Excellence El Carmen

Could not of asked for a better experience. All staff were so accommodating, always a greeting and would do anything they could to make the stay wonderful. Several times through the week we were asked how it was and if there was anything they could do. The landscaping with lawns, gardens, pond with Flamingos all so nice. Great place if you enjoying walking. Never a wait at what ever restaurant we chose. Wide selections of food. I highly recommend this resort to anyone considering. Even though resort was at full capacity it was not crowded in any way. [Details]

I will say this resort was very beautiful and the nicest room I've ever stayed in, well kept grounds. But Unfortunately most of staff was unfriendly from the time we arrived to the time we left, very rude and not willing to help and poor with basic English, we had room service ask why were calling, and front desk agents simply hang-up. I will say the cafe staff was friendly and some but not many of the bartenders were ok i do need to mention Felix from the sports bar was prime example of what the staff should be like. However other then that our service improved only with tips and for a short time only. And the food well The breakfast buffet was good enough but nothing special, the only lunch buffet on the beach was upsetting the same selection for 7 days and a poor selection at that. I will say the restaurants were all a good experience for us but we were disappointed there was no dinner buffet or snack area if you didn't feel like dressing up that evening or was looking for a quick bite in the evening. Bottom line is it's a nice resort if your going for a good price, unfortunately for us we overpaid for the poor service we received all trip long. [Details]

Stayed 1 week. States it is 5 Star, but in reality it should be 2 star.
Communication gap - only a handful speak english, hard to relay messages.
Tipping - a big thing, if you don't tip, your room does not get done and your supplies do not get done. Only staff that did not care about tipping and served their guest with Loyalty is Sergio and Veresili from beach bar and Senorili from Coffee Shop.
All Restaurants - food was horrible, mess up orders at fine dining, cold food.
Only one buffet restaurant served for breakfast and lunch. The Las Olas Beachside Buffet has only basic hot dog and one main menu. The Pallela was way too salty.
Beachside - if you are not a club member, you get chased out from that specific area. There were no information on these at check-in, we only found out while sipping away our pina colada only to be chased out.
Room Service - just okay but can be rude at times. [Details]

Everything about the hotel, rooms, services, pools,restaurants was above our expectations. Friendly & helpful staff [Details]

Aside from the food issues, I would highly recommend this resort to those who are seeking a 5 star experience in Punta Cana. [Details]

A beautiful resort and great weather for an awesome week of relaxation. [Details]

Everyone was absolutely fantastic. And Carmen at the beach was phenomenal at the Excellence club. Chanel our pool person was so friendly. Juan Gilo was amazing as well. [Details]

We had a fabulous stay at this resort. The grounds were immaculate. Our room was a great size and the bed was very comfortable. We had a junior swim out room and that was really nice to just jump in the pool. The food was one of the best we've had at a resort. The best thing about our stay though was the staff and customer service. The staff were outstanding, always making sure our needs were met but never pushy.

Would highly recommend this resort! [Details]

What a wonderful vacation! My husband and I visited Excellence El Carmen February 12th to 19th. We are a couple in our late 30's and early 40's with 2 children that we left at home, we live in Manitoba, Canada. This was our first trip to the Dominican Republic. We've been to Mexico and Cuba multiple times on all-inclusive vacations, with and without the kids.

The Punta Cana Airport: I was warned that the immigration line-up could be terrible, but I didn't realize HOW bad it would be. We waited in line with HUNDREDS of other people for 1.5 hours. It really was a super huge disappointment. We didn't make it to our resort until almost 6:00. Which meant we really didn't have much sun left for the day. I would 100% prebook VIP at the airport next time if I could. The transfer to the hotel was fairly quick, only about 40 mins with 1 drop off on the way.

Once we arrived at the resort we were very warmly welcomed "HOME" by Edwin. Cool cloth to freshen up, glass of champagne, and a lovely walk through the lobby to the concierge who checked us in quickly and offered treats from the excellence club lounge from their chocolate party. We were then taken to our room which was fabulous!

