(Non-honeymoon) Review of Excellence Resort, Punta Cana (Long!)
Hi all,
I just got back from a week's stay in the all-inclusive Excellence Resort in Punta Cana, DR, and even though it wasn't my honeymoon, I wanted to review it because I know a lot of honeymooners go there. Also, all the honeymoon reviews helped me out so much before I went there! I'm going to try to keep this as brief as possible, so please feel free to FM me if you have any other questions!
First of all, if you are having your honeymoon there, you are going to LOVE it!!! We had such a wonderful time - and it's very couples-oriented. It's an adults-only resort, which I hadn't thought would be important to me, but just having gotten off a plane full of screaming little kids, I am SO glad that the resort was adults-only. The resort is so lovely, and the beach is beautiful, and the service is the best!! Everyone there is so friendly all the time, and so helpful. We followed the advice of another reviewer and brought $150 in ones, but the people working at the resort are so nice, they never make you feel like you are expected to tip - you just end up wanting to because they are so sweet.
We booked with Tom Varghese (I gave him a vendor rave in a separate post), and he really pulled through for us! He got us a bunch of extras that made our visit all the more special. If you're on your honeymoon, you get even more perks - champagne, rose petals, stuff like that. There were a lot of 'Honeymooners' signs on doors - it's definitely a romantic place to be.
Also, I was apprehensive about the food, considering that that was the one thing I heard suffers at AIs, but the food was AMAZING! Too amazing actually - I had been on WWs, and I had lost 17 lbs, but over this one week, I gained back over 5 of them. :( There are 7 restaurants to choose from, and almost everything I ate was sooo delicious (there were one or two appetizers that weren't great, but really, that's the same risk you take at any restaurant...) Our favorite restaurant was Chez Isabelle - the French restaurant. It's also the most romantic, I think. But the Lobster House, Agave (Mexican), and Barcelona were all excellent - you get a private serenade at Agave. Toscana (Italian) and Spice (Asian) were also very good. (The Grill we only went to for lunch, but the mains were really nice.)
We did a lot of excursions that you had to pay extra for, and here are my thoughts on them:
Bavarro Splash - speedboats and snorkelling. This was probably our favorite. FH LOVED driving the speedboat - what guy doesn't like to feel like James Bond? And it's pretty exciting, even just being the passenger! The snorkelling was fun - nothing amazing, the visibility and wildlife were not outstanding, but definitely a fun experience (and then you get to take your speedboat back, of course). It's pretty amazing, too, they let you take the speedboats out on your own - so it was just FH and me in a speedboat!
Ziplining (I don't remember what it's called, but it may be affiliated with Bavarro Runners) - this is pretty fun, if you're not afraid of heights (although they aren't actually THAT high). They drive you up into the mountains, so you get to see some more of the DR terrain as well. It's really well-run and safety-conscious, even though it's new. FH really enjoyed this.
ATVs - also don't remember the official name. This was pretty fun too - it's long (4 hours), and you get really dirty and muddy going over all kinds of terrain. FH loved this as well (I think we went on a lot of 'guy' excursions!), and I had my own ATV, which was fun. Put on lots of suntan lotion and bug spray, because you'll be outdoors for a long time! In fact, this is the case for almost all the excursions.
Private horseback ride - this can be booked through the resort and charged to your room. To be honest, this was the one excursion I think we could have done without - we got a complimentary horseback ride along the beach (one of the 'perks' Tom arranged for us!), and this was so fun that we booked the longer, private horseback ride. The private ride turned out to be kind of a disappointment - first of all, we had opted for the 'lagoon' ride, but we weren't taken to any lagoon. I tried to explain this several times, but either was not understood or was dismissed. The next day, we were told that we couldn't go to the lagoon because the tide was too high - understandable, but something I wish they had told us and asked if we wanted to reschedule. Second, the actual ride wasn't as pretty - we went along the beach for a little bit, but the rest of the time was along back roads or through swampy areas (note: if you opt for this ride, wear LOTS of bug spray!!).
In terms of the resort activities, there are TONS - I actually felt like we missed out on a lot because we did the extra excursions! Some of the fun ones are cooking 'classes' (really, you watch the chefs cook and then eat the food), and dance classes. There are also Spanish lessons, aqua aerobics, massage classes, cocktail classes, and all kinds of sports and games. When it rains (luckily it didn't rain too much when we were there), they bring around games and put on movies. Also, they bring around food and drinks to all of the guests lying by the pool or along the beach - one time, FH and I were lying on the beach, as far away from the resort as possible, and FH said randomly, 'I wish I had a burger.' All of a sudden, one of the resort waiters appeared with a cloth covered tray and offered, 'burger, sir?' It was funny and perfect!
I'm sure there's more, but I'll stop writing now, as I think this is getting too long - FM me if you have any questions. If you're going there, you'll have a wonderful time - we definitely did!
