| Azul Sensatori | Cindy and Gordo ~ Winnipeg |
March 2009
Arrival: Feb 28 – March 7
We arrived around noon on Saturday morning and were met with a glass of champagne and a cold towel.Checked in and were on our way up to the room . The room was all ready for us
Rooms
We had a ocean view luxury junior suite with a four poster king size bed and a jacuzzi hot tub. The room was very spacious with a fridge stocked with beer and cold drinks and water. Large screen Tv and nice couch out on a large balcony.Our room was cleaned early each day.We emailed the resore requeting for top floor romm and close to our friends that travel with us and we had joining rooms on the 4th floor .
Restaurants and Bars
The resort has all many a la carte restaurants and we experience no line ups and we did not have to make any reservations except for the 7 course author dinner at Le Chique which was an experience in it self.Well enjoyed.We spent most of our time at the adults pool bar however there was service where ever you sat at any of the pools and at the beach.Premium drinks and Chilean Wines.
Beach/Pools/Grounds
The beach was not that nice but we knew this before we left. There are lots of rock and seaweed however it is cleaned every day by tractor.The pools were very large but not heated so they were cold and empty most days.The hotel grounds were really nice and well kept .The gardeners were out every day. As this is a new resort the trees and plants are small
Activities on and off the Resort/Hotel
This resort is very isolated so we hired a van to go to Playa delcarmen and it was 80.00 us . Gordo golfed 2 times in Cancun at The Hilton Golf Course and Playa Mujeres .These are both worth the trip and top notch.
Other Comments If you would like a relaxing holiday without leaving to go off the resort this is a beautiful resort. The service was fantastic and al really friendly staff.They tried very hard to make you satisfied.
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| Azul Sensatori | Cristina ~ Toronto, Canada |
March 2009
Arrival: March 8 – 15
We are a family in their mid 30s and travelled with our 2 yr old daughter to Azul Sensatori, March 8 to 15th. We have previously vacationed at Secrets Excellence Riviera which we’d rate a 5 plus, Sandals Hicacos in Cuba, which we’d rate a 3 star and twice to Turkey resorts. This was our first time vacationing with a child, so we selected this resort because it’s advertised as a family resort. When vacationing we also look for quiet, newer resorts, good food and a touch of luxury.
CHECK-IN
We arrived late at night and were greeted with a glass of champagne. No cold towels. I was carrying my daughter who was asleep. The front desk checked us in pretty fast and we were given a room on the 4th floor as requested. We were told to wait for the bellboy who will show us to our room. So we waited for about 15 mins, while the bellboy was chatting up with a colleague. He finally arrived and took us to our room where surprise the room card did not work. He then asked us if this was our room (?!) and said that he couldn’t read the room # on the paper provided by the front desk. He then proceeded to guess and tried to get us into another room at the other end of the hall. Meanwhile, I was still carrying my daughter. He finally decided to call front desk where he was told ‘oops, we did not program the cards’ so he left us there and ran back to the reception.
Finally in our ROOM
My husband and I looked at each other in disbelief. The room was very spacious but it did not look anything like new. We both wondered if this was a renovation. The furniture looked used, one of the doors to the dressers was hanging off the hinges, the sinks had spots, the shower too, the Jacuzzi had rust in it, the potlights had paint on. The door to the balcony would not open from the outside, so the entire week we had to be careful not to shut it all the way. The workmanship was beyond poor everything was done careless and in a hurry, with cheap materials. Such a pitty, as the design of the room was beautiful, but the execution took that away. We had requested a crib in our room with our travel agent and the resort directly Dora had emailed us to assure us that it will be in our room, along with other baby amenities None of this stuff was there. We asked the bellboy and he told us, no problem, it will arrive shortly. It never did.
I opened the door to the toilet and surprise again there it was pubic hairs on the toilet seat and some other hair on the floor. Clearly the room had not been cleaned prior to our arrival. I picked up the phone and called the front desk. They sent a maid to our room within 10 minutes. She came with a questionable rag, wiped the toilet, then with the same rag, wiped the floor, then she disappeared for 10 minutes, leaving the front door open, and us wondering if that was all the cleaning we would get that night. It was.
Throughout the week, we tipped the maid generously to make sure the room is cleaned properly. We got ok service, except for one day when she did not leave any face/hands towels and another day when she did not show up at all. Both times I called the concierge and they took care of the problems within minutes. I found dealing with the concierge very pleasant and timely.
