Excellence Riviera Cancun - Adults Only All Inclusive

Excellence Riviera Cancun is by far the best service oriented resort I have experienced. If you are tired of spending your money fancy resorts with horrible service, well, here is your answer. I have travel to many Caribbean resorts and Excellence Riviera Cancun surpasses them all with their keen eye on service. You will not be disappointed.

Unfortunately the weather wasn’t as expected but no one can control that but only the executive club pool was heated. We were exited for a swim up room but wasn’t able to use any pools as they were freezing. Hot tub was cold also. Beds are rock hard as well as the “softest” pillows recommended. Plus side the Staff are extremely friendly and polite! Wish each restaurant offered “basic” type dishes for those of us less adventurous eaters. Although I did try exotic dishes that I never would have had I not been there. Would be great if the gift shops had US prices as well as the paso prices because some workers couldn’t comprehend or know the conversion rate. The airport has both prices listed on most of there items and that was extremely helpful.

Staff was so friendly. We were so impressed how the staff at the bars and restaurants remembered us and knew our preferences. My wife ordered a special bean & cheese quesadilla at Los Olas, not on the menu, but they accommodated. When we returned for lunch again, our waiter remembered the special quesadilla. This was our third time at an Excellence resort and it did not disappoint.

After two fabulous experiences with the Secrets Brand (Akumel, M. Beach) decided to try Excellence. Truly a step down. Corners cut on entertainment, food quality, food availability, hot tub maintenance, staff demeanor. Overall was good, but we expected EXCELLENCE!

The people and staff here are great. The crowd and other guests were all so polite and fun. Moises is the name of a gentleman who works at the outside pool bar. He might be the hardest working and nicest man I have met in my life. He is the embodiment of hard work and service. If you want to always have a full drink you make sure you are in Moises section. He took amazing care of myself, my wife, my brother and his wife. 10/10.

After visiting several other Excellence properties, I was looking forward to try ERC. Overall it was a good experience. Service was good but not anywhere near the service I experienced at Excellence Playa Mujeres (EPM). But to be fair I haven’t been to EPM since pre-COVID and I’ve heard it has also gone down there as well. But I consider myself pretty low maintenance so I don’t need to be fussed over I stayed EC and was very disappointed to see the lack of EC beach and pool concierge service. There are not enough staff to support both the EC pools and beach. Multiple beach beds and pool chairs were reserved by the concierge staff (quite obvious when you see towels and a book on a beach bed or lounger) which is against policy but clearly no one cares. An EC concierge contacted us for the first time on our last night to ask where we were planning on dining so he could arrange a “Come back soon) dessert. At EPM we saw our concierge daily to see if there was anything they could do for us. I am glad I went and will be heading back to EPM so I will see if the changes in service are across the brand I would definitely go back to ERC but there is room for improvement in customer relations

My husband and I traveled to Excellence Riviera Cancun in August 2025 for our honeymoon, and it exceeded every expectation. Neither of us was familiar with the Excellence brand before our travel agent recommended it. After we booked it, we would tell people we were going to an Excellence resort and so many people, who had stayed at an Excellence resort before, had the best things to say about it. After going, we can say that resort lived up to every bit of the hype! The food was absolutely incredible—there truly wasn’t a bad restaurant on the property. Our favorite was Lobster House, which we found ourselves talking about long after our stay. We booked an Excellence Club swim-up room, and the private pool quickly became our favorite place to relax. We spent most of our days there because it was so peaceful and quiet. Our pool concierge, Mario, and our server on most days, Hugo, were both outstanding. Their hospitality and attention to detail made our experience even more special. As someone who works in hospitality myself, it felt like a true luxury to be so well taken care of. Every day, Mario would thoughtfully set up towels on my chair and it was such a small detail that meant so much. We also loved the nighttime entertainment and made it a point to enjoy it every evening—it was the perfect way to end each day. We were genuinely sad to leave and cannot wait to return. We are officially the resort’s newest biggest fans and will be singing Excellence Riviera Cancun’s praises to anyone who will listen!

Beautiful venue, staff is lovely, beach was well maintained. Angelo stuck out to me! Events are so so , some of the night events were a little boring and could use some upgrades. The food however is my biggest struggles. By the 4th day I had terrible stomach issues and am still facing it. Agave had little to no flavor. Lobster House was great for dinner the first nights and then when we went back again, the fish was undercooked, the pasta came out in 1 solid chunk as if it had been reheated, the fries were lukewarm . Spice was terrible however , the seafood had a smell to it, miso soup was like warm, the beef ribs were chewy, the miso salmon tasted terribly fishy, the raw tuna also had a fishy taste. This was when my stomach took a turn for the worst, as I spent many trips in the toilet after this.

Pros: (plus one star) the employees service. They work their butt off and try their hardest to make sure you have a great time. The nightly shows the put on are fantastic! (Plus one star) There are plenty of pools to choose from with different vibes. There are lots of beach chairs (not pool chairs unless you wake up before 7am). (Plus one star) Every dinner we had was very delightful food. We ate at Agave, magna (twice), lobster house, and the grill. Breakfast we ate at the buffet which had a great variety (but same variety every day). Lunch we had pool or beachside food (wood fired pizza was great). Guacamole everywhere was delicious! Cons: (minus one star) room is very humid and uncomfortable. Also wear and tear in many areas. Also you can hear the entire DJ party til 11pm so if you might want to go to sleep, you don’t. (Minus one star) While the staff were great there were not enough of them. Every night at dinner we waited no less than 30 minutes (1 hr 30 min one night). And this wasn’t because the paces were packed. We saw many empty tables. So we can only assume there is not enough staff to man all the tables. At the beach the service was slow because one poor woman seemed to be in charge of the entire beach area. Whatever the reason- don’t sell out your hotel if you don’t have enough staff to service the people. One last negative came at the end of our trip where we really realized this place values money and the “bottom line” rather than their guests. As we had checked out we got notification that our flight was delayed. Then delayed again. Then finally cancelled. All before we left the property. We went to club concierge to ask if they had a room to keep us in (explaining the dilemma we just encountered) and he said the only room on the entire property was the exact one we just had but MORE money than we originally paid. When I inquired about this he shrugged and said “it’s high demand season”. He didn’t even try to at least give us the room for the same price we paid for the other nights. Without having a car we felt we had to just suck it up (or sleep at the airport?!). But sometimes a little compassion and a little less emphasis on making money could go a long way for customer service. Probably would have enticed me to try other excellence properties. Besides, at 1pm was that room even going to get taken at all that night? Even at the same price we paid or (an act of kindness) half price would have been more money than they were going to make on that room anyway.

Great staff, great service. Thank you to David Sarmiento for everything you did to improve our stay. Thank you also to the staff such as Max and Diana for being fun and organizing great activities, even knowing your guests by name. Room was moldy, beach was brown. Washrooms are outdated, need renovations. Toilet room is very very tight.