Azul Fives Resort

I’m a Prestige member. Karisma is my home resort. Been to Azul Sensatori, Azul Beach, and Azul Fives half a dozen times. Second time at Azul Fives. Something definitely changed here for the worse. Bumped rating up to two stars because of the new restaurants and good food. One star for:
Suite flooding with rain water.
Brown water from shower and sink.
No hot water.
Attitude from night manager when I asked for a new room.
New room in newly developed side also had water intrusion from all four glass doors the next day. Butler service was marginal at best.
Most wait staff are friendly but a handful of people were atrociously rude.
Each point i made above has additional story of their own, but why bother.
They need to retrain the staff and address the structural problems of this place.

This resort was great. Attended a wedding and it was beautiful. The resort is off the road and down a ally but once you walk in, you will be amazed. It is very kid friendly but also cater to adults. The best part about this resort is the food and the drinks. They do not hold back on their Tequila! AMAZING!

Came here for my 30^th birthday in March with a few girlfriends. After the horrendous reviews here and on Tripadvisor I was extremely hesitant, but this place was wonderful from start to finish.
We arrived around 8 am but check in wasn’t until the afternoon, we hoped for being able to leave our luggage at best. However the concierge was nice enough to give us cards to access the resort grounds and restaurants immediately and had our 2 bedroom condo ready in a couple hours. They actually had one of the employees come to find us when it was ready, we didn’t even have to ask. The condo itself was huge and nicely done. Everything was very modern, you could tell it wasn’t brand spanking new, but was well kept. Keep the A/​C going if you don’t want to come back to a wet/​humid room.
The food was definitely above par for all-​Inclusive. It wont be the best thing you’ve ever eaten, but it’s still GOOD food. My favorites were the Thai and Mexican fusion restaurants. As far as the bars the best is the Cantina. The male bartender there is awesome and does tequila tastings a couple times a week that shouldn’t be missed. If you’ve looking to actually be buzzed on your trip stick to straight alcohol or make sure to ask for double in your mixed drink as they are pretty stingy with the liquor. Also be prepared to be upsold on liquor. There are only so many included with your all-​inclusive package and the more top shelf brands can be yours at a price.
This place is mostly families and wedding parties which makes it good for when you just want a chill trip like I did, (believe it or not the kids weren’t super loud or obnoxiously in your space because there’s so much space). But if you’re looking to turn up this is not the resort for you. I would definitely consider this property again when wanting to get away.

This place is completely trashy and terrible. The wedding department is clearly incompetent and uninterested in providing a good experience.
Additionally the others weddings blared their music until late in the night at unbelievably high volumes disturbing both patrons of Azul Fives and other resorts in the area.
DO NOT GO HERE

We just got married at azul fives yesterday and I have some great feedback and some not so good. First off, when we first got there, it was gorgeous! Place is beautiful! Food is definitely the best all inclusive resort food I’ve had. The wedding dinner was actually not as good as some of the restaurants and the rehearsal dinner menu was actually better then the wedding dinner, but none the less the wedding food was good. They upgraded us to a rooftop suite, awesome!!! It was so cool. Loved loved the room.
The downfall is that they are so strict and not accommodating to their guests. Good luck trying to make a table for four into a five. It’s like you’re asking them to perform surgery. Because I was getting married we obviously had a big group. So many times a family member would join late to breakfast or dinner and good luck trying to get them to join your table.
If you have a question about anything, they will send you to every other person to answer it. So you spend the day walking from the front desk to the personal concierge then the wedding concierge. Why can’t someone call over for you to help you out. Just not willing assist. Same goes for the wedding. Super strict on time line, super strict when music can play. I just wanted to dance and have a good time but we had to stay in our seats for the entire dinner. Wanted us in our seats for everything. A little too stern for my liking. And the wedding attendants didn’t direct me. Not like I have ever done this before so I need more communication from them. And to top it off, THEY LEFT AN HOUR EARLY! Thanks for nothing! We also had to change flowers because the colors I picked weren’t in season or didn’t exist. Not sure way the karisma wedding planner would okay things that aren’t available. And make sure you have all 4 witness with you when you do your appointment otherwise, like me, you have to use staff members. Wasn’t happy about why they didn’t tell me that. Wanted my witness to be the people I selected not a staff member.
The decorations and locations were BEAUTIFUL!!! My goodness did they put together a gorgeous wedding for us. Just beautiful!
D.j was TERRIBLE! Didn’t stay with my playlist. Kept requesting music that he didn’t play. By the end of the night he finally got it together, but come on! It was really only because my guests were yelling at him to change the damn song!!! Several songs we requested were played but they we covers or remixes that I have never heard of and it was just strange.
Pools are great and I love that there are 5! Drinks are good and bars are beautiful!
Golf carts– the place is big so you really need a golf cart. Well good luck getting one. You gotta call down like 6 times before you get one. They never show up. Luckily they were faster for my aunt who was on oxygen. But here’s a perfect example of what I mean by not accommodating. We left the bistro for breakfast and I asked the hostess if she could call for a golf cart for my aunt who can not walk. She said no you have to walk down to the front desk. Really why can’t you just call while I walk her down. Everything is like one more step because they are not willing to do it unless you are in the designated areas. Just really inconvenient and a waste of time.
Second perfect example, it’s my rehearsal dinner and I’m running late. Golf cart never comes to us so we start walking. As we pass the front desk we ask if someone can take us to the beach for the rehearsal. Sure no prob. I ask the driver can you please stop at villa 14 on the way to pick up my maid of honor who just arrived from the airport and is also running late. He wouldn’t do it. Are you frigging kidding me? Just absurd!
I’m on vacation and getting married. Come on, pamper me a little here.
Although they are saying no all the time, they are very nice about it lol. Very friendly staff.
Overall my experience was a great one. But that was mainly because I’m with family and friends, Mexico is beautiful, and I married the love of my life. Did the resort have anything to do with my good time? No. Would I go back, probably not, but would I recommend it to others, maybe. (With a few warnings of what to expect)

