We were at ERC for Aug 2 to 9th and had a wonderful time. We spent the previous week at EPM and decided to do ERC for the second week because of its proximity to Puerto Moreles and for a change of scenery. We booked Excellence Club for a treat and enjoyed the perks. Our room was in Bldg 8
We were greeted with a cool scented towel, escorted to the Excellence Club for check in and offered a beverage. Quick introduction to another wonderful Concierge, Roberto. He took care of us during the week. Very resourceful and informative.
We had a beautiful bouquet, elaborate fruit basket and champagne chilling in the room. Housekeeping was fantastic. Consistent, very clean and organized. Catalina our maid for 6 of the days did a great job all week long. We got some adorable towel art on occasion. She was very sweet.
We really enjoyed the Excellence Club beach all week with fabulous beach drink service by Raoul (sp?)
Cielo Bar and pool service was exceptional. Amable took great care of us with food and drink all day by the pool on the two days we hung out at the EC Club pool. She was very attentive, entertaining and personable. The Beach Attendant (Jorge) at the club was very helpful with limited English but a genuine big Mayan smile and courteous service, kept that beach area immaculate all around the palapas and helped lay out our towels. Moises the bartender was a lot of fun too. All of these staff members really added to our pampered stay and made us feel special and so well taken care of.
The ERC resort Management really outdid themselves when selecting their employees. We found exceptional service everywhere. Everyone friendly with a warm greeting even the many gardeners and maintenance staff.
We were prepared with lots of US 1s and 5s for tipping and it sure was appreciated. Although they give the same great service to all guests regardless of whether you tip or not it made us feel better to thank them individually for their contribution to our good time in paradise.
The grounds are beautiful, have really matured and flourished since our last visit to this resort 4 years ago. One day a gardener came by the EC pool and cut about 10 coconuts off a tree and the bartender served drinks in them for the quests. What a treat that was!
Weddings:
We were lucky enough to be able to see a beach wedding and a renewal of vows on the pier. Both were beautiful ceremonies with the service broadcast onto the beach through speakers. I will be posting a vow renewal ceremony picture. (I asked for the permission or the participants if it was ok to post a pic on tripadvisor). It was beautiful, I wasn't the only one tearing up. Hard to describe how lovely the voices of the officiators with the Spanish accents were with that Carribean setting. A fabulous resort for a wedding.
Pools:
Lots to chose from, you could have quiet or loud. They are cooler in the mornings and tend to warm up more during the day because they are all shallow. We tried the Lazy river pool around the spa island one evening around 7 pm and found it quite tepid and the mosquitos were loving us!
Float Issue:
Oh my. So many float hog guests. We even saw 4 people take the floats to the beach and hide them under towels on lawn chairs. Some people taking them to their rooms at night. The floats were never an issue in the Excellence Club pool although some people did come over, walk across the lawns of private swimouts to take floaties to take to the other pools. The 6 to 8 floats in the EC pool were just left in the water for the guests who wanted to use them and were not pulled out and hoarded. If you like floating on the pools and don’t want to get caught up in the floatie issue would recommend you bring a blow up float for your stay. The resort does not manage the float issue well at all.
Restaurants:
Great service at all of them.
We really enjoyed our Chez Isabelle dinner. We heard from other guests that the service was slow. I have never been rushed at a French Restaurant and this was no exception. We had fabulous, courteous, attentive, pleasant service from Rudy. He was exceptional and had perfect timing. Rudy always made sure we had wine in our glasses and water. Even provided me with a small side of Roquefort cheese when I mentioned how much I enjoyed the cheese in our appetizer. Perfect touches for our French meal. Service was not fast but that is the way we like to dine. Gives you time to digest between courses. These staff members work long hours six days a week and we were amazed at how efficient they are. FYI - The menu states the Chateaubriand is for 2 persons but one person can order it as it is not flambé at the table but very well presented.
Lobster House was fabulous – again great service and they let my husband order from the Grill Menu as he does not eat lobster. His filet was fabulous. Beautiful warm breeze in this restaurant as it is close to the beach on stilts over the main bar pool.
Toscana was delicious with great ambiance. Juan Luis gave us terrific attentive service here.
La Grill we did for lunch. They have a small salad – dessert buffet set up there to accompany your menu choices. The burger and prawn salad we ordered were tastey.
Barcelona for breakfast and lunch buffets had such a variety of food. Could not go hungry here. Great lunch dessert section there with lots of variety, 4 types of ice creams, pastries, custards and on and on, about 15' of choices.
Resort Business Centre:
There is a business Center at the main entrance of the resort for all guests to access that is open from 8 to 10pm. Has 7 computers, printer, coffee and tea service, very small novel – book exchange shelf (about a dozen books probably traded out by previous guests)
Gym
Starting to show some wear on the machines. But well equipped with workout machines. Played 80s disco type music during the times I was there. Room was a great temperature and they had the cold towels for after workout and cold water. Very nicely appointed bathrooms.
Nearby Construction:
A new resort is being built near the south end of the resort about 400’ away. The construction is a 5 story resort with lots of workers. Not too much machinery sounds but plenty of hammering during the day. We were in Bldg 8 and our suite door faced the construction, they started at 7 am in the morning but as it was manual hammering with a constant tempo and did not bother us. Bldg 9 would be more exposed to the noise.
We will definitely return here. Already looking for rates for a mid December vacation with our adult kids and their significant others.
Thank you for lasting until the end of this review. Feel free to PM for specifics.
