My wife and I stayed at the Excellence Riviera Cancun from January 11- January 15, 2008 and I’m happy to pass along our impressions:

•The trip itself from NJ was uneventful. I must say that American Express handled things very nicely and when we got off the plan and went through customs we went right to their counter. They literally walked us to the van that took us to the resort. As you have read here before, time share sellers will try and pull you aside and, not to be rude, but you should just walk right past them to your transportation

•It’s about a half hour ride to the resort from the airport. The drive up the hotel provides no clue to the beauty inside

•Once you get to the resort, they are waiting for you with open arms, a cool towel for your face/neck, and a glass of champagne once you walk into the expansive lobby. This greeting is a harbinger of the way you’ll be treated in general at Excellence, which is very, very good

•More on the staff: They can’t do enough for you, really. Everyone who walks past you has a smile and a hello. One time we asked a head waiter at a restaurant about a different restaurant. He literally walked us over and introduced us to the staff at that restaurant and didn’t leave until he was sure we were seated and comfortable. This was the consistent level of service we experienced

•Speaking of food, it was generally quite good. Breakfast was an expansive buffet with omelets, cereal, bagels and muffins—you name it. There are a number of restaurants at Excellence. Thai/Chinese, Steak and seafood, pizza, Italian, French, Mexican, and the food is good—not great—at all of them

•The grounds, however, are great, not just good. Beautifully landscaped and meticulously clean and maintained. Nary a candy bar wrapper to be found! Thatched roof abound and the spa looks like some sort of Roman structure. The lighting at night is incredibly romantic. Wherever you walk, there are fountains and lovely accents. We were in SPA building 2, second floor, and had a wonderful view of the resort. Day or night, it was a beautiful view but at night it was just magical

•If you are looking to relax in a lovely environment, this is the place. If you are looking for exciting nightlife as well…it is not. The shows and singers border on comical. We literally laughed at their amateurish quality. Of course, a few pina coladas they were more tolerable

•I would highly recommend the Excellence to anyone wishing to relax and enjoy themselves for, say 4-7 days. Shorter than that and you’ll feel you didn’t get enough. More than that might be a bit too sedate. Wonderful place, though

My husband and I (ages 26 and 30) had the most incredible honeymoon last year. The staff welcomed us with a cool towel and glass of champagne. We stayed in the honeymoon suite which was totally lavish! The nearby Junior Suites in the Excellence Club portion of the hotel, however, had many of the same amenities and are well worth the extra money. We had 24-hour access to our own club (with other Excellence Club guests) with snacks, top-shelf liquor, internet, and newspapers. We also had our own portion of the beach with food & drink service by the ocean, as well as our own pool with a swim-up bar. The room was amazing, very clean, very nicely decorated, huge beautiful bathroom and walk-in shower. For the honeymooners (my husband's personal favorite) they have a delivery box for room service, so that you don't even need to open the door!! The staff was incredible and felt like friends by the time our vacation ended. The food was delicious and we never ate the same thing twice. If you have time & interest, we would recommend the scuba diving trip...it was really amazing.

My husband and I stayed at the Excellence from June 2nd-June 9th, 2008 for our honeymoon. We had the best time here, the room was perfect, food excellent, no problems whatsoever. We never had a problem finding a beach bed or chairs next to the pool so not sure what people are talking about there. We normally got to the water around 9am everyday. Never heard construction or had ants. We did however keep all our valuables in a safe and had no problems. Our favorite restaurants were Chez Isabelle and Spice. We ate at Barcelona everyday for breakfast and it was wonderful. We did a Tulum ruins and zip line tour which was the best part of trip.

One BIG word of caution..DO NOT RENT A CAR!! We rented a car from resort and got pulled over from Mexican police on our way back from Playa Del Carmen, after speaking w/ some locals its common knowledge for police to pull over tourists and take their money! The police only got $64 USD out of us luckily as we were on our way back to resort from shopping. The rental cars are nice and have big stickers on the back w/ the logos so rental cars are a easy target..JUST DONT RENT A CAR and you will be fine!

Hello to the new people we met from Arizona, Nebraska, Lenexa KS, Springfield MO, and Scotland!
~Jason and Brandi

The Excellence Riviera Cancun is an absolute must for travelers who are looking for a place to relax far from children. The resort is exclusive for people aged over 18 years old which makes the whole stay much more relaxing. No screaming and no running around.

Service is excellent and food is great. All restaurants offer 'à la carte' menus which is much appreciated in an all inclusive resort. Every restaurant is of exceptional quality for an all inclusive resort.

Spa is also good with its private pool area and 'hot-cold' water circuit.

Rooms are obviously one of the features of this resort and offer lots of space and comfort. The television is conveniently placed in front of the bed and the hotel offers a couple of adult channels free of charge. Once again, this is a 18+ resort.

The other benefit of this resort is that it's only 15 minutes away from the airport so if you have a morning arrival, you will benefit from almost a full day of services. Same thing when you leave as you can have dinner and take off afterwards.

Beach has potential but like many other beaches on the Mayan Riviera, there are lots of rocks which makes it unenjoyable at times. The best beach I've seen on the Mayan Riviera is at Barcelo Maya Colonial. That resort also offers great value for money.

Overall great experience at Excellence. I fully recommend.