Winter escape paradise… This resort makes me doesn’t wanna go back to reality. Too nice to be true. All inclusive, the beach is right in front of your face, clean blue ocean, good food, good massage, good facilities. Oh God, I wish vacation is my job. I mean vacation with my family, not by myself.
They have everything you need. Kids club and activities? Check. Princesses to entertain your kids? Check. Kid’s pool? Check. Night club? Check. Coffee shop? Check. Gym? Check. Tour booking? Check. Dollar ATM machine? Check. They even have good sushi and good Thai food.
One thing that really impress me is their spa facilities. Yes, it is very pricey, but it’s worth it. I was there for 3 – 4 hours for jacuzzi, steam room, massage etc and it was one of the fastest 3 – 4 hours in my whole entire live.
Other thing? I love their restaurant. Full glass window with virgin jungle view, so green, so peaceful. You can see the golden tail monkeys swinging around, birds singing and flying from branches to branches. That is just wonderful.
Last word? Get ready to gain weight and doesn’t wanna go back to reality.

Travelled extensively throughout the Mayan Riviera as a couple and with our 3 teenagers.
Azul fives was a good resort. The rooms are hard to beat and it is a big selling point for us. Our 2 bedroom suite was perfect for the five of us. Air conditioning was broken in our first room but after they attempted to fix it twice with no luck we got aggressive and told them this was unacceptable and they moved us to another bulding. They compensated us with a dinner for five on the beach which was a blast– Our best night that week.
Food is not excellent but very good. Buffet is fresh with good choices. Morning moccachinos and cappuccinos are excellent. Smoothie bar, outside of the gym, is great after a workout or just as you walk by. Outdoor lunch spot by the last pool (through the middle of the resort) has amazing burgers.
Dinners are very good and there was no restaurant that we didn’t like. Menus are varied so, even after 9 days) we didn’t get tired of eating at the resort.
The nightly shows were entertaining and the disco was fun.
We have had better service at other resorts but overall we were happy with our choice and we would go back.

