The Best All-Inclusive Resort We've Ever Stayed At...That Somehow Couldn't Seat Three People

Our honest (and occasionally bewildered) review of Excellence Riviera Cancún

There are two kinds of vacations.

The ones you forget six months later......and the ones that become family stories you'll laugh about for years.

Our week at Excellence Riviera Cancún somehow became both.

Before arriving, we'd read all the glowing reviews. Expedia even ranked it among the world's best all-inclusive resorts. Expectations? Sky high.

After seven days of unlimited gourmet meals, handcrafted cocktails, world-class entertainment, pizza-stealing iguanas, and what appeared to be an organizational crisis caused by the number three, we finally reached a conclusion:

This resort is absolutely fantastic.

It also made us question whether moving a chair requires approval from upper management.

And honestly?

That's part of its charm.

If you're researching Excellence Riviera Cancún because you're trying to decide whether it's worth spending your hard-earned vacation dollars, here's the short answer:

Yes. Absolutely. Book it.

Now let us explain why we're saying that...while also spending the next few minutes gently roasting some of the most delightfully baffling moments of our trip.

First Things First: The Food Is Almost Unfair

Let's get this out of the way. We've stayed at enough all-inclusive resorts to know the usual routine. One restaurant is excellent. A couple are pretty good. One is somehow still open despite serving food that tastes like disappointment.

Excellence Riviera Cancún completely ignored that script.

Every single specialty restaurant was outstanding. Not "good for an all-inclusive." Just...good. Period.

The French restaurant was elegant without being stuffy. The Italian restaurant made us consider ordering a second dinner. The steakhouse delivered. Spice served some genuinely impressive sushi, and if you're lucky enough to snag reservations for the hibachi or Korean BBQ experience, don't hesitate. But the undisputed champion?

Magna.

If you're debating whether the Excellence Club upgrade is worth it, let us save you hours of Reddit research. It is. Magna alone almost justifies the upgrade. Quieter atmosphere. Exceptional service. Beautiful presentation. And perhaps most importantly...Bartenders who understand that a proper Old Fashioned shouldn't taste like melted popsicles.

Monday Night Belongs to Claudia T.

Every resort promises amazing entertainment. Many deliver karaoke with a smoke machine. Excellence delivers something entirely different. Let's just say this: If you're staying here on a Monday evening, your schedule has already been decided for you. You're going to see Claudia T. No debate. No discussion. Just go.

We've visited enough resorts to become politely skeptical whenever someone says, "You HAVE to see the show." This time? They were right. Claudia T. gave, hands down, the best live musical performance we've ever seen at an all-inclusive resort.

The kind of voice that makes everyone at your table slowly stop talking because they're suddenly paying attention. We're convinced she could walk onto American Idol or The Voice tomorrow and leave with a recording contract.

The rest of the entertainment somehow keeps pace. Silent Disco? One of the funniest nights of the trip. Watching dozens of adults passionately singing completely different songs while dancing together never gets old.

Reggae Night was a blast.

The country duo was surprisingly fantastic.

The circus performance was genuinely impressive, replacing cheesy vacation skits with acrobatics that made us wonder if our travel insurance covered secondhand vertigo. Simply put...This resort understands entertainment.

The Excellence Club: Worth Every Penny...Almost

We'll make this easy. Book the Excellence Club. Private pools. A quieter beach. Magna. The Excellence Lounge. Better drinks. Less crowd. Done.

Decision made.

That said...

There's one thing Excellence is this close to getting perfect.

Las Olas restaurant. Imagine this...an ocean front restaurant, steps from the beach with perfect sunset views and an ocean breeze. It is one of the prettiest locations on the property. But it only serves breakfast and lunch and then closes at 5:00 PM. Las Olas is located right next to the Excellence Club pool. It is open to all guests during its operating hours. Every evening we walked past thinking..."This should be the Excellence Club restaurant at night." Seriously, what a missed opportunity!

This is one of the only resorts we have been to that did not have nightly entertainment on the beach or a beach front restaurant open for dinner. If Las Olas could turn into an Excellence Club dinner venue...it's the easiest five-star improvement we could imagine.

Then Came...The Number Three

Now let's talk about the only thing more entertaining than the nightly shows.

Routine interactions. Everyone working here was warm and friendly. You could tell they genuinely cared about the experience the guests received.

