Two weeks ago today we were on our way to Mexico for what ended up being one of the most relaxing vacations we’ve ever taken. We spent six amazing days at Excellence Playa Mujeres in Cancun, and I think we both wished we could have stayed forever! We loved just about everything about our trip, I’m already trying to talk Shane into going back again π
If you follow me on Instagram or Facebook, you’ve probably already seen some photos of our trip. (Side note: Instagram is so much fun on vacation – I love living vicariously through others when they travel!) Today I’m doing a massive photo dump with even more pictures from the trip and some details on the resort. I’m terrible about printing out photos and creating albums so this is the next best thing…
Shane is the best travel partner. He always lets me have the window seat on the plane π I love the turquoise blue color of the water in the Caribbean/Gulf of Mexico so much.
The rooms at Excellence are wonderful. Giant four-poster king beds, large sectional, flat-screen tv, gorgeous marble bathrooms – seriously, I wouldn’t have changed a thing.
The showers are enormous! It was tough coming back home to our bathroom after enjoying this one for a week. Also, for the record, one of my favorite things about vacation is being able to leave towels on the floor and have them magically cleaned up later that day.
There are bottles of liquor in the room you can enjoy, all included in the room rate. Oh, I guess I never mentioned, Excellence Playa Mujeres is an all-inclusive resort, and once you step foot on property you won’t have to worry about much!
There’s also a minibar in the room stocked with water, soda, beer, wine, and snacks (Oreos, M&Ms, and Snickers bars). The minibar is restocked every day and again, no charge. A welcome change from the $5 candy bars in the mini bar at most hotels, no?
A large jacuzzi sits in the corner of every room. It’s technically inside the room, but windows offer views onto your balcony too.
Speaking of which, the balcony includes a table and two chairs as well as a bed for lounging. I spent every morning out there working for an hour or so.
Somehow work seems a lot better with views like this.
The grounds of the resort are immaculate. I never saw even a single blade of grass out of place.
A single large building in the center of the property houses the lobby, shops, a majority of the restaurants, and the martini bar. We heard live music there most nights too.
There were eleven total bars, and we frequented all of them, but the swim-up bar was probably our favorite. You can sort of see people sitting at it in this photo.
I didn’t get a photo of it, but there’s an open-air theater at the resort as well, and every night it hosted a show. We actually had a decent view right from our balcony, which was cool.
Let’s talk food. To say we indulged on this trip would be an understatement. There are nine restaurants, ranging from Mexican and Italian to Indian, French, Mediterranean, and more. Every day they had a special themed lunch down at the beach as well, and that was also fun. We didn’t have enough time to try all of the restaurants, but of the ones we did try, the Indian and French were our favorite. I don’t have many pictures of the food to share – I was too busy stuffing my face at breakfast and lunch, and it was too dark for good photos at dinner. The presentation and quality of the food were highest at dinner, but we didn’t have many complaints about breakfast or lunch either. With one or two minor exceptions, service was phenomenal all-around.
One of our favorite food finds was brick-oven pizza at one of the bars by the beach. Every single afternoon at 3 pm we snuck over to grab a pizza to share. So, so good!
Two of the restaurants are open air, situated above the main pool area. We had lunch there a few days. You couldn’t beat the view or the fresh chips and salsa!
Room service is available 24/7 at the resort. We ordered snacks late one night and had breakfast on the balcony on our final morning. Paradise!
You can be as active as you want while you’re at Excellence. There’s a full calendar of activities each and every day. Fitness classes, tennis courts, bicycle tours, pool tables, beach and pool volleyball, water aerobics, dancing lessons, and so much more. We took Spanish lessons one morning, which I loved, and we tried archery too. Shane was better than me, but neither of us did very well. Given the amount of alcohol flowing at the resort, I’m impressed they even let guests anywhere near bows and arrows π
Non-motorized water sports are also included. I think they had stand-up paddle boarding, kayaks, Hobie cats, and windsurfing. Shane tried the windsurfing, but the wind was too calm to really get going.
We spent most of our time just lounging by the pools and/or the beach with drinks and books. Total relaxation! There are seven pools to choose from – we found all of them very quiet and peaceful with the exception of the main pool/swim-up bar area. That was the hub of activity with music, activities, etc. We liked it there, but if you wanted something more low-key, there were plenty of options.
We heard the resort was over 90% full when we were there, but it never felt like it. Plenty of chairs available by the pools and at the beach, and crowds were pretty much nonexistent.
Whoever thought of hammocks over the water is a total genius. I could have stayed in there all day!
Yes, that is my fruity drink on the edge of the pool. One of many that day…
The beach at Excellence Playa Mujere was gorgeous too. It was a little bit small, but like I said, chairs were abundant so that wasn’t a concern. The views seriously cannot be beat! I literally just sat there staring at the water and listening to the sound of the waves hitting the shore.
