*Now called The Fives* 3 Visits to this resort - 2021, 2024, 2025 Each time is tends to get better. Many people complain about not being able to get reservations at the restaraunts but we have never found it to be an issue. This is not a giant hotel with just a number of food options. It is a giant resort (imagine a bunch of small condominium complexes). So, you have more than enough food options. We often eat the tacos, pizza or burgers at the beach, and then go to a late dinner around 8 which tends to lesson the lines during busy season. I did come in September and got seated immediately. The walks are long and worth it. It keeps you moving and learning your way around the resort makes it enchanting I believe. You will randomly discover a new bar or food spot tucked back into the path. We love this resort for the pace of life. It's slow. Many pools and lots of beach options. read more

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We really enjoyed our stay there. The staff was beyond friendly, the resort was beautiful, pools were excellent and they did a spectacular job maintaining their property. CLEAN!!! And I cannot say this enough. There wasn't a spot of trash anywhere on that resort and major kudos to the staff there. Sheets were clean. Room service was quick and delicious. Our only complaint would be getting a table at a restaurant. They said you don't need a reservation, our first night we tried to get a table for 6 and were met with a "that's impossible" from the host. Get an upgraded room with an "ambassador" other wise your waits for dinner will be over a hour. Also did a diving tour through their SSI shop. Great. Pick up drop off. All the rental equipment. 10/10 would do again. read more

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Stayed here for a few nights for my friend's bachelorette. The staff here was incredibly friendly and nice-- from the check in receptionists to restaurant staffs, to house keeping, customer service was top tier. The penthouse was clean, water & drinks in the fridge were restocked daily for us. The beach was literally steps away. They have chairs and also food/drinks served there as well which is great. Be careful of the birds there though! One of the girls got pooped on while they were trying to gooble down our food. They also have activities at night, one time it was silent disco, another time was a live performance. It was a shame that it was pretty chilly during our stay and the resort had no heater, only A/C. I know, shocking. We asked for more blankets but they only provided one per person. Another unfortunate situation that we went through was the long wait time for all of the restaurants. We waited at least 2 hours for dinner at places we wanted to eat for the first night. We learned our lesson so we went and made a reservation the next night so we wouldn't starve in the cold again but yet in the end, we still had to wait way past our promised reserved time. When asked why, the host said it was because the residents have priority... Despite some issues, still had a great time here though! read more

Azul Fives - Resorts Near Me - Playa del Carmen, ROO

Arrival day We arrived and were met with a drink once they took our luggage. Our room was not ready so we went to the beach to grab lunch nothing special it was burgers and empanadas but the kids liked it. We walked around the grounds until the room was ready we were in block 15 and our 3 room condo was great for the five of us. Our ambassador Perez was very helpful in getting us 2 days of Bali beds. We went to the pool near our room and cooled off. Then we went back for ready for dinner we walked right into the Thai restaurant at 630 no wait. Food was good and flavorful went to the plaza afterwards for a drink and music. Day 2, for up early and went to the infinity pool and waited for my family to arrive. Lots of seating, then we have breakfast at flavors which was great, lots of options, eggs, pancakes, churros, fruit, cereal, breads and grains, veggies, beans, way too much to enjoy. Then back to the pool and enjoyed the day, pool was crowded by lunchtime, we went to the pizza place everyone enjoyed there food. Went back to the pool. Only issue is the pool bar needs 2 nd bartender it's too much for 1 person for walk ups. Dinner was Arezzo and we walked up at 5:45 and right in no wait nothing. The food here is sooo good. The service even better. The plaza had Mexican night which looked amazing, foods all over the plaza, my kids got cotton candy and I had a cinnamon puffed pastry. We then took a walk in the cenote and observed so much wildlife, monkeys were very active. Day 3 Another pool day at the beach, sadly the ocean is un-swimable, but the pool is great. There was a chair Nazi roaming and moving peoples stuff if you were not there for 20 minutes. A lot of people were not happy. The bar service was better today, seemed like not as many people were in that area. Dinner was at the sushi place highly recommended this was amazing. We then walked to the plaza for drinks and entertainment. We again saw a bunch of monkey on the way to the beach in the Am. What are the downsides: there is a lot of walking so if you have mobility issues you need to get the shuttle and rooms close to activities. Because not everything is open all the time it can be confusing if you want to eat somewhere. Not a lot of ocean rooms. Our room is overlooking the cenote which is actually nice. read more

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For $50, this could have been a glowing 5 star review. That's right. $50. For something that actually costs nearly nothing. Bottom line up front, do not expect to be treated with any courtesy or respect by the management if you are not an owner or an Epic member. Sure, they'll take your money, but that's where it stops. The good: the place is decent, as far as resorts go. Plenty of nice pools and a serviceable beach area. A good variety of restaurants on site. Truly outstanding service by the wait staff, bartenders, shuttle drivers, the housekeeping staff and the grounds people. A nice touch is their attentiveness to allergies in every restaurant. Housekeeping twice daily, which was a pleasant surprise. Plenty of bottled water provided in the rooms. The bad: DO NOT STAY HERE UNLESS YOU COMMIT TO ALL-INCLUSIVE. Although they offer a "European Plan," it is a disaster unless you intend