But every once in a while, something wonderfully peculiar happened. Small requests somehow transformed into elaborate operations. Checking into the Excellence Club took over forty minutes. Yes, you have your own private check-in and check-out area when you upgrade to the Excellence Club. As mentioned, this exclusive upgrade provides you access to the Excellence Club pools, private beach, and access to the Magna restaurant and lounge. There were two employees checking guests in, but they also act as concierges to the Excellence Club guests. So, we had to wait for couples to reserve their seats at the Korean BBQ and Hibachi tables at Spice and other guests checking in or checking out. Not a huge deal, but after a 4 hour flight, going through customs and then arriving at the hotel, the last thing we wanted to do was wait almost an hour to sit down and check-in.

Then we went to Magna for dinner. There were three of us. Apparently we'd discovered the resort's final boss. The restaurant was nearly empty. Yet seating three adults required consultations, manager approvals, whispered conversations, and what appeared to be an emergency summit on advanced furniture placement.

Eventually...Someone bravely added another chair.

Human civilization marched forward.

Jurassic Park: Cancún Edition

One afternoon we ordered pizza by the pool. Excellent decision. Until the iguanas arrived.

If you've never encountered one before, imagine tiny velociraptors with absolutely no respect for personal boundaries. Within minutes they were climbing onto our daybeds, fully committed to stealing lunch.

Naturally, I rescued the pizza and carried it to the nearby swim-up bar. About ten yards away. Where I was immediately informed that food wasn't allowed at the swim-up bar.

Now, I appreciate rules. Rules exist for a reason. But I also believe there's room for a little common sense. I wasn't trying to host a pizza party at the bar. I wasn't setting up a buffet. I wasn't even looking for a table.

I was simply trying to protect our lunch from what can only be described as a coordinated iguana heist. And when I say "iguanas," I don't mean one curious little lizard wandering by. I mean four determined prehistoric pizza thieves who had apparently decided our daybed was the hottest new restaurant in Cancún.

Rather than wrestle velociraptors for my pepperoni, I figured I'd sit at the swim up bar, enjoy the atmosphere, eat my pizza, and let the dinosaurs search elsewhere for lunch.

Instead, I was politely—but very firmly—told that food wasn't allowed there.

Did it ruin my vacation? Not even close. Did it make me pause and think, "This seems like an oddly inflexible rule considering the circumstances?" Absolutely. Especially when no one seemed particularly concerned about the four iguanas conducting snack inspections on everyone's daybeds.

And that was when a pattern started to emerge throughout our stay. The staff was consistently warm, professional, and genuinely eager to help. But they also seemed to operate in a world where every situation had a rule, and very few situations allowed for exceptions—even when the exception felt obvious.

It's a tiny criticism in the grand scheme of things, but one we encountered more than once. Excellence Riviera Cancún excels at luxury. We'd just love to see the staff empowered with a little more freedom to solve unusual situations without feeling like they're breaking protocol.

The Little Things Worth Knowing

No wristbands.

We loved that.

No neon plastic bracelet ruining every vacation photo.

The tradeoff?

Your room number becomes your new legal identity.

Pool?

Room number.

Restaurant?

Room number.

Bar?

Room number.

Breathing?

Probably room number.

Also worth noting...

If you're headed into Puerto Morelos, skip the expensive resort taxis.

Call an Uber, walk out to the security gate, and save yourself enough money for another round of margaritas.

Finally...

If you're visiting during July or August, prepare for sargassum season.

The resort works incredibly hard cleaning the beaches every morning.

They deserve enormous credit.

Unfortunately...no one has invented a way to deodorize the smell this causes. If you're visiting during peak sargassum season, be prepared. The smell can be incredibly pungent. Thankfully, you won't notice it inside the restaurants, lounges, or your room, but outdoors it's hard to ignore. At times, it was downright overpowering. It's not the resort's fault, but it's definitely something to consider if you're planning a summer trip.

Final Verdict

Excellence Riviera Cancún is one of those rare places that leaves you smiling long after you've unpacked your suitcase.

Not because everything was perfect. Because it wasn't. It was memorable.

It was funny, delicious, relaxing, and occasionally a little ridiculous. And somehow, those imperfections made us love it even more.

Would we return?

Without hesitation.

We'd just make one small request before arriving.

Please...

Have a table ready for three.

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Rhodes traveled

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