and cater to your every need. The rooms, restaurants, and hotel itself are very beautiful and well maintained.

We stayed in building 8 and it was very quiet, close to the main pool and the ocean, and we did not hear any construction. you could sometimes hear some construction while you were laying out but it was not a problem at all. They had a fountain in between the buildings near our room and to make the stay nice and quiet they even turned those off during certain hours.

We went for our anniversary and they made it a very special and memorable one. We had the best personal concierge named Marco who made us feel right at home and helped to take care of everything while we were there.

If you are going for your anniversary or honeymoon let them know ahead of time and they will take very good care of you. They do some special for you while you are there such as a bubble bath with candles and rose petals, and a special dinner and breakfast.

The restaurants are top notch. We tried to hit all of them during our stay. The only one that we were not able to get to was the Flavor Market. We thought that we might have a problem with the dress code but it turned out to be really cool. I don't get to take my wife out to a fancy dinner all that often so this was nice. Since all of the food is included they don't limit you to one restaurant a night and we had some fun with this. Like I said we tried to hit every restaurant while we were there and kept track of our favorites. Then on our final night we went to Agave just for our favorite appetizer, then to Spice for our favorite entree, and then finished our meal at Chez Isabelle for desert. We got some weird looks from the wait staff but it was a good time. We didn't have a bad meal while we were there. Thanks Ivan, Wilber, and Wilberto!

We had planned to go on several excursions while we were there but once we arrived we changed our minds and only went on one excursion. We went to Isla Mujeres and although it we had a good time we couldn't wait to get back.

While we were there had the couples massage on the beach. This was very nice, romantic, and relaxing. I did feel like a tool as they parade you from the spa to the beach bungalow where they do the massages in your robe. If you plan to do any of the spa treatments show up an hour early for their special spa circuit treatment. It is well worth it!

The pools are great and we had no problem finding a pool float or somewhere to relax. The beach is very nice and beautiful. It had stormed the day before we arrived and once while we were there and we did notice the seagrass was worse the day after a storm. The cleaned the seagrass up every morning and we didn't think it was an issue. While relaxing on the beach not only did they serve us drinks but they would come around with fresh fruit from time to time. This was very nice!

They try very hard to make sure that you have something to do. The Poker games were fun. We were pretty bummed that enough people didn't show up for the beach soccer. The bike ride was pretty cool.

Anyway, I highly recommend staying here and if you need anything don’t be afraid ask your concierge. We found out this was sometimes the best way to get things done. But everyone there was very helpful and they made this the best anniversary so far. I could go on and on about this place but you have to experience it for yourself.

I can’t wait to go back next spring!