The room: Excellence Club Swimout suite. 5051 (5A). We were the first room on the corner. We were welcomed with fresh flowers, petit fours, and a bottle of sparking wine. We were also left with a full minibar and 4 bottles of premium liquor. The walk-in closet was so awesome for all of our stuff. I really appreciated having space to lay out our clothes without having to keep them in the suitcase. We were given bath robes and slippers to use during our stay. The bathroom was my only complaint about the room. It just wasn't private enough. The bathroom needs a separation. The toilet had a separate door, but it still didn't feel very private. I was always worried, cleaning staff, or anyone else would walk in while I was in the shower or something. You could actually see through the patio doors into the mirror where you could fully see a person in the shower. So I was always careful to make sure the curtains were totally closed. But it also meant that anytime anyone got up early in the morning or in the middle of the night to use the washroom, you woke up your partner. The bed was fine, totally comfortable, clean. The cleaning staff always made it up nice during the day, and we had turn down service in the evening. We were often in our room during turn down so didn't always get it. The swim up patio was hands down the best thing I've ever experienced at a resort! I LOVED having a little pool and a patio to hang out at. We could hear the ocean from our patio. It was lovely. I did find the main pool to be somewhat loud in the afternoons if I wanted to relax and read my book. But often we were at the main pool during the afternoons to enjoy the activities. The swim up pool was colder than the main pool but I enjoyed it, it was refreshing. I enjoyed being able to float and relax. Our room was on the A side and found it didn't get sun until around 12:00 and was gone by 5:30 - 6:00. It seemed as though the B side had sun the whole day.

Main pool: lots of fun activities at the main pool where the swim-up bar is. We really enjoyed pool bingo and meeting new people. The drinks at this bar seemed to be VERY strong (or i just had too many ;). I believe the bartender here was Julio Caesar who was always helpful. The main pool closes at 6. So it felt a little early as we were really enjoying hanging out with people we met. This pool was quite warm!

Restaurants: We went to Magna our first night as we were pretty tired from travelling all day and just wanted to eat and go to bed. The service was amazing, the food was delicious, portions were perfect (not too big). We booked the cooking show at Spice, you are supposed to call between 5 and 6 and then they give you a time slot. Ours wasn't until 9:00 but we were fine with that. We had a snack at the sportsbar and hung out with Felix for a bit. The cooking show was ok, Marcellano was our cook. He was friendly and the food was delicious. I think we had a quiet group, so it wasn't spectacular. The Lobster House for breakfast was delicious. It was so wonderful not to have to eat Buffet food all week. I loved that you could order what you wanted. We ordered room service for lunch one day because we just wanted to relax by our pool. Room service is awesome! We also ordered for dinner because after hanging out at the main pool we were exhausted. It was quick and delicious. We went to the grill one night. Super good! The bread with dips they give you when you arrive is delicious. We did have to wait about 30 mins when we went, I think we just went at the busiest time. We had the most amazing Valentine's Day dinner. It was outside the middle of the resort. They worked all day setting it up. They had an amazing saxophone player, a dominican band, and dancers. It was beautiful. The dinner was soooooooo delicious, the best I had all week. We enjoyed Chez Isabelle on our last night. We went with two other couples and it was SO lovely. Carlos was our server, and he always made sure our wine glasses were full ;). We decided to try the lunch buffet for a quick lunch, honestly, best buffet I've seen! There was so many options and the food was delicious. We tried Oregano for lunch as well, so nice to be in the open air by the ocean.

The beach: so perfect. Soft clean sand. No rocks. The excellence club area on the beach was great. David would remember us by name and bring us to a lounge chair or bali bed and set up our towels for us. We felt so very well taken care of. Carmen would remember what we were drinking and bring them to us without us even asking.

Excursions: We weren't going to bother this time around but a couple we met invited us on a boat trip. It was called happy Fish. They picked us up at 1:00 and brought us to a beach closer to downtown punta cana. It was a small-ish boat with only 11 passengers so it was nice! The tour guides were Daniel, Franky, and Rafael. They were so much fun and took great care of us! We went to a snorkelling area, and then a natural swimming pool area. They brought out a floating bar and served us drinks in the water! There was even a slide on the boat which was fun! We returned to the hotel around 6:00. It was a perfect day!

Spa: this spa was so luxurious! The hydrotherapy was so awesome. It was such a refreshing circuit. We had a couples massage after and it was so lovely and relaxing. I also added the lifting facial mask. Absolutely no complaints. They do have daily specials so we did that.

Entertainment: So fun! The Dominican band was great, they played at the plaza a few nights, then the shows at the theatre were fun to watch. Great dancing. Very entertaining!