We made a friend at the resort π
Truthfully, we did meet several couples while we were there too. We enjoyed grabbing drinks with them and chatting by the pool.
We will definitely be back to Excellence Playa Mujeres at some point, I need to see at least one more sunset π
This post wound up being a lot longer than I intended and I’m sure there are things I’ve left out. If you have specific questions or want more info on anything in particular, feel free to email me.
Disclaimer: No compensation was received for this post. We paid for our own travel and accommodations.
Where do I start….wow! First, thanks for sharing all of these. I know photo upload posts like these can take forever (even when you’re trying to be ‘quick’ about it). Thanks you. Amazing.
I was watching and following along on IG. Question for you about that…when I travel intl and I try to use my IG, it pretty much sucks up so much data that I blow through Verizon’s intl data package in literally 1 day. What did you do to avoid being hit with massive charges? Maybe Mexico is different but other Caribbean islands, I always blow thru the data allowance and have to turn it off after 1 day.
And a mini bar that’s restocked, for FREE??! daily – omg I wouldn’t leave the room. I could dine on Snickers, Pringles, and liquor for a week and be so happy π
Oh man!! What a dream trip!! I could definitely go for some of that right now!
Tracey, that looks absolutely fantastic! I agree about the towels – that’s the best part of staying in a hotel!
I’m so emailing this post to Matt right now:-) Your vacation pictures on Instagram definitely had me envious and now I am completely jealous! I’ve never done an all-inclusive resort vacation but I like that it takes some of the pressure off.
Can you say JEALOUS. I’m so glad you had an awesome time!!
@Averie: We turned off the cellular data the minute we got into Mexico and relied only on the wifi at the resort. We don’t incur any extra charges that way – it’s as if we were in the US. Of course that only works if you have wifi at the resort. It was spotty sometimes at Excellence but better than nothing. We’re definitely too cheap to pay for intl data π
AMAZING photos! I’m having major vacation envy right now:) Looks like you guys had such a great trip!
I keep trying to figure out how you get in to those hammocks over the water and failing miserably! These photos are gorgeous and to say that I am envious of your vacation is a serious understatement π Thanks for posting!
When I first started going down, looking at the room, and free mini bar, thats CONSTANTLY re-stocked, I was like man, I would never leave that room!! Then I kept going, and almost died. Im pretty sure I could live at that resort forever, so happily. This looks absolutely stunning and gorgeous aand omg. Id love to DM you and talk more about rates if you dont mind? We still haven’t gone on a honeymoon and are looking to do so next year!
This resort is completely perfect and stunnning. I want to see all of it, I feel like one week wouldnt even be enough time to do everything it has to offer! Im dreaming now!
This looks wonderful Tracey! We love Mexico. Hoping to go back next year.
Beautiful!! Now I’m craving an all-inclusive vacay!
OMG, that all looks SO AMAZING. Although, you need more vacay pix of your lovely face and not just Shane lounging around! π I’m so glad you two had such a fabulous time!!
@Alaina: Of course! Shoot me an email and we’ll talk! There were a ton of honeymooners there, it’s definitely a popular choice.
Looks like such an incredible trip!! What a luxurious room, and that shower is amazing! And such gorgeous views of the ocean and I love the pool too! And that pizza-yum!! So glad you had such a great time!!
Oh my gaaaaahd. This looks incredible. I’m super jealous…and now itching for a beach visit. I’m glad you had such a wonderful time!!
I was waiting for this post, Tracey! Erin has been bugging me since we got home about making another reservation at EPM!
Oh my, I think I need to plan my next vacation there. The food, the drinks, the view, the rooms – everything looks incredible!
I have a friend that’s just been there for 2 weeks honeymoon. He said they treat you like a rockstar 24 hours a day. So we’ve booked 2 weeks for our anniversary in May….luckily us English get lots of time off lol. Can’t wait.
Forgot to say, he’s stopped st 3 sandals resorts and said this place blows them out of the water.
Wow my boss just returned from her honeymoon from the same resort. she stayed on the top level with the private pool, said it was the best resort ever! Thanks for the pictures, I think I’ve found a new vacation spot!
Oh my gosh!!! These photos are making me JEALOUS!! But so happy you had a great time. The resort is fabulous and all those fruity drinks makes me want a beach vacation now.
What an awesome vacation! Thanks for sharing π Did you get a good deal? And did you book directly on the hotel’s site, a travel agency or through a third party travel site? When’s the best time to go to Cancun?
Wow! Looks like an amazing vacation. The only thing missing from your photo recap is a picture of YOU and Shane together. π