Heading from the airport to my resort on Uvero Alto beach in the northern part of Punta Cana, a drive of about 40 minutes, I passed several resorts that I'd either read about, written about or stayed at.
So what would distinguish the Excellence El Carmen from the rest of the pack? I decided to find that out during my stay.
Although the Excellence brand has been a fixture in Punta Cana since 2000, when the 464-suite Excellence Punta Cana opened, Excellence El Carmen is a newbie, having opened on Sept. 1. So the foliage has yet to mature to lush, although the daily brief downpours followed by bright sun were tonic for the still-to-flower shrubs.
While the two resorts share the same brand and are a five-minute drive from one another in the resort area of Punta Cana on the Dominican Republic's northeast coast, there are similarities and differences.
Both properties have all the trappings of luxury, all-inclusive, all-suite resorts, with numerous restaurants, sexy bars and top-tier amenities.
"Excellence Punta Cana has a Caribbean flavor and design style while Excellence El Carmen is more contemporary in architecture and feel," said Alejandro Lazcano, marketing director for Excellence Resorts.
"There was a big demand for Excellence Punta Cana, and we did not have enough room with just one property. That is why the owners went with a second property. Also, Excellence Punta Cana now is 16 years old, and we're planning a major renovation there next year," he said.
Excellence El Carmen is a big resort with 492 suites in 18 three-story buildings scattered around the property, anchored by a central core building housing most of the 12 restaurants, the Miile Spa, shops, the grand marble lobby, the reception area and the Martini Bar that soars two levels high.
The grounds are spacious, with wide walkways, nine Jacuzzis, swim-up rooms and dozens of thatched palapas (open-air huts) lining the 23 pools and the 1,500-foot beach.
The resort's restaurants span the global cuisine world, including Indian, Mexican, French and Asian. Reservations are not required, except for the teppanyaki tables at Spice, the Asian restaurant, whose dessert specialty is fried ice cream.
There's also a sports bar with a snack menu, an international buffet, a beach grill, a wood-fired oven for takeout pizza and Aroma, with coffees, pastries and 13 flavors of ice cream.
No one goes thirsty at Excellence El Carmen either, with 16 bars throughout the property and premium liquors in each room.
The on-site theater offers cabaret-type shows, a different one for each night of the week, and the Art Deco piano bar is open until the wee hours, as is the discotheque.
The guest suites are spacious, ranging from 800 square feet to 3,400 square feet, and all have ocean or pool views.
The amenities include a rainfall showerhead, internet access with no password necessary, plenty of electrical outlets, a whirlpool tub on the terrace and a service box for room service where empty plates and glasses can be stashed for pickup.
The nine accommodations categories include two new ones for Excellence: the two-story, rooftop terrace suite with a plunge pool, which is in high demand by honeymooners, according to Lazcano, and the suite with a private pool and gardens.
Most of the suites in the 172-unit Excellence Club (part of the total of 492) have ocean views and/or plunge pools or are a swim-up design. Rates are higher in these suites; guests also have access to an Excellence Club restaurant just for them.
No visit to a new resort is complete without a spa experience, so I plunged right in, literally. The Miile Spa offers a hydrotherapy circuit that precedes most treatments and includes a steam station, a sauna, a reflexology row (walking on wet stones to improve foot circulation) and an ice room. I declined the Cuban shower, a device with a bucket of ice-cold water and a rope which, when pulled, would release gallons of freezing water on the top of my head.
The large immersion pool included floating on the bubble bed, which released geysers of foaming water; two swan-shaped tall faucets that pummeled my neck and shoulders with high-pressure water; and then a dip in ice-cold water followed by very hot water.
Julie Caballo, spa director, said that guests, most of whom were couples, followed the hydrotherapy with one of several treatments, including massages, facials and wellness rituals. Spa treatments and upgraded wines are the only extra charges at the resort.
So what set this resort apart? Service, amenities and the graciousness and friendliness of the staff were standouts from my vantage point.
"The all-inclusive is a luxury concept for Excellence Resorts. We believe service is key. We invest in our people, we do extensive and ongoing training, we provide nearby housing and we respect them and treat them as family," Lazcano said.
In the end, that is what I took away from this visit. The rooms were spacious, the food delicious, the pools inviting, but it was the smiles and greetings from Domingo and Juan at Las Olas, Kendy at Spice, Alberto at the Martini Bar and Luis, the bellman that sealed the deal. Go to www.excellenceresorts.com/resorts.