The resort is advertised as «all-​inclusive,» «kid-​friendly» and: Gourmet.” Untrue on all accounts!
Upon arrival, at check-​in. we were issued «towel cards» that are required to be exchanged for towels at the pools. However, should you lose them, you are told, you will be charged $ 30 for each lost card. We were issued 6 cards and guarded them with our lives but how many folks lose them during a 7+ day vacation? Seems like a money-​making scheme to me.
Upon checking in we were aghast to find that the master suite has a tiled raised bathroom open completely to the bedroom. We have a 2 & 4 year old — if the tile floor is wet, as it would be after a bath or shower, then the entire bathroom becomes a Class A hazard. My wife laid towels down to «carpet» the tile to prevent our kids from sliding off the tile ledge (not exactly kid-​friendly).
Immediately after dropping our bags in the room we went for dinner at the Thai-​themed restaurant. Outside the restaurant there are some bamboo pagodas that are surrounded by a Koi pond — this really is quite lovely. It was almost 9pm and the place was empty. We requested the outdoor seating. We were told that it would cost us $ 15/​each ($ 90) to sit there. So much for «all-​inclusive.» I should add that the food at this restaurant was rubbish — the food at a 3-​star casino buffet is better! The next day, at the pool, I stood in line for 45 minutes to get a below-​average hamburg and 2 hotdogs; everyone in my party commented that the drinks were weak. The quality at the Italian-​themed restaurant was on par with the Olive Garden (and that is being generous).
On our second day, my mother-​in-​law slipped at the front lobby entrance. She was walking back from breakfast and slipped on the polished marble walk — it had been raining. The hotel makes no effort to mitigate the fall hazard when it rains — the marble is as slippery as ice. She injured her wrist and when I arrived she was surrounded by Lifeguards (no medical staff). I took her to the local hospital where it was determined that her wrist was fractured. She was given an IV, sedated and the bone was re-​set; she had a plaster cast applied from her upper arm to her hand. I paid the hospital US$ 2,400 plus paid for the taxi to/​from the hospital.
After the accident I met with the GM and the Customer Service Manager (Anna). They both appeared very concerned and willing to do the right thing. I was asked for the invoice from the hospital and they said they would speak to the hotel’s insurance carrier to see about reimbursement. Anna committed she would email me a copy of the invoice — she never sent it. Later that day, Anna called to tell me they would be moving us to another Karisma property (Generations) — we requested that we be moved given the unsafe guest rooms and lousy food. I asked about the medical bill but she said she was still working on it — I never heard from her again.
We moved to Generations and this facility is very nice and the food excellent. However, I asked Anna if she would move us to a «swim-​out» room and she said they were all booked. This turned out to be a lie — the staff at Generations told me that the hotel was only 25% occupied and they did not give us a swim-​out room because they are more expensive (as compared to Azul Fives where we came from). Given all that occurred at Azul Fives one would have thought they would have done just about anything to allay the lousy time we had thusfar.
On 2 occasions I asked our butler (Caeser) to contact Anna at Azul Fives to find out what was going on with the medical claim. Casear promised me the message had been sent. I never heard from Anna or anyone from Azul Fives. I even sent a FAX to Karisma’s customer service department in Miami (4 days ago) and no one has contacted me (I have confirmation that the FAX went through).
The one savings grace of Azul Fives is that the staff is very friendly and professional (with the exception of Anna). The staff tries very hard to make the guests happy and they all have a good attitude.
Obviously I would never come back to Azul Fives and I would never stay at another Karisma property given their failure to make things right. As a business owner myself I can say that no company is perfect, and bad things happen. But the difference between a great company and a company that stinks is how it reacts when bad things happen — and Azul Fives gets a «F» in this regard.

We just returned from our stay at Azul Fives and I have to say that we are completely satisfied with our time there. Many of the negative reviews seem to be in regard to having weddings there. We were just attending a wedding, but as far as we could tell, everything was spot on; I also never heard any complaints from the bride and groom — but I could be wrong. The pools are great, the property is very well maintained and the beach is also pretty amazing. We went with the lowest grade room and it was very nice — what you would expect — we have stayed in much worse rooms that were supposed to be higher quality.
The two best parts of this place is the food and the service. I do not think I ate anything I didn’t like; all of the restaurants – and the room service – are really good. Yes, the portions can be small; however, I find that just gives you more opportunity to try everything! We almost made it to every restaurant; but the ones we did were on point. We had a few times where they were extremely busy at lunch or dinner, resulting in a lag time in service; however, it was not for lack of much effort. I never saw any staff member sitting around and not doing their job; they were either inundated with customers, and/​or understaffed. There was a day we were told they called in many staff members on their day off to come in because there an influx in customers. I know we pay to stay there and receive the service; however, we as patrons also need to chill out and quit whining about the smallest of «inconveniences» — show some respect and gratitude.
I would like to particularly point out two staff members who I would give ten star ratings to; David Guerrero and Enrique. David – who worked the wedding, our private wine and cheese party and works at the Oriola restaurant during the day – is absolutely amazing at what he does. If you want top of the line service, with a great personality to boot, he is your guy. He is incredibly friendly and funny; he remembered us every time we saw him, and always went above and beyond to exceed our needs – no matter how busy he was.
We were not able to get Enrique’s last name; however, he is the bartender at the Zky bar in the evenings. Enrique is also so amazing at what he does; this guy can make so many drinks in the blink of an eye – it’s unbelievable! He rarely had a slow moment, and still, we never had to wait on drinks or service. Enrique is very personable and remembered us by name each time we saw him; he also always made time to talk with us and have some laughs. We had so many fun evenings with Enrique and his typical bar-​back William – who was also extremely customer service oriented. A special thanks to David and Enrique – you are much appreciated!

