I do not see how people could give this hotel such excellent reviews. I recently worked in a AAA 5 Diamond property in Las Vegas for 4 years and as such I expect a lot from a resort that claims to be 5 stars. I was obsessed with Trip Advisor before my trip to EPM and I have to say that I had rose colored glasses on when reading the negative reviews- I completely turned the other cheek and only focused on the positive reviews...in hind sight I wish I had of given the negative reviews more merit. This hotel is very deceiving, it is beautiful on the outside but when you really get down to it there is no way this resort is anything above 3 stars.

THE SCENARIO: Dates of Stay = May 5 -May 10
My husband and I were there to celebrate our 1 year anniversary trip accompanied by my best friend and her boyfriend, she was celebrating her 30th birthday. We range in age from 27-34 and our taste levels also range - my friend and I have pretty high expectations when selecting a resort while the guys are more laid back and only care about the food and the beverages...however with that said we all agreed that we would never ever come back here nor could we in good conscious recommend this resort to any of our friends.

THE HOTEL and GROUNDS: The grounds are beautiful, very immaculate with beautiful plants and sculptures abound. The pools are gorgeous and were the best part of this resort. The lobby was nice but lacked in detail. It also had a very odd scent, kind of like an old used cigar.

THE ROOMS: My husband and I booked a 2 story Rooftop Terrace Suite and my friends booked a Swim Up Suite. We were both in Building 7. Our room was right next to the construction but it really did not disturb us. The room was never decorated with the Anniversary Package decor. At first glance the room was very nice but again when you got down to the details it was 2nd rate. Both of our rooms smelled like a toilet - seriously! It smelled the way a bathroom smells at a campground - like musty urine. Once we opened up the room and sprayed Lysol it got better...or maybe we got used to it. The linens were scratchy and the mattress was cheap. The shower was nice and probably the only good thing in the room. As mentioned in previous reviews, the bathroom "door" can pose a problem if you and your significant other are not comfortable with going to the bathroom around each other. There is not much counter space to lay your makeup out on but it is workable.


THE FOOD: In a word....DISGUSTING! I seriously have a hard time with the reviews that talk about how great the food was. Nothing is fresh; everything is either frozen or instant. The cuts of meat were terrible at both Chez Isabelle and The Grill. The mashed potatoes at both restaurants were instant. Every single dessert we had tasted like it was thawed and had the taste of freezer burn. The Lobster House was just all right, nothing great just mediocre. Agave was probably the worst and since it was Mexican food it should have been the best. The breakfast was salvageable only because of the French Toast and fresh fruit. Not one person in our group liked the food and by the 3rd day of our trip we couldn't even look forward to any meal because we knew what it was going to taste like. I recall one review where the person said that they had the best Caesar salad ever at the Grill - my friend and I were underwhelmed with the salad to say the least, it literally had no taste - dressing was bland, the parmesan cheese was bland, and the croutons, like everything else, had the taste of freezer burn. You could get a better Caesar salad from a fast food restaurant. Both my husband and my friend’s boyfriend will eat just about anything and they likened the food to what you would get at a school cafeteria. We could not wait to get back home to actually eat some decent food. I actually get queasy inside thinking about the food at Agave. The funny thing is that they do this elaborate little presentation when they unveil the food and by the 3rd day we were laughing every time they did it because it was like "Walaaa - here is your crappy food"!

THE BEACH: was hit or miss. The seagrass was a problem on some days but other days not at all. Beautiful views from the beach and plenty of lounge chairs.

THE POOL: Fabulous, the view from the main pool to the ocean was beautiful. I did see some people hoarding the pool floaties but for the most part everyone was really cool about letting you use them when they weren't....all you had to do was ask. The pools surrounding the rooms were very peaceful and relaxing - we switched back and forth depending on whether or not we wanted to relax or socialize with everyone. We met a lot of cool people at the main pool and it was a fun atmosphere. The pools at night are gorgeous, a real feature of the resort grounds.

THE ENTERTAINMENT: Like all of the other reviews the nightly entertainment was pretty lame. It was just nice to relax at Cafe Kafe and listen to the music. However, if you are in Building 7 like we were, be prepared to hear everything from your room - the worst was on Karaoke night!

THE STAFF and SERVICE: For the most part I thought the staff was great; the only exception was the Front Desk Staff. They seriously need a lesson in customer service. We arrived at the hotel at 12:00 PM and waited for our room until 4:30 PM. I knew check-in was not until 3:00 PM and I know that even with that you don't always get your room on time, it was just the way they handled it. The only way to describe it is to say that they are very disconnected from the guest and unsympathetic.

