Our wedding took place on the beach at the Azul Sensatori resort on July 31, 2010.  I hope this review will help everyone in the planning phase and anyone who is considering the Azul Sensatori (AS) for their wedding. 

There were a few things that were necessary when looking for a resort.  First it had to be an all inclusive resort.  Second it had to allow children because my husband and I have 3 teenagers between us and two other children were coming.  The resort had to allow weddings to take place on the beach and the ceremony had to be performed in English.

Our first choice was St. Thomas however there weren’t many all-inclusive options there.  I signed up with destinationweddings.com and my travel agent recommended the Azul Sensatori.  Once I saw the pictures of the resort I was sold. 

I was not very impressed with the communication with the US based Wedding Coordinators.  I was first assigned to Tiffany.  I worked with her from September until she left the company about three weeks before my wedding.  Communication with Tiffany was very slow.  It always took her at least 24 hours to respond to an email.  So I could send her an email on Monday.  She would respond on Tuesday and I could respond instantly to the email she sent and she still wouldn’t respond until Wednesday.  I can say she listed everything I wanted on my detail sheet so as long as you make sure everything you want is listed accurately on your detail sheet, the on-site coordinators will make sure everything happens.  Everything on my sheet was finalized and paid for 45 days before the wedding.  When Tiffany left I was assigned to Fabio.  I spoke with him once and he sent me an email confirming that everything on my detail sheet was accurate.  I sent him an email asking a question about a week before my wedding and he never responded.  Like I said my details were finalized a month and a half before the wedding but it still would’ve been nice for him to respond to my question. 

Getting through Customs in Cancun was a breeze.  Our package included round-trip transfers through American Express Transfers.  When we walked outside the airport they had signs up with our names directing us to the van.  The ride from the airport to the resort is about 20 minutes.

When we arrived at the resort we were greeted in the lobby with cold cloths and glasses of champagne.  We arrived at the resort early (1pm) and check-in is not until 3pm so most of the rooms weren’t ready. We were booked in a Premium Swim-up suite so we were taken to the Premium Concierge and checked in there.  (Our room was ready.) 

We stayed in a premium swim-up.  I really don't think it's worth paying for a premium room unless you're going to have the swim up because in addition to the swim up you have an outside hot tub.  They only have those in the premium swim ups.  Our room was clean.  I think the maid came in at least twice a day and sometimes more.  She decorated the bed with animal shaped towels and rose petals everyday.  She also filled up the Jacuzzi with bubbles and rose petals everyday.  We never used it but it was a nice thought.  Each building has its own concierge so there really is no need to contact the front desk for anything.  The concierge can handle any issues or questions that arise.

While I wouldn't necessarily say the food is gourmet, it is great.  I didn't have a meal that I didn't like.  I was a little disappointed in the Italian restaurant because my food wasn't seasoned very well but it was ok and my husband loved his meal there (I can't remember what he had though.)  We never ate in Tapaz.  There was never anything on the menu that appealed to me but we did eat in every other restaurant.  Le Chique is the 8-course reservation only restaurant.  I would suggest that you make reservations there as soon as you get there because they fill up fast.  None of our guests were able to eat there because they were booked and we couldn't get in until our last night there.  You get 8 courses of very small servings but the food was great. The food in the Mexican restaurant, Zocalo, was typical Tex-Mex.  The service was kind of slow when we went with the whole group but when we went by ourselves we didn't have any problem.  Spoon was typical buffet food and Zavaz, the Caribbean/Seafood restaurant was great! Room service is also good and is available 24 hours a day.  They're a little slow sometimes but the food is decent for room service food.  I would like to note that none of the restaurants (including the food served at the reception) offer very large portions of food.  Since it’s all-inclusive that really isn’t a problem but if someone likes lots of food on their plate they’re going to have to order two dishes.

We mainly used the swim-up bar in the adult pool.  The service was excellent. The bartenders were wonderful.  They never seemed to get flustered by the amount of drinks our group would order, like there would be about 20 of us in the pool at any given time and we'd order 20 shots like every half hour and they were ok with it.   The Mojito lounge was nice but stayed pretty crowded.  I particularly liked the cranberry mojito.  There is entertainment in the Mojito Lounge and the Rooftop Terrace until about 2am but it’s pretty campy. 