DO NOT HAVE YOUR WEDDING HERE & BEWARE OF THE OBVIOUSLY FAKE 5star REVIEWS YOU READ On TRIP ADVISOR BY AZUL’S INSIDE BLOGGERS TRYING TO COVER THEIR AWFUL REVIEWS FROM LEGITIMATE GUESTS. I fell into this trap myself and want to help others.
Brides: You can message me directly if you need any further information about our experience
I wish I could have given negative stars. We got married at Azul Fives By Karisma on December 5^th and have regretted this decision for a long list of reasons. Disaster & disappointment throughout our entire experience here. We had reluctant feelings when we went to the Brides Dress rehearsal and are kicking ourselves for not listening to our gut, but at this point we couldn’t have moved our wedding location because guests had already booked rooms.
We had 81 people attend our wedding and every person couldn’t believe the lack of attention by the wedding coordinators and Lomas Travel.
Our guests have been sharing all of their own experiences with us since they have departed the hotel and we are mortified. They didn’t want to upset us during the weekend and add to the stress so they waited to tell us after the wedding so we could properly relay the information to other potential brides to protect them from making the HUGE MISTAKE OF HAVING THEIR WEDDING AT AZUL FIVES.
Wedding day:
The bridal party was setting up chairs for the ceremony because they were insanely understaffed and not concerned about it.
Lomas Travel-​Horrible low quality Vendor and you’re forced to use them for décor and flowers by A-​Fives:
At our wedding meeting they wanted to nickel and dime you for every little thing with regards to setting up your events that we PAID FOR THEM TO DO IN THE FIRST PLACE! Our guests and bridal party ended up setting up chairs, tying the bows on the chairs and some of the other décor that came from Lomas travel because they only had a couple people setting up and this was about 1 hour before ceremony was going to take place and they had a feeling it wasn’t going to be set up in time and they were right. The wedding coordinator Shalma was NO WHERE TO BE FOUND throughout all of this chaos. Her sole purpose throughout the weekend was to cause unneeded stress for the bride and groom from her complete lack of organization. Lomas travel had a huge part in this lack of preparation and care as well, but Shalma was a representation of Lomas… clearly we saw this based on her actions. She was NO HELP… SHE WAS THE CAUSE OF A LOT OF THE PROBLEMS.
Timing/​lack of Preparation and lack of communication between Miami (Lomas Travel) & Azul Fives:
Shalma was chasing me down on the way into our welcome dinner asking me for the DJ list of songs because Jennifer from Lomas travel in Miami didn’t properly relay the information to her. She was having me sort through my emails in the entrance of my welcome dinner as all our guests were trying to greet me for a playlist that she should have received from Miami 45 days prior. The timing was so inappropriate and the fact that she didn’t contact Jennifer who had the playlist in the 1^st place. Why should I be the one scrambling to find the email when they should have done their job in the first place. This should have been handled ahead of time.
Wedding Attendant MIA during the most important times when we needed her assistance:
The wedding attendant was 100% missing after I left the bridal suite to take my first photo. No one was there to organize our bridal party and where they needed to be for photos etc. another huge disappointment was that she was supposed to bring all of our flowers for our photos and she said «I will bring them for the photos in 5 minutes» and she was no where to be found nor did she ever show up again. HUGELY disappointing spending a ton of money on flowers with no photos of them.
Lomas Travel flowers were delivered DEAD and brown:
The corsages for our Mothers were delivered dead. I said this needs to be fixed & I’m not giving this to our mothers. Shalma dismissed my complaint and basically blamed it on the weather… no joke she said its the weather and this is what happens and there’s nothing she was willing to do to make it better.
Coordinator/​Wedding Attendant WILL NOT DO THEIR JOB AND MAKE SURE THINGS RUN EVEN CLOSE TO OR ACCORDING TO YOUR TIMELINE AND ALL YOUR GUESTS WILL SEE YOU IN YOUR WEDDING DRESS BEFORE THE CEREMONY.
Due to our coordinator and our MIA wedding attendant neglecting their job assisting us throughout and leading up to our wedding I was the one having to tell people where to be and when and monitor time so we didn’t miss our own ceremony. Not the type of thing a bride should be worried about on her wedding day especially when you are paying people a lot of money to take care of this for you… but to top all of this off we ended up taking photos basically at the entrance of our PRE-​CEREMONY cocktail hour because I was too busy worrying about all these other things… to be continued on my next review.