MEDICAL STAFF: Pray that you do not need to see the Hotel Doctor's for any reason. I fell while on property and hurt my knee - there is an unlighted step by the theater at Cafe Kafe and I missed it and fell on my knee. We called the front desk to have one of the doctor's come look at it and right away the doctor they sent just wanted to give me a shot in my knee - wouldn't tell me what it was just said do you want the "stuff that will make you happy or the stuff that will make you sleepy” I responded with neither and then he decided to start mocking me. He told me that I better not call him in the middle of the night if I was in pain because he would not come if I needed him to. I was like whatever and was just creeped out by him at this point. He finally looked at my knee and told me it was broken and that I should go to the hospital immediately. He was insistent that it was broken and I knew it was not broken; it just needed an ace bandage to stop the swelling. The doctor was so shady and at this point I did not trust him at all. As he was leaving he told me that it would be $120 for the visit and I said what is that for and he said for the medication (he gave me some pills to take for later on that night) and the treatment (i.e. the gauze he wrapped around my knee) I told him he could keep the non-descript medication and that I was not going to just hand him money without speaking to the GM of the hotel. He was not happy to say the least and when I called the hotel manager the next day they said they would have to look into it and call me back - to which they never looked into it, never called me back, and when I left they did not charge me for the visit. I called our friend who is an ER doctor in Pittsburgh and described my injury, he immediately told me not to go to a hospital in Mexico and that at the most it was just a hairline fracture and since I was not in any major pain to just wrap it up, keep it iced and elevated, and take ibuprofen then get it x-rayed in the states. I got it x-rayed today and it is of course not broken.

**In addition to all of the above - every single one of us has a rash on our bodies (lower legs and back) and so far 3 out of the 4 of us have been to a Docotor here in the Statesand they all said that it was a bad bacterial infection caused by the pool or hot tub at the resort - my husband and I were both prescribed Augmentin which is penicillan. and my friend was given some kind of shot today for her rash **

SUMMARY:
5 star rating is deceiving
Food is disgusting
Front Desk Staff lacks customer service skills
Be leery of the Hotel Doctors
Watch out for rashes from the pool/hot tub
Rooms have a foul odor
Beach is hit or miss
Pools are gorgeous
Grounds are beautiful

We would never return or recommend this resort to anyone!!

just got back from my honeymoon at excellence. we stayed from may 6- may 12. i'll try not to sound like most of the other reviews. this was such a great resort, although it was my first all inclusive i don't think i'll ever stay in a regular hotel again. i thought the food was amazing, some of the best food i've tasted. there wasn't enough days in my vacation to try all the resturaunts so some nights we went for appetizers at one place and then went to another resturaunt later on in the evening!! the on thing i will stress is the CONSTRUCTION NOISE is a big problem!!!!!!!! we had a rooftop terrace, when we arrived they brought us to our room 4302, and immediatley you could hear the construction.. we were not happy and called the desk to ask to be moved but ofcourse they said the hotel was at full capacity ( which was a lie.) he said we could upgrade to excellence club and pay extra,, but we decided to wait another day or two. the next day when i got woken up at 7am sharp by beeping trucks and jackhammering noises i called down and they said that they would move us to a room with NO NOISE from the construction. they lied again because we were put in building 6. no further away from the construction!!!! the next morning went i got woken up at 7am on the dot i went down to the desk to complain and i was pretty fed up that i just paid the extra 100 bucks a night to be in the excellence club and be moved to building 9, no construction noise there! it could be that having a rooftop suite made the noise that much louder but if you were in the pools by buildings 1-8 you could hear the noise!. pay the extra money and request building 9, if anything the views of the ocean alone are worth it! i regret i didn't do it sooner. unfortunately although there was no construction noise in building 9 there was always some sort of noise going on whether it be housekeeping rolling their carts or the resturant next door moving all their tables and chairs which was surprisingly noisy!! i'm a light sleeper so dragging of chairs across concrete usually wakes me up. would've rated this resort a 5 but because of the noise and having to change my room twice did get me a little upset. if you were not in your room there was absolutley nothing to complain about the people were great, food, drinks, activities, the cleanliness of the resort, the employees were great. there was nothing they wouldn't do for you. i would absolutley come back here again, either after the construction or pay extra to be in building 9!

