The resort was more then I expected. Staff was friendly and more then willing to help out in anyway. (atleast the excellence club staff). I recommend taking the Sonoa Island excursion. A long day but easily enjoyable. Only problems I encountered were getting beach towels and getting cash. ATM was broken, so make sure you bring enough cash as there is no where else to get cash unless you go to the casino and that is only to get credit to play. As for towels, the racks are always empty, but finally on the 4th day I figured out to go to the clubhouse on the beach for more towels. The food was excellent. Not very big portions, but tasted great. Make sure you watch the shows every evening. They are entertaining. Gym and spa also rated excellent, (hot jacuzzi then jump in the cold bath... WOW!!!). Overall it was a relaxing week. I highly recommend for couples!

The Excellence Club was absolutely amazing! Robert Puello is the excellence club manager and did everything possible to make our honeymoon unforgrttable. We had the best time, the resort was clean, food was great, and the service was excellent. We will definetly be revisiting this resort in the future and would recomend it to all my friends and family.

Save all your money and get to this resort! We found the other couples at the resort to be laid-back and easy-going.
The service is the best!
The following people on the staff made our second visit even more wonderful than our first visit: Elvira Gil, Luciano Romero, Rafael Puello, Berthold Dettweitler, Gregoria Castillo.
Thank you, too, to: Hector at the Front Desk, Domingo on the saxophone, The crew at Martini, Cristian, Jenny, Jennifer, Santa, Senter, Inez, AltaGracia (Alta), AltaGracia (Pequeña), Ramona of the lovely voice, and Franklin.
The entire staff is heavenly, so do not miss the experience of The Excellente at Punta Cana!
Carolina and Frank

Since there are so many reviews I will break it down into pros and cons.
Pros..
Beach--> the beach is clean, there is plenty of shaded areas, the service on the beach is great, the waves and undertow are strong, but not much different than a rough day along the northeast coast.

Food--> I find it hard to believe that people complain about the food. We ate at every restaurant except Spice and the Lobster House and found the food exceptional. I am a fussy eater and I did not have any complaints. The fish and shrimp were very fresh and if you were not satisfied with a dish they went out their way to accommodate you.

Service--> We have stayed at several 5 star resorts and the service at Excellence was great. Yes you had to wait for room service but that is expected since they make the food fresh. The rooms were cleaned twice a day. Sometimes it would take awhile to get the room cleaned, but the purpose of our trip was to enjoy the beach, not hang out in the room all day, so it did not bother us.
The service in the restaurants was superb. We frequently had the waiter Jose Lois and he was great. I believe some people complain about the service because the staff is effecient but not overbearing. They allow you your space. Also, you are on vacation....what is the rush with the meals? I liked that we never felt rushed to leave our table or finish our meals. We noted that those who complained were people who were very demanding to begin with.
The staff at the resort are very kind, accommodating and humble.
While it is not mandatory to tip, we took $100 in one dollar bills and tipped the staff often. The staff never "looked or waited for the tip" but they were very appreciative when they received a tip.

We did not pay extra for the Excellence club, but it did not make a difference. The check in was very quick. Our bags were in our room within 15 minutes and the mini bar was replenished daily. Also the "private beach" for the excellence club is literally a section on the beach in between the rest of the chairs. It is the same exact beach and view.
If you prefer a quiet portion of the hotel ask for a room away from the pool.

Cons...the air condition in our room did not work well. The last day we found out that you had to make sure the slider in your room was shut tight, not just locked, because there is a magnetic strip that when not connected, shuts off the air.

Yes, the ride is bumpy....but if you get past the fact that it is rough, you should sit back and enjoy the beautiful scenery.

Neutral...Several people complained about the entertainment in the previous reviews. If you are looking for a Broadway performance then you will be disappointed. However if you have the mindset that the performers truly enjoy their job and work hard to entertain you, you can sit back, relax and be entertained. We went every night and kept things in perspective, thus we were able to have a drink and enjoy the show.

Highly recommend this resort for a relaxing getaway.