Azul Fives Brides 2015

[asabatino]

Hi Ladies,

 

I reserved my wedding date at Azul Five for May 16th, 2015 (although I haven't yet made my final decision on the resort).  Once I visit the resort this coming April 28th I will be making a final decision.  I will share my experience and will give you some feedback once I return from my trip.

KScheer, I see that you are a new yorker as well =)  I'm from Queens and my fiancé is from Long Island.  We soon will be moving to Massapequa, LI together.

Lilgabri03, could you please also send me the email from the GM discussing the new stuff that is happening at Azul Five?  Sounds like very exciting news!

 

Have you ladies looked into photography or DJ yet?

 

Hope to hear from you soon.

Anna

[KScheer]

@@asabatino - Congrats! Final decision meaning the locations where you will host your wedding?

 

We are in North Babylon. You'll be 10 min from me in Massapequa! So cool to have a local bride getting married at the same resort in Mexico. I think you just made my day lol

 

There is a wedding shoe store in Massapequa that you can go to when the time comes called Sandy Shoes. I got my wedding shoes from there.

 

Please take lots of photos when you head down there later this month. I want to hear all about it!

We are flying our photographer down there with us. I know her so I received a really good rate. It might be something you might want to consider doing. I personally don't care for the work of the approved photographers Azul's uses.

 

As far as the DJ, we just went with the company they use. You fill out a sheet and provide all music choices for your wedding reception, so I assume that cant go wrong!

[kmk2016]

I'll pm you my email, ya I know the rooms are double beds, that was the one annoying negative! However then I talked to the GM of azul fives. Send me your email back and I will forward you the email chain between us. Pretty cool stuff happening there! We did mostly the cheap rooms, a handful of the others because I think most people will pick the cheaper rooms!

Can you PM about your discussions with their GM too? I'm currently planning on Sensatori- but if there are some changes coming to Fives, I could be convinced to switch.... Especially if pricing was right!

Edited April 12, 2014 by kmk2016

[lhills]

Well now I'm curious about the changes too, lol! Our wedding is less than a month away so I'm doubtful much will change between now an then, but still curious anyway.

 

Has anyone else here made the awful mistake of reading negetive reviews on trip advisor? I'm sure its a fantastic resort, but really wish I would have done the bride's dress rehearsal before confirming. Too late now, haha!

 

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[asabatino]

@@KScheer I was also very excited to see a Long Island Bride as well.  My fiancé and I haven't yet made a decision because we want to look at the resort in person and make sure it is the right place for us.  We have visited Mexico several times and were spoiled by the luxurious adult only hotels but for our wedding we will be doing a family resort.   We are either going to decide on Azul Five or the Paradisus resort in Playa del Carmen (which we have visited once before).  I'm sure the Azul Five is a beautiful resort but I have to admit my fiancé and I are very picky therefore we feel it is best to see it in person.  The reason why I reserved a date before hand is because we want to get married in May which I was told was a very busy wedding month for Mexico.  The Paradisus is an amazing resort but there are 2 negatives that we feel may be resolved by getting married at the Azul Five.  The Paradisus has an adult side and a family friendly side.  The adults can use both sides of the resort however the kids cannot enter the adult side.  My concern is that some families with children may feel left out if some of our guest are on the adult side.  Azul Five seems to be very family friendly.  Another negative at the Paradisus was the beach.  There is no beach view from the pool.  The beach is hidden behind trees/bushes.  The beach is very short and there is not much room for activities.  When looking at the beach pictures of Azul Five it looks large and spacious.  The beach/pool setup looks great and I also read this on the reviews.  As you can see ladies I'm being very picky lol. Don't get me wrong, I don't think its a bad thing that you have not yet seen the hotel in person I just think I would be less nervous if I get to see it for myself.  It also makes a great excuse for a vacation 

@Ihills Congratulations! Wow your wedding is coming up soon.  When do you fly in?  I will be at Azul Five from April 28th - May 3rd.  How was the wedding planning process and your experience so far?  By the way I have also been checking out trip advisor and found some negative reviews which makes me nervous but I've noticed that the reviews are getting a little better.  Some people that have visited Azul Five for their 2nd time mentioned that they have seen a big improvement at the resort.  I would love to hear details about your wedding when you return.  What vendors are you using for photography and DJ? Are you using vendors provided by resort?

