Got back from Excellence Cancun and enjoyed it very much. Like having full bottles of liquor in our room as part of the AI experience!

Here are some people I've used to bid off eachother. Just be up front and say you are shopping rates and they won't waste yours or their time.

shane AT traveltipsbyshane.com

sarah AT sunsettravel.com


Agents should be able to get you a rate 15-20% off the rack rate at a minimum. Shop it versus costco and sams, not versus the website. Booking off their website is way high normally.

We're headed there in less than 30 days.

Just bought some of those inflatable pool chairs wih cup holders. Anyone ever use these there before? Is that too redeck for a place like this?

Is 400 per night per room about the minimum cost I can expect at EPM?

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Just bought some of those inflatable pool chairs wih cup holders. Anyone ever use these there before? Is that too redeck for a place like this?

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I wouldn't bother, there are plenty of floats available that are really nice.

400 seems to be their lowest rate per night I've ever been quoted for min rooms. They will more heavily discount the upgraded rooms before lowering the price on the min spec rooms. The ones that seem to fluctuate the most are the regular club rooms.

I never would do the club thing. It's like paying for an extra night and I'd rather just go an extra night. The perks at EPM are not worth it. This is different from their other resorts where they do a little more for the club types. I think the section of beach they give the club people here is pretty crappy. a lot closer to the eurotrash condos next door.

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I think the section of beach they give the club people here is pretty crappy. a lot closer to the eurotrash condos next door.

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Huh?

If you've never been there are two properties at the resort. There are condos and the hotel property. The condo beach and condo property sits to the south of the hotel. The condo owners have some access to EPM, though I'm not sure exactly what it is. I think they can eat after 8pm and only where space is available.

The area they gave the club beach is on that end. If I was to do it again I'd give them the prettier view over near where the water sports are and flip the water sports over to the south side. The way it is now isn't bad, but it's not super well thought out imo.

The closest place to EPM is the Beloved Hotel next door. It is a similar style, but it is smaller and I think families can stay there. Then further down by the marina are condos. I walked that way and while there were people from The Beloved Hotel on the beach, I didn't see anyone the whole week at the condos using the beach. I really don't see a difference beach atmosphere related between the regular and Excellence Club. Where there is a difference is the Excellence Club beach has beach beds and better lounge chairs on the beach. You can decide for yourself if it is worth the extra cost for that. I think there is also a bar that is excellence only. The resort is already the nicest place I had ever been to, so I don't think I missed out on anything by not doing the Excellence Club.

Actually, come to think of it, with Excellence Club you are really paying for beachfront rooms, as all the Excellence Club buildings look out directly over the water. So you are really paying for the view.

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If you've never been there are two properties at the resort. There are condos and the hotel property. The condo beach and condo property sits to the south of the hotel. The condo owners have some access to EPM, though I'm not sure exactly what it is. I think they can eat after 8pm and only where space is available.

The area they gave the club beach is on that end. If I was to do it again I'd give them the prettier view over near where the water sports are and flip the water sports over to the south side. The way it is now isn't bad, but it's not super well thought out imo.

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I was there a few weeks ago. It is next to Beloved so I was confused. We actually walked over to check it out, owned by the same group.

I'm here right now and it is easily one of the best experiences of my life. Just got married last sat came here Monday for honeymoon. We have one of the rooms with the dipping pool outside. It's really cool to have but it doesn't make the room. Almost all of the food has been aswesome. You have to do lunch at Toscana. Met and hung out with a lot of people from all over.

For reference I've done an all-inclusive that can't touch this place. Do not think about going anywhere else. We are already planningourtrip back. We've also met three different groups of ages down here. Will have more later.

-Braxton

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I'm here right now and it is easily one of the best experiences of my life. Just got married last sat came here Monday for honeymoon. We have one of the rooms with the dipping pool outside. It's really cool to have but it doesn't make the room. Almost all of the food has been aswesome. You have to do lunch at Toscana. Met and hung out with a lot of people from all over.

For reference I've done an all-inclusive that can't touch this place. Do not think about going anywhere else. We are already planningourtrip back. We've also met three different groups of ages down here. Will have more later.

-Braxton

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Enjoy! I thought the food was mediocre and why I probably won't go back. The resort is amazing though.

In Mexico the beef quality is really iffy. If you like fish the food is good there. Get outside the fish and it can be a bit meh and the beef can be downright bad to inedible.

This is true of basically all Mexico resorts.

Has anyone ever been offered an upgrade for $$ on arrival? What sort of offers did they throw at you? I'm just curious. Leaving Thursday.

it's been a long time, but i want to say it was maybe 100 more/night to upgrade to one of their rooftop ones or one closer to the beach. trip advisor may have better info on this.

in other news, i leave for the iberostar grand in 3 weeks!

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Has anyone ever been offered an upgrade for $$ on arrival? What sort of offers did they throw at you? I'm just curious. Leaving Thursday.

