We stayed at the Excellence Playa Mujeres from 17/07/08-31/07/08. We knew what the Hotel would be liked as we had stayed at the Excellence Riviera Maya last July.

Accommodation: The hotel was lovely, rooms were very spacious and nicely furnished with plenty of storage space. We had a large balcony which was sea facing. We stayed in block 7 which was centrally located for all the amenities. Our concierge, Cindy, was extremely helpful and friendly and couldnt do enough for us.

Food : The food was good, we especially liked breakfast and lunch in the Barcelona restaurant. The waiters were very professional and attentive. Dinner was good, with Spice and the Steakhouse being our favourite two restaurants. We never tried Flavor Market of the Lobster House so are unable to comment on them.

Pools & Beach: The pools were amazing and plenty of sunbeds were available with towels placed on them each morning. The main pool was never overcrowded as there was a good variety of pools to choose from and each block had their own pool. The beach was great, although not as big as the beach at the Excellence Riviera Maya.
The bar service around the pools and beach was excellent. The waiters were always coming round to offer you a drink.

Gym: The gym is very well equipped with five treadmills, three crosstrainers, three exercise bikes and also a variety of weights to use. Cold bottled water and fresh fruit were always available.

Entertainment :The entertainment staff were excellent, Gaston, Clara, Adrian, Luis, Roberto and Issac. Thanks so much to Gaston who was amazing and hopefully see you next year. They were always around during the day if you wanted to participate in games and sports. The evening entertaiment was a bit bland and would benefit from more variety, although some of the shows were quite good. The shows start at 21.00 which is far too early for a lot of people who are still at dinner. Some of the singers at the Cafe Cafe bar were very good.

The Hotel overall is fantastic, there are a few teething problems as it has only been open a few months but given time it will live up to its 5 star rating.

This vacation far exceeded all the expectations I had for an all-inclusive resort. My wife and I spent our honeymoon here, and though we are not rich upper class aficionados, we recognize good service and good food when we see it.

Pros: We arrived to an incredibly friendly staff that did not allow us to worry about anything. We were escorted, and our bags carried, to the excellence club for private check in. The staff is always genuinely friendly and eager to please. All week we experienced the consistently positive demeanor of the staff. As far as I could tell, they really did not expect tips, which surprised me but lived up to the advertisement.
The grounds and buildings are beautiful and clean. This resort was built in November of 2007. Our room was flawless and beautiful. We especially liked the 2 person shower, large hot tub, and marble floors. Room cleaning service astounded us by being totally on the ball twice a day with prompt cleaning and turndown service.
The food was excellent, and only one restaurant was less than superb, and that was mainly due to menu selection b/c the quality of the food was still top notch. I recommend Spice as the best option at the resort.
We ordered room service every morning for breakfast, and they always brought us a little more than we asked for.
I enjoyed the alcohol selection quite a bit. The in room liquor is not that great, but there are so incredibly many alcohol options at the resort that we barely touched it. Seriously, at almost any location on the resorts campus there is a bar within sight. Heaven forbid I had to walk more than 20 feet to order a drink, that is if I didn't want to just order from the waitress who seemed to have a smile surgically plastered on her face for 6 straight days. Warning to the American light beer drinker. The only US light beer available is coors light. Broaden your horizons and find a good mexican beer or a beer that doesn't taste like carbonated water. Use the all inclusive experience to discover a good tequila (hard to find in US). It makes the staff very happy (surprisingly so) if you shoot tequila.
I found the beach to be beautiful, except for one day before they cleaned the seaweed.
We expected, being in mexico, that people would not be punctual. Clearly they have been coached that being on time is important to their clientele. Everyone, from tour guides to airport transport, were right on time. No one was a minute late all week (except once on room service).
CONS:
The few cons we had are not really worth mentioning, but for the picky tourist who must find something to complain about:
Our room service was late ONCE and they forgot my breakfast but remembered my wife's. Really surprising and frustrating since the service the first 8 or 9 times we ordered room service was great. The man taking room service orders got frustrated by me one time on the phone b/c I couldn't understand his english and the communication breakdown caused his friendly facade to show a little frustration with me. No big deal though.
Occasionally we had trouble understanding the english of the staff, but not usually a problem.
We were in the excellence club, so I wondered what it would have been like if we weren't.
The hot tubs have just enough privacy if you are on the upper floors, but the curtain is sheer, and I would have been very uncomfortable and not very private in our hot tub if it would have been on the ground floor.
Smoking allowed in the lobby. Gross for non-smokers.
CONCLUSION:
Wonderful experience. Paradise. Blown away by friendliness of the staff. Great food. Great room. Would definitely recommend.

