Excellence Playa Mujeres is an adults only all-inclusive resort about 40 minutes north of the Cancun Airport. It's a great fit for couples and groups of friend who want a resort on a nice beach, great food, active and quiet areas, and great service.
Join me on an in-depth resort tour:
Here's what you need to know:
The property is mid size with 450 suites and layout in buildings that are about four stories high. It has an overall quiet vibe with the action happening near the main pool swim up bar.
The property is mid size with 450 suites and layout in buildings that are about four stories high. It has an overall quiet vibe with the action happening near the main pool swim up bar.
Pool View versus Spa View
The resort is laid out in two main areas calling
the spa view area and pool view. The Spa View means that the rooms around centered around the Spa.
The Spa sits on an island in the middle of a winding pool. They call it a lazy river, but there's no real current. This area is very quiet and serene. The bar there does not serve alcohol, only smoothies and juices. So if you are looking for a more private and quiet area of the resort, you want to make sure you book a spa view room.
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| Spa View Swim Up Suites |
The Spa sits on an island in the middle of a winding pool. They call it a lazy river, but there's no real current. This area is very quiet and serene. The bar there does not serve alcohol, only smoothies and juices. So if you are looking for a more private and quiet area of the resort, you want to make sure you book a spa view room.
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| Pool View Swim Up Suites |
The pool
view rooms are closer to the beach and the seaside restaurants and have views of the smaller pools that are in front of the swim up suites. The swim up suites mean your patio leads to a section of grass with a day bed and then a ladder into the pool.
Excellence Club
The resort offers an Excellence Club upgraded
experience. The biggest difference is for an Excellence Club member is the
beach area. You can see from the picture below that the Excellence Club
Beach area has upgraded loungers, beach bags, and Bali beds.
There are also other amenities such as a better mini bar in the room, better room location, and access to the Excellence Club Lounge.
For me, the big benefit is going to be the beach area. If you are going to spend a lot of time on the beach, then I highly recommend booking that Excellence Club.
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| Excellence Club Beach Area |
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| Regular Beach Area |
There are also other amenities such as a better mini bar in the room, better room location, and access to the Excellence Club Lounge.
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| Excellence Club Lounge |
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| Excellence Club Upgrade in-room bar |
For me, the big benefit is going to be the beach area. If you are going to spend a lot of time on the beach, then I highly recommend booking that Excellence Club.
The other room category I recommend is the swim up suite. The
pools do not have a lot of loungers around them. Chair hogging around the pool is real
at this Resort. So that's why I recommend getting a swim up suite so
that you always have a place to put your stuff as you enjoy the
beautiful weather and the pool. Building 9 is going to put
you closest to the swim up bar.
Service
Beach service and pool service is
available. We found it took between 30 to 45 minutes to get a drink.
What most people were doing was ordering two rounds of the time so they
would get their drink and then order the next one if they wanted to
keep up a solid case of drinking all day. Everyone was incredibly friendly and great. Service was a little slower at the Martini Bar and Swim Up bar since a lot of people would crowd around there. We would hang out at the edge of the pool and get drinks from a pool server.
Food
In terms of restaurants, we
had some of the best food I've ever had at an all-inclusive resort here.
A la carte meals are
available for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. You don't have to eat at a
buffet if you don't want to. That said, the breakfast buffet was very
good.
Here's a breakdown of the different
restaurants on the type of Cuisine.
The Lobster House offers offers a la carte breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
The Grill offers lunch and turns into the Steak House for dinner.
Basmati offers authentic Indian cuisine at dinner.
Toscana offers a buffet break and lunch. It becomes the Italian restaurant for dinner.
Spice is an Asian restaurant for dinner including hibachi tables. You have to make a same day reservation for the Hibachi tables. You can make the reservation with the concierge in the lobby.
Chez Isabelle offers French cuisine for dinner.
Agave is open for dinner with a Mexican restaurant.
Flavor Market has an international Tapas restaurant.
Barcelona has Mediterranean seafood for dinner.
For more informal meals and snack, there's a grill on the beach that changes theme and cuisine daily. The first day we were there it was Greek Gyros. The second day they had Burgers and Rock n' Roll so a band played on the beach while the chef grilled up steak, chicken and burgers.
You can also grab a personal size pizza from the brick pizza oven by the swim up bar pool. I'd skip trying the Mexican.
Aroma is on the 2nd floor of the main building and offers specialty coffee drinks along with ice cream, crepes, desserts and pre-made sandwiches.
For more informal meals and snack, there's a grill on the beach that changes theme and cuisine daily. The first day we were there it was Greek Gyros. The second day they had Burgers and Rock n' Roll so a band played on the beach while the chef grilled up steak, chicken and burgers.
