Excellence Riviera Cancun

Incredibly welcoming, accommodating, luxurious, and memorable! Absolutely will return.

Upon arrival we were greeted with cool towels due to humidity and cool champagne, you know, for fun. Entire resort is either marble floors or concrete if outside. Bring comfy shoes/room shoes. Slippers are provided, but they're a little less padded than a trusty home shoe. Rooms are air conditioned, equipped with mini bar (which is restocked daily) and have amazing showers. If there are issues with the rooms the staff are quick to resolve issues. The maintenance and upkeep is a well greased machine. The resort remains clean and the pools well kept. There was a storm that passed through and naturally blew in debris. In short matter of time the debris was out of the pool and walkways cleared. Wildly impressive and enhanced the luxurious atmosphere.

Lots of activities happening during the day. You'll use their app for just about everything. Room key, daily activity list, restaurant menus, map, etc. While some may want to totally disconnect from tech, the atmosphere of the resort surely helps with staying present and away from the screen. The activity staff are some of the coolest and friendliest folks. Max and Kaleb are truly wonderful people. They took the time to make genuine connections and remember names. I was pleasantly surprised when they saw me daily to say hello and ask about my stay. They host water aerobics, water volleyball (which is one of the best ways to make friends and meet folks) and beach volleyball. Swim up bar is fantastic and another spot to make friends. Overall, if you want to be social, visit the main pool and engage in activities. If you want to relax and recharge your social battery the amount of open pool space allows for this. They have a theatre that hosts nightly shows such as live bands, karaoke, burlesque, and native dances. Lots to do! Be aware their are native animals that walk the grounds but aren't aggressive.

I noticed there are regular bartenders/wait staff at each of the bars and restaurants. This is great to know because if you make genuine connections with them and tip (if you want) you'll have some fun conversations and share in a great experience. We happened to have the same waiter, Rueben, as our first and last waiter for our stay. He was very attentive, friendly, and professional. All the staff with help with your Spanish if you're learning and making clunky conversation. By the end of your trip you'll feel much more confident in ordering your favorite drink or making basic conversation. Every restaurant we ate at had amazing food. There wasn't anything we didn't like. The host and wait staff will ask if you have allergies or dietary needs before ordering. I found this to be impressive and genuine. The portions you'll get are smaller than traditional American sizes (which honestly, is probably better for you anyway). My wife and I welcomed the portion sizes and shared our plates. This also allowed us to try more dishes and expand our pallets.

Things I would recommend to maximize the stay. If you choose to tip, bring pesos and break them into smaller denominations. Same if you choose to use US Dollars. Bring comfy shoes to walk around in. Handkerchiefs are great if you want to dab sweat off of you and bring a little spray bottle if you want to mist yourself. We brought those cool towels and they worked wonders. Bring a swim shirt if you're concerned about getting roasted. The reflection of the water is main culprit of sun burns. Fanny packs or small bags are wonderful to have. You'll bring your sunglasses, room key (classic), phone, monies, sunscreen, whatever you want. Bring extra button up shirts or polos. I wound up wearing the same shirt for days straight. Luckily I could change my undershirt but if your main polo or button up gets soggy from the humidity you may want options. There is laundry service but we didn't choose to use it.

Overall, this resort delivered on one of the best vacations my wife and I have ever been on. Everything from the details of the room, maintenance of the grounds, friendliness of the staff, every delicious dish and cocktail made, I would absolutely recommend you stay here.

The Excellence Riviera Cancun team has once again delivered an incredible experience. We enjoyed our annual Late June/Early July visit immensely. The resort is beautiful and the Excellence Club is a worthwhile upgrade. We reserved our own chosen room in advance, and it was delivered as requested and was ready upon arrival (Note the rooms do vary a little in size and we found the ideal location for our tastes). The ERC team works tirelessly to make everything perfect. Of special note are Fernando Guevara: F&B Manager who makes everything PERFECT with respect to dining and quickly became our personal host. His colleague Alejandro Villalobos, Guest services manager made sure everything for our stay was perfect. Jennifer in the front of house of Magna rememers all our likes from trip to trip and the bartenders put on quite a show. Victor & Walton at Los Olas made each day's lunch a joy and customized a thing or two to our taste. One of the highlights of our trip is always the spa. The Diamond Ritual and the Forever Love couples massage for nearly 2 hours will make you leave all your worries beginf. Merly and Jessica are two of the best therapists we have ever had in 10 years of visits to this resort and they really are among the very best from spas worldwide. Itamar at the Club pool is a real Pro and always made sure our place at the pool and beach were perfect. Finally, a shout out to Hugo, who seems to be at every Bar throughout the day making the perfect drink as a very very seasoned Bar Man.

A couple notes on the facility. The maintenance of the property is top knotch. The gardens are beautiful and we really enjoyed watching FIFA World Cup in the totally re-done sports bar (Now looks like a proper Pub.). Finally they do a great job of dealing with the Sargassum bloom, which is a huge job. Compared to other properties, the Excellence really excels. If you have zero tolerance for it, then summer anywhere in the Gulf will be hard. Excellence puts a lot of resources into managing it as best anyone can.

We have already booked our next 2 trips and look forward to returning.

Love this place! So calm, clean, beautiful and the service is excellent. The food is great quality and loved all the choices available.