Other problems we experienced w/ our room: no hot water a couple of morning and very strong smelling water for another two (smelled like rotten eggs). The shower flooded into our room through the glass window and there was a very unpleasant odor in our toilet for a couple of days. Clearly- problems with the sewer system. The A/C was adequate but very noisy. The tiny coffee table they have in the room is useless for dining in it can only accommodate 1 plate at a time lol, not sure what they were thinking Now, the good things about the room: the bed was very comfortable; the linen was good quality, fresh and clean. So were the towels. Plenty of amenities. The DVD player worked great for us as it entertained our daughter with her favorite cartoons. The glass balcony and view was amazing.(we were in building 3, pool/ocean view).We loved having our coffee there every morning.
FOOD
We loved the no reservation concept for dinner and the choice of a la cartes throughout the day. We found the service to be good to excellent, but some restaurants were clearly understaffed. Staff was very courteous, but there were some communications problems as some staff speak limited English. We found the food portions very small. We understand the gourmet concept, and myself, being from Europe, am used to small portions but we thought the food portions were unjustifiable small and we often had to supplement with the buffet Kind of funny having nachos appetizers after a 3 course meal, but that’s what we had to do. Also, we did not find all food to be true gourmet it ranged from mediocre to excellent but the latter was far and between.
Here’s a breakdown
Breakfast: we had breakfast at both Spoon and Zavaz. Found the buffet selection limited and repetitive, but all fresh and tasty. We ordered a la carte breakfast once and they brought in the wrong order. It tasted ordinary and it was not worth the wait, so we did the buffet for the remaining days. We tried ordering lattes but most staff did not know what that was and were finally told they did not have any, so we stuck with the cappuccinos which we found good. We loved the mimosas for breakfast.
Lunch: we had a la carte lunch at Zavaz food was excellent there every time (unfortunately did not get a chance to have dinner there). Buffet at Spoon we loved the fresh Teriyaki, but found the buffet selection limited. We asked for ice-cream and after 20 minutes of wait, gave up and walked away. Lunch at Zocalo was nice cause of the outdoor seating, but food was average. We also tried the beach bbq the food was ok we enjoyed the burgers most. The paella was a letdown. Seating was limited, we could never get a table, so we just grabbed a couple of plates and ate on our beach bed. They were building an extension to the beach bbq area so hopefully the seating issue will be resolved.
Dinner: We had dinner at Spoon buffet twice: once was Italian nite, food was good. The second time it was Japanese/Chinese nite and the sushi was one of the best we’ve ever had.Again, the fresh Teriyaki, was a big hit. We also tried Zocalo for dinner and it was the worst food we had all week almost as bad as room service (I’ll get to that later). Tapaz we ate there once it was a disappointment. The seating was really awkward and uncomfortable (we were seated along the wall, one of us on the long bench). Since we were doing tapas, we thought what best would go with it, but Sangria so we asked our waiter if they had any. He proudly replied yes so we waited with excitement What we got was the house red wine on ice, mixed with pop (probably sprite or 7up). We laughed it off and decided to make the best of our dinner. First few courses were ok, the shrimp, especially good. When we got to the beef it all went downhill. My husband had to actually spit out a piece in his napkin afer 15 mins or so of trying to chew the dam’ thing and he would never do such a thing he’s the most polite, well mannered Canadian boy . After the beef, we were served onion rings yes, Burger King style.and macaroni and cheese that resembled a Kraft dinner. We were then told that was our last dish there’s only some rotisserie chicken, if we want to try it. I thought that was odd We ordered anyway and got a chicken leg for the both of us. After dinner we asked if they served Mayan coffee after all we were in Mexico, Mayan Rivera.We were told to try somewhere else as they did not have the ingredients.
Italian Restaurant wow, this place is very popular, especially with kids so we did not feel out of place trying to get our daughter to seat down for at least 5 minutes It got so busy, poor waiters could not keep up, clearly the place needs more staff. We got to meet the manager and were impressed with his customer service skills and his hands on, trying to help out the wait staff. The food was excellent.We had calamari, risotto, lentil soup, chicken and calzone and it was all such a treat.The desserts were also excellent.We felt bad we did not eat here more often had we known the food is so good we woldn’t had left this restaurant for our last dinner Definitely go there early on your vacation and give it a try.
