Excellence Resorts Reviews 7

We spent and AMAZING eight days at Excellence El Carmen. It was our third stay at an Excellence resort after visiting Excellence Punta Cana, and Beloved in Playa Mujeres in Cancun. While each of them had their charm, Excellence El Carmen had a special feel uniquely its own. Excellence Punta Cana had a party feel, while Beloved was romantic, quiet and a bit sleepy, Excellence El Carmen felt like the best of both worlds. The layout is ideal with most restaurants dotted around the main lobby building and bars located throughout the property, you felt like there was always someplace nearby to have a cocktail or snack. The lush tropical gardens are gorgeous and the grounds are beautifully arranged in a way that made the property feel expansive, yet you never felt like to had to walk for miles to get from a restaurant to the beach or from the pool to the restrooms. Ease of use was clearly kept in mind in the design of the resort. We stayed in an Excellence Club Beachfront Honeymoon Two Story Rooftop Terrace Suite with Plunge Pool. We decided to spend the extra money for the Excellence Club beachfront suite because we wanted to treat ourselves and it was the best money we ever spent! The room was spacious, open, and well-appointed, although I will never understand how the idea of not having a fully closing door for the bathroom became a thing! Whose idea was that?!? The bedding and linens were incredibly luxurious, soft and cooling. Premium liquors were provided as well as a bottle of champagne, fruit, daily petit fours and turndown service. The mini bar was restocked daily. The rooftop deck that is furnished with a Bali bed, a sofa sitting area and a sunning bed. The front row views of the beach and ocean were absolutely worth the price if you want a truly unique and luxurious experience. Having access to Magna, the Excellence Club exclusive restaurant was a major bonus. Having breakfast on the Magna deck was a nice break from having to choose between hundreds of dishes at the buffet. The food in general was very good. Our overwhelming favorite restaurant was the Indian restaurant, Basmati. It was some of the most delicious, fresh and vibrantly authentic Indian food we’ve ever eaten. In fact, we liked it so much that we ate there twice during our stay. The staff at Excellence El Carmen was exceptional. Everyone was so gracious, kind and accommodating, often anticipating your needs. There was one person that we continued to see throughout our stay who was a constant bright light of positive energy. We spotted her refereeing Bingo games, leading dances and archery lessons. In fact, we saw her lead and/or participate in nearly a half dozen activities throughout our stay. We truly believe she is one of the best employees the Excellence El Carmen has. Her name is Miskeyla and she deserves a raise and a promotion!!! In all our stay was incredibly relaxing, rejuvenating, joyful and truly luxurious. We can’t wait to return to the Excellence collection for years to come.

I booked a vacation in 2023 with excellence direct. it was an all inclusive trip hotel fight and transfers. When I returned I was charged for flight by Expedia. I just found out that excellence gave my credit card charged me for a flight through Expedia that was supposed to be included.now I’m out over 1300 dollars and I paid 12000. Oh and there was no pick at the airport they said I booked with Expedia and it was not included . The hotel said I booked with Expedia and I did not.ridiculous I Will no longer be involved with this hotel.

We booked through a third party for Excellence Coral Playa Mujeres. Our dog required life-saving emergency surgery the day we were supposed to leave. We cancelled the reservation. After spending about 13K on caring for our dog, we hoped that an exception would be made to give us a refund or, at the very least, allow us to reschedule the trip.

We called Capital One, and they encouraged us to contact the Excellence reservation line to see if they would be willing to help. However, because we didn't book through them, we were treated like second-class citizens and refused any assistance. There was no empathy, just condescension. They said they would be willing to help us IF we had booked directly with them. The rep said he "deals with people who do this all of the time" and instructed me to "stop interrupting him." I was shocked at the behavior. Perhaps if we were treated with more respect and empathy, they would have turned us into a loyal direct customer.

Non-existent customer service

My wife and I booked a 10-day stay at the Excellence Oyster Bay resort thru Expedia, for almost $9,000. This booking was made nearly a year before the travel dates in February 2026.

Unfortunately we immediately had to cancel, less than 24 hours after booking, and requested a refund. Although we had inadvertently booked a "non-refundable" room, we naively thought that a reasonable reputable company would have no problem providing customer goodwill by granting our request, particularly since we immediately canceled, causing no harm to the company. After receiving our credit card statement with the charges intact, we contacted Expedia and they contacted Excellence to request the refund, which was denied. I called the reservations number (the only contact number available) to appeal.

The rep was abrupt, said she couldn't help, and after prodding provided a customer service email address, and indicated that the Excellence company has no customer service phone number to speak to a live person. I had already sent an email and follow up prior to that, and no response to date, so I have zero confidence that they will respond to the latest email to "customer service". I feel like I was robbed of $9k. The only reason they would have to keep my money would be to punish me severely for my stupid mistake of booking with them in the first place.