 

Talk to you soon

Anna

[Lilgabri03]

@asabatino please, please please take lots of photo's when you are down there for us brides that aren't going to visit! Can you take photo's of different locations if possible for the wedding? Like maybe what the inside of the restaurants look like?   

 

Ok guys, I know a lot of you guys asked what changes the GM said there will be, so here is his email chain below: 

 

 

we are quite busy with improvements and from April 21 to Dec 15 we will be in all sort of new creations and developments

We are actually adding this year 120 new suites. 

 

3 restaurants (Thai, Italian, Sushi)

2 Bar (Gin Bar and Rooftop)

A very large plaza where most of the hotel action will take place

Refurbishing and changing concept to existing restaurants

Adding some meters to the beach and opening a beach Cafe

 

He also stated he will be converting 30 double bed rooms to king size suites. Hope this helps! 

 

Based on recent travel reviews it does look like this has already started as several people mention a new Gin bar being built.

Edited April 13, 2014 by Lilgabri03

[lhills]

@Lilgabri03 thanks for posting this info!

 

@asabatino, we fly in on the 7th, will just miss you by a few days! Planning has been a bit stressful, and I'm usually pretty easygoing, but everything you've probably read on this forum re. the Karisma planners is unfortunately true. I'm sure the resort is fantastic and I'm positive it'll all work out perfectly in the end. We're not using any local vendors, my cousin is a photographer (an awesome one at that) so I'm paying for his trip in return for photos. We're doing an iPod wedding along with a salsa lesson for our reception. I'm bringing everything all decor with me.

 

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Edited April 13, 2014 by lhills

[KScheer]

_@@asabatino

 

_{We have visited Mexico too and only stayed at adult only resorts and chose Azul Fives because it was family friendly for our guests. I have to say I am also very picky. The ceremony and reception locations at Azul Fives is what sold me. The Sky Deck is amazing.}

 

_{We also looked at Paradisus. I was not in love with the wedding locations and didn't think guests would like the separation of the two hotels.}

 

_{Every hotel is going to have some bad reviews on Trip Advisor. But, overall there are over 825 excellent reviews compared to the 75 bad reviews for Azul Fives. This might sound crazy but every night I check Trip Advisor and read any new reviews that are posted}

 

_{Let me know how your visit goes! Move to Massapequa quickly so we can meet up and talk about this! lol}

@@lhills - I would love to hear how everything goes for you!

 

Has your experience been that bad with the coordinator? I have to say my coordinator is pretty good. It might take her a few days to respond via email but I usually set up scheduled phone calls with her for a certain date/time and go over things. Then she'll send me a follow-up email highlighting all the important points of our conversation.

[asabatino]

I will let you girls know how it goes. I won't be going for the rehearsal event because my fiancé couldn't get off from work. I do plan on meeting with a couple outside vendors while I'm there. Hopefully all goes well. I just saw 2 new destination wedding reviews on trip advisor. Reviews were pretty good except for the check in process for one of the weddings.

[lhills]

@@KScheer, I guess it wasn't THAT bad... Yes, there was a pretty big lag time in responses. I think you're smart to set up a call. We did this once throughout the process but I didn't get an email confirming our conversation, which would have been very helpful! I really just felt kind of lost throughout the whole process. And there are so many emails back and forth that its impossible to go back and find anything I might be looking for. I was nervous too, about not getting confirmation on my locations, etc. They didn't confirm until almost a week after my final payment date. This made me nervous.

 

Only 2 1/2 weeks until we leave, despite the painful planning and nickel & diming, we are SO EXCITED!

 

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