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A Review of the Gorgeous Azul Sensatori in the Mayan Riviera

 

After spending a glorious 10 days at Azul Sensatori, you would think that it would be easy peasy to write a review post. It totally isn’t! Over the last few days I’ve been mulling over what to write, what to include, what pictures to include, whether I should break it in to multiple posts, etc. Finally I had to give myself a shake and just start writing! If you have a question that I don’t cover, please feel free to ask it in the comment section and I will be sure to answer.

Overview

The gorgeous grounds at Azul Sensatori - MerryAboutTown

Azul Sensatori is a gourmet inclusive resort with 435 suites across 5 four-story buildings (each with elevator). The gourmet inclusive package includes unlimited food and drinks at 5 restaurants, a beach bbq for lunch, 2 swim up bars, a mojito lounge, room service, coffee bar and fully stocked mini bar in each room. There is also a kids club for kids 4 – 12 with supervised activities from 10am – 4pm and 7:30pm – 9:30pm. Of course the Sensatori also has beautiful pools and a gorgeous beach to round out the package. The resort is nice and compact with all rooms a short walk from the beach and pools.

Accommodations

Royal Suite at Azul Sensatori - MerryAboutTown

From what I can tell, most of the rooms at the Azul Sensatori have a similar layout inside (other than the Family Suites). We stayed in a Royale Suite for 6 nights and a Honeymoon Suite for 3 nights. All were in the Premium building. You can find a run down of all the room types here. The only difference between the two rooms we stayed in was the size of the balcony. During our stay we had 2 rooms (one for us and one for the kids). Ours had one king size bed and theirs had 2 queens (but otherwise looked exactly like the one above). Unfortunately, the rooms in the Premium building were not adjoining and they don’t assign rooms until the day before arrival. For the first 6 days we were 5 rooms away from the kids and for the last 3 we were next door. It was not a huge issue for us but might be for those with small children.

We found the rooms to be very sound insulated other than the doors. So we could hear people outside but not once they got in to their rooms. There was lots of space for clothes and toiletries in the rooms as well which was nice. The only slightly weird thing for me was that when the door was open, you could see straight in to the shower. A little awkward if someone wanted to shower while someone else was out of the room. When they came back there was a moment where the whole world could see if they looked.

Both of our rooms and all of the buildings seemed to be in great condition. Throughout our stay there were workmen painting and repairing the buildings. Everyone looked like they took the upkeep and cleanliness of the resort very seriously. Our rooms were cleaned to a spotless shine every day and we even got visited by a few towel animals.

Restaurants

Azul Sensatori Premium Pool and Zavaz Restaurant - MerryAboutTown

Karisma Hotels has introduced the concept of gourmet inclusive instead of just all inclusive. This means that for every meal you get fresh, seasonal food that you can order from your table if that is your preference. When Dewey and I first started going to Karisma Hotels, we loved that because it was relaxed and leisurely (because it was just the two of us). With kids…it just isn’t the same. The great thing about Azul Sensatori is that you can choose what you want. Spoon is a buffet restaurant that serves breakfast, lunch and dinner. We ate there almost every day for breakfast because it was easier and everyone could get what they wanted. The Mexican and Caribbean restaurants also served all three meals per day. The Tapas and Italian restaurants were only open for dinner. There is also a haute cuisine restaurant called Le Chique on property that is adults only and there is an extra charge to eat there. (I think I will do an entire post on food later because there is too much info to include here). There is also a beach barbecue every day from 1-3pm for lunch on the beach and you can order room service at any time.

The daily beach bbq at Azul Sensatori - MerryAboutTown

Our entire family really enjoyed the food at Azul Sensatori. I think our favourites were the Mexican restaurant, the Caribbean restaurant, the Tapas restaurant and the awesome omelettes made to order every morning at Spoon. Will is a hungry 15 year old boy so we often asked for extra food. This request was always met without hesitation. Nicole also has an allergy that we had to take in to account. We were asked at the beginning of every meal for allergy information and they changed menus for her accordingly.

Huevos Rancheros at Azul Sensatori - MerryAboutTown

Since this is a family friendly resort, there are high chairs, booster seats and baby toys available at every restaurant. There is also a kids menu with the usual suspects (hamburger, hot dog, pizza, fish fingers, pasta, etc) available at all restaurants though children are more than welcome to order off the adult menu as well.