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When we went, I booked a swim-up room because it was cheaper for some reason, even though we preferred an upper level room for the privacy. When we arrived I asked them for a regular upper-level room, and I think they were a little confused because it is technically a downgrade. Then, out of the blue, they offered us a rooftop terrace room (the one with a private pool) for no extra charge. We happily accepted. When you get there, I would tell them that it is your first time at the resort and ask them nicely if they have anything better available. A lot of times they are fully booked, so it a matter of what is available.

I went last year about this time and they were nowhere close to fully booked. You can still get all rooms on their rack rate. I'll just see what they offer if anything. I'm not really inclined to pay more for basically anything unless it's a room over in bldg 9 facing out, and that's not likely at all.

I'm curious as to where some of y'all ate. I had beef 3 nights, was it republic no but was it outback good ya. The only thing that I thought was pretty bad was none breakfast room service. Toscana was by far the best for breakfast for lunch and breakfast. Chez Isabel was probably the best for dinner. Had filet mignon there. Overall I was pretty impressed with the food. The best thing I ate was the shasimi tuna for lunch at Toscana. Mmmm

We ate all over.

Breakfast:
Room service a couple days. Mediocre. The room service menu was better than the special anniversary "breakfast in bed" menu.

Lobster House - I liked the waffle menu. 1 of my 3 meals there the waffle was horribly soggy. Wife's stuff was pretty good.

Lunch:
Lobster house was pretty good.
Ate around the pool either at the beach or pizza. Burritos pretty lame from beach one day. Other stuff was good. Pizzas pretty good.

Dinner:
Basmati was awesome. We got one of each tasting menu

Japanese place was mediocre. I had the steak and it was pretty bland. Wife had a curry that was decent but nothing special.

Italian - about on par with Olive Garden

Flavor Market - ordered lots, some good, some not. Would advise going here early for apps then elsewhere for a late dinner

Chez Isabelle - hit and miss. My steak was good, wife's tuna (ordered rare) was overcooked

Lobster House - lobster is huge and like rubber.

Of all the dinners the only good service was the last two, Chez Isabelle and Lobster House. Flavor Market was really annoying. We set down about 10 minutes after a couple we had met earlier. We asked to sit together and they said no, despite a two person table right next to ours available (and they sat a couple there 5 minutes later) as well as larger tables open. They then forgot one of the tapas orders and took asking for it 3 times until it finally arrived.

Maybe All Inclusives aren't for me. I love the resort, really amazing, and not worrying about the cost of food drinks. But, I want to be wowed with the food like I am on a regular basis traveling in the states and I'm probably just not paying enough to be amazed at an AI.

I think expectations should be good, not great. Hit and miss service is also to be expected.

We had similar experience to you this time and it seems like most have the same result.

They haven't changed a whole lot from the first time we went, but quality is still high. For 200pp it is nearly impossible to beat at that price.

I did a little shopping around in the area. If you move down to PDC you are looking at either trading out for a condo or a much more expensive hotel.

The main thing you just can't avoid are kids. I was instantly annoyed at the airport by vacation kids running wild, I can't take that for a week on a beach.

So to find an AO, isolated beach, with service for 200pp is just simply not possible. You have to give up something.

Again I was shocked at how many people fall for the club level. That takes the trip up to easily 300pp and gets you nothing of note but a view. At 300pp you can actually get in a boutiquey hotel down near PDC. I think it mainly serves to keep the prices low for everyone else.

Going to EPM this Tuesday thru Sunday. Anyone else going to be there by any chance?

Nope. Gonna be on the opposite side of the airport at iberostar grand.

Hoping they carry the ags on Mexican ESPN. You know?

Definitely!

Looks like I'm sol on the resort carrying the game. Hope the wifi is conducive to getting sling box

Got back the other night. Had a nice time overall. Wasn't my favorite but was a great place to spend almost 6 days.

We are heading to the EPM the weekend of the 18th for a wedding. Do they have CBS and ESPN? Hoping to be able to catch the game.

They don't have ESPN...not sure about CBS but I would guess not

Just keep it on 49

The top floor of the main building does have a game room that they have 2 tv's that show games, you just can't get them in the room... Just leave the room tv on 49

^^^ lol

TTT

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Got back the other night. Had a nice time overall. Wasn't my favorite but was a great place to spend almost 6 days.

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I felt the same way. Great place to spend 3-4 days. By the 5th or 6th day, I felt like I could have done something else.

We are going back for a 3rd time, but may split the trip up by staying at EPM only 3-4 nights and somwhere near PDC for 3-4 nights.

Still considering just doing 7 days there and doing more excursions from the resort or.

goign to one of the boutique places down near Tulum

secrets Maroma

Or this newer place "La Perla" down near PlayaDelCarmen. It looks like an EPM clone, but newer and on a nicer beach.

Prices on Secret Maroma are up a ton in the past 12 months. I think it's super popular at this point and they can just charge whatever. EPM has been roughly the same price for the last 3 years.

Going to EPM in less than a week and can't wait! Any other Ags going to be there around that time?

Also, question on dinners...do you have to make reservations for the nicer places? Or are they all pretty much first-come, first-serve?

Leaving this morning for our honeymoon!