Excellence playa mujeres, Mexico

Will be watching this eagerly as it is (hopefully) our honeymoon destination/hotel.

Sorry just crashing as we're looking at Mexico but i'm so confused with all the options and contracting reviews on tripadvisor. These are potentials for us:

• El Dorado Royale or Seaside Suites
• Gran Bahia Principe
• Grand Palladium Kantenhah

But will go and check your one out now! Just wondered if you'd looked at these and ruled them out for any reason? I'm really struggling to choose! Never been to Mexico before and want to make the best choose esp for honeymoon!

x

I wsould be really interested in this too, as am going to Mexico on Honeymoon and cannot wait

We are staying at The Royal in Cancun it cannot come soon enough!

Looking on trip advisor the Excellence Resorts seem to have the best reviews, there are two of them but the Playa Mujeres hotel is newer.

The most important things for us (which influenced our choice) are: adult only resort, amazing a la carte food (no buffet), no need for a la carte reservations (just show up), multiple pools, multiple restaurants, multiple bars, on the beach, beach bar, lots of day time activities within the hotel such as spanish lessons, yoga, cycling tours, etc.

I'll be able to hellp you all i think- i went to Excellence Riviera Cancun a couple of years ago, it really is out of this world! If you have any specific questions i'm more than willing to help. x

@ yellow mellow - the Mujeres reviews are the best, I think 93% or more on TripAdvicor rate it as Very good or excellent.

We are sure it's the right place, but plan to go to the Dominican Republic Excellent 6 months post wedding too - not sure what that's like in comparison.

@Mrs Loftus 2b - Did you happen to go over to Isla Mujeres?

@ Winter bride - we ruled out anything that was in the "hotel zone" - I think we were looking at saving over £1,500 by going to the Cancun Excellence, but we decided we wanted peace and quiet.

TripAdvisor has hundreds of comments on those hotels, so it's probably just a case of trawling through - I always read the bad first as I like to know worse case scenario - ?.

No we didn't go there- there only excursion we did was to swim with dolphins.

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Excellence Riviera Cancun isn't in Cancun Little Madam. It's quite a distance out of Cancun infact, it's in Riviera Maya.

Where did you do that, if you don't mind me asking? As that was what we are looking to do on Isla Mujeres.

We went with Dolphin Discovery in Riviera Maya, i'd defo recommend it!!

Aw - I think that may be too far away from us as we purposely went outside all of the more touristy areas. Might have to join the Trip Advisor forum so I can post on there properly.

I'm considering Mexico too. Haven't told OH yet haha! In response to your Q about dolphin encounter, I'd say go for it! We did it in the Domnican 2 summers ago and it was lovely! So much fun!! Worth every penny. We swam with sharks too but I wouldn't recommend that as you will be nervous for days before!! ?

Hi,

We have been to Mexico twice, Cancun and Riviera Maya, all i would suggest is to book trips whilst you are over there as they are a thrid of the price that the tour operators charge. All the malls have trip companies in them. We went to the Isla on a catermaran trip and it was gorgeous but very busy and hot, no breeze what so ever. You can hire golf buggys whilst on the island which seemed popular, we just stayed on the beach in a cafe drinkign corona as it was too hot to venture out in the sun (or thats our excuse).

We did a number of other trips like the Jungle safari on a boat, pirate cruise, Xel Ha and Tulum and we ate out a lot, if you want any more advice just give me a shout.

We are looking to go to Mexico again for a third time for our honeymoon we love it that much.

Lynsey

We Stayed at the Gran Bahia Principe and it was AMAZING!!! Highly recomended although a very long journey from the airport like 2.5 hours, so would suggest a private taxi transfer

MrsLeigh - I have looked at the GBP too. Do you think it is a good place for a honeymoon or is it a bit too crowded and not particularly romantic?

How far is it from Playa del Carmen also!?

x

To be honest the hotel (3 hotels in total Akumal, Tullum and Coba, we stayed in the Akumal which i thought was best) make up the gran bahia principe so the size of the hotel/resort is vast, you really would not be able to walk around it as it is that big, all 3 of the hotels are built around mangroves with the akumal and tullum on the beach and the coba hotel situated at the back. Golf carts take you around the resort. There are around 20 restaurants and had fantastic food including fillet steaks, sushi and caviar! You can be as romantic or as active as you want as there are quiet pools as well as active pools - so many to choose from! The beach is vast too. Each of the hotels has a show bar, a piano bar (no kids), lobby bar and a number of restaurants (you can use all the facilities throughout the resort no matter which hotel you stay in) Around midnight all the bars in the hotel close and you can catch the golf cart train to the hacienda which is an area that is situated away from the main hotel, here you will find a casino, nightclub, show bar and sports bar. There is a live band on here every night which we really liked.