Staff: BEST STAFF I'VE EVER EXPERIENCED! I don't know if this is because we've never been to DR or because of the resort. Either way, I loved the staff here and had many great conversations with them. Alvin at the Martini Bar was one of my favourites, along with Joan who made sure making drinks looked fun! Yireny would come to our pool and ask if we wanted drinks and was always smiling! Jensel was a server at Magna, he was so friendly, polite, and took great care of us. Black Coffee and Spaghetti sure made sure that the guests were all having fun! The ladies at the coffee shop... Leocaria, Joandry, and a few others I can't remember! They made some pretty amazing coffee, love that this was available. Yanet was the concierge at building 5. She was always making sure we were happy. When we were sadly having to leave, Hector made sure our stuff was safe and that we didn't have to lift a thing. Happy Jaun made us want to stay forever!

Very long review: I know there is so much more that I could add! It was overall the best vacation I've ever been on. Not having to fight for towels, chairs, or reservations at a la carte restaurants. Having a swim out room is the best. Staff was incredible. [Details]

We booked our stay at the Aquamarine all inclusive adults only hotel. We chose to stay at this specific place as we wanted to have quality and quit time together (without any kids).
As we arrived at the hotel we have been informed that we got lucky and for our special event we have being upgraded to a beautiful room at a close by resort named Esmeralda. When we have arrived the room, it was dirty and full of dust. The bed sheets seemed used, the pictures on the walls were cracked and a bloody mark of a dad mosquito was right on top of our bed. The bellboy have handed us a pack of chocolates as a souvenir that were old and rotten. The following morning started around 7 AM due to a grating noise of crying kids and parents passing through the hallway. The room's door isolation is so poor as we could hear a pin drop. As I have mentioned before, we came to an adults only resort and were not informed that the "upgrade" was to a family resort that we were trying to avoid. We decided that we will not ruin our vacation, therefore we were heading to the lobby to request going back to aquamarine. Around 11 Am I was waiting for my partner at the nearest bar by the lobby. As I was passing 3 employees from the resort I couldn't help but notice that they were speaking about me sexually in Spanish. Feeling uncomfortable I moved away as I was facing my back to them, my partner saw one of the employees staring at my back in an inappropriate way and confronted him. We have informed the manager immediately, and that afternoon we have been transferred back to our initial hotel. During our stay I have been sexually assaulted many times by the employees that have been asking for my room number and claiming that "what happens in Punta Cana stays in Punta Cana". I got to the point that I did not feel comfortable walking by myself in the resort. On the 24th around 3 PM my partner and I decided to walk by the beach as we came across an employee that offered us some items for purchase. As we refused his offer we started walking so he had the nerve to shout towards me: "nice ass". I could not explain in words the humiliation and disrespect we have experienced.
In addition we also have been facing a very rude and disrespectful behavior from the staff. Some of the employees that we approached were not welcoming and caring. Most of the time when we will place an order we would not even finish the sentence as the waiteremployee will walk away. On our last night we went to Takara restaurant, my partner ordered a dish that contained mussels. As a five star hotel, I would expect the cook to know the proper way to clean and cook mussels. We found a chunk of rope that the mussels use to get attach to a rock. We both got disgusted and lost our appetite immediately. It seemed once again that the staff did not care or took it into consideration. [Details]

We loved it the 2nd time around too! Great resort - highly recommend if you want a quiet, chill vacation to rest up and recharge. [Details]

I have been to numerous resorts over the years and I would have to say that the El Carmen would be rated number one of all the ones that I have been to. We booked a swim out room with Excellence Club upgrade. The room and pool deck was very spacious. The Excellence Club extras were good value for the price. My biggest complaint is with the open concept bathroom layout (which is a problem not exclusive to this resort these days). [Details]

Our stay at the Excellence El Carmen was very nice the staff were always helpful, engaging and nice. The entertainment team was always nice and up beat. The food was great in every restaurant we went to and the evening shows were very good. [Details]

Check-in was very easy, especially if you are part of the Excellence Club. The grounds are impressive and very well-maintained. Too many restaurants for a 1 week stay which is too bad as they were all excellent. Service is top notch, staff could not do enough for you. Highly recommend the private pool if you can. Beach was cleaned continuously for seaweed. There is a new resort being built next door, so had some construction noise - not too bad though. [Details]

We stayed at EEC from Oct. 12 to Oct. 19, 2019 and loved it. It was to celebrate our Anniversary. We usually go to ERC but after 4 times with almost no beach access due to tons of Seaweed we decided to try a different destination. We were hoping for a nice beach but still wanted to stay at an Excellence resort.