Nobody used the salon services for hair or make-up.  I did get my nails and toenails painted in the spa.  If you're going to do this on the day of your wedding I'd suggest you go early because the manicurist was kind of slow.  They looked nice but she was very meticulous.  We had a couples’ massage included in our package which was very nice.  The two massage therapists worked like synchronized swimmers.  We had it done inside the spa but they do have the option of having them done outside.  I think that would've been nice too but the one we had was great.  

There is absolutely nothing impressive about the beach at all. There is lots of seaweed and rocks that make the water look brownish.  The whole time we were there the red flag was up saying conditions were too dangerous for people to swim in the beach at all.  (This wasn't just at AS though.  We walked the beach to another resort and they had it up as well.)  The nice part of the beach is the beach beds.  Even though you couldn't swim in the beach the area for lying out on the beach was nice.  The beach bbq was nice as well.  They also have beach butlers who will bring you drinks while you're out there.  Fortunately for us we're not really beach people so the pools were fine for us.  Our guests primarily used the adult pool and the pool outside of our room.  Some of our guests had swim up suites so they used that as well but for the most part we all gathered at the swim up bar in the adult pool everyday.   The pools were very nice and clean and the water temperature was perfect.

We had 5 kids in our group (3 are ours and 2 others brought their children.)  There were 3 13 year olds, an 11 year old and a 17 year old.  They were able to entertain themselves.  They went to the family pool and went to the arcade and teen club and ate whenever and wherever they wanted.  We basically only saw them like twice a day and I wasn't worried about them at all. 

Our ceremony took place on the beach.  I would classify it as semi-private.  They will restrict access to the actual wedding area but the beach bbq is near the gazebo and there were people looking at the wedding from over the railing.  And on the DVD and in a couple of other pictures we actually saw people walking behind the gazebo in the beach.  The WCs said they can't close the beach to guests they just imply that people shouldn't be around during the wedding but honestly I never saw the people walking behind the gazebo.  I did see the people at the bbq and looking over the railing but it really wasn't a distraction at all.  I do think it's tacky to walk behind a gazebo when you see a wedding taking place but it wasn't a distraction.  I just wish it wasn't on the DVD.

My reception was at Zavaz Plaza and I think that is an EXCELLENT choice.  It was perfect.  We had 50 people and everyone just fit right in that space.  I'm not sure how good it would be if there are many more people than that.  The center of the plaza, under the gazebo, serves as the dance floor and the tables are in a circle around it.  We had a sweetheart table for the two of us and then there were 6 round tables of 8 people.  

If you're going to do Cancun as a group you need to reserve a van to take everyone because a taxi to Cancun is $80 round trip.  I heard somewhere that you can reserve a van for like $300.  The resort has a shuttle that goes to Cancun on Tues, Thurs and Saturday.  It's $15 per person.  They have one that leaves at 1pm and returns at 5:30 and another that leaves at 4 and returns at 8:30.  On Mon, Wed and Fri the shuttle goes to Playa del Carmen.  The prices and times are the same.  

 The resort was sold out on the first day we got there so at least half of our guests were upgraded to the premium side and on top of that two of our guests were upgraded to the presidential suite.   I felt that since we were the wedding couple and were responsible for bringing 50 people to the resort and had paid more for our room than any of our guests did we should have been offered an upgrade to the presidential suite before our guests!  (We didn't want the upgrade because we liked the swim up suite and the presidential suites were on the 4th floor but it was the principle.)  So I complained to the front desk and the person I spoke to, Christian, who happened to be the only rude person at the resort I spoke to the entire time I was there, told me that he didn't understand what the problem was since I was in the room that I paid for.  So I got the manager as well as the wedding/event coordinator involved and they offered to upgrade us to the honeymoon suite which was on the 2nd floor but like I said we wanted to keep the swim up suite so we negotiated a free upgrade if we decide to come back.  

All in all I would say the AS is an excellent choice to have a wedding.  I don’t regret one dollar I spent having it there.  I know the planning process is very tedious because it seems as though the US based wedding coordinators nickel and dime everything but the on-site wedding coordinators are wonderful.  They really do know what they're doing.  When we met with the WCs there I don't think I ever heard the word no.  They basically bend over backwards to make sure you have what you want.  We brought our own centerpieces, place cards and favors to give away at the reception and they charged us $20 to set everything up at the reception and it turned out beautifully.  The most important thing is to make sure you have everything you want logged on your detail sheet and the on-site WC’s will make it happen. 

Please do not let the reviews on Trip Advisor deter anyone from having a wedding at this resort.