I had really high hopes for the Azul Beach Hotel, but I was not at all happy with my stay.
My husband and I arrived on a Friday and used Lomas Travel, we had a private transfer. Our arrival and checkin was very nice and easy. Since our room was not yet ready and we had arrived before 3pm (check-in) we were taken to the Blue Bar to eat lunch. The service was pretty bad, it took 10 minutes to get drinks and then food was another 30-45 and we had only ordered one dish a piece. They didn't seem understaffed with only 4 tables in use, just didn't pay attention to us.
When we did get the food, it was good. However, they never did bring out our cheesecake for dessert. We gave up and went to get our room key. Our room was in building 5 - which was very near the front desk and halfway in the middle of the whole resort. The resort is small and intimate and Villa 5 is a really great location in my opinion.
We had a corner room on the second floor and the room itself looked really nice. White bed sheets/linens with a blue headboard, stocked mini bar, water and coffee maker, bowl sink in the bathroom. Bidet, toilet and tiled shower.
We did notice some stains on the comforter top. Nothing too nasty, but it did look like there were some beige spots in several places. I decided to blow this off since it was the top comforter. I pulled the comforter off and there was some stains on the sheets, but I wasn't sure if they were starch stains or something of the sort and I didn't make a big deal of things.
However, we quickly discovered our A/C was not working. Not a problem, the hotel had that resolved pretty quickly. It never really blew amazingly cold, but it wasn't as hot as it was that first day we arrived. The room cooled off close to 7pm, but we did go out and explore the grounds in the meantime.
I loved all of the beds on the beach and in the bar area and I couldn't wait to jump in the next day!
Our dinner was at the Chil restaurant. Service was much better and we were able to sit outside to enjoy the evening. The food was good- creative, but good.
That evening, the entertainment was karaoke and it was really a great time. It continued until 11pm, and we left a bit early. We could still hear some of it from our room- which faced the bar, but it wasn't too bad.
My husband went to take a shower and then came out to give me a towel. NASTY STAIN. I marched straight up to the front desk to show them and I remained pretty friendly stating that I was having problems with my room. The guy behind the counter was not as sympathetic as I would have liked him to have been, especially since i am standing there with an obviously body-liquid-stained towel. But the maid promptly brought up new towels and a new blanket for the bed. We didn't actually need a blanket for the bed, nor did we use it- but it had holes in it and I was not too pleased with how much we were paying for the room and getting a holey blanket.
The next day, we tried breakfast at Blue and sat outside. We ordered one item each off of the menu. I wanted the salmon roll, which they were out of, and my husband got the Eggs Benedict. While waiting, we went inside and got food from the buffet. It's pretty standard fair, but it was good and there was a nice variety. We completed eating and thinking that the Eggs Benedict had been forgotten, we got up to leave. Apparently, they were still being cooked - 30 minutes later? We asked to cancel the order and left.
We spent the day on the beach in one of the twin tower beach beds. It was wonderful. The beach butler, Hans, brought us water, sun chairs, towels. I loved that whole experience. However, I do want to say that there is a lot of seaweed on the beach and water. Every morning, the staff would wheel away wheel barrels full of it, but they were fighting a losing battle. By evening, the beach was several feet thick of seaweed. Gross.
Dinner was at the Japanese Restaurant. The food was great, but service took over an hour and a half. I never did get my Mango Margarita; it's probably in the same place as the cheesecake.
Our entertainment was an international dance show, which was pretty exciting.
We stopped off at the tequila bar for a shot a piece and went to bed.
The next morning, we had breakfast room service. It was a lot of food, but it was good and prompt. We hit up the energy bar for guacamole and chips in the afternoon and had dinner at Blue.
Dinner at Blue was nothing short of a disaster. We got to Blue at 7:30pm. They obviously were understaffed. We sat for a good 15 to 20 minutes without drinks after which I went to the bar area near the pool to get some. The bartender refused to serve us because he didn't have the "right glasses" for the restaurant and asked us to go sit down so the waiter could get our order. We got one coke a piece for the rest of the night while we were at Blue. Appetizers came at some point, followed by a long delay before the second course. My cheese delight ( a cheese tray) apparently was time consuming to make. Neither of us had gotten our entrees around 9:30 after which I asked my waiter if my lobster ravioli was coming. He walked off to check the kitchen.
I caught him several minutes later and asked him again about it and he told me the kitchen was closed and he was sorry. REALLY?
He gave us some options for dessert and sighed when we had the nerve to actually order it. Dessert came quickly and it was pretty good.
I need to mention that the mosquitoes were horrible that night. Even sprayed down with bug spray, they were really chomping on us. We had chosen to sit outside so we dealt with it.
It was karaoke night again at the bar, but it closed up before 11pm and we went to bed.
Our checkout went really smoothly. I felt a bit bad filling out the survey negatively and I do hope that it was forwarded instead of thrown in the trash. The mosquitoes were still out in full force and I got completely bitten up in the 15 minutes we were waiting for our transfer.
So there's my review. I'm always skeptical when I read negative reviews on here because I never know how true they are or how picky the people are giving them. I won't lie - I am a picky person, but I am also a tolerant person and don't complain about minor things. I could deal with the dirty comforter but the towel was plain gross.
I didn't mind the forgotten cheesecake or the mango margarita, but the main course and the 2 hour dinner- I thought that was excessive. I more sad about the whole experience and don't think that I received the service and quality that I should have from this resort.
