In serious need of advice Azul Beach vs Moon Palace

[merrylee]

Okay, I know there is a huge difference in the resort size alone on these 2 choices.  Our main choice before speaking with a planner was the Moon Palace a major reason for that is the Palace Resort name, my future SIL just got married at the Beach Palace in October and while we loved it, I wanted more texture for my photos.  Which led us to the Moon Palace because it had so many different options while still offering the packages that the BP had, but with more to do at the resort as well.

 

Our planner recommended the Azul Beach hotel as it has the texture we are looking for along with being a smaller resort.  I'm so new to this after being engaged for less than a month and I had never heard of that resort until she recommended it and of course until I came here to BDW. 

 

I am looking for honest opinions/reviews of both locations.

 

What I like about the MP:

Something for everyone, and my guests won't feel obligated to spend 100% of their time with us if they don't want to

Mini Golf - my fiance and I had our first date playing Mini Golf so this tied in nicely

the fact that they typically include tours in their packages

the complimentary wedding package is amazing and a la carte items  can be added

the texture, bridges, trees, grass, ocean, pools etc...gazebos just a lot of different views

 

Azul Beach

The pictures I have seen of the resort are amazing

The 98 rooms is a huge plus it's one of the main reasons we loved the BP is that we felt like part of the family

and in all honesty I have no idea how much it costs because my planner just recommended it to us today and I haven't been able to locate a lot of pricing information on their wedding packages etc...

 

Please help, any true guidance from guests/B & G's will be so helpful.

 

Thank you so much

 

Meredith

[Brenners]

Hi Merrylee!  We are planning a trip to Mexico next month for both fun and research.  Azul and Moon Palace are both places I want to check out so I will let know what I find out when I get back!

[merrylee]

Great, I look forward to hearing about your research and fun

 

Thanks

[Kristibear]

I was having the same argument with myself, but we decided on the Moon Palace because of it's size and unlimited activities.  My fiance' is a big golfer and since it is attached to the golf course, it was an easy decision for him.  I plan on communicating with my photographer to get alot of the nature scenery in the background instead of the buildings. This will give me the texture I am looking for.  I hope this helps.

[82turtles]

Take this for what it's worth since I haven't been to either... The Moon Palace had been on my short list for a while, but I ultimately ruled it out for a few personal reasons:

- It's huge! This can be a pro for some, but for us it was a con.. the whole purpose of having this destination wedding was to spend time with our friends and family, and this just felt like we'd be walking all over trying to find and meet up with people. Need a cart to get around the property, it's so big.

- They do several weddings in a day. I wanted something smaller in that they only do one or two weddings per day, max, so that I knew the attention and detail would be given to my event. I've seen some photographers call it a 'wedding factory'..

- Reviews of the beach there aren't good. They consistently said that you can't really go swimming in the sea right there due to all of the seaweed. They apparently clean it up daily, but it's not ideal for swimming. One of my co-workers had been there recently and confirmed this for me. She said she would go down to the beach to lay out and read, but if she wanted to swim you pretty much had to go to the pools. To be honest, this was the real deal-breaker for me.. I wasn't about to take a bunch of family and friends to a tropical location where they couldn't go in the water!! I know you can take shuttles up to the other Palace Resorts that have better beaches (hotel zone), but that seemed like a big inconvenience for me.

Please don't take it that I'm putting down the resort -- it's a beautiful property and lots of ladies have wonderful weddings there. It just didn't fit us and my vision.

 

Now as for Azul Beach, I don't know much since it wasn't on my radar until after I had picked a spot, but I've read some girls' site reviews and they always come back impressed.

 

Price-wise, I'd say those two are probably pretty close. You can do a search on Orbitz or something to get an idea of how they relate. Granted that won't probably be the prices a TA could get you, but it'll at least give you an idea, so you can decide if pursuing the Azul Beach is worth it or not. It wouldn't hurt to price them both out with hotel stay as well as wedding with all the 'extras', and see how each might work for you.

 

Everyone looks for different things in a resort though, so just go with your gut and what you want out of it for both you and your guests!  Good luck!!!

[Brenners]

Ok, I never made it to either location.  A week goes by so fast!  We have narrowed it down to Ceiba del Mar, Barcelo, and Dreams Riviera Cancun.  A friend of mine on here though is now considering Azul so I will have to direct her to this thread so she can get some info.  Sorry I don't have any news from my trip about these locations.

[Maritza919]

Hi Meredith! So I am now thinking of doing our wedding at Azul beach (thanks Brenners for this link ). I like that the hotel isn't huge 98 rooms is good, it's about the same size as Ceiba and I loved that it was cozy and intimate I didn't visit Azul beach when I went on my site visit. I still have to post my review and I have pics of the following hotels-DRC, Ceiba del Mar, Now Jade and Now Sapphire. I saw Ocean Coral/ Turquesa but don't have pictures of that one since we just walked on the beach and looked from afar. Anyway I came back from my site visit even more confused. I thought I'd come home and have a place ready but not so. My fiancé actually picked azul beach from a search online. It does have pricing online/ rates and they do book up quick I was looking to do Memorial day weekend for 2012 and they're already booked. Since it is a Small hotel, depending on the # of guests you have depends on the wedding they do. Which I love! The hotel can only hold a certain amount of people I didn't want the place we get married to be a wedding factory. The beach looks beautiful frm photos ive seen which is a plus i need to have a swimmable beach We plan to have about 50 people at the wedding. The website has packages which you can view. Let me know if you need help. I submitted a date for the wedding and I'm waiting to hear back for a confirmation I know it's stressful picking out a location. And I believe you can't please everyone. So hopefully this helps with your decision. Maritza

[Brenners]

Good luck Maritza!  Let me know what you decide!