Wow. Wow. Wow. Double Wow. Triple wow. Quadruple wow. My stay at Azul Fives was by far the worst experience I’ve ever had. I’ve traveled extensively and have stayed in low budget hostels to five star resorts throughout the world. My 5 night stay at Azul Fives by Karisma was a money pit of poisonous terrible service. I won’t sugar coat this.
* The phone in the room didn’t work. I was unable to call the front desk or call for room service.
* A groomsman in our party succeeded in ordering room service, but got it 2 hours later!
* The checkin/​out process was a disaster accompanied by attitude.
* There was no hot water.
* For 8 – 9 hours every day there was drilling, hammering, sawing, and banging that woke me up, and kept me up.
* A cleaning girl with headphones walked in on me while having sex.
* At least six people I’m aware of (in the wedding) got food poisoning.
*
was paid to setup the ceremony yet the coordinator (Shalma) was nowhere to be found. This was terribly stressful for the bride and groom.
* The valet charged me 2.5 times the going rate for cab fare.
* The wedding coordinator was a disgrace and embarrassment to all 100 guests who traveled from LA, NY, and multiple other destinations.
* The MC was so unorganized, a groomsman had to take over and do the job for the duration of the wedding party.
* The beautiful bridesmaids had to set up the wedding chairs.
* Despite months of planning, Azul Fives by Karisma didn’t have enough chairs for the full wedding ceremony.
* At 5:10am the valet gave my guest and I severe attitude and almost told our shuttle driver to leave without us.
* The room shower did not drain and there were stains in all over several rooms I visited.
* To top it off, the bride and groom had faulty key cards after their wedding!
Keep your distance from this place. My best friend and his gorgeous wife spend thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours organizing the event of their lifetime and Azul Fives by Karisma mucked it up for them and their guests in every way imaginable.

I traveled to Azul Fives for a friend’s destination wedding. The resort is beautiful and very spread out. I normally wouldn’t have minded all the walking except for the fact that I was wearing uncomfortable flip flops that gave me a terrible blister. If you stay here, be sure to wear comfortable shoes!
Our room was lovely. I stayed with my sister-​in-​law. We think there was some kind of mix-​up where they thought we were on our honeymoon (probably because we have the same last name), and they brought us champagne and truffles daily, but hey, no complaints about that! There are many pools with nice swim-​up bars throughout the property; however, you do have to pick up and drop off your towels at the main pool near the beach (so again, lots of walking). The mixed drinks we ordered at the pools were hit or miss; we swear that some didn’t have any alcohol. At one point, my friend took her piña colada back and asked them to pour a shot of rum in it.
The service overall was pretty good, and everyone was friendly with the exception of one server at the restaurant Sea Olive. He was either inattentive or had a personal vendetta against me when he came by the table and refilled everyone’s wine glasses except for mine. Room service was slow; it usually took about an hour. Check-​in took forever as well.
And now onto the worst part… The food. I have stayed at a couple all-​inclusives in Mexico and have never been wowed by the food. The quality food at this hotel was on par with my previous experiences. The portions were tiny. We ended up ordering room service for second dinner every single night, which didn’t really satisfy us because it didn’t taste very good. We were only there for three and a half days, and about a day and a half in, I began having terrible stomach issues. It’s now four days later, and I’m still recovering. Two of my friends who were at the wedding had the same experience. None of us drank the water, so it had to have been the food. I even took probiotics, but I still got sick. Whatever you do, definitely don’t order the seafood stuffed poblano at Sea Olive. My sister got that, and there was no seafood. It was filled with mushrooms.
If not for my experience with the food, I would stay here again. I would have given it 4 stars, but feeling terrible really ruined the last half of my trip.

This resort would get 5 stars if it weren’t for the food. Overall not very good and really small portions, so small that several people in our group would mosey to another restaurant or order room service for «dinner #2.» Just a bad combination of under seasoning and poor quality ingredients.
Other than that, I had an absolutely amazing time here! The resort is so beautiful and the beach is perfect. The drinks are delicious and free-​flowing. Our room was nice and came with daily champagne and truffles. There are tons of pools and the staff was very friendly.
The resort is pretty big, so it’s probably a good idea to bring a map the first few times you’re out and about. We definitely got lost more than once…

10 mins away from Playa Del Carmen. Here you get the best of Playa. A full resort with a private beach and only minutes away from the hustle of 5^th Avenue.
Family resorts have always been an issue for me, either the food sucks or there are screaming kids everywhere you go. Not at Azul, here the place is so spread out with rivers of pools, that you never feel like your at a playground. And since I’m a foody, I won’t stand for the crappy buffets found elsewhere. Azul has gourmet all inclusive. Now although some of the restaurants I wouldn’t put in a gourmet category, this is still some of the best all inclusive food to be found.