Room Service
We had coffee for us and milk for our daughter delivered to our room every morning. We did not have a pre-order menu in our room, and was unaware of the option- this would have saved us a lot of time as wait time ranged from 15 minutes to 45.Once they forgot the milk for our daughter, once they forgot her straw, once they forgot the cream for the coffee. If you like your coffee strong, let them know, otherwise you will get more coffee colored water. We had room service for dinner 3 times (we used it a lot to feed our daughter before us heading out for dinner). It was very spotty The wait times ranged from 35 mins to 1 hour. The first time we had nachos, penne and mahi- mahi They sent us macaroni and cheese instead of penne, and we could not eat the rest it was terrible. The cheese on the nachos was processed cheese, the nachos were soggy. The mahi mahi was extremely dry. The second time we ordered penne (my daughter loves pasta) and pizza and they were both very good. The 3rd time we ordered pizza for my daughter it arrived after an hour (after we called them again to remind them we’re still waiting) and it was more like a soup then a pizza. We thought room service food was a lot more like cafeteria food then gourmet The wait times were unacceptable.
Now, for the highlight of our vacation: dinner at Le Chique. This was an absolute surreal experience, and one that we’ll remember for years to come. Everything from the superb decor, the acid jazz played in the background, getting to meet the chef, the unusual fizzy melon martini and truly gourmet dishes it all made for an amazing evening. We found the food so creative and so well presented and the service (thank you Louis!) outstanding. The 8 course menu left all our senses satisfied. Very romantic and definitely recommended.
DRINKS
We thought the house wine was average. We tried the white and found it really bad, so we stuck with red the entire week. We are not big spirits drinkers, so I really can’t judge the quality of those, but found the cocktails to be best at the Zavaz (and swimup) bar. We had very enjoyable Mojitos, Pina Coladas, Strawbery Daquiris and loved the Coco Tropical.Definitely give it try. There was waiter service at the beach and pools but we found that the drinks quality was better if we went to the bar ourselves. Odd There isn’t much variety for beer, the one in the room in Tecate. We would have liked Corona’s but I think they’re going on the cheap here. We also had Martinis at the Mojito lounge one nite and found them ok.
BEACH
As mentioned before not swimmable. A few people that tried, ended up cutting their feet on the sharp rocks. We walked to Azul Beach (20 mins) and had a very enjoyable swim there. The beach is extremely well maintained, very clean. We saw staff wiping down the beach beds every morning and picking up cigarette butts. We absolutely loved the beach beds.Very convenient for our daughter’s afternoon nap. Be prepared to get up early all beds are gone by 6:30 7am.
POOLS
This was one of the selling features for us. We love the lazy river, snake pool concept as we don’t like crowds congregating at a small pool. We loved the pools and the various seating options. As other reviewers said, the pools are chili at first, but once you’re in, it makes for a very enjoyable swim. They were too very well maintained and extremely clean.
GROUNDS
All very clean and beautiful everything is within reach. We loved the small resort and the intimate feel. Public washrooms were immaculate.Unlike the rooms, a lot of attention to details was given to the public spaces all restaurants were beautifully decorated and inviting, and a lot of money was spent in outfitting the public bathrooms. Check out the one in the main lobby impressive.
SPA
We took a tour of the Spa and it was gorgeous.The hostess was very professional and spoke excellent English. We wanted to book a couples massage on the beach, but and unfortunately they did not offer this service . We thought it was bit on the pricey side too. ($150/hr)
ACTIVITIES
Loved, loved the yoga and pilates on the beach.It took me a while to figure out they had this and the hours since it was only listed on one board in the entire resort. I wish they had an activities list in the room. The instructor Johnny was very sweet, although he’s not a professional yoga instructor and the classes can be a bit repetitive. Nonetheless, nothing beats yoga on the beach at 8am.We did not participate in any other activities although they do offer a lot more. Generally I found the crowd to be looking for relaxation and tranquility rather than partying. We definitely did and appreciated that. Also found the fellow travelers to be well mannered and quiet, definitely a classier crowd. Everyone dressed up for dinner which aligned nicely with the image the resort it trying to promote. Majority of vacationers were British or Canadian. A lot of young families with small children.
KIDS CLUB
Brand new facility and very well equipped. For smaller children they have a Fisher Price toy room everything was new, plenty and in working order. They also had a Doll Room lost of toys and very well appointed . They also have 2 movie theateas and plenty of space to run around and exercise. We absolutely loved the kids club for our 2 yr old daughter. We hired a baby sitter Betty to take care of our daughter a couple of hours a day and had no problem leaving her at the kids club in Betty’s care. Our daughter loved being there. We also had Betty come to our room for a couple of nites to watch our daughter while we went out and enjoyed dinner. We paid $15/hr for baby sitting and felt it was money well spent.
