Looking for a Mexico beach resort all inclusive and am thinking Cancun or Playa Del Carmen...

Question is.. Since Independence day this year is on a Tuesday.. I might as well take the entire week off, do July 4th in Texas then leave Wednesday or Thursday for Mexico for a Sunday return flight. Do y'all think it will be crowded as all get out?

Backstory is that I've never done a Mexico all-inclusive and I have no idea where to stay... so I've just been going off of Trip Adivsor rankings

Looked at a few resorts...

• Grand Velas Riviera Maya (#3 ranked)
• Excellence Playa Mujeras (#1 ranked apparently in all of Mexico)
• Secrets Maroma Beach

There's just so many to try and whittle them down..

Thoughts on if that particular weekend will be crowded?
Suggestions for resorts you've had a great experience with?

TaterAg said:

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Looking for a Mexico beach resort all inclusive and am thinking Cancun or Playa Del Carmen...

Question is.. Since Independence day this year is on a Tuesday.. I might as well take the entire week off, do July 4th in Texas then leave Wednesday or Thursday for Mexico for a Sunday return flight. Do y'all think it will be crowded as all get out?

Backstory is that I've never done a Mexico all-inclusive and I have no idea where to stay... so I've just been going off of Trip Adivsor rankings

Looked at a few resorts...

• Grand Velas Riviera Maya (#3 ranked)
• Excellence Playa Mujeras (#1 ranked apparently in all of Mexico)
• Secrets Maroma Beach

There's just so many to try and whittle them down..

Thoughts on if that particular weekend will be crowded?
Suggestions for resorts you've had a great experience with?

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I've stayed at Excellence before. Its absolutely worth it. My wife and I loved it.

The great thing about all-inclusives are there is no such thing as 'crowded.' You're only going to interact with however many guests your hotel can hold. That stretch of beach is far enough away from the 'hotel zone' that the only people on the beach are guests of the resort. If you truly want 'prime' beach I wouldn't recommend Excellence as they have to deal with seaweed every day, but don't be fooled into buying the 'best beach.' That will put you squarely in the hotel zone which will have crowds. Truly, the best best beach in the whole area is on Isla Mujeres Playa Norte Beach. So stay at a nice secluded resort, enjoy the food and relaxing atmosphere and then go on a day trip to Isla Mujeres to see the really nice beach.

If you do any excursions, be sure to book them with Seasons Tours through your hotel. Season's Tours will make sure you are only with people from your hotel. Aqua World will have a hut set up somewhere on site as well. Don't book through them. They will put you on a boat with every Tom, Dick, and Harry. We did the Catamaran sailing trip to Isla Muejeres through Seasons Tours and loved it. It was only Excellence guests so no kids. We also did a boat trip through Aqua World and had to put up with the crowds; that was not our favorite trip.

I haven't stayed at Secrets Maroma Beach, but there were a ton of folks at Excellence when I went there who had stayed at Maroma Beach and said Excellence was just as good for half the price.

One final note, book your airport to hotel transfer through USA Transfers. They are professionally run and one of the cheapest options there is. We got a clean, private shuttle from the airport for like 25 bucks. Do NOT book through Transfers-USA. They are a scam that is trying to prey on your confusion.

If you have any more questions feel free to message me.

We're going to the Valentin Maya Riviera on July 13th, after reading numerous reviews.

What is your budget per night? No kids?

@waterturkey we leave Valentin on the 13th, looks like a great resort!

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@waterturkey we leave Valentin on the 13th, looks like a great resort!

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Leave some Dos Equis for us and enjoy!

Thanks for the feedback!

We went ahead and booked the Excellence... very much looking forward to it! We will definitely take in to consideration that Seasons Tours is the way to go if we choose to book an excursion.

About the airport to resort transportation... I just went ahead and booked the private shuttle service through Excellence's website that they offered after my booking. It was pricey but I just figured that keeping it to the hotel's own private shuttles would be easiest. You think that will work out just fine?

We are staying here at the end of April

Unico Riveria Maya

BRAND NEW - just opened March 1.

We were set to book Excellence when our travel agent surfaced this place and the deep discounts they have for introductory pricing. We decided to take the risk on a new place.

Instagram is making this place look pretty swanky.

I'll report back when we return.

TaterAg said:

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Thanks for the feedback!

We went ahead and booked the Excellence... very much looking forward to it! We will definitely take in to consideration that Seasons Tours is the way to go if we choose to book an excursion.

About the airport to resort transportation... I just went ahead and booked the private shuttle service through Excellence's website that they offered after my booking. It was pricey but I just figured that keeping it to the hotel's own private shuttles would be easiest. You think that will work out just fine?

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Their shuttle service is great, everyone I talked to at the resort who used it loved it. I just looked at it as, 'save a hundred some odd bucks on the transportation and spend it on massages at their spa.'

You're going to love it. Just a heads up they don't take US dollars to pay for services like spas. You can easily tip bellhops, bartenders, room service, shuttle drivers, etc in 1 or 5's US dollars, but to pay for 'big' purchases it has to be in pesos. Its Mexican law to force those 'in country' large purchases as pesos. When you check out they'll have a bill for you in pesos of all the spa/excursions you booked. Make sure your credit card doesn't ding you something ridiculous to do currency exchange.

Also, be wary of exchange rates around town. If anyone takes US dollars in cancun, your're going to get shafted on the exchange rate. When we went the formal exchange rate was 17.50 pesos to 1 USD, Bars in the hotel zone will do a flat 15 pesos to USD and pocket the difference. Exchange places on Isla Muejeres were like 16.50 to 1 USD. Excellence had the best exchange rate but it wasn't perfect. It was like 17.00 pesos to 1 USD.

You'll love it there. If you think about doing an evening away from the resort consider going to CoCo Bongo in Cancun. Its like a Vegas show/Dance Club mix owned by Jim Carrey.

We're checking in to EPM on the Saturday after July 4th. 3rd trip. Worth the $$$.