Activities

Painting Pottery On the Beach

The Azul Sensatori has a long list of daily activities that are free of charge including tennis lessons, archery, kayaking, etc. I tend to be a lazy person when on holiday so I didn’t try out ANY of them. However, Dewey and Will did try out the sea kayaking and beach volley ball and had lots of fun. Dewey also rented a Hobie Cat from the resort next door  most days that we were there. Note that if you are going to rent for multiple days you should talk to them. They will usually cut you a deal for a lower rate. There are also agents on site that will assist you in booking excursions for diving, snorkelling, etc. A daily pottery painting area is set up on the beach. You pick your piece of pottery and pay the price on the bottom. You then use their paints to paint it and they fire it for you overnight. Nicole and I both painted a piece of pottery and found it lots of fun.

Kids Activities

Azul Sensatori Squirt Park - MerryAboutTown

The Azul Sensatori has a kids squirt park and mini water slide behind the Family building. This is also the area where the kids club (Azulitos) can be found. Evan quite enjoyed the kids club once he gave it a fair shake. He went the first day and didn’t enjoy some of the other kids there. We decided to keep him with us on the beach for a few days. When he returned, there were different kids there and it worked out well. Remember that people are arriving and leaving all the time so if they don’t like it at first….try again. Definitely check out the kids club when you first arrive and get a list of the events for the week. Evan loved most of them other than tennis or football. Always make sure to send them with a bathing suit, sun hat and slathered in sun screen.

In the evenings the kids club ladies usually have either a movie, piñata or dance party for the kids. Unfortunately, these don’t start until 7:30 which is a little late after a full day of sun.

Pools

The Pools at Azul Sensatori - MerryAboutTown

The pools at Azul Sensatori are some of the most gorgeous that I’ve ever seen. The water is sparkling and usually not too cold. The pools intersect one another with bridges spanning the canals. This means that you are always in the pool with a pool bar even if it isn’t right in front of you. The only negative I can come up with is that they do not have pool floats, toys or life jackets for kids. If you want these make sure to bring them from home.

In the main pools and on the main part of the beach, people come down EARLY to put towels down to reserve sun chairs. At the premium pool it is less of an issue (and if you tip the pool butler they will reserve chairs for you).

The Beach

The beach palapas - MerryAboutTown

We thought the beach was fabulous at Azul Sensatori though we heard a few complaints. There are lots of rocks in the water near the beach. Water shoes make wading in the ocean much more comfortable. There can also be a lot of seaweed depending on the tides. Our family aren’t big ocean swimmers (if we want to swim we go to the pool) so it didn’t bother us. We enjoyed wading around and finding conch in the seaweed.

As I mentioned above, there aren’t life jackets for use in the water so bring your own. There are usually a few sand toys kicking around but they can be hard to find. If your children have their heart set on building epic castles then you may want to bring your own. The beach beds are reserved with the pool butler at the Premium Pool every morning at 7am. You have to be out there and in line to get one. The palapas (no bed but the hut above) are first come first serve. We were able to get 2 every morning as long as we were on the beach by 7am.

Service

Overall we found the service exceptional. Every employee of the resort that you pass says hello…every time. We tipped after every meal and we tipped the waiters that brought drinks to the pool and beach. Everyone was very helpful and quick to answer questions. The restaurants could be a little slow at times depending on the time of evening and how many other tables there were (as with any restaurant).

Our time at Azul Sensatori was amazing and we can not wait to go back. So what did I miss? What questions do you still have? Please let me know in the comments!

Visiting the Mayan Riveria? Check out my post about our visit to the Ruins at Coba.

Disclosure: This is not a sponsored post in any shape form or fashion. All opinions, as always, are my own.

JT

Saturday 30th of April 2016

Tx for the review. Re the rocky beach, are there nicer/ less rocky beaches nearby? I've never had to bring swim shoes on vaca.

Merry Kuchle

Saturday 30th of April 2016

I'm not really sure. I know that part of the beach was affected by the last big hurricane that came through which wrecked quite a lot of the beaches.

javi

Friday 1st of April 2016

Is buffet free?

Merry Kuchle

Saturday 2nd of April 2016

Yes! It is an all inclusive resort .

Doreen

Saturday 19th of July 2014

Can you tell me if there's nightly concerts at the Azul - and are they geared suitable for seniors?

Merry Kuchle

Sunday 20th of July 2014

Doreen, there are nightly shows. I think it is definitely suitable to seniors. There is quite a bit of walking to dinner, etc but it is doable. I love this resort because the beach is not far from the rooms (unlike many other resorts).

Cynthia

Thursday 27th of March 2014

Love this review I'm going to this resort for vacation any more photos?

Heather, Mmm... is for Mommy

Tuesday 4th of March 2014

Great post and wonderful looking resort :) You did better than me, it took me a month to gather my thoughts about Jamaica before I could write them down.