I titled this piece ‘An English Perspective’, as the majority of guests hail from USA and Canada, where experiences can be different to those from UK. My wife and I have just returned (31.01.2012) from EPM, our first time with the Excellence Group and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. When first booking EPM some months ago, we were really impressed with the Hotel facilities and services. I read TA extensively prior to making trips and am really grateful for the tips/experiences shared, but find that I tend to, perhaps subconsciously, focus on negatives rather than positives. Reading about ‘seaweed’ on the beach, cold water in the Pools, the need to get ‘toppers’ for the bed, the RTT Splash Pool being cold, Bar Staff giving cheaper brands of alcohol if not specifying brand names, queuing for popular restaurants, not tipping resulting poorer service etc, coloured the picture sufficiently to make us question if we had, in fact, chosen wisely. After now returning from EPM, I can report that all such fears were groundless. Nothing can be 100% perfect, but as near to 100% as possible was provided – I can forgive the 0.005%!

When arriving at the Hotel, we were greeted by ’Welcome Home’ which to me, being
English, seemed abit ‘cheesy’, but by the end of our stay it really did seemed ‘home’ and we were sad to leave. We stayed in a RTT in Block 7, after previously requesting a quiet location, and this was ideal – nice view over the sea, and away from areas that fronted to the Theatre etc, although I would have not expected much ‘noise’ problem in a room that overlooked this – most quests seem to turn in early and the outside entertainment finishes at around 10.30. There are many observations about EPM rooms and so I will not repeat information, but affirm that they are very good.

Previous reports have weighed the pros and cons of RTT v none RTT rooms, but I must say that we felt the RTT well worth the extra, in that having the Terrace enabled us to relax and enjoy isolation, if we chose not to sit by Pool areas, and the terrace also meant that we had the sun most of the day, with 2 full sized beds to lounge on. The Splash Pool was hot (bath water temperature) both day and night. Again other reports query/promote having the X Club upgrade – I am unable to comment as I have not experienced this, but found everything to my satisfaction in an ‘ordinary’ package.

Restaurants – we tried most and found them to offer service, quality and different food choices and found it hard to understand some comments about the food only being adequate – perhaps my wife is to blame for my palate being unrefined! We normally eat late and so never experienced long delay times, especially as if a wait was encountered at a restaurant, we would just go to another which didn’t, and never found ourselves disappointed. We particularly enjoyed The Grill at night, due to its location being outside and close to the Beach – lovely barmy breezes.

Staff/ Bars/Alcohol – The Bar staff were helpful, friendly, and entertaining! The two main areas that we enjoyed were the Martini Bar and Sol. It was great to sit outside the Sol at Lunchtime, have a few beers – Corona is really good beer, and a local product, one of the things I like to do when visiting other countries is to experience the local food and drink, and an excellent Bloody Mary with a view over the blue sea and blue skies (much different from home!). In the evening we would sit at the Martini Bar and work our way through the Menu! The quality of alcohol was top shelf, branded products, excellent and extensive – I did not find myself having to order a particular brand of spirit to avoid ‘inferior brand’ issues and ponder if you can actually taste the difference when mixed in cocktails etc, but to some this is important and the Bar Staff always obliged. I did enjoy some Remy Martin, neat. The only product difficult to obtain was Canada Dry Ginger, but Staff tried to find supplies and ordered, without success replacements – is this the cause of my 0.005% dissatisfaction? – if so I can live with this! As previously noted, ALL of the Bar Staff were really good and so to pinpoint one or two seems unfair on the others, but I must mention Julian and Pablo at the Martini Bar – Julian who introduced us to Mayan Coffee (although this is normally only available at the Agave Restaurant) and Pablo who kept us entertained with his tricks (he did say that he thought his mother was on marijuana during pregnancy!) – great fun. I must say that all of the staff seemed genuinely really pleased to see and serve – huge smiles on their faces, and all had very good command of English. As others have said, income in Mexico is low but the Staff from waiters to outside ground Staff did not seem to have any envy of the affluent guests. All seemed really grateful for their employment – Julian spoke very highly of his EPM employers, in that they had allowed him 10 days leave following the birth of his child, as his wife was very ill – in England we would have merely accepted that our employer would be under an obligation to help.

The question of ‘tipping’ was raised in previous TA Reviews. Tipping is not expected in UK normally, restaurants usually include a service charge, and certainly not for each drink served, as is the custom in USA. TA reviews offered a mixed response to the issue of EPM tipping, some saying ‘Yes’ every time, combined with comments that a lack of ‘tip’ could result in being ignored or poor service, some saying not all the time. From our experience, we were pleased to ‘tip’ at points during the day/night in Bars and Restaurants, because of the genuinely friendly attitude of the Staff and the service they gave, but did not find that if we had not ‘tipped’ during a particular ‘session’, service was less good, or negative responses emerged from the Staff. One advantage of being ‘All-inclusive’ is that you need not burden yourself all the time carrying money. However, in tipping, please do not forget the backroom staff, i.e. room cleaners who do a great job, and also other Staff at the end of your stay – the omelette/egg chef in the Toscana does a really good job, individually creating your choice - no ‘tip-plate’ is provided in any of the Restaurants/bars.

Entertainment – we are not really into staged entertainment and so did not go to many of the shows, but from comments from others, they enjoyed this. We did see the Michael Jackson Show, twice and thought it was great, even in not being a Michael Jackson aficionado. It was really professionally done with not only ‘Michael’ but also a dance troupe. Another ‘act’ that I would like to promote was ‘Drums in Paradise’. This group of 2 musicians auditioned at EPM one lunchtime and the presentation was based on getting a group of around 20 guests together, giving instruction on drums and by the end of 30 minutes, producing a very acceptable piece of music. Jonathan D. Katz (Canadian) and his Mexican colleague provided the equipment for the guests and everyone enjoyed taking part. The day ‘Activities’ Staff did their job well, providing a range of activities – we took part in the Bike Tour and Kayak Tour, and although encouraging in Guests to take part, would never pester.

Weather/beach areas – we stayed in Mid January and enjoyed good weather, apart from one afternoon when it rained quite heavily and one 30 minute shower on another day. Dawn came earlier than I expected, coming light from 5.30. Temperatures were good day and night - even on the Balcony at 5.30 a.m. Some wind was encountered at times, but this was never really a problem. The beach was good, beautiful white sand, plenty of sun beds/towels provided, and seaweed cleared each day – no problem. Each day on the beach, a BBQ or other themed meal was provided at lunchtime, together with entertainment on some days – really good. The sea temperature was warm, after your body acclimatised, and clear enough to see small fishes that came near to the shore.

We really enjoyed our stay at the EPM, and given the weather now in UK, could return tomorrow! During our stay, the Hotel was not operating at full capacity, apart from some 3/4 day periods and consequently our experiences may not be shared by guests arriving at other times, but I am sure that the EPM Staff will do everything in their power to make your time there enjoyable.