We had a non-Excellence Club swimout room for our honeymoon and ADORED it.

The EC upgrades were just not worth it to us, as the pool area the EC rooms are on are very trafficked. There were always people walking back and forth between the pool and the patio of those rooms.

Our regular swimout room was very private, on the top-tier of the cascade pool. Loved it - can't wait to stay in it again (if possible) for our next trip.

My husband and I just returned from 4 nights at Excellence. We didn't do the Excellence Club and I'm glad we didn't. It didn't really seem worth it. Here is what you get and why I don't think it's worth it.

Private check-in & check-out / Late check-out & early check-in (subject to availability) - Check in is at 3:00pm. We got there at 1:00pm and our room was ready. As long as there is a clean room you'll get your room when you get there. Also check your flights, if you're not going to be getting there early or staying late (check out is 12:00pm) you won't use this.

* Private concierge service (7am to 11pm) - There are 2 concierge desks right in the lobby that were never too busy.

* Private lounge (7am to 11pm) with PCs and free Internet access, - Depnding on how much you want to be online on your vacation you probably won't use this too much. We used the internet cafe there for $5.00 for 20 minutes a day to check up on things at home and that was plenty.

smart buffets & bar service - There were always restaurants, bars, and room service available.

* Superior VIP toiletries, upgraded mini-bar & room-service menu - We bring our own toiletries, you can order anything to drink at the bar or request a bottle of something for your room, and we never used room service since the food at the restaurants was so good and it was fun to get dressed up at night and go out to eat.

Private beach - The "private beach" could be accessed by anyone. We came across the private entrance just be walking around the resort and were able to go right through. It takes you to the same beach.

* Newspaper delivered to room daily - We don't read the paper on vacation.

* Complimentary beach bag - Brought our own.

* Shoe shine service - Never would use it.

* Daily basket of fresh fruit in room - You can get fresh fruit at any buffet.

* Fresh flowers in room upon arrival - Nice but not nessacary.

* In-room liquor dispenser - Plenty of bars around the resort and you can take drinks back to your room.

Of course everyone is different, this is just my take on it.

Kristy

Kristy, Thank you for the very detailed response. After reading your recommendations and a few of the other posts we decided to book a swim-up room without the Excellence Club.

Happy to help. You are going to have a great time at Excellence! It is such a beautiful resort.

Kristy