We chose EEC mostly because of the layout of the Swim out rooms. We upgraded to the Excellence club to mostly be closer to the beach. We had nice ameneties and some nice inclusions (spa water treatment) but all rooms are close to the beach. Maybe a 30 seconds difference lolll so no worries if that's what you want.

We were spoiled by a glorious beach, no seaweeed whatsoever. The ocean was fun, a bit bossy we called it. Nice big waves to enjoy but not dangerous.

A very strong point (great surprise), only a few resorts in that area. So nice and relaxing to walk on a 5 Km long beach with only a few people from time to time, compared to the Bavaro beach where it feels like a very busy highway...

Shows were hit and miss. Cirque, fire show and Burlesque were great, the others were OK.

The resort in itself is well maintained, clean and the rooms are big, so pretty and very clean too. Great service everywhere, great food, we found the staff were all happy, smiling and happy to help.

We had the beach dinner, it was again perfect. We both chose the Dominican Passion as our menu, great meal. we asked for Rosé Bubbly instead of the white, no problem. No mosquitoe problem for us. we Highly recommend it.

We went twice to the spa, the water treatment included in the Excellence club package and another time for a couple's massage and water treatment again. This too was well worth it!

Great place for couples and/or singles looking to relax and just socialize... Singles looking for "action" try Breathless resort instead :-)

Overall, great stay, we highly recommend it! [Details]

One of the best resort that I have ever stayed. Everything was perfect from check-in process, cleanliness and appearance of room, location of the hotel, all the services and staff. In short there is no words to describe how beautiful my stay was. [Details]

Overall, we really enjoyed this resort. Upon arrival, we were greeted with a glass of champagne, in a GLASS flute (something you don't see often). The greeter was super friendly and happy to see us, he gave us a second glass for our journey to our room. Checkin was quick and efficient. We booked Club Level and paid for the Private Rooftop Terrace with :Plunge Pool and Ocean View. Room was well appointed and clean, with a nice swan upon arrival, as well as a bottle of champagne. I will say, for Club Level, our room's view left something to be desired. While we could see the ocean, it was quite a distance away and only visible from certain angles. We had a view of the resort grounds including the two outdoor restaurants in pool. Usually, when you pay for the upgraded level, your view is superior, so this was a bit disappointing. The first night, we were tired so we decided to order room service. The menu itself was extensive and available 24/7, which was great! We ordered a few items, including the mozzarella sticks, pizza and a beef noodle dish. The mozzarella sticks were delicious, but the rest was just ok, nothing too special. We really enjoyed the Excellence Club section of the beach. The people there were accommodating, always remembered us and where we liked to sit. Beverage service was just ok - in the morning it was great, but after lunch you were lucky to find anyone. Keeping in mind, the resort was nowhere near full capacity, so I'm sure staff levels matched this. We loved the many restaurant options, it was hard deciding where to eat and which ones to skip, as there were so many options. Our absolute favourite meal was at Basmati. The indian food was delicious! The biggest let down was Spice, which is the Teppanakyi and show. We travel a lot and this was by far the worst show we have ever seen. While the chef was nice and friendly, there was zero excitement. No fire. No fancy show. Nothing. Very disappointing. Food was ok. Wouldn't waste my time in this restaurant again. The shows put on by the resort were pretty good. Consistent in time and a good variety, definitely good for evening entertainment. Our favourite was the Michael Jackson show - this guy could DANCE! His moonwalk was unreal. The bars overall were pretty good, drinks were consistent and alcohol variety was good. Since we were celebrating our anniversary, they gifted us with 2 40 minute massages, as well as dinner on the beach. We were able to select from a 5 course menu. I selected the Ride of Veggie, being a vegetarian and all and my husband had the Surf and Turf. While the atmosphere was romantic and we can't complain because it was free, the food was not great and my menu was not as listed. My main course was completely different than what was named on the menu, as was my course before my main....it was REALLY disappointing and if we had paid the $200US, I would have been asking for my money back. I feel they really struggle with the vegetarian menus at this resort. I can't count the amount of times that I would order something, from the menu and then be served something with either meat in or something totally different than what I had ordered. This is something they definitely need to work on if they want to cater to an upscale crowd. The other issue we ran into, which unfortunately was the same night as our Dinner on the Beach, was when we got back to the room after spending the day on the Beach (4pm), the room had not been cleaned yet. Let me mention, we leave our room by 8:30 every morning and always put the Clean Room hanger on the door. When we got back to find our room not done yet, my husband called down and asked someone to come. An hour later, no one had come so he called to cancel as we had to get ready for dinner. Not the BIGGEST deal, but its the small details like that when you are spending thousands of dollars to visit a resort, that you expect to be taken care of. To top it off, when we got home that night, we had just nodded off to sleep to have the phone ring. It was 11pm - when we answered, they were calling to invite us to a Manager's breakfast the following morning. Ok. Great. Thanks for the invite. But DO NOT CALL SOMEONE at 11pm. Maybe some people were awake or even more than some, but out of respect, that is far too late. Needless to say, we were not impressed nor did we attend the breakfast. On a positive note, the staff, for the most part, were super friendly and accommodating. Honestly, some of the nicest staff we have encountered at a resort. We travel to all inclusive usually about 4 times a year, so when I say we are well travelled, I am not exaggerating. We love to travel and love the all inclusive lifestyle of not having to worry about a thing. I would say we would go back to this resort, but I would not pay for the rooftop terrace and I would also hope by then they have figured out the vegetarian menu. Having that is a huge plus for me as it is always a struggle at resorts. So I greatly appreciate that. But not being able to serve the food on that menu is a problem.
Overall, great resort, needs some tweaks, but overall quite nice and worth checking out. [Details]

We had an amazing time here celebrating a late honeymoon/first wedding anniversary. The facilities are amazing, and food is incredible, and the staff just makes everything that much more fantastic. We've been to many all-inclusives, and this is the only one we would return to! [Details]

Came here for our honeymoon, first time visiting the DR, nothing special was done for us. Grounds and rooms were always well kept and clean, beaches are beautiful, lots of couples. Service was good, a little slow. It was pretty quiet when we were there since it was low season. The food was not all that great and disappointing. I had gotten sick after having the romantic dinner on the beach and came home with diarrhea lasting a week requiring antibiotics. I have never gotten sick on a resort before. [Details]

Quiet resort with lots of restaurants, but service is slow. Beach clean and soft sand. Pool small but swim up was nice and quiet. Sports bartender Felix was great! [Details]

From the moment we walked in we were treated so well. The grounds are beautiful, the rooms are contemporary and well designed, the beach is very nice and the service is excellent. The choice of restaurants is more than we were able to try in 10 days and the presentation was excellent. [Details]

Everything was top notch. [Details]

Our overall experience at this resort was great. Totally spoiled. We had a swim up room which was awesome. We didn't have to leave our pool for drinks, we were right next to the bar called 'sol' and our bartender 'super surgeo' took great care of us from first thing in the morning until night. The room was very spacious, big jacuzzi tub and shower and double sinks as well. Air conditioning worked great. Only thing I would change were the beds, it wasn't terrible but definitely not the most comfortable. They have 24 hour room service which is amazing whereas most resorts do not offer this. We ordered breakfast to our room every morning so there was no waiting in lines for food. The quality of the food was great, all the restaurants were great. We didn't have a meal we didn't like. The people were awesome, always had a smile on their faces and love Canadians. We did a couple of excursions as well which were really fun. Highly recommend Coco Bongo if you want to have a night out. The beach was very nice and clean. We will definitely return to this hotel and resort. Highly recommend. [Details]

Nice new hotel.
Communication to guests could be better. Check out was not good. [Details]

Just wanted to let you know that service ,room and the friendly service were second to none best quality of service I have had room service was excellent all the workers go out of there way to please you would definitely go back [Details]

My husband & I throughly enjoyed our stay at this Excellence [Details]

Getting away from the city the job the stress, we were looking for a get away to reboot ourselves and no kids around. What a delight it was!! How to describe it? Zen Peaceful Quiet Good music Good Ambiance Good Food and Good variety of wines without having to pay extra. The drinks were excellent and a huge selection of restaurants without reservations needed which is a plus. Staff very attentive. A recent opening so still some minor adjustments to do such as dim the lights at the Lobster and Italian restaurants at night and maybe some screen that can be lowered when winds are strong in order to eat more comfortably. [Details]