Excellence Riviera Cancun

We go to Mexico twice a year and I like to try new resorts. After staying at an Excellence in Punta Cana I thought we should give Excellence Riveria Cancun a try. We stayed 6 nights in the Excellence Club Junior Suite Ocean Front. The room was in need of a refresh. It smelled musty and the furniture was worn. The grounds are well maintained and the staff are incredible! If it weren't for the staff, I would give it 2 stars. With the Excellence Club we had access to reserved beach area, pool, and 2 bars with top shelf options. We had drinks after dinner in the Club Bar, but the location is not ideal and it's very small. Food was mediocre, really wanted more flavor. Seaweed was removed daily but the water in this area is a little murky. We had massages at the spa twice. (Yes, they were that good!) The hydro therapy circuit is nice but it's located just off the reception area and the locker rooms are tiny. We enjoyed our days reading and napping on the beach and the friendly were so kind. They went above and beyond!

My husband and I were at the ERC in the middle of December 2022. This was my fourth time at the property and it was still as beautiful as our first visit 11 years ago. The service is excellent, the food is very good for an all inclusive, the spa is awesome and the overall atmosphere is perfect for a relaxing week in the sun. We were fortunate to have perfect weather for the week and very much enjoyed our time away. We also enjoyed the live bands in the evening prior to the show - especially Claudia - what a great voice! In the past I have given 5 stars and would have selected 4.5 this time if that were an option. There were a couple of things about this trip that took the shine off a perfect experience. 1) Excessively loud music/entertainment - We could not attend 6 out of 7 nights of the evening show because it was that ridiculously loud. Even sitting outside of the theatre was too loud. You could not even tell what people were saying and any singing did not sound good because it just sounded like screaming. This was very disappointing. I was at the ERC in November 2021 with a friend and we watched the show (pretty much the same shows) every night inside the theatre. It was still loud then, but not so much that you couldn't watch the show. It seems they have someone new in charge of sound and it was not good at all. After the show they had additional entertainment each night that was also excessively loud until late at night. Our room was as far from the theatre as possible, yet it felt like we were attending the disco rather than in our room trying to sleep. Again, in November 2021, my friend and I had no issues sleeping through the late night entertainment that we chose not to participate in from the same room location. That is the way it should be - an optional activity - not one I am forced to listen to every night. As early risers, this nightly noise impacted our overall experience and ability to completely relax. This is making me question whether we would return. 2) Chez Isabelle has been a restaurant we have always enjoyed. The food was still great, but the service both nights we went was sub-par. I am not sure what was going on but both times we had to ask to have bread brought over - twice! And it took a while to track down our waiter to ask. In the past, everything just happened. A minor inconvenience, but a difference from the past. Overall we love ERC, but the shift to making all entertainment (poolside during the day as well) a blaring loud club experience is a real turn-off for a couple in their 40's who would like to enjoy it all, but not rupture their eardrums. It takes away from the class that ERC once exuded.

We have stayed at both Excellence properties in the Dominican and I would go back to either of those but not this one. We had a good trip but there were a few things we didn’t like as much as other places we have been. The pool layout was odd, the bed was hard as a rock, and there was No bourbon at any bars. But the beach was beautiful and the spa was gorgeous. The staff was great and the restaurants were all good. Can’t complain really but would return to other resorts before this one.