My name is Beata and my husband is Saeed. Before I beging I will give you my email [email protected] if you have any additional questions I will be happy to help. I have been to Riviera Maya, Cancun and Playa del Carmen quite a few times and know my stuff as far as the country goes, the hotels, all inclusive, etc. We flew in on Wednesday November 11 th I believe and we had a 10 day stay leaving Saturday November 21st.  Our wedding was Saturday November 14, 2015 at Azul Sensatori hotel at 5:00 pm. 

Started off with communicating with the OFF-SITE wedding coordinator team in Florida:  if you want a wedding at Azul Sensatori ....with this hotel you start communicating via email or telephone , but mostly e-mail, with an off-site coordinator . I believe they are based in Florida and I mostly e-mailed with Maribel. It took several days for her to get back to me but it wasn't a big deal I am just a worrier... big time! and I wanted her to respond quickly but it really wasn't necessary so if you are having the same issue with this hotel and the off site wedding team let me just tell you to pick what you need and want and then the details will be ironed out once you get there with the coordinatorrs who are on site and your wedding will basically be planned the day before. It is actually quite simple and turns out beautiful.  Do not get too frustrated with the off site people as they basically input what you want and need and how many people you are having plus what type of decor you want etc into a wedding builder you yourself will have access to and once you get there it is all confirmed and basically put together so do NOT STRESS! i did trust me. I guess you cant help it but try not to because they really do a nice job putting things together in the end for you out there.

We arrived at the hotel and thought it was beautiful. The grounds are meticulously maintained and just stunning. there are several pools . the hotel is family friendly and there are children around but there is an adults only section as well as a premium section which has a pool butler, etc.  All of the sections are fabulous and there are several bars and swim bars everywhere! There is elevator access and the hotel seems to be on the eco-friendly side. If you would like to see how I did my wedding website please copy and paste this link into another browser window:  http://www.theknot.com/wedding/view/4677422773177118/44433885

The beach of this hotel isn't so great but during the time we went (November 2015) it wasn't as bad as some of the reviews I was reading. I was in Riviera Maya in 2012 and the water was turquoise blue and clear so there is definitely a little bit of a sea weed problem in Mexico right now. I heard its everywhere not just this hotel. The ocean was fine though and you can still swim in it in certain spots plus the workers were hustling and working tirelessly and endlessly all day to try and scoop up all the misc. sea weed that was accumulating but I had my ceremony on the beach and it was beautiful and just fine with no sea weed... I can send you pics just email me if you want plus I will put some photos on trip advisor along with my review as well. (email is [email protected]) PLEASE DO NOT GET HUNG UP ON THE SEA WEED BECAUSE I HEARD ITS EVERYWHERE RIGHT ABOUT NOW... and most of my guests were at swim up bars, at dinner and on the hotel grounds... rarely did they spend time on the beach.. maybe 2 days out of the 5 or 6 they stayed and the hotel has beautiful beach chairs and folding beds plus really nice and big cabana style huts/homes. very chic and nice. I dont get how I read some of the reviews which said there were no chairs available and people would reserve with towels. we did not have this problem at all during november 2015 stay and NANCY one of my favorite waitresses/staff told me the hotel was at 92% capacity with 435 or so rooms at this resort the hotel grounds are big and there is enough to go around for everyone. I always had a beach chair and not just a beach chair but I had options of where to sit too and there were cabanas left but you had to get those quick because there were only so many but if you couldn't get any cabanas at the hotel then you would just go to the beach and you can get some there. the hotel is clean and the rooms are clean as well. I had no problems with anything at all as far as the rooms go. we got upgraded to the HONEYMOON SUITE when we got there. We initially had the luxury jacuzzi swim up suite but the upgrade was WELL WORTH IT. we had the beach view and the wrap around balcony - it was just breath taking and amazing!

