So I am finally sitting down to do my review. We got married January 24, 2011. We were absolutely thrilled that we decided to do the wedding down south, and everything worked out great! I also really tried to remember that we were in Mexico, and that not everything was going to be perfect. And if you can remember that, everything will indeed work out in the end!

Arrival: Arriving in Cancun is simple. Just have to avoid the timeshare sales people and porters. If you have never travelled to Cancun… you must EXIT the terminal completely (ie. Be standing outside in the sunshine) to find your transfer shuttles.

We had 2 different types of transfers. Many of our guests had package deals through Signature Vacations/Sunwing. The others flew with Westjet, American airlines and Continental airlines.

So, our Sunwing passengers, exited the terminal and were quickly taken to their pre-arranged shuttle bus. They had to wait for 20 minutes (to load more passengers), and then the drive was 20 minutes to the resort. Best part they were the first stop!

Our other passengers had transfers from Lomas tours. FI and I paid and arranged for these in advance. Our guests exited the airport, found the Lomas representative and were quickly escorted to their shuttles. Lomas tours get A+++! They were fantasic. We dealt with Valeria through email and phone from Canada to arrange things. And then locally at the resort, Adrian, was great for arranging transfer for day trips for our guests. We used a number of the vehicles, ranging from the Eurovan to the Lincoln Navigator SUVs. They were super polite, and always on time!

Arrival at the hotel:

Who doesn’t love a fresh cold towel and champagne to start a vacation? Check in was easy. Our room was not quite ready, so they suggested having a quick lunch and checking back with them. Sure enough the room was ready, and the bell hops led us and our luggage to our room.

Hotel room:

The rooms are beautiful! No matter what category you chose, all the rooms are almost identical! Décor is very clean and modern. Dark woods, white linens. The room will have one king bed, or 2 double beds; a couch; a small table and 2 chairs; lots of cabinets for storage; a Jacuzzi tub in the corner; a patio; stand up shower with a rainfall head (love this!). Also in the room, a flat screen TV(with lots of English channels); mini fridge (restocked daily with soda, water, and beer); safe (which you get the lock and key when you check in); hair dryer; iron; ironing board; coffee machine (restocked daily); ice bucket. In the bathroom- the usual: Shower gel, shampoo, conditioner, bars of soap, body lotion. They clean the room once daily, but also offer turn down service, where they will replace towels, etc. if needed.

Resort:

The resort and grounds are beautiful! The pools are a little chilly (they don’t heat them), but it usually a welcome feeling after lying in the sun. It is very easy to find people since it’s not to large, but also allows you to find a quiet space if you need it. Every building has a private concierge who will help you with almost anything. Tours, problems, program sheets of what the resort offers, books, newspapers, etc.

Only downfall to the resort is they are currently really pushing their timeshare program. I really dislike this and ignored all the cards/letters they sent to our room. They do offer you incentives to sit through their sales pitch (usually dinner on the beach, spa credit, etc); but I’m just not into it.

Beach:

The beach is really the only negative to this resort. The beach is narrow, so there is not a lot of room, and to go into the water is difficult. This is due to a coral reef lying directly in front. So there is a lot of rock, coral, uneven ground. Use caution if you want to swim there. My advice: grab your towel and head north on the beach (left if you face the ocean). Walk about 500 yards, just past the pink house, where there are a few dead tress standing and you will find the beach you’ve been dreaming of. Nothing but sand and with 10 steps you are chest deep in the beautiful ocean water!

Restaurants:

Spoon. We only ate breakfast here, and one lunch. Overall they had the largest selection for breakfast and lunch, and for the kids they loved it since it was a buffet- no waiting!

Zocolo. Decent Mexican food. We loved the pizzas for lunch.

Zavas. We ate breakfast here almost everyday. I think mostly because we loved the view. The breakfast menu is actually the same at all the restaurants. The lunch and dinner is mostly seafood. And we loved it here.

Tapaz. Great fun! They change the menu every 3 (?) days. You don’t get to choose off a menu here, they just start serving. (at the start of the meal, they ask if there are any allergies) If I remember correctly it was about 6-8 courses. A number of our guests had no idea what Tapaz was…which made it quite amusing especially when DH’s aunt came up to us and asked “So when do they serve the real meal?” (for those of you also unaware Tapaz is the Spanish word for small portion. The idea is to give you lots of small things to try)

Sienna. Absolutely stunning Italian food! We loved everything here J

Beach BBQ. Great quick spot to grab food. The ribs are great if you get there early enough (usually they are the first thing to go and they only make the one batch!) The Mexican sausage was spicy (which I loved!)

Le Chique. I might be a little biased here. DH and I have become personal friends of the chef and his sous chefs. (it was actually the main reason why we choose the Azul to get married at. We met in April on our site inspection trip) This is a restaurant that does not belong at an all inclusive! Take advantage of this. They have recently been awarded a “Food and Wine magazine” award, and have also been voted one of the top 20 restaurants in all of Mexico! Please, Please, Please have some understanding of what you are eating…it is not a steak and potato meal. It is termed molecular gastronomy. The chefs playfully use their knowledge of the science of food to make things you may not expect. The normal meal is an 8 course menu. Wine paring is $35/p or $45/p for premium wines. (House wine does not cost you anything) If you select the 12-14 course meal, it is $95/p and includes wine parings.  To make reservations, I would recommend the sooner the better when you arrive at the resort. Many of our guests were disappointed because they waited too long. Currently, you make reservations directly at the restaurant between 3-6pm. They were usually doing bookings for up to 2-3 days in advance.

