All Inclusive Resorts: EXCELLENCE PLAYA MUJERES

Excellence Playa Mujeres is an adults only all inclusive resort located in Cancun north of the Hotel Zone about 30-45 minutes from the airport depending on traffic. It is on the beach across the water from Isla La Mujeres. The resort is brand new and currently relatively isolated. However, a marina and condo complex are being developed next door and the land further up the beach is clearly ripe for development of additional resorts.

We spent three nights at Excellence Playa Mujeres in April 2008, as part of a Funjet 500 trip. One day we went to Maroma Beach for snorkeling and a wonderful luncheon. While we were at Maroma Beach we visited the El Dorado Maroma Beach. One evening we spent at the Royal Cancun.

Our room at the Excellence Playa Mujeres was wonderful. It had a king size four poster bed rigged up for netting, which was not provided. The room came complete with a couch and wide screen television, as well as a mini-frig with beer, soda, and snacks that were replenished daily. Our room had a hot tub with windows fully opening onto the porch. The porch included a table with chairs and a bed, as well as a great view of the resort.

The room also had a desk for those with a bit of work to do. WiFi was available throughout the resort, including in the rooms. We brought a laptop and had a few connection problems, particularly in the conference room area where the signal strength was weak. Our laptop (15.4 inch diagonal screen) fit into the safe located in the rather ample closet.

One odd thing about our room was that there was no divider between the bedroom and the bathroom sink area. I’ve since learned that this is the current fashion in resort room design. In the photo below, the two round Mayan suns are the only thing separating the bed area from the sink area of the bathroom – the suns hang in an opening, like a kitchen pass through between the sinks and the bed. To the left of the bed in the picture, notice the glass above the nightstand. This separates the shower from the bedroom area – there’s no privacy in the shower. The toilet has a frosted glass door that reaches neither to the ground nor to the lintel above the door – so there’s some but not complete privacy in the toilet. However, there’s no way to turn a light on in the middle of the night in the bathroom area without lighting the sleeping area. We asked others in our group about their rooms and they all said that their rooms were the same. There was also a lot of kidding about the two porno channels on the TV.

We were unable to see one of the two-story rooftop terrace suites during our visit to Excellence Playa Mujeres due to full occupancy. However, from the exterior it was possible to see that these rooms have a stair case that leads to the rooftop where there are chairs, outdoor beds, and a Jacuzzi. The resort also has swim-up rooms, lining a number of linear pools found around the resort. There is not a lot of privacy in the swim-up areas, since these are open to the neighboring rooms and, in some cases, sun bathers along the other side of the linear pool.

The beach at Excellence Playa Mujeres is broad with beautiful, smooth white sand. The resort provides lounge chairs, palapas, and drink service on the beach. A bar is handy to the beach if you can’t wait. There are no pesky towel cards at the resort. Towels are available at a variety of locations for the taking.

There is a marina being developed next to the resort so the beach does not extend far to the south. However, to the north you can walk for miles – which we did. It was wonderful. Despite a very strong wind, the waves coming onto the beach were relatively mild – much milder than the waves along the Hotel Zone. There is some seaweed on the beach, but the resort goes to extensive lengths to clean it off the beach. They have a tractor that they use to rake the seaweed out of the sand.

There is a main pool as well as a number of linear pools that give water frontage to first floor rooms. There are also a number of Jacuzzis at various locations around the pools at Excellence Playa Mujeres. Lounge chairs at the pools are wooden and have comfortable cushions, except for those set up for use IN the pool which are plastic with fabric covers. The latter are also used on the beach.

There are eleven bars around Excellence Playa Mujeres. There is a swim-up bar in the main pool. There are also bars bar just off the beach, next to the theater, in the lobby, in the central court of the resort, and near one of the interior linear pool areas.

There are eight a la carte restaurants serving dinner. We only had one dinner at the resort and we ate at the French restaurant. It was excellent. Reservations are not required at any of the restaurants. We had all of our breakfasts at the breakfast buffet which was typical breakfast fare. We only had one lunch at the resort and it was at the restaurant over the main pool. The food was unsurpassably excellent. Room service is also available.

A variety of other services and facilities are available at the Excellence Playa Mujeres. Watersports available at the resort include Hobie Cats for sailing and kayaks. There is a concession desk that makes a variety of offsite water sports and activities available, including trips to Maroma Beach.

There is a gazebo and other facilities available for weddings. A full ballroom is available for receptions and parties. Meeting rooms are also available.

There is a variety of nightly entertainment and shows at the resort theater. The one free night we had at the resort was casino night. There’s a bar at stage right and our chips, provided free, went quickly. After that we played ping-pong and billiards and met some other guests.

The resort has complete spa service available. The spa has an additional charge. Also for an extra charge, the Excellence Club has a variety of additional facilities and features including a private pool and bar.

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