Shout out to nancy my favorite waitress who keeps walking around and asking everyone if they need a refill on their beverages while you lay and bake in the sun by the pool. just loved her! Also Mariano who works at the Zavas Lounge / Caribbean restaurant is an awesome bartender- always smiling and wanting to serve you. He was also the bartender at my wedding and he was just great! remembers your face, your name and your drink! but please just be advised these people do not make much money on a daily basis... even though you are staying at an all inclusive just think if you ever waitressed or bartended or anyone in your family has ever worked for tips... you dont have to tip since TECHNICALLY its an all inclusive and what you paid is tip included but its nice to throw them a couple bucks after they have brought you a few drinks... i mean come on! dont be cheap! and then tip your servers at the restaurants like 2-3 bucks.. we gave 5 but that is just us... then the bell boys luggage people, etc (2-3 bucks or 1-2 a bag... depends on you) and the house keeping who cleaned our room daily was amazing and did such a great job we left her a few bucks a day but its really up to you. just remember these workers make like nothing compared to what we make and yes we work hard for our money too but its nice to tip people for exceptional service dont you agree? 

so we checked in with no problems, the hotel grounds, pools etc were very nice and clean, the staff is friendly. On to the wedding stuff... so I checked in and right away I got a letter stating i need to meet with the wedding coordinator on site in a few hours. I liked this because I wanted to get it out of the way ... if you dont like that Im sure the meeting could have been rescheduled but I went ahead with it to get it done so I could relax for a couple days before my big day!

I met with Ingrid and some other girls in the wedding coordinators office near the lobby and we went over every detail. they advised they would make a weather call 4 hours before my event and to come to the office at 10 a.m. the day of the wedding so they could give my hubby his grooms room and so we could sign the waiver for the weather. they were great and they didnt rush me at all. they took all my stuff that I brought which was some centerpieces and candles and stuff and they did charge a set up fee (like 5/per person to set it up) but i was fine with that i guess. for the majestic flair package you can google majestic flair karisma wedding azul sensatori and it will show you what is included I believe we paid around 3,000 for that and then we paid like 38 per person for the food per person and an additional 200 something per table set up and stuff . their banquet kit explains all of it and its not cheap but if you want something extra or different vs. the plain white free stuff then you will have to pay. in total we paid like 8,000 or so for all of it and i feel it was worth it. you can email me for pics no problem. the day of the wedding we went to the WC office and the weather looked bad. :( looked like it was going to storm but the first couple days we were there it said it was also going to storm and it didn't so i didn't pay too much attention to the weather and i signed the waiver with some other girl (not ingrid because she wasn't there yet) and went back to my room to start getting ready /relax etc...

