Azul Sensatori Review (11/24 - 11/27)

We are back from our trip. I have a lot of great things to share, and also some not so great. Sorry, I haven’t gotten the chance to upload pics yet, but I will try to add them to this review either tonight or tomorrow. We stayed at Azul Sensatori over Thanksgiving. Unfortunately the resort is experiencing a lot of opening kinks, and our experience was pretty similar to the latest post on Trip Advisor Therefore I am not going to rehash all the bad. We ended up checking out 4 days earlier than we were supposed to and moved to Iberostar Grand Parasio. Azul Sensatori did not seem to have it together yet and we wanted to enjoy the rest of our vacation.

 

 

THE GOOD

1) We did food tasting of the BBQ Deluxe, The White Glove Canapes and the Mexican Canapes, and wedding cake flavors. The food was AMAZING!!!!! The chef that is in charge of the wedding catering was so great and knowledgeable. We were trying to narrow the White Glove Canapes from 10 to 6 and really couldn’t, they were all so good. (Btw, I am very picky when it comes to food) The Mexican Canapes were also good – but not as impressive at the White Glove. All the food in the BBQ Deluxe was amazing and the presentation was great. Way better than what I ever expected. The wedding cakes were also great. The pastry chef designed 3 miniature cakes and I loved his designs. They looked elegant and modern. He also had a new flavor – Hazelnut and it was great! Carolina, main chef, Mike and I all agreed that it was our favorite. (Hazelnut would not typically be my first choice). Strawberry flavor was also great. It was mostly vanilla cake with a slight hint of strawberry. The pastry chef said he could do different flavors on different cake tiers. The vanilla flavor was good, but not as good as Hazelnut and Strawberry.

 

2) Gilberto is great when it comes to décor. He seems like he really gets it!!! He had a lot of great ideas on how he would decorate. He also had a lot of great ideas about lighting. He said they could do lighting on walls, on trees and pretty much on anything. But to let Fabio know in advance so they know what kind of lighting to order.

 

3) The back up rain locations are the two meeting rooms in the back of the lobby. The meeting rooms completely exceeded my expectations. The lighting was great; the carpeting was a simple dark brown. They had no windows, but great outdoor terraces. One overlooks the front entrance, and the other one of the hotel buildings. Carolina said you can set up the bar or the buffet on the terrace and leave the doors open the whole time. I actually liked the meeting rooms a lot, and am considering having my reception there even if the weather is good. Another plus, you can use the meeting rooms till 1am instead of the 11pm restriction on the rest of the locations.

 

 

THE BAD

1) The beach was VERY disappointing. It was pretty small and dirty. Completely covered in seaweed. The water is brown instead of blue due to all the seaweed floating in it. There was a truck driving up and down the beach trying to clear it, but as soon as a new wave of water would come, once again there would be seaweed on the beach. We didn’t see any of the other guests use the beach when we’d go down there. And I think to answer everyone’s question as to why there are no beach butlers – it’s because there is no usable beach. Gilberto said this was because there is a coral reef for snorkeling directly across from the resort, and unfortunately the seaweed on the beach is the consequence. They are hoping that eventually the problem will lessen if they will have a truck on the beach every day picking up the seaweed that washes up. Sorry for the bad news on this one, but I would not recommend having a beach ceremony. But who knows, maybe they’ll be able to improve it.

 

2) All the bars have champagne (sparkling wine to be correct) as part of the "all inclusive", but you can’t have sparkling wine at your wedding unless you order it through Lomas. The cheapest one being $50 a bottle. But you could have EVERY OTHER type of alcohol the resort offers as part of the "all inclusive". This makes me so mad, because it sounds like they are being sneaky and making you pay for sparkling wine because they know that’s what people drink at weddings. UGH!

 

 

Overall, I think the hotel has the ability to put on gorgeous weddings, but as of my visit they did not seem ready for hotel guests. I am keeping my fingers crossed and will continue to check reviews on Trip Advisor hoping they will improve.

Thank you for your post!

 

I will have my wedding just two days before yours Lenka.

