I stayed at this wonderful resort 18 years ago and recall it being a wonderful place. However, I was young and inexperienced and memory a bit fuzzy. Now, having stayed at over 30 all inclusives throughout the Caribbean including Sandals, Secrets, Couples, Beaches, Dreams, Palace Resorts, Karisma, etc., I can say, without reservation, Excellence Riviera Cancun tops them all .. 1. Check in - if you booked directly through Excellence, private roundtrip airport transfers in plush Suburbans are included. Very nice touch and no wait. Check in was friendly and efficient with a cold towel and bubblies. The only thing that was odd was they had 5 or 6 couples wait at the lobby bar with no instructions. Then, 2 bellhops piled all the luggage on 1 cart and had us follow them like cattle as they dropped patrons off at their individual buildings/rooms. I was told it was because we arrived during prime time, but it was still awkward. 2. Grounds - it's like walking through a perfectly manicured tropical rain forest with beautiful foliage blocking any unsightly views (ie, exterior roads, service equipment/vehicles, construction, etc.). There's a covered path for guests and a separate path for service vehicles and staff. During our week-long stay, we never saw a single piece of trash anywhere. Empty bottles, cups, glassware were immediately removed; and every walkway, fountain, sculpture, bathroom was properly scrubbed throughout the day. 3. Room - I stayed at the top end, oceanfront club suite last time and elected for a bottom end pool/spa view this time. Neither disappointed. Our room was quiet, gorgeous, spacious, spotless and well appointed. Along with plush robes, towels and slippers, they had three 1-liter bottles of premium liquor, a full bottle of Cabernet plus a fruit bowl waiting for us. Toiletries, sodas, snacks, water, juice, coffee pods, tea and beer were replenished daily. Even though we took 3 showers daily, we never ran out of towels nor toiletries. There were always 4-6 sets of fresh towels, soap, toothbrush, toothpaste, shampoo, conditioner, shower gel and lotion. Housekeeping thoroughly cleaned our room twice daily. (I'm super picky about cleanliness.) There's never a lingering hair, soap sud, trash or sand ANYWHERE. Believe me. I looked! The best thing about the room were the thoughtful touches .. a full marble luggage bench that fits 3 checked luggages, shelves of all sizes EVERYWHERE, a discreet butler cabinet, and multiple handles, racks and hooks for all your towels, bathrobes, wet swimwear, toiletry bags, etc. And, everything looked BRAND NEW. The only thing I would recommend is for those who are sensitive to light, to bring eye masks as the blackout drapes don't extend all the way to the floor. So, if you're in an eastern facing room, you will get some light in the morning. 4. Dining - we loved Chez Isabelle (French), and dined there twice. Note - this is the only restaurant where gents must wear long pants. Our server, Daniel, made our dining experience so memorable. Get the mushroom crepe, sea bass and filet. You won't regret it. Since the Lobster House was under construction, they moved into The Grill (steakhouse) for breakfast and lunch and The Kitchen (international buffet) for dinner, so the service was quite slow. However, the lobster (thermador and grilled) were both excellent. Basmati Indian restaurant was just ok. Service was slow and spotty, the dining room was warm; and the food was too spicy. I usually love spicy food, but my chicken vindaloo burned my mouth for a good 30 minutes. IMHO, Flavors (Spanish tapas) was the most underrated restaurant. Despite limited diners, the food was OUTSTANDING. And Sergio, our server, made our experience even better. We loved everything about this hip restaurant. The sea bass was to die for, and the lamb stew was good too. Def get the charcuterie platter and sangria. The seafood paella was a bit disappointing, however. The worst was Spice (Asian fusion) a la cart, which really surprised us. Aside from the sushi, the food was less than mediocre. If you've had good ramen, you will be sorely disappointed because they didn't even use ramen noodles! Very tasteless with no protein aside from half of a cold boiled egg. That said, the hibachi side was outstanding. We almost skipped it because we've had it all over. How good could another one be? We're so glad we went as it was fantastic! Benjamin, our chef, was superb in every way. He was, by far, the best hibachi chef we've ever had. If you can get a reservation, go! We dined at the Kitchen for breakfast and lunch daily. They had the largest selection/variety of breakfast fare of all the resorts we've stayed. Just the fruit alone .. fresh mangoes, guava, dragon fruit, papaya, kiwi, pears, peaches, plum, plus the usual melons, apples, oranges and bananas was more than I've ever seen in any Caribbean buffet. There were 3 HUGE sections, all carrying different items. There's never an empty spot. If you're allergic to dairy or gluten or if you're vegan, no problem. There's plenty offerings for everyone. And, if you needed something that's unavailable, just ask. Thank you, Walton and Carlos. You guys are the best! The culinary experience wouldn't be complete without a good cup of Joe. The cafe offered excellent expressos and lattes. That was my nightly guilty pleasure. There were only 3 minor areas for dining improvement: 1) the check in process was inefficient and frustrating. Every restaurant asked for your room number, then they typed it in their computer, then they have you verify your name, then they asked if you have food allergies EVERY SINGLE TIME, then they wrote all your info in 2 different ledgers plus a note pad and then gave one of those pieces of paper to the host/ess who seats you - even at the buffet. With existing automation, this should be a 1-minute process that took 3-5 per customer. It's no big deal if you're in front of the line, but with 4 or 5 couples in front of you, it could take 20-25 minutes just to get seated. 2) aside from the creme brulee-esque item at Flavors, desserts were lackluster. Halfway through our stay, we stopped ordering desserts and just went for after dinner lattes at the cafe. 3) Revive juice bar was located at an odd location, away from the spa and really far from the gym; and the offerings weren't tasty at all. The place was always empty, and we never went back. That said, service was consistently first rate in every establishment. It's the little things .. for ex, at the French restaurant, they knew to serve from the right and clear from the left. They brought out proper utensils with each course. They uncovered all entrees simultaneously. Everything was done professionally and with a smile. Well done, Excellence! 