I just got back from a week's stay in the all-inclusive Excellence Resort in Punta Cana, DR, and even though it wasn't my honeymoon, I wanted to review it because I know a lot of honeymooners go there. Also, all the honeymoon reviews helped me out so much before I went there! I'm going to try to keep this as brief as possible, so please feel free to FM me if you have any other questions!
First of all, if you are having your honeymoon there, you are going to LOVE it!!! We had such a wonderful time - and it's very couples-oriented. It's an adults-only resort, which I hadn't thought would be important to me, but just having gotten off a plane full of screaming little kids, I am SO glad that the resort was adults-only. The resort is so lovely, and the beach is beautiful, and the service is the best!! Everyone there is so friendly all the time, and so helpful. We followed the advice of another reviewer and brought $150 in ones, but the people working at the resort are so nice, they never make you feel like you are expected to tip - you just end up wanting to because they are so sweet.
We booked with Tom Varghese (I gave him a vendor rave in a separate post), and he really pulled through for us! He got us a bunch of extras that made our visit all the more special. If you're on your honeymoon, you get even more perks - champagne, rose petals, stuff like that. There were a lot of 'Honeymooners' signs on doors - it's definitely a romantic place to be.
Also, I was apprehensive about the food, considering that that was the one thing I heard suffers at AIs, but the food was AMAZING! Too amazing actually - I had been on WWs, and I had lost 17 lbs, but over this one week, I gained back over 5 of them. :( There are 7 restaurants to choose from, and almost everything I ate was sooo delicious (there were one or two appetizers that weren't great, but really, that's the same risk you take at any restaurant...) Our favorite restaurant was Chez Isabelle - the French restaurant. It's also the most romantic, I think. But the Lobster House, Agave (Mexican), and Barcelona were all excellent - you get a private serenade at Agave. Toscana (Italian) and Spice (Asian) were also very good. (The Grill we only went to for lunch, but the mains were really nice.)
We did a lot of excursions that you had to pay extra for, and here are my thoughts on them:
Bavarro Splash - speedboats and snorkelling. This was probably our favorite. FH LOVED driving the speedboat - what guy doesn't like to feel like James Bond? And it's pretty exciting, even just being the passenger! The snorkelling was fun - nothing amazing, the visibility and wildlife were not outstanding, but definitely a fun experience (and then you get to take your speedboat back, of course). It's pretty amazing, too, they let you take the speedboats out on your own - so it was just FH and me in a speedboat!
Ziplining (I don't remember what it's called, but it may be affiliated with Bavarro Runners) - this is pretty fun, if you're not afraid of heights (although they aren't actually THAT high). They drive you up into the mountains, so you get to see some more of the DR terrain as well. It's really well-run and safety-conscious, even though it's new. FH really enjoyed this.
ATVs - also don't remember the official name. This was pretty fun too - it's long (4 hours), and you get really dirty and muddy going over all kinds of terrain. FH loved this as well (I think we went on a lot of 'guy' excursions!), and I had my own ATV, which was fun. Put on lots of suntan lotion and bug spray, because you'll be outdoors for a long time! In fact, this is the case for almost all the excursions.
Private horseback ride - this can be booked through the resort and charged to your room. To be honest, this was the one excursion I think we could have done without - we got a complimentary horseback ride along the beach (one of the 'perks' Tom arranged for us!), and this was so fun that we booked the longer, private horseback ride. The private ride turned out to be kind of a disappointment - first of all, we had opted for the 'lagoon' ride, but we weren't taken to any lagoon. I tried to explain this several times, but either was not understood or was dismissed. The next day, we were told that we couldn't go to the lagoon because the tide was too high - understandable, but something I wish they had told us and asked if we wanted to reschedule. Second, the actual ride wasn't as pretty - we went along the beach for a little bit, but the rest of the time was along back roads or through swampy areas (note: if you opt for this ride, wear LOTS of bug spray!!).
In terms of the resort activities, there are TONS - I actually felt like we missed out on a lot because we did the extra excursions! Some of the fun ones are cooking 'classes' (really, you watch the chefs cook and then eat the food), and dance classes. There are also Spanish lessons, aqua aerobics, massage classes, cocktail classes, and all kinds of sports and games. When it rains (luckily it didn't rain too much when we were there), they bring around games and put on movies. Also, they bring around food and drinks to all of the guests lying by the pool or along the beach - one time, FH and I were lying on the beach, as far away from the resort as possible, and FH said randomly, 'I wish I had a burger.' All of a sudden, one of the resort waiters appeared with a cloth covered tray and offered, 'burger, sir?' It was funny and perfect!
I'm sure there's more, but I'll stop writing now, as I think this is getting too long - FM me if you have any questions. If you're going there, you'll have a wonderful time - we definitely did!
