After reading the many reviews on TripAdvisor, we were a little bit nervous about EPM. However, our experience at Excellence Playa Mujeres was AMAZING. Here's a quick summary:

ROOM: The pictures really don't do the resort justice. The rooms are spacious and beautiful with high-end linens and a giant shower. The bathroom, which we were worried about, really did not prove to be an issue. I could see how it might be a little bit weird for friends sharing a room, but for a couple, it's not a big deal. The balcony with a huge bed for relaxing was enjoyable. We didn't end up using the in-room jacuzzi, but it looked great. We were in Building 6, which faced the construction in the back. We never heard it in our room AT ALL.

SERVICE: The service was great. All of the waiters, waitresses, bartenders, etc. were friendly and efficient. There was almost no issue with the language barrier. We tipped because we felt that everyone worked really hard -- it certainly was appreciated, but not expected. I would recommend coming with $100 to $200 in small bills, if you plan on tipping.

FOOD: If you go to the resort expecting 5-star New York restaurant fare, you'll be disappointed. However, if you go to the resort expecting delicious, well-rounded, nicely-presented cuisine, you'll be very happy. Our favorite restaurant was Agave, followed by Barcelona (great buffet breakfast and lunch) and Spice (definitely go for the hibachi). Drinks are plentiful and fruity -- order the Coco Loco just for the experience of drinking from a coconut. Also, the strawberry margaritas and Miami Vices are great (half pina colada/half strawberry daquiri). The steak at The Grill was a little bit disappointing, but the shrimp cocktail was delicious there.

ACTIVITES: There are tons of activities day and night, but we spent most of our time relaxing by the pool and the beach. It's a long, expensive ride to Cancun proper (about 35 minutes and $30 each way), so if you're looking to club hop nightly, don't go to EPM. It's really a mellow resort for couples and people looking to stay on the property and have fun.

SPA: Don't miss the spa -- it's amazing. Try the Excellence Massage or the Deep Tissue Massage. Go an hour before your treatment for the Marine Wellness Circuit -- it's very relaxing.

OVERALL: If you're looking to relax on a beautiful beach with friendly people, EPM is the place for you. If you're looking for major nightlife or a singles scene, go somewhere else. For day trips outside of the resort, book at the hotel (I suggest Alberto from Olympus Tours -- he's on the premesis) and make sure that transportation to and from the resort is included. Otherwise, you'll end up spending $60 round trip on a cab to meet up with the rest of the people in the hotel zone. The dress code is enforced at night (long pants for men in most restaurants). Most women wore sundresses or cute tops with skirts, while the men wore polo shirts and khakis.

We stayed at EPM May7th-14th, 2008. After careful review of many destinations to have our wedding we chose Excellence Playa Mujeres. We have no regrets after our experience. We would like to share our experience for other couples considering a destination wedding. From the beginning correspondence with the resort was always prompt. As you know as the bride you have many questions, and concerns about the most important wedding day. You want perfection! Well I had the pleasure of having Mrs. Nayeli Ugarte to handle all the details of our wedding. Mrs. Ugarte is the up most professional in doing her job. She was an excellent wedding planner, and she made our day very special by her attention the smallest detail. On the day of our wedding she even help with getting me into my corset gown I would have never been able to get into by myself. My husband and I went solo with no guests. My husband was given a room on our wedding day to allow me privacy so we would not see each other until the ceremony. Mrs. Ugarte arrived to present me with a beautiful diamond journey pendant from my husband before the ceremony. I was deeply touched by his thoughtfulness. The wedding gazebo is beautiful, and our building was next to the gazebo so I was able to watch other weddings from our balcony. We upgraded to the Excellence club to receive our wedding for free. We stayed in room #9358. Brides try to stay in building 9 because it is a short distance to the gazebo. I could not imagine having to walk a long distance in the heat, and humidity. The gazebo area is small if you are going to have guests attend the wedding so take that into consideration. You can also decorate the gazebo with flowers at an extra cost. We chose to have our wedding dinner at Chez Isabelle the French restaurant. Upon our arrival they played "Here comes the Bride" to our surprise, and delight. Our table was decorated with flowers. My husband chose the steak, and I have the duck, and it was the best meal we had the resort. You can purchase wine with your dinner for a cost. The restaurant promised to deliver our cake to our room, and we never received the cake. We called Mrs. Ugarte and she had another wedding cake made for us, and delivered it with a bottle of champagne. We also had set up the free wedding breakfast in bed, but it was never delivered. We had to order room service because they forgot. Our suite was decorated with rose petals, the beautiful swans, and banner on our wedding day when we returned.