Our daughter also enjoyed the splash park fabulous, and the kids pool although it tends to be a bit in the shade in the afternoon.
CHECK OUT
We requested a late check out and it was no problem, so we kept the room for a couple of extra hours for a charge of $15/hr. Again, we though that was reasonable and appreciated them accommodating us (although the resort was getting busier as we had entered March break).
Overall, in spite of everything not being as expected (given the 5 star rating) we had a great vacation and would rate this as a 4 star. I did not think the price we paid was justified and my overall feeling is that the resort is doing most things on the cheap, focusing on maximizing profit while quality and customer satisfaction are second. I think the highlight was seeing our daughter enjoy her first vacation away from home. Should we travel with her again, we might consider going back to Azul Sensatori, if we get a better deal on this resort.
If we were to travel alone, we would, no doubt, go back to Excellence Riviera as this is hands down a superior resort: everything from truly gourmet food, to quality of accommodations…and professional staff. Excellence was our best vacation to this day, it was a touch of class above and true luxury for the same price we paid at the Azul.
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| Azul Sensatori | Peggy ~ ON, Canada |
March 2009
Arrival: Feb 14 – 21
Very smooth. Flew Skyservice and paid the extra for Star Class. Highly recommend the small fee for the great upgrade.
Rooms
Breathtaking.Beautiful view of the ocean. Very modern in design. Definitely the largest room we have ever had on vacation.
Restaurants and Bars
Only Le Chique requires advanced reservations. We found the food to be very good at all of the restaurants we tried. Some we enjoyed more than others. We were unable to eat at the Mexican restaurant as we ran out of time but the others in our group enjoyed it alot. Our favourites were the Caribbean and Italian.
Beach/Pools/Grounds
The pools are lovely. We especially enjoyed the great service from Tomas and Mario our pool butlers at the premium pool. The beach is a work in progress. They are trying very hard to remove the coral and rocks and the sea grass is cleaned on a very regular basis. There were many loungers on the beach and by the pools but if you want a beach bed you had better be prepared to get up early.
Other Comments We were a large group of 36 staying at the resort for my daughter’s wedding. Our guests staying off site wished they had booked and stayed with us. Aside from a few small issues with the rooms (which were resolved) everyone confirms that they had an awesome vacation and would highly recommend the resort to their friends. As for the wedding-amazing.Gilberto, Liliana and the great team of wedding co-ordinators did a fabulous job. My daughter and son-in-law got the wedding of their dreams. We will definitely be back.
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| Azul Sensatori | Barbara ~ Saskatoon, Sask, Canada |
February 2009
Arrival: Dec 20 – 27
We arrived at the resort at 3 pm and there were a few people in line for rooms already so we waited for the next available clerk. He checked us in to a room in the Adults only building on the top floor. We set off to find our room and realized he hadn’t given us any directions. We asked another employee and she sent us on our way.
Rooms:
Our room was beautiful. For sure the best part of our trip was our wonderful room and balcony and fabulous view. Very nice linens, dark wood furniture, a lovely built in sofa on the balcony. The bath ara was spacious with a nice large shower. Some people have complained of the showers leaking but we just tilted the showerhead to the back wall and put a towel in front of the glass door and never had any problems. The worst part of the room is that the water has a fairly strong sulpher smell which we did not enjoy using in the shower or sink. We did not use the in suite jacuzzi tub. The maid service was good.
Restaurants and Bars:
As the resort is very new and only just started running at full capacity with all restaurants and bars open during the Christmas week, many of the staff are quite inexperienced. So we had multiple waits for our orders and quite a few mistakes, but the food was fairly tasty. We did not like the Spoon restaurant much as the buffet setup part was very limited in its offerings. All of the restaurants are enclosed with air conditioning. Lunch was best at the caribbean bistro, Zavaz, and our thirteen course dinner on Christmas Eve was only 8 courses. But it was quite spectacular. Most of the ala carte serving portions were small and the menus were somewhat limited. My husband definitely would have liked the portions to be larger, but we seemed to be full enough at the end of every meal.