5. Activities - if you're bored, it's your own fault. There were multiple concurrent activities from 9 am to 11 pm each day .. volleyball, blackjack, pool games, beach games, yoga, bingo, CrossFit, dance lessons, live music, tennis, pickleball, archery, rifle shooting, bike tours, not to mention wonderful pools and one of the best beaches in all of Riviera Maya. They have a huge, wide stretch of powdery sand. So nice. Yes, there were some seaweed but far less than any other area we've stayed. You can get free snorkel gear, kayaks and catamaran any time. In the evenings, there's always wonderful entertainment abound. The entertainment staff worked tirelessly around the clock to ensure everyone had a good time. A big shout out to Eric (my all time favorite), Amy, Carlos and Cris. You guys are amazing, and I'm sorry that I didn't get the chance to properly thank you and say goodbye. Next time! Evening shows were the best of any resort in Mexico. Do NOT miss the Rock Show! Wow! They covered all the bests from U2 to Queen.. the voice and pitch were spot on. The Circus show and African acrobats were also super enjoyable, as was Mexican and casino nights. Again, you will NOT be bored here. 6) Spa - I've often found resort spa prices to be outrageous and had no intentions of booking until I heard the rave reviews from other patrons, so we booked a couples massage, which came with the aqua therapy circuit. O.M.G. It was simply bliss. You are pampered and treated like royalty the second you set foot in this sanctuary. We loved it so much that we booked a facial 2 days later. Yes, it's pricey. And, yes, it was worth every penny. 7) Gym - while this may not be the biggest, it is definitely the most well equipped I've ever seen. I'm a retired IT exec turned personal trainer, so I have some experience around exercise equipment. They had EVERYTHING .. bikes, treadmills, rowers, ellipticals, weight machines, squat racks, Smith machine, functional trainers/cable machines, benches, barbells, dumbbells, kettlebells, medicine balls, battle rope, plyo box, BOSU, TRX, stability ball, you name it. They even had a landmine base, weighted bars and every resistance band imaginable. I was so impressed. My only recommendation is to offer an additional antibacterial wipes station and some hand sanitizer .. or at least make sure there's plenty of hand soap in the locker rooms. All in all, we had an amazing week at Excellence Riviera Cancun and will definitely return. Hubby and I easily rate this as the #1 all inclusive resort in the Caribbean and would recommend this fabulous resort without reservation. Thank you for a fantastic week! We will definitely return.

Absolutely beautiful resort and great service. The level of detail to ensure your satisfaction is very impressive. The staff are all trained impeccably. The restaurants were amazing with tons of choices available all day. For when we had to leave too early in the morning for breakfast at a restaurant, it was easy to call and schedule room service the night before. The liquor options were a little below our standards (Smirnoff and Absolut for vodka), but a wide variety of other types. We even requested different bottles in our room and they were replaced within 15 minutes. I had read some complaints prior to our trip about the seaweed on the beach. Parts of the beach swimming area do have seaweed in the water, but it wasn't an issue for us. The seaweed that washes ashore is cleaned numerous times a day by employees with rakes and wheelbarrows. Otherwise, the sand is white and gorgeous. The resort didn't seem very full during our stay so we never had an issue getting loungers on the beach in the shade, but I would imagine at full capacity that might become an issue. We enjoyed the shows each evening, but some shows were definitely more impressive than others. If you're going to miss some, I recommend looking at the itinerary ahead of time to choose which nights to miss. The shows on Thursday/Friday/Saturday were our least favorites and I would imagine it's planned that way because there were way less people in the audience those nights. The additional parties and buffets were great- tasty food and signature drinks with entertainment. Bring white clothes if you want to fit in for the "white party" (although not mandatory). We really liked that they had representatives from different agencies on had for excursions (besides the hotel concierge), but beware that Discova and Delta are only there from 9 am to 12 pm. The Seasons rep is there until 5 pm. It was really simple to add on trips during our stay (snorkeled two days and an express trip to Chichen Itza) and the staff assists you with your ride pickup. As far as location, we did a short trip into Puerto Morelos. It's a small town with a lot of craft sellers. I will warn that some are quite pushy, especially where the hotel taxi dropped us off at (a higher end jewelry store/tequila tasting). It's around $80 for a cab roundtrip to Playa del Carmen (the hotel does do complimentary trips to Puerto Morelos and Playa del Carmen if it's not booked). Overall, we would DEFINITELY stay there again!

This is the first review I’ve ever felt compelled to write. This was our second stay at this resort and we will be back again for sure! You won’t find a more relaxing or generous experience anywhere. The service exceeds expectations again and again with the friendliest, most consistent and attentive care possible. We went the Spa multiple times this visit working with Ivan, Monica, Edgar and Daniel; all were amazing. Every restaurant has vegetarian items, and this visit most had entirely separate and full vegetarian menus that were outstanding. The beach is well tended and this year, when seaweed is plaguing many beaches, they have managed to protect and maintain their section of the beach beautifully. We paid for the Excellence Club for both of our visits, and while you’ll receive amazing service at every level, we will always elect this upgrade for the more private and secluded beach beds and lounge chairs, the heated pool, private bar and the private concierge service. From beginning to end there is not one thing that didn’t exceed our expectations. Most of the people we visit with here are repeat visitors at this resort—many of whom have tried them all and still think this is the best!