The GBP is about 20km from Playa del Carmen, you can get a collectivo bus outside the hotel for $2 each way (if you have every been to Turkey they are very similar to the Dolmus buses where you can flag them down on the street).

There is nothing outside of the hotel other than Jungle that you can walk too.

Sorry not sure why it went bold! lol

Thanks so much for that! Were the rooms of a nice standard? We're looking at the Golden Club Suites which are a bit of an upgrade if necessary! I really want a jacuzzi bath!

x

Do you know which of the 3 hotels you are staying in? We had a standard room in the Akumal but had a Jacuzzi bath in it which was fab. The mini bar in the room is great too, filled every day with beer, soft drinks, water, juice, crisps and chocolate!

If you send me a private message with your email address I will send you my facebook photo album. x

That's very useful thanks - I was going to book before, so glad I read this, I'll wait until closer to the time.

It's Isla's 160th anniversary or something random while we are there and so worried about it getting busy, but then there can only be so many tourists in the area. Hopefully it'll be fine.

Hi

I visited Cancun a couple of years ago and went to Isla Mujeres for the day. Are you staying in Cancun?

It has to be my favourite day. We didnt go on an organised tour as you can do it so much cheaper when you are there. There is a ferry that goes from Cancun to the island. You can then just book the experince once on the island (we didnt do it though). I would imagine it will be much much cheaper.

When on the island definately hire a little golf cart to get about and sample some snorkelling.

What a great time you are going to have!

We are thinking of going back for our honeymoon but feel we shouldnt go back to somewhere we have already been.

We stayed at the Riu Cancun. I cant praise Riu hotels enough.

Sarah

Yes i agree you must do the snorkling whilst on the island, we went on a snorkling tour which was fab, however I got stung by a jelly fish!! It didn't ruin the day though.

I too stayed at the Riu Cancun and have also stayed at the Riu Mambo in the Dom Rep, they really are excellent hotels alhtough I think i would prefer somewhere a little quieter for my honeymoon. x

We must have the same taste in hotels, I have also been to the Riu Mambo in Dom Rep!

I agree maybe Riu Cancun would be to noisy for a honeymoon but its great fun!

@ Saf - no we are about 20km from Cancun but about 10mins from a ferry port over to the Isla, and the ferry takes about 15-20mins, so definately want to head over.

Thanks for the info. We will definately be getting a little cart.

We've been Cancun/Riviera Maya a couple of times now, and we're planning to go back for 3 whole weeks for our honeymoon. We're planning to stay at our favourite hotel; Moon Palace Golf Resort & Spa. MY Brother & SIL have been there approx half a dozen times, and myself n H2B have been once...its fab!

I totally recommend the Jungle Tour...you get your own little speed boat to drive through the lagoons! Great fun!

I hated the jungle tour, couldn't wait to get back on dry land, it was the worst 2 hours of my life, so scared that the boat would turn over in the lagoon, with all them crocodiles!! It also didn't help matter that my H2B was sea sick and he was throwing up the whole time and i had to drive the darn thing......

I think I kissed the jetty on our return lol x

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I have stayed at the gran bahia principe i mexico its where my h2b proposed in a beautiful gazebo!

Its a beautiful hotel and grounds and everything is included in the price you pay other than spa treatments and trips or if you want to buy more expensive wine or champagne in the a la carte restaurants.

We absolutely loved it there only thing is night time entertainment is not the best but you can make your own entertainment and there are loads of bars and restaurants you can go to!

Have fun

Forgot to add we upgraded and got a suite with the jacuzzi bath etc there was champagne etc in out room on arrival. The rooms are relly nice and comfortable.

If you get this upgrade you also get premium branded drinks but you must ask for it like smirnoff and lemonade if you ask for vodka you get the local drink!

I wanted to get married there but my h2b wanted us to stay here! Plus by the time all the family paid to get out there it prob would have cost a lot more.

good luck

Thanks Nicadele. We opted for a different hotel in the end (booked today!) Have gone with the El Dorado Seaside Suites as we decided we wanted Adult only and something a bit quieter/more intimate. But the GBP could definitely be an option for the future if we like Mexico!

x

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I think that would be how I'd feel too TBH.

OOOOhhhh congratulations winterbride i am sure you will have an amazing time xx