after an hour of being in my room Ingrid called me and said she was coming to my room to discuss me signing the weather waiver. I appreciated what she said when she came to my room. she told me she has lived in mexico her whole life and she feels it will rain.. by me signing the waiver that meant if it rains my event will basically be over. they would try to move us to the nearest restaurant to finish the event but the dj would close up his equipment and leave if it started to pour so i didn't want to risk it and told them i still wanted the ceremony outside and i would do the dinner inside in one of their banquet rooms. I also had a cocktail after the ceremony which was supposed to be outside just like the ceremony just a little further ways down from where the ceremony was but that didn't happen due to the rain and i will explain that in a second. I was pretty upset about the cocktail.... will get there in a sec. so i took back my decision to have the reception outside and told her ok lets do it in the ball room . it was a tinier/smaller ballroom since i only had like 36 guests but they decorated it beautifully ! i could not ask for more. it was amazing. my best friend and one of my maids of honor did my hair and makeup as she does hair professionally back home and the photographer (i used playa weddings and paid the outside $800 .00 dollar vendor fee to have them since i didn't want to use the photographers they provided) arrived around 330 - 4 pm to take some photos of my friends and my mom in my room plus the groom in the grooms room with his friends and family. at 5 pm i was instructed by my WC ingrid to wait in my room and have everyone (guests, friends, maids of honors , etc) to meet at zavas lounge/caribbean restaurant at 430 pm. everyone did so and my WC was there and directed everone to the ceremony which was on the beach near the gazebo behind zavas lounge restaurant. at about 5 ish she came to get me and my mom (my mom walked me down the aisle) in my room and walked me to the ceremony site. they played the music i wanted ( i had a playlist in order) and i started walking to my future hubby! everything went smoothly. we did a symbolic ceremony and the wedding officiant was female and she was just great! i had a ceremony script that i made up  and me and my husband said our own vows which i had my mom hold in her purse pre-printed and typed up. everything was perfect. it wasn't too hot but the rain was coming and you could see it brewing in the back ground so it definitely will make a stunning background for some pictures.... as soon as the ceremony was over we hugged our friends and family got some pictures in and the photographer took me and my hubby near the water and the palm trees because i really wanted some pictures on the beach. we took several and then it looked like it was goin to pour rain so the WC ingrid ran up to me and told me we should relocate all my guests to the zavas lounge/caribbean restaurant again and possibly hold off on the cocktail hour which was supposed to be on the beach further down from ceremony or maybe quickly move the cocktail to the mojito lounge inside the hotel.... i said ok lets do it and then we all started heading towards zavas lounge and it started pouring just as i entered the restaurant which was perfect because i didn't get drenched! yay! we all kinda sat around at zavas for a bit and the photographer got some great photos of the hubby and i and the guests just kinda went to the bar at zavas and ordered up some drinks and stuff. the WC ingrid told me we would wait til the rain stopped and m ake our way to the reception or mojito lounge to finish up the cocktail (keep in mind i paid for little bites to be passed around for the cocktail @248 dollars! ) anyway time flew by and next thing you know the WC told me it was time to just start heading to the reception because it was a soft drizzle.... i said ok and we did just that. somepeople ran to their rooms to freshen up and made their way back to the reception wihch was in the small ballroom not far from the mojito lounge and in/near the lobby. i was told to wait and sit in the lobby until me and my husband could be announced and walk into the ballroom. the WC was going or should have been gathering everyone and telling them to get into the ballroom because that was the only way we were going to walk in and be announced to do our first dance and husband/wife but everyone kept getting up and walking around and leaving and or going to get a drink at the mojito lounge so i wish the WC would have been a bit more in control and telling everyonen what to do and stuff (maybe my maids of honors should have done so as well lol ) but what I am upset about is two things. the FIRST is the WC told me i was going to have a personal bridal attendant the day of my wedding for 3 hours and no one came .. no one was my attendant... she said someone was going to be there to fluff my dress and assist me with whatever i needed like delivering the letter to my husband in the grooms room, etc. no one was there for me so my friends had to do it and it took time away from photos and stuff. everything felt rushed maybe not so much rushed as time was flying by for sure! the SECOND AND MOST IMPORTANT REASON I AM VERY UPSET WITH AZUL SENSATORI/KARISIMA/ WEDDING COORDINATORS is i paid for a cocktail hour and i didn't have one due to rain. i asked ingrid if i could get a refund for the cocktail and she told me no and had someone else call me and tell me i wasn't going to get a refund because my guests were told to go to mojito lounge and the appetizers were passed out in the mojito lounge and i was like "well ..... it would have been nice if everyone was informed most importantly me and my husband that the cocktail was for a few minutes before the reception in the mojito lounge because that way we would have directed our guests to go there and get some of those appetizers and bites i paid for which were probably passed out to other hotel guests" the lady i spoke with on the phone told me the appetizer bites for cocktail were passed out to my guests in mojito lounge i told her i dont think so and i asked all my guests and friends and they said nope they never had any type of bites or waiter passed around cocktail bites at all! i was very upset that is 250 bucks basically down the drain. so i guess what i can say in terms of negativity towards the WC and the resort is they need to make sure that there are good back up plans in place and there needs to be someone in addition to the WC that is tellings guests what is going and where they need to go because my guests were all under the assumption that since it was already very close to 7 pm they were to be in the ballroom which is where they were. so i was very upset about not getting a refund and still am!

we ended up finally getting announced and walked in to the ballroom, had our first dance and looking around the ball room i can say they did do a really nice job setting everything up. i really liked the decorations i chose and the way they made it look inside given i initally wanted the reception outside. the dj was alright... i hate that i paid 1500 or so for him and he basically just played songs i wanted and he was supposed to be an MC but didn't really get involved in the crowd or anything so maybe a speaker sound system and your ipod with a playlist may work for you if your thinking about saving money .. if i had to do it again i would not get a dj.

over all the event decor was nice, pricey but very nice and very well put together i must say. the WC was great. her name was ingrid. i know its not her fault i didn't get the refund its probably the hotel or lomas travel....but it was a great day and if i had to do it over again i probably would because the positives outweigh the negatives for sure. i love the hotel. the food is good but not gourmet-

 definitely not like back home (united states - Chicago IL) however the wedding food we had was actually very very good. Better than the family style we have here back home at Banquet halls... there was a variety from chicken to lobster to salmon to arrachera steak and so on... so many meats you could not go wrong because everyone could choose something given all the variety. the liquor was flowing and everyone had a blast dancing the night away. definitely pricey wedding for destination wedding ... you could probably do a free wedding and it would be just the same beautiful and on the beach but if you want extra colors, clothes for tables, runners, flowers, different things will be extra. I hope i touched a little bit on everything if you have more questions please do not hesitate to email me at [email protected]