Money seems to be a priority over the welfare of their customers. They did not even offer to provide a credit or reinstate my original reservation.

I am thoroughly sickened and disappointed that no one will be reasonable about this and just ignore me. Meanwhile I am out nearly $9,000, which I saved up for a special trip, and I cannot afford at all.

I've been at the Beloved Playa Mujeres two years in a row. 2023 and 2024.
The experience in 2023 was fantastic.
The experience in 2024 was sad. Worse service overall, The matress was so ubelievable uncomfortable that we had to ask them to change it.
They did not take reservations for one of the restaurants (Le Bisou), but indeed we had to wait for almost an hour to get a table and had to stand there waiting, because they did not take even a waiting list.
The quality of food had been downgraded from our prior visit, and worst of all, we forgot a jacket and two jeans brand new at the room. We wrote an email to Anwar, the person in charge of checking us in on both our visits. We also called the hotel three times. They said they would keep our stuff until next year when we were going to visit again but in the new Coral Hotel. Now we wrote them again because a friend of mine with whom we shared our las visit, is going to stay at the Finest and was going to pick up our clothing. After several mails, they finally said that as (aledgedly) we did not give them the heads-up within 60 days after our visit, the stuff was gone. We have documented emails and phone calls proving they are lying. We have pictures of the emails and registered the phone calls starting february 2024.

To Management of Excellence Playa Mujeres rest:

Our vacation at the Excellence Playa Mujeres resort in Mexico (November 2023) was the worst vacation my wife and I have ever been on--painfully so.

The nightly music and entertainment were painfully loud every night—nearly bringing me to tears. We were never able to relax or enjoy a restful evening. Although our suite was as far as possible from the theater and central plaza, still our windows thundered with the noise, every night.
Although we strenuously complained to management about this matter, they did nothing to help us. I would never recommend the Excellence resorts to anyone. I hope that upper management will correct this matter for other guests.

Take any other 5 star chain in Cancun Mexico instead of the Excellence Resorts chain

A four star resort at best Not worth the money
Review of Excellence Oyster Bay Jamaica
Reviewed today

This hotel is meant to be a five star all inclusive property For me it fell well short and is a four star at best and I know that others have picked this up too I’m still at the hotel and can’t wait to leave in 72 hours time Don’t get me wrong I’ve been to several 5 star all inclusive properties all over the Caribbean and this has to be one of the worst value for money
I came with my wife and two adult daughters for 10 nights and was quoted $11500 for two basic suites. This proved to be double the price as compared to what is available now on the resort on the internet!
Nevertheless the site is idyllic and the facilities are great but it stops there.
The staff are friendly enough but expect a tip which is wrong for an AI resort and an attitude problem if you cross them, apparently a local trait!
They say they have ten restaurants but most are shut at lunchtime and lots at dinner so you end up eating at the same basic rubbish ones.
In fact the food is well below par (except breakfast). . There was no lobster at the lobster restaurant and don’t expect filet steak at the grill either! For the price paid this was real rubbish. The available food doesn’t compare to the other 5 star AI properties in the Caribbean and is often cold due to slow service.
Drinks: I’m not a drinker but was told that top shelf drinks didn’t compare to the other Caribbean hotels.
Animation: hardly any daytime and a miserable show at night
Water sports: They have lazy beach bum staff whose only desire is to sit in their hut doing nothing Everything they do is a favor for you ie kayaking or canoeing. You can go out in a catamaran with one of them, especially if you’re female be ready for the chat up, but woe to you if you want to catamaran alone. It’s too dangerous they cry but no more dangerous than other resorts I cry. Okay pay $50 and take a test they say. Ok I pay $50 and after 30 mins of sailing we come back and he says nothing except come back tomorrow.The next day a different beach bum tells me that it was too rough to assess me the previous day and that he would. After another uneventful 30 minutes where he had tried to chat up my daughters who had come along We came back early the next day because he had said that I could have the boat the next day solo. This was a downright lie as the next day he wanted to assess me again (with my daughters). I must add that I’m a licensed hobie cat (txo sail sailor) in the category above the ones in this resort (one sail) albeit recovering from cancer, so a bit slower to react and move but I never tipped the boat or hit anything during the test and successfully turned it around.
I declined a third test and went to see the general manager who surprise surprise wasn’t in. The deputy manager heard my case and promised to relay my concerns to the manager the next day. The following day the manager wasn’t in again and I saw a hireling who stuck to the beach bum boy"s rules. I have never seen such poor management in my life!
Do not believe their polite responses it’s all a facade as they all have an attitude problem when contradicted .
Instead do boycott the Excellence chain and spend your money in a proper 5 star resort in Cancun Mexico home of several lovely memories. I can’t wait to leave this horrible place.Show less
Date of stay: June 2023