 

The beach and toilets sound horrible and I'm seriously getting worried over these. Aside the fact that nothing out of the wedding package is what I imagined in the end to be; it's far more expensive than what we were budgetting for - they seem to be breaking everything into nuts and bolts and this is starting to feel like building Ikea furniture; we have no deals (Canadians don't get the "all about the bride in Sensatori) -> this is another blow.

Were the swimming pools really that cold?

I'm really happy about the food. It seems to be consistant all across that food is superb.

If you have over 60 guests, where else can you have your wedding but the beach?

Hi there,

 

Thank you so much for the honest review. Looking forward to seeing your pics soon!

Oh how cool, we'll be there at the same time!

Unfortunately the water in the swimming pools was FREEZING! And we only saw a handful of people be brave enough to go in and tough it out. But I am hoping they will figure out a way to heat the pools since all other resorts do. So I wouldn't worry abt it.

For the ceremony you could use the garden gazebo which is very pretty and I belive they can figure out a way to have 60 ppl there. (You'd have to fight this out with them, because I believe they say only 30) Or you'd have to purchase the SKY package.
The Zocalo terrace is a good reception option and Carolina said it holds 100 people. (I know I read it holds fewer somewhere, but it is big enough for 100). Another great option is the Garden Terrace which also holds about 100.

Hope this helps!

The beach scenery doesn't sound like it would make for very good TTD pics!! Maybe I'll have to look into doing those offsite.

 

Thanks for the informative review!!

wow, i would have never thought the meeting rooms would be that nice, so you really are contemplating having your reception there, huh! =) hmmm, 1 am is sounding pretty good to me =) can't wait to see pictures. the beach thing is really disheartening, though. we saw the beach at moon palace, during our site visits in june, and didn't like how it looked at all... almost sounds like the same thing

Thank you for all the information, it was so helpful! I'm really disappointed about the pools and beach, isn't that why we all go to a warm place! I'm mostly disappointed for all my guests that are spending ALOT of money to stay there. Maybe if enough of us complain they'll do something BEFORE we all get married. I'm on Feb. 7 and hope that at least the pools and jacuzzi's are heated. Can't wait to see your pics, and now I'm seriously thinking about changing from a beach wedding to the gazebo.

Thank you for your suggestions!
Yes , perhaps if we are not too busy with last minute set ups, guest etc, we could meet up for a drink at Sensatori during the week we are both staying there?

Regarding the cake, are there pictures you have to submit before for a specific look/flavour or you only have limited choice? Also, would you know if we could get a tasting once we arrive there (as we unfortunately won't be able to do a site visit before our wedding).
I've been wondering about the Zocalo for reception, but I'm curious for the feel of it. The area that the wedding reception can occupy is really the perimeter of the building - terrace? Since that is on a curve, can you really see your guests (we'll have 60-70 people attending). Would you know about music option there and can we party there after? I'm just so confused about where the reception happens/ and then the dancing...? The banquet hall sounds great. I'm really looking forward to seeing your photos if you have a little time to upload these! Thank you for sharing your information!

oh, and regarding lighting: I'm not sure if you were considering bringing paper lampions with you... would you have to also bring Christmas lights with you as well or is it something the hotel would provide?
... I think in the end I'll brave the beach :S. I've just been imagining this whole time a beautiful beach set up and walking towards an ocean.. hmm...

thanks for your review lenka. i hope the beach conditions improve. i can't wait to see your photos!

Hi Girls,

 

Sorry for the long delay with the pics....anyway, I have a ton of pics, but a lot of them look similar to the ones that already been posted. I haven't seen any pics of the meeting rooms online...so here you go. The meeting rooms are bare right now, but try to picture them properly lit and decorated. Gilberto said you can do projection lighting on walls in your wedding colors as well.

 

 

These are the doors leading to the outdoor patio. The doors were locked so I couldn't get good pics of it, but the patio is bigger than what you can see in the photo. The view from the second room is a bit better (it overlooks the front entrance, but I can't find that pic right now )