Let me start by saying that my wife and i always start our vacation with just that in mind, its vacation! I researched resorts extensively before we left, and we could not be happier with our choice. We traveled with another couple and we chose the roof top terrace rooms. Let me tell you, we have cruised with RC several times and been to all inclusives before, and we have never seen a room that is actually as it is depicted in pictures as it is here. It was outstanding. If you choose this room option ask for room 2301 or 1411. These are buildings 1 and 2 facing the spa but they are away from the cronstruction and the music of the ampitheater. The reason i suggest these is, they are walk out terraces so you dont have to go upstairs to get to your pool and beds. They are also corner suites so you have 3 times as much deck space as do other rooftop terraces. There were three beds on our deck, where others had only one and were much smaller for the same price. We didnt do the club feature for the extra money and im glad we did'nt since there were no real extras. There was a rope seperating the 2 beaches, but no one was ever watching so you could sit where you wanted,and theres nothing to distinguish the club guests.
There are a few other things you should know about the place that may sound like drawbacks but they really are not. The place is so beautiful and the people are so nice that it makes up for it. 1st, You have to arrange for transportation from the airport before you leave, or you have to take a taxi. Which wont work since all of the taxis are so small you could never get any luggage in them, and it would be very uncomfortable.
2nd, There is a huge language barrier with alot of the staff at the resort so brush up on your spanish. The cleaning people who clean your room speak no English at all, and alot of the wait staff also, so they just stare at you when talking to them. I dont blame them though, its there country, and they still go out of there way to help you. We didnt find that it ever took too long to get help, just relax! Everything takes a Mexican minute! Just a little longer than ours so have a drink!
And last, if you are a big guy like myself you cant find any t-shirts as souveniers, since i guess Mexico does not import anything over a small 2X. Even the robes at the spa were small. Still the spa was wonderfully relaxing and my wife went three times.
To sum up this resort, dont go for a party scene. It is very relaxing if thats what you are looking for. The clubs and main town are thirty minutes away and there was really no night life to speak of, which is how we like our vacations. You will find a chair at the beach or the pool any time of day. Some days we got down there at 10:30 or 11 and had no problems. Just take in the sights and enjoy it!

