I'm the type that I won't leave a review of a place unless the service blew me away, good or bad. Right wrong or indifferent. When I read other reviews. the one's that give 3 out of 5 and say "it was nice". That does nothing for me, so I don't bother myself. But if it was amazingly good, or terribly bad, i'll take the time to let them know.
I experienced both the last few days. Here I'll list the best. Next post i'll go worst.
Best: Wife and I spent Sunday to Wednesday afternoon in Mexico. All-inclusive resort called the Excellence Riviera-Cancun. It was a gift from the couple that owns the bakery she manages for them after a stressful few months for her there. Also a bit of a bonus for sales beating expectations by a large margin with less staff than she is used to. From the second you leave the airport it was first class all the way, from the shuttle to the resort, welcoming you there with a drink right away, cleanliness of the resort. Food was top notch, nine restaurants to chose from, two had breakfast, five had lunch, most had dinner. So it was a different meal at a different place each time, except breakfast. Pool and beach areas were in great shape. Not pushy about pushing you to buy excursions and stuff. The nightly shows were well done. Fire jugglers and whatnot. No annoying wristbands either.
One thing my wife appreciated is that they enforce a rule on not reserving poolside/beach side chairs. We stayed at another place a few years back where they had a clearly posted rule that reserving chairs was not allowed. But people would go down first thing in the morning and place a towel, books, beach bag, on a pair of chairs, and not return until they were ready. Hours later. We complained that so many people were not abiding by the rules, as we would go down to the beach in the afternoon, and not a chair to be had, but they said they couldn't move peoples personal items. So why have the rule?
At this resort, if your stuff is unattended for a decent period of time, they place a time card on your chair. If probably 30 minutes, hour later, if that card isn't moved from where it was left, your stuff is gathered at taken to lost and found. Good. It's fair, and everyone can find a nice seat when they want.
This makes three paradise like trips we've taken in six years. All-inclusive to Dreams, in Punta Cana, which was sub-par. Service was so-so. Drinks were real weak. Just one pool, only four restaurants for dinner only. One large buffet for breakfast and lunch.
Next time we tried a timeshare in Mexico and it was much better than the Punta Can trip. For paying out of pocket for everything, maybe made for better food, amenities, etc... Had to rent a car for that one. There were I think four restaurants there too, but all but one had all three meals. We also with the rental car did a lot of sightseeing on our own instead of caving to the excursions. Drove two or so hours to Chichen Itza one day. Another day took the ferry to Cozumel. Things you can do with the excursion companies at the all-inclusive but for a much higher price than what it cost to rent a car and a tank of gas.
This resort in Mexico this time around was the best of both worlds. 5 stars in all facets, and all-inclusive. We were lucky it was a gift, but had we paid for it, no doubt you easily got your money's worth. Did not do the excursions. Maybe if we had more than three days. Amazing food. Top shelf liquors. Bartenders know how to make a lot of things the right way. I never order an old fashioned out in public because it's a pain in the ass to make. But they don't mind, putting it on a drink menu, and they were awesome. Gratuity was included, but we left extra everywhere anyway. (I mean, on top of the above average service, the trip was a gift).
Side note: Found it odd that on the television, porn channels were just on there, no warning, no blocks. I'm watching The Simpsons while my wife was getting ready. Show ends, I channel up...hardcore porn. So that was fun lol. Come to find out the resort was adults only (Didn't meet swingers or encounter public nudity or anything like that). No kids made it nicer for a relaxing getaway. Once we got to the airport to leave, kids were running around the check in area seemingly unattended. I don't have kids, but man, I can only imagine how much you parents value peace and quiet once you have them.
So for all-inclusive, Excellence, Cancun was amazing. Well worth it. Plenty to do without having to leave the resort. But I would also recommend the timeshare route if you haven't done it, or maybe if you want to sightsee for yourself as you can come and go from the resort whenever you like. Mexico 2 - Dominican 0