Keep an open mind and enjoy the experience! Trust me it’s a once in a lifetime opportunity!

Room service.

A bit hit or miss. On occasion it was super and quick. Other times it was slow and cold. But sometimes late at night, it’s just the best thing ever! (plus if you don’t see what you want on the menu, just ask. Hot dogs, and quesadillas were quickly delivered to us…and were not on the menu)

Wedding coordinators

We had our appointment with them the day after we arrived at 9am. We were super impressed with the overall experience. Remember to bring a copy of your own ‘detail sheet’ (their copy was not up to date), as well as any pictures of specific things you might want done. We went through the details from the start to finish. Our coordinators were Arturo (Lomas) and Denise (Azul). You will be assigned one coordinator from Lomas and one from the hotel, so that they can deal with tasks from both sides. We also were bringing a number of things with us to decorate, and we got charged a set up fee. (It was $120 US for us, but the prices range depending on the amount of décor you have) We had menu cards, centerpieces, name tags, napkin paper wraps, table markers, kids treats, and laterns. (63 guests) They set up everything perfectly! They also called during the day of the wedding to see if we needed an extra personal assistant to help with anything (get food, run errands, etc) We didn’t need them, but it was nice to know. They set up a huge bar in the grooms room and I know the boys enjoyed it!

Wedding

I wouldn’t change a thing! It went so well. We did our ceremony at 3pm.(I think I finally walked down the aisle about 3:15pm….Mexican time LOL) The judge/minister who did our service (symbolic) was fantastic. All of our guests loved that there was a bar right next door, and that the service was short and sweet (about 15 min). The person who was working the Ipod did a great job, cued the music when needed, and faded it off.

Our guests also loved the custom cocktail to end it off. We did traditional Mojoitos, that  were cold and refreshing! (in the picture you can see the cocktail area set up)

We had a cocktail reception directly following the ceremony (4pm), on the beach. Our guests loved that they didn’t have to leave, and they could watch while we did some photos on the beach. The food was great, and the staff (bartender and waiters) were fantastic.

The dinner reception was 6-10pm at Zavas Plaza. We did one of the set menus with an additional item. Overall, we were pleased with the food. Service was amazing and again the guy working the Ipod did an amazing job. We had background dinner music, and whenever our MC or guests went up to use the mic, the guy just faded the music. (we rented the amp system , so that we would have a mic! I am really glad we did that, since everyone could hear the speeches)

We did order a small cake, and were happy with it. Both DH and I were not huge into the cake idea, so it didn’t matter to much. But the cake looked pretty and our guests ate it all!

Flowers:

I do have to laugh a little about this. I had requested a tropical bouquet in white, purple and pink. What I got was a very traditional bunch of roses, gerber daisies, etc. in white, pink and different pink LOL! But it’s Mexico…I wasn’t going to be too picky. They were beautiful flowers! The groomsmen’s boutonnières were great, as was the corsage we got for my MIL. The bridesmaids bouquets were as I had asked…one in white, one in purple, one in pink. However they matched my bouquet, so really, one in white, one in pink and one in different pink! Again….I just have to laugh, it was to me a really minor detail! The large bouquets funny enough did have purple in them!(used as table decoration at the ceremony and dinner) Arturo delivered them to me in our room about 2 hours before the ceremony, and the men their’s in their room.(If you are wonderiny why there are some purple flowers-2 of my bridesmaids pulled some off a bush and we inserted them LOL)

Brunch:

We had been offered a free private dinner at Spoon (for up to 40), and we choose instead to do a brunch for our bridal party. They arranged this to be at Zavas, at 11am. We were pleasantly surprised to find it was a served menu. They started with yogurt and fruit, bagel with smoked salmon, omelette, quesadillas, and then much to our surprise, stuffed chicken breast, steak, potatoes and desserts! LOL. It was a lot of food. But we had a very nice time.

Welcome cocktail party:

We held the party on Sunday afternoon (most of the guests had arrived Saturday) to introduce all our guests to each other. After a mix up, or lack of confirmation, we had to move it to Zavas Terrace (originally it was booked at Zavas Plaza). They had a bar set up there, and again the service staff was amazing! This only thing I should tell you is this is not the normal cocktail party you get through the resort.  We had this one specially catered by Chef Jonaton Gomez for us! The food was outstanding and our guests loved it!

Kids club:

Since we had a number of guests with children, choosing a resort with a good kids program was important! Our parents could not have been more happy. They would drop the kids off in the morning, and then pick them up for dinner. They had the kids from 5-7pm, and then would drop them off for the evening programs. This allowed all the parents to enjoy dinner with friends and family. And the kids could not wait to go to the kids club. They had so many fun programs and neat things to do.

Spa:

Used the spa only for manicure/pedicure for myself and the bridesmaids. Was happy enough with their service. But they don't have many nail polish colors (maybe bring your own, in case you want a specific color) And after our guests left, DH and I, got massages. The spa is very pretty and the people helpful.

Overall:

I would highly recommend this resort to any bride and groom. If you have any specific questions, or I didn’t cover something, just message me please.