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| Band on the beach |
Aroma is on the 2nd floor of the main building and offers specialty coffee drinks along with ice cream, crepes, desserts and pre-made sandwiches.
The resort takes food allergies and special diets very seriously. They have special vegetarian and gluten free menus.
Only the Hibachi tables require reservations. If you don't want to wait for a table, I suggest arriving when the restaurants open at 6:00 pm. We usually had to wait about 45 minutes when we arrived at 7:30 pm. We had a little routine where we would go to Flavors for an appetizer. Then go to the restaurant we wanted and put our name in. We would have a cocktail while we were waiting. I get hangry so it's critical I have a little snack before a long wait for dinner.
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| Dedicated gluten free toaster at the buffet located in a different area than the non-gluten free items |
Only the Hibachi tables require reservations. If you don't want to wait for a table, I suggest arriving when the restaurants open at 6:00 pm. We usually had to wait about 45 minutes when we arrived at 7:30 pm. We had a little routine where we would go to Flavors for an appetizer. Then go to the restaurant we wanted and put our name in. We would have a cocktail while we were waiting. I get hangry so it's critical I have a little snack before a long wait for dinner.
One thing to know is that they do have a
dress code so then definitely want to bring pants and a pair of nice
shoes and a shirt with a collar such a polo shirt.
Activities
In terms of activities during the day, the main pool starts pool games in the afternoon. We played bingo and trivia. They also had cooking classes, yoga, cocktail making classes, and dance classes A pool volleyball or beach volleyball game is usually going on. There's also more water sports that people can enjoy.
A Greg Norman golf course is nearby. A round before noon is $150 per person. A round after noon is $135 per person. You can rent club for between $35 - $55 per person. You make the arrangements once you arrive.
Spa Services - It's better to reserve your spa services once you arrive because they offer daily specials. The spa has a hydrotherapy circuit that is great!
It's $38 per person. A valet guides you through a series of rooms, showers, plunge pools, and whirpools. Even if you don't get a treatment, that would be a great way to rejuvenate on your day of arrival. One treatment per person is included in the Excellence Club rooms.
For nighttime activities, the Martini Bar has a saxophone player. The outside open plaza has live music. The nights we were there, they had a rock band and a guitar player. They also host special nights such as a casino night, a White Night, and a Mexican fiesta. The theater hosts a number of different shows including a Madonna show and a magic show.
These activities will last until about 10 or 11 pm. After that, the Sport Bar has a DJ, you can enjoy a drink at the lobby bar or head to the lounge on the beach.
Romantic Ideas
You can reserve a dinner on the beach for $200 per couple. Another idea is to reserve the wine room at Chez Isabelle. This is a good choice for people who sweat a lot since it's air conditioned.
You only have to purchase $100 in wine to get the whole room to yourself or up to 10 people. The resort also offers honeymoon and anniversary packages if you are staying close to your wedding date.
For more photos, visit the Trips with Angie Facebook page.
Activities
In terms of activities during the day, the main pool starts pool games in the afternoon. We played bingo and trivia. They also had cooking classes, yoga, cocktail making classes, and dance classes A pool volleyball or beach volleyball game is usually going on. There's also more water sports that people can enjoy.
A Greg Norman golf course is nearby. A round before noon is $150 per person. A round after noon is $135 per person. You can rent club for between $35 - $55 per person. You make the arrangements once you arrive.
Spa Services - It's better to reserve your spa services once you arrive because they offer daily specials. The spa has a hydrotherapy circuit that is great!
It's $38 per person. A valet guides you through a series of rooms, showers, plunge pools, and whirpools. Even if you don't get a treatment, that would be a great way to rejuvenate on your day of arrival. One treatment per person is included in the Excellence Club rooms.
For nighttime activities, the Martini Bar has a saxophone player. The outside open plaza has live music. The nights we were there, they had a rock band and a guitar player. They also host special nights such as a casino night, a White Night, and a Mexican fiesta. The theater hosts a number of different shows including a Madonna show and a magic show.
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| Magic Show |
These activities will last until about 10 or 11 pm. After that, the Sport Bar has a DJ, you can enjoy a drink at the lobby bar or head to the lounge on the beach.
Romantic Ideas
You can reserve a dinner on the beach for $200 per couple. Another idea is to reserve the wine room at Chez Isabelle. This is a good choice for people who sweat a lot since it's air conditioned.
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| Wine Room. It's more romantic at night. |
You only have to purchase $100 in wine to get the whole room to yourself or up to 10 people. The resort also offers honeymoon and anniversary packages if you are staying close to your wedding date.
For more photos, visit the Trips with Angie Facebook page.
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