We booked this for our honeymoon. The only downside we would say was that the result was full of loud americans so you have been warned. The accommodation and food was excellent. The beach was lovely and we found a really quite pool.

To those who previously wrote only an average to below average review of this resort...."phantom" (Not sure if I used that in the correct text...anyway) On with the review.
My wife and I stayed for 6 days, July 29-August 3rd. We would classify our trip as the best we have ever had..ever!
Weather was gorgeous! The EPM Staff was amazing! The people we met were just awesome!.
I had emailed the resort a few days before our departure to check on transportation from the airport to the resort. The concierge immediately emailed back with the form to fill out and send back via email.
The next day, I received back from the same conceige, detailed instructions on the company that would pick us up, their uniform, and how to identify their badge.
We arrived, walked out of the airport and directly in front of me was a gentleman holding a large sign with my name on it. Two men took care of our bags as we walked 50 feet to the private Suburban that would take us to the resort. We felt very safe and secure every step of the way. We arrived to the resort to a super friendly staff that offered a refreshing towel and champagne.
We did pay a little extra for the Excellence Club and we are very glad that we did. There were a few extra perks but the main bonus was getting to meet the staff in a private setting. We had a private check-in and check-out in the Excellence Club Lounge. We also spent about an hour a night in this lounge before our evening meal. This was basically our happy hour. The ladies and gentlemen that staffed this area were excellent to talk to as well. Props to Marcos in the Excellence Club Lounge!
The meals were all amazing! We did not have anywere near a disappointing meal. We certainly had our favorites but continually tried new items and were not disappointed. This was a concern, given that I am a heart disease survivor, and am very strict about my diet. SSHH, I did try a piece of the coconut/cinnamon french toast, keep it on the low low, I don't want my cardiologist finding out. It was worth it! Breakfast was amazing! So much to choose from @ Barcelona. It was a buffet style with everything from ahi tuna to made to order omelettes. They did do egg white only for those watching that sort of thing. Fruit, breads, steamed veggies, lunch meat, crepes, pancakes, etc.,etc. Very good! We had a meal at every restaraunt except Agave. My wife and I always got something different and every time we were thrilled with what we got. The staff was far enough away but anytime we needed something they seemed to be right there. Definately 5 star!
The entertainment was a blast. Of course we met some really great couples @ the resort so we could of had a good time @ a grass mowing seminar. Really, the staff in charge of the entertainment was awesome! They were a lot of fun. They were friendly and had great senses of humor. I did partake in the activities on most days and some nights. Water volleyball and water polo mostly and had a great time. It got a lil competive at times but it was fun. "Forget about it" Brooklyn was well represented in the water sports! :)
My wife and I stayed on the resort grounds the entire trip simply because there was a lot to do. Next visit we will venture out more. We did the bicycle tour one morning which was very nice. Hit the bug spray before hand, the mosquitos are quite relentless. We also did the parasailing (beautiful, of course) and some kayaking. The staff that runs the water activities was fantastic as well!
The pools were endless and beautiful. If we were in the mood for some music and socializing we went to the main pool nearest the beach. There you could enjoy the swim up bar, music, the smell of the grill and a more social atmosphere. On our last day, we were beat and just felt like relaxing so we stayed closer to our room (building 7) and cozied up in one of the grass hut areas and read and than just floated in the pool. Very relaxing!
Our last night I had spoken to our conciege regarding our turn down service. Everything was perfect about it except we had not seen any of the towel art that we had seen in previous pictures. She was great, she asked what time we would be out of the room. I told her we had a couples massage on the beach (SICK, definately try it)@ 5 and she said she would take care of it and surprise us when we came back. My wife and I walked in and BAMM, their were rose petals leading to the freshly run bubble bath, champagne on ice, towel art of 2 swans forming a heart with a rose in the middle. The lights from the bed illuminated it onto the draperies...very nice!
Bottom line to an already long post...Above and Beyond Expectations! Friendliest resort staff we have ever had the pleasure of being around. In 15 years of marriage, we have not had a finer vacation. We highly recommend!

Scott & Heather
Couple #1 Indiana