COMPLAINTS
Our complaints are minor that the maids were not consistent in cleaning our rooms, and the constant interruptions at the door to clean the room. There were no signs to hang on our door to ask to not be disturb. During our stay we had quite a few interruptions when we took our afternoons siestas. Once they came to spray the rooms for bugs. As everyone here has advise use the safe for the valuables in your room.

Our least favorite place to eat was the Flavor Market. Disgusting!
One word of warning about the photography company presently contracted by the resort. The photographer who shot our wedding was inexperieced and it show in the pictures. My husband is also a photographer and he even advised the photographer how to shoot. The contrast was bad, and the pictures we recieved were bad. Your wedding pictures are an important part of your wedding. You get one shot, and no retakes. We were not happy with the photos. You can hire your own photographer, and we regret that we did not. Mrs. Ugarte explained that they are aware of prior complaints about the company they use.

We invite you to view our wedding/honeymoon pictures at:
ewedding.com/site/liznrich/

I just returned home last night after being at the Excellence for 4 days, 3 nights. Our trip was amazing!! I can honestly say I've never been so sad that a vacation has ended! We tried every restaurant and the food was always excellent! I'd recommend The Grill for lunch, and either Barcelona or the French restaurant (don't remember the name) for dinner. The rooms were gorgeous and clean, staff incredibly friendly and funny, spa services wonderful! I went with my boyfriend, sister in law and her husband! There were lots of fun activities at night to choose from and fun activities during the day too by the beach and pool! The views were wonderful. Couldn't have asked for anything more. Can't wait to go back!

My husbond and I stayed at the Excellence Playa Mujeres Resort just north of Cancun from May 1 - May 6 and I appologize that I am just now getting around to writing a review on it! But, it still seems like a dream, because everything was so wonderful!! We wish every day that we could go back and relive it - it was just amazing! We have been taking vacations for our anniversary every year for 28 years and this trip was by far the best one ever. We have stayed at several all-inclusive resorts in Mexico and Punta Cana and been on many cruises, but this beautiful, new resort has the best of everything all in one place.
We had read both good and bad reviews before going and even read about people having their rooms robbed, but I actually left my ipod nano at the pool one afternoon and when I discovered that I had hours later, we called and one of the guys who cleaned at the pool had found it and turned it in and it was returned to me within minutes of calling about it. The resort is like paradise - everywhere you look the landscaping is just beautiful. The hibiscus were in bloom and the grounds are kept immaculate.
When we checked in, we had heard that pretty much everyone was getting upgraded. We didn't get that lucky, unfortunately, and were told that there were no roof top rooms available and that if we wanted to upgrade to an oceanview in the Excellence Club in Block 9 (which was where we wanted to be), we would have to pay $95 more a night. After a while, a girl name Patricia came over and said they were booked up completely but would not look us in the eye, so we knew she was lying. (Steer clear of her, if you see her at check in!) We ended up paying the difference and getting a great room looking out at the ocean and across at Isla Mujeres. This was the only negative thing about the entire stay. It probably was only 20 -50% booked the whole time we were there - we felt like we had the place to ourselves most of the time and never had trouble getting in to any of the restaurants. We always got the same beach bed on the beach and we even made friends with the most wonderful bartender - Abelardo - we will never forget him. We tipped him generously just because he was so great at remembering what we liked to drink and having one ready for us when we returned from kayaking or sailing on the Hobie Cats. The weather was perfect every day and only the last day did any seaweed wash up on the beach, but the guy with the tractor was working diligently at getting it all cleaned up. The food was great and we enjoyed all the choices at breakfast. We could eat something different every morning and most everything we tried was delicious. Our room was always cleaned later in the day, but we were still at the beach or the pools, so this was fine with us. We liked having access to the Excellence CLub lounge where we emailed our daughters each morning. The bed on the balcony was a nice touch and we also enjoyed the flat screen TV. We had heard about channels 49 and 50 and checked them out - this is an all-adult resort afterall!!
Overall, we can't say enough positive things about this resort. We would LOVE to go back again.