Beach/Pools/Grounds:
We had a lovely view of the ocean and pools from our room. We enjoyed the beach beds, when we got up early enough to get out and claim one. They have about 15 beds by the adults only pool and a further 20 or so on the beach. They let us have 5 – 6 towels to cover the beds and use for drying off so that was nice. If you didn’t get a beach bed, it was difficult to find any shade. Generally, you had to wake up by 7-7:30 in order to go down and claim a bed for use for the day. There were no loungers by the adults only pool so we pulled some over and other couples did the same the next day. The water in the pools was pretty cold, but we did swim a little. The swim up bars were both nice. Occasionally, families would come over to the adults only pool and use the beds and then allow their children to swim in the pool. I informed the concierge/front desk a couple of times, but nothing was done. Lots of pool area and loungers available. Of course the grounds are nicely landscaped but will require a year or two of growing time to fill in.
The beach is not very good. Although we sunbathed on the beach many days, we did not swim in the ocean. There are a lot of rocks in the water and it is fairly shallow, not good for swimming. The beach sand is hard packed. Also, there is a lot of seaweed washed up each day and they have a frontend loader picking it up, but it is a losing battle at best for now.
Activities on and off the Resort/Hotel:
As they are just starting up, they did not seem to have much for adults as far as activities on the resort. They seem to have a fairly nice childrens area and family pool. It was disappointing that the main bar for evenings allowed children in as it would be nice to have a place to sit and have a drink without children and teens around. It was Christmas week and there were a lot of children on the resort. The entertainment crew put on a show of dancing each evening with lots of costume changes, but it was not very exciting. And there was not a lot of seating available to watch the show which was staged on the rooftop deck area.
We did take a trip into Cancun for shopping, but the mall they took us to was not of much interest to us so that was a bit disappointing.
Other Comments: Overall, it was not our favorite resort, but we loved our room and slept every night with the patio door open (we do not like a/c) and it was nice and quiet. I find the pools in Mexico too cold in the winter months. The beach was not great and the food, although advertised as gourmet, was not much higher in quality than other resorts we have stayed at. However, they did serve unique food and the presentation was very nice.
barbaraklassen8@hotmail.com
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| Azul Sensatori | Terry ~ London, ON |
January 2009
Arrival: Jan 1 – 9
Travelled on Skyservice out of Toronto . Took shuttle to resort. Arrived at noon, room not ready until 3pm.
Rooms:
We upgraded to swim-out. It was fabulous, having pool right outside our patio door. Room had a sulphur smell. Water in room had a sulphur smell all week. It was the same in other guest rooms in our building (2).
Restaurants and Bars:
Excellent food and drinks in all restaurants and bars. Excellent service too. Resort was 50% full, not sure how service would be if busier. No reservations required at the a-la-cartes, not sure how this would work out if resort was full.
Beach/Pools/Grounds:
Not a large resort – a short walk everywhere. Beautiful pools. We took a couple of air mattresses which we used everyday. Beach not the greatest – rocky.
Other Comments:
This resort is a 4 star, not a 5 star. 1 week is enough. I hope that they get the sulphur smelling rooms and water under control. Be sure to book a swim-out room in building 2 (adults only building). You will have sun all day long on your patio.
A word about Skyservice – we took a taxi back to Cancun airport (10 min. drive). We checked in 1 hour and 20 min. prior to departure. We were told we were too late, and they had sold our seats. The small print on our tickets states that we can check in up to 60 min prior to departure. We had to book tickets home on Air Canada for an additional $1,000. I have a new name for Skyservice – Sky No Service. We will never travel with them again.
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| Azul Sensatori | Barbara ~ Saskatoon, Sask, Canada |
January 2009
Arrival: Dec 20 – 27, 2008
The front desk staff are a bit frazzled as this is a new resort and they have been dealing with a lot of problems since they opened. We did get the room we asked for, however, they neglected to tell us where our building was.
Rooms:
Our room was gorgeous. Fourth floor in adults only building. Beautiful view of pools, ground and ocean. Glass balcony, in room jacuzzi, Plasma TV, Double sinks, big shower. However, strong sulpher smell in the water in the rooms. Nice and quiet. We slept with our patio door open every night.
Restaurants and Bars:
Food is of good quality, but often cold and portions very small. Presentation is very nice. Selection is limited. Good drinks but would have like an adults only bar for the evenings.
Beach/Pools/Grounds:
Beach is wide but not too deep. Hard packed sand. About 20 beach beds that are gone by 7am. Lots of loungers. No Palapas, so limited shade if you don’t get a bed. Butler service on beach. Water is full of seaweed and rocks and quite shallow. Pools are beautiful, but a bit chilly. Grounds are nice but immature in growth.
Other Comments: Resort needs a few months to work out inexperienced staff and many small problems. But overall quite nice.
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