When a couple asks me for an upscale all-inclusive in Mexico or Punta Cana, the Excellence name often comes up. Behind that name is actually a collection of ten hotels and three brands that don't quite target the same travellers. Here is what I explain to my clients before they book.
The Excellence Collection experience
What sets Excellence Collection apart from other upscale all-inclusives is mostly what you don't have to pay extra for once you're there. The package includes unlimited premium-brand drinks, 24-hour room service, a minibar stocked with beer, juice and snacks, a selection of bottles in the suite and Wi-Fi throughout. At the Excellence hotels, every room is a suite, and most restaurants work without reservations. Gratuities are included in the package, according to the chain, although staff are allowed to accept tips. The atmosphere is designed for relaxing rather than partying: the hotels are built on large beachfront grounds, often away from busy areas. It is a family-owned group, born in 2000 in Punta Cana, which celebrated its 25th anniversary last year.
Excellence, Beloved, Finest: three brands, three ways to travel
The collection has several brands because it isn't aimed at just one type of traveller. Excellence Resorts, the best known, has six adults-only hotels (18 and over) in Playa Mujeres, Puerto Morelos, Punta Cana and Jamaica. These are large all-suite resorts with about ten restaurants, for those who want all the comfort of a big hotel without children around.
Beloved Hotels goes further in intimacy: a single hotel, Beloved Playa Mujeres, for couples only, smaller in size (about a hundred rooms), with a boutique-hotel feel focused on wellness. You choose it for calm and closeness rather than variety.
Finest Resorts welcomes all ages. It is the family brand, with a kids' club, a water park and a teen lounge, but also the brand for groups of friends or large families travelling together. A useful feature: every Finest hotel has its own Excellence Club, an adults-only section. Parents can travel with their children, and couples can stay in the same hotel with their own spaces. There are two Finest hotels today, in Playa Mujeres and Punta Cana, and a third opens in Puerto Morelos in February 2027.
So the right choice depends first on who is travelling: a couple who wants space will choose Excellence, a couple who wants a small, quiet hotel will look at Beloved, and a family will go for Finest.
What the package includes
At Excellence Playa Mujeres, the brand's flagship, there are eleven restaurants: Mexican, Italian, Indian, Asian, French, grill, seafood, healthy cuisine, plus the breakfast buffet. Excellence Punta Cana has ten, and Beloved about six. In the evening, some restaurants ask for smarter attire: at Chez Isabelle, the French restaurant at Excellence Punta Cana, for example, long pants and a collared shirt for men. As for drinks, the hotel describes premium wine, beer and spirits as the standard, in nine bars and lounges. Room service is open day and night. The pools, non-motorized water sports, the gym, yoga and evening shows are included.
What isn't: spa treatments, extra at every brand, golf, motorized water sports and certain experiences, such as the wine-pairing dinner in La Cava cellar at Coral Playa Mujeres. And the Excellence Club isn't an add-on you buy once you're there: it is a more expensive suite category, with a private beach and pools, a private restaurant and lounge, and one hydrotherapy session per person. As with any upgrade, it is mostly worth it if you spend your days at the hotel.
Carefully chosen destinations
The collection is found in three areas, each with its own character. In Playa Mujeres, north of Cancún, there are four hotels, including the only Beloved, about thirty kilometres from the airport and away from the bustle of the hotel zone. In Puerto Morelos, between Cancún and Playa del Carmen, Excellence Riviera Cancun will be joined in February 2027 by Finest Riviera Cancun. In Punta Cana, the three hotels are in Uvero Alto, a more secluded area about 45 minutes from the airport: ideal for peace and quiet, less so for going out at night. Finally, Excellence Oyster Bay sits on a peninsula near Montego Bay, in Jamaica.
A detail for Canadian travellers: since summer 2026, Air Canada Vacations has been the only tour operator in Canada offering the collection's hotels in its packages. In practice, if you want a flight-and-hotel package from Montreal at an Excellence, Beloved or Finest hotel, it goes through Air Canada Vacations, depending on dates and the hotels available. For us, it changes nothing in how we advise you: we compare, and we tell you if another hotel, with another tour operator, would suit you better.
Excellence Collection: is it for you?
You will probably love it if you travel as a couple or with other adults, if you like to eat well without watching the bill at every meal, and if your idea of a vacation is spending several days on site without feeling the need to leave the hotel. Room service, the suites and the calm have a lot to do with it.
It will be less your style if you're looking for a party atmosphere and lively nightlife: evenings are quieter than at the big party chains. The same goes if your budget is tight, if you want to go out every day to explore the region (Uvero Alto and Playa Mujeres are far from the action), or if you are travelling with children and looking at Excellence or Beloved, which are adults only: for a family, Finest is the one to look at.
Above all, don't judge the collection as a whole. A Beloved for two and a Finest full of families offer a completely different week. Tell me what matters most to you, and I'll tell you which one to choose.
