Travel - March 4, 2016

Azul Beach Hotel Review

ABOVE: Azul Beach Resort by Karisma Hotels
ABOVE: Azul Beach Resort by Karisma Hotels

As most of you probably already know, I was in Cancun, Mexico last week working with Karisma Hotels. I visited Azul Beach, which is one of many of their resorts in the Riviera Maya area.

While there, I visited a few of the different properties but spent most of my time at their Azul Beach hotel so that’s the one I’ll be reviewing in today’s blog post. I’ve been working on this all week and I’m excited to finally be sharing ALL the details of my stay and experience at the resort.

I know a few of you asked questions on instagram regarding different aspects of the resort, but I wanted to encourage you to ask anything else you might want to know via the comments on this blog post.

I hope you enjoy the post – this baby took me ages but I wanted to make sure I talked about everything I possibly could. If I missed anything, you know what to do :)

OVERALL EXPERIENCE

Short answer: my overall experience was fantastical and I would highly recommend this place.

I think it would have been VERY difficult to have a bad time on this trip. First and foremost, I was in Mexico in February (#winter); moreover, the trip came shortly after experiencing negative 20 degree wind chills at NYFW. Secondly, I was spending most of my time at the beach and pool and eating amazing food. So with sunshine in winter and days spent on the beach, how could anyone NOT have a good time – right?

azul beach

But obviousness aside, my experience at the Azul Beach resort was nothing short of spectacular. Let me tell you all about it :) Please don’t hesitate to ask me ANY questions you may have and I’ll do my best to answer!

ABOVE: view of the lobby
ABOVE: view of the lobby. Note the swinging beds…

For those of you who live in Dallas (or any major city that flies to Mexico), I can’t praise how easy the logistics of this trip were enough. From Dallas, you literally have a 2 hour flight, get in a car for 20 minutes, and then BAM, you’re there –  hello vacation!  Upon arrival, I had the warmest of welcomes from the Azul Beach team. Not only was I greeted with smiling faces and champagne, but I was then offered an assortment of pillows and aroma therapy options to choose from for my room.

Azul Beach lobby swing beds used during checkin
ABOVE: Azul Beach lobby swing beds to use while checking into resort

Oh and also, at the front of the hotel where the lobby is (aka where check-in occurs), there are the most welcoming of swing beds waiting for you on which to kick back and enjoy your champagne….as you choose your pillow and oil scent :)

CUISINE

Short answer: don’t let the “all inclusive” detail scare you away, this is a different kind of all inclusive you guys ;)

If you’re on the fence about whether or not you should visit Azul Beach (assuming you’ve been following along on Instagram and/or have at least seen a few of my photos from my recent trip), then my guess is that you’re wondering about the food situation given that this resort is ALL INCLUSIVE. Am I right?

Typically, when you think of an “all inclusive” resort, your concern or maybe even assumption is that the food and drinks are rather ‘meh’ and/or fall on the not-so-great side of the culinary spectrum. And to be honest, I would have to agree with you on this one as most of my experience with all inclusive resorts have been spotty at best (but I guess I shouldn’t expect much from cruises and college spring breaks though). But anyway, the good news is that I was absolutely blown away at the quality and tastiness of the food at Azul Beach.

Not only was the food yummy, but there was also careful consideration and care taken in the overall presentation and service of the food. Although there was indeed a buffet-type style of eating available at the resort, it was nothing like your ordinary buffer. In fact, the staff at the resort actually didn’t call it a “buffet”, but instead called it “full display” (which is a phrase I think I’ll be adopting for fancy buffets!). I ate the “full display” option for breakfast each morning and enjoyed fresh omelets cooked right in front of me, straight-from-the-hive honey (literally, there was a dripping device thing) and locally supplied jams and juices. Needless to say, this was NOT your average buffet :)

open lunch spot