My wife and I returned yesterday after staying for 1 week May 3 to May 10 celebrating our 29 anniversary. I read many reviews,forums etc. and being the skeptical person I am I can truly say that I do not have even one minor complaint about our stay at this resort. This our first all inclusive and we have traveled in past on vacations a average of 5 trips per year for our 28 years( not counting many weekends of short trips) so we have experienced the good,the bad and ugly( sorry Clint) . First off no rain and few if any clouds. That means make sure you bring and use a good sunscreen and as the pools are saltwater you will burn fast and severly. The fact it was breezy every afternoon made you feel like you weren,t getting burnt. Based on previous reviewers and truly thank you all we requested a room away from the construction. Via e mail I was advised this had been done as they stated though that their was no or little construction going on more on that later. I am not one to organize my thoughts categorically so if I jump around mea cupla to all. We were assigned romm 8159 which is furthest away from the construction and facing the Blue Poll ( swim up bar main pool) with the full ocean view beyond. Stunning. We went for the dual level and we really did not use the rooftop pool etc. area except to occasionaly look put from. My wife used the main balcony area much more. The pool itself received a lot of sun and was a great place to dry clothes. The pool is itself a mini pool, not deep with two return jets for circulation. In addition there are these two waterfall like protrusions that creates a nice effect. The stairs are slippery as they are marble ALWAYS use the handrail. The room itself is amazing. It is not huge but comfortably large with a terrific shower room and a great jacuzzi tub that fills up quite fast. It is a tiled shower with a overhead and a handheld that easily accomadates 2 people. The bvaglia bath products are terric, a comb,razor is included in case. Mirrors can be rotated out towards the living sleeping area if needed. We found the beds very comfortable no problems and as they are new they are quite high off the ground. The TV is about a 42 HD and they place a floor to ceiliing mirror on the a diagonally opposite wall allowing you to look at it from bed on one's right side. There are a fair selection of channels but hey you are not here to watch TV too much. Their is Sony clock radio with a I POD dick which played great. Warning the alarm setting is tuff to figure out, trust me I spent around 20 minutes at 5:30 AM our first day trying to undo my wife's setting it night before accidentally. There are two convenient reading lights plus a real nice full counter area right behind the bed good for storage etc. During the day near the bar pool there is music, sometimes a band and normal not spring break bar pool noise. Every day it quieted bown by a latest 6 so it was never an issue . We ate at Barcelona (Mediteranean), Toscano (Italian) twice, Agave (Mexican),Lobster House, Chez Isabelle ( French ), We missed Spice , Flavor Mart( tapas type) and Grill which another couple had previousy eaten in and didn't like.The service,atmospher, and especially the food were amazingly great. The only one we were a little disappointed in was Lobster perhaps because it was grilled. Be aware they truly only serve lobster. I love wines know a fair enough about them and can state the house wines are quite good and being that the wine list is fairly expensive you will not be disappointed. We had quite a bit of the Champagne which was uite good,not sweet . If you like peach be sure to have a Bellini by the pool . It is fun to try each drink of the day or let the terrific bartenders surprise you. The main bar in the buiding you check in one fl below reminded me of the Overlook Bar in the Shining( I missed you Jack). The buffet breakfast is to die for , and lunches also great. The entertainment is surprisingly pretty good, we frankly didn't attend too many but the singers were quite good. The river type pools are wonderful, you can easily spend a whole day doing nothing other than lying in your chair moving to the water and back again
then grabing your float( if you were fortunate to get one) . Seriously getting a float should not be a competition why not just purchase a bunch more. Before I forget we used room service a lot and the box that food can be delivered into and old dishes etc. removed from is ingenious. If you don't need a setup then ask to have food left in box,it's locked from outside . We loved putting finished dishes in and you can safely leave tips their for this service. Also you have no food smell in room for dishes so I don't understand what is problem if not removed immediately. The staff work harder than any place we have ever been . Hands down and I am sure some people do not tip. I firmly beleive in tipping well which we did on all occasions which is the best way to show your appreciation for their efforts. I hope they can retain a lot of the staff as when we asked all said they felt this was the best place they had ever worked in. We loved the beach especially my wife as it was practically empty. I presume the little bit of sea grass scares people away but a couple steps thru it and the water is gorgeous so do not let that deter anyone. The last few days there was only a trace of seaweed. You can now go on a wave runner boat straight accross ti Isla De Mujeres from the beach and it takes about 10 to 15 minutes, very fast and fun. You can then snorkel and later shop downtown which we liked better than Playa De Carmen. A word of warning. When you exit out of the Cancun Airport there are a number of white uniformed workers who bear government issued cards . You are led to beleive that they represent the Mexican Gov;t Tourist Industry but are no more than time share salespeople. yes you may get a free trip , say to Xel Ha or the like , but you will waste a whole day and despite promises and arrangements they may not take you back to the resort as stated as resort not in Hotel Zone. The Excellence club is really not too much in play. Yes they have this special room but it is no big deal. You can access a computer there but the internet was down 2 of the 3 days we wanted to use it. The beach area that says Excellence Club Members only is ignored as there is no way to know who is and who isn't anyway. You can request premium brands which on occasion my wife asked for Grey Goose with no problem but all we stated was we were Club excellence , no pass or ID needed. And no braclets on you wrists . There are 3 gates , the last spefically for the resort so I do not think that you can have friends etc. visit if not registered. They appear to be very strict (good) about this. No reservation are taken or needed and except for Friday when the resort seemed less crowded we had one restaurant per nite closed. A suggestion would be to have them advise a week's schedule so one can plan accordingly to avoid missing a particular wedding. If you are still reading this I hope you took numerous breaks and had nothing better to do. You will enjoy yourself. In terms of the construction issues it is as you arrive on the right hand side The best way to describe where the buildings are situated is to envision standing in the lobby and they start outside on your right in a one building per from 1 to 6 forming a half circle around the spa. You then have 3 buildings 7 and 8 in 2 clusters some 5 sories and some 2. These head towards the middle of the complex and the beach.2 Bldg 9's is as stated alone and to the left of the lobby , We did not have a lookover from a5 story but I noticed that this appears to be the case in 8. Again we didn't use the mini pool area too much so either way for us no big deal. We rarely if ever go back to the same hotel/resort but are planning on with this place. Worth every penny and you become humble when you see how genuinely happy the staff is from enjoying their hard work. As Jorge said to me after we thanked him at Toscana on our last meal quote Thank you for coming here as I would not have a job to help feed my family unquote Kind of helps put things a little in perspective