Ahh que cool. We'll be up at Flamingos north of the Ultramar Ferry this afternoon. I'll lyl how it looks. I don't have a great feeling but id love to be surprised.

Man, it really is an impressive resort. We had a fantastic time. Here's a little breakdown:

The Good/Great:

- Absolutely gorgeous resort. The lobby is open air and the highest point of the land, so it has an incredible view with some water features and immediately feels like you are in a luxury resort. Really beautiful. The rest of it is just as pretty and nice with a great layout. It's large without being too large. Never felt lost or confused.

- The rooms are awesome. Very well appointed, get nice and cold (big for me since I am hot natured and it's hot out there), great bathrooms, spacious, etc. We did Preferred Club ocean view and had a nice hot tub on the balcony which we used. Didn't use the hot water, but was really nice to sit out there in the evening with some beverages and music and just relax.

- The pools are really great with lots of variety. They have 4 pools: a jungle pool (very unique) that is more shaded and quiet, the social pool where all the activities and games take place, an infinity pool that overlooks the ocean, and then a preferred club pool which is for preferred club guests only. We spent a decent amount of time at the preferred club pool and got a cabana at the social pool one day.

- The restaurants. Lots of options and the food is really good. Doesn't look like it is QUITE at the level of Atelier or Excellence Coral but close. Multiple options: a French restaurant, Seafood, Asian with teppanyaki, Italian, Mexican, buffet (breakfast and lunch), Seaside Grill which was just kind of a variety of things, and a 24 hour coffee bar. There is also a preferred club lounge with higher end alcohol and snacks throughout the day, which was nice.

The Meh/OK but also not really BAD per se:

- The beach, but with a caveat. The beach really IS beautiful and nice, so I hesitate to put in in the OK category, but the downside is there are a lot of dunes on this particular resort. I read that they had to keep them in order to build there. So many of the lounge chairs and umbrellas are actually behind some of the dunes. They aren't huge, but it does limit the breeze and view some. Still a BEAUTIFUL area with white sand and the water was really nice. As has been mentioned, a decent amount of sargassum this year, but it really wasn't too bad and they stayed on top of it with cleaning the beach. I am also a little biased in that 1) I am more of a mountain person and 2) much like Anakin Skywalker, I don't love sand. It was more for my wife and step son and his buddies who really wanted a beach vacation.

- Lots of open air areas. Many of the bars and social areas are open air, which some people don't care about, but again, as a hot natured person, I was sweating basically the entire time we weren't inside. Plenty of indoor options as well, but Rendezvous (the main bar), the preferred club lounge (most of it anyway), Oceana (seafood restaurant), and some of the other areas are all open air. Not a huge deal, but I am very air conditioner reliant.

- Teppanyaki grill VERY hard to get in to. This is the only place you can make a reservation. I don't think we had to wait more than 15 minutes tops to get in anywhere to eat the whole time we were there, so not a big deal that you can't make reservations, but they only have a handful of teppanyaki tables, and those reservations open at midnight for that day. We only tried 2 days to get in, but both times everything was already booked up. Far from a deal breaker, but would have been nice.

There really is not bad category because nothing was bad. Even then meh/ok stuff was still REALLY nice and just some personal preference stuff. It is still 100% the nicest and best AI my wife and I have ever been to and I would absolutely go back and recommend it to people without hesitation. Absolutely gorgeous resort with great food and service. Will try and upload a couple pictures when I get a chance but I honestly did not take many at all.

Bayou City said:

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Where Is that? Sargassum this weekend was AWFUL in Cancn and yesterday we were in playa and it was Awful as well.

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We leave Sunday for Secrets Maroma Beach. Really hoping it's not as bad as we're hearing...

It's supposed to be getting worse through June. We need a tropical wave to move through and change the currents. Doesn't look like anything in the next 2 weeks that's gonna change much. It's actually been getting worse as the weather and ocean warm.

I'll take pictures and post them. Playa del Carmen Ferry to 70th was all sargassum. Puerto Morelos is supposed to be the worst.

https://www.facebook.com/share/g/161j8Q3Adm/?mibextid=wwXIfr

https://riviera-maya-news.com/mayor-personally-thanks-sargassum-cleanup-crews-removing-up-to-200-tons-a-day/2025.html

I feel like the Costa Mujeres resorts don't get the sargassum, which is why we haven't been to Playa in a few years. Either the way it's positioned right on the top of cancun and/or isla mujeres blocks it, I don't know but I've been there 3 times in June (february, november also) and there's never been bad sargassum.

Plus they plow the beach every morning.

It was terrible today. We are headed back to Tulum early because the beaches here are as bad or worse than Tulum. We have Sian Kaan. It's as bad as I've ever seen it.

wcb said:

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Bayou City said:

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Where Is that? Sargassum this weekend was AWFUL in Cancn and yesterday we were in playa and it was Awful as well.

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We leave Sunday for Secrets Maroma Beach. Really hoping it's not as bad as we're hearing...

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Enjoy ... Really wanted to go back to SMB this summer but just couldn't pull it off schedule-wise. We had an amazing time there last year.

Just returned from SPB. Did the preferred ocean view so the hydrotherapy circuit was included. AMAZING. Service was excellent everywhere.

Definitely want to go back next year but 2026 prices are up $400/night when I checked yesterday.

Just got back from Excellence Coral Playa Mujeres. Nothing but positives to say about the resort. This was our first all inclusive and I certainly see us doing it again. The resort is beautiful and service and all staff were spectacular. We opted for the Excellence Club junior suite with private pool. It faced away from the main area and was much more private than the swim up suite located on the other side of the building.

How'd you like the food?

We thought it was the best we've had at an AI. French place was awesome as was Magna.

ChoppinDs40 said:

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How'd you like the food?

We thought it was the best we've had at an AI. French place was awesome as was Magna.

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Honestly, if anything, I think that was their weak point. In general I would say our dinners were not as good as lunch/snacks. Pretty much every steak I got was overcooked, including both times we went to Magna. We did not make it to the French place (Chez Isabelle) and couldn't get a reservation at the hibachi place (Kanpai). Lobster for dinner at Lobster House was also overcooked, but their fish tacos during lunch were fantastic. Tacos from the taco stand (Tipico) were incredible. Sushi up at X Lounge was also very good as well breakfast and lunch at Zenith.

Bummer on the steaks. Mine were medium rare to perfection.

Breakfast and lunch were great.

The Croque madam at Magna for breakfast was next level.

"Pool concierges will come by and clean your sunglasses and spritz you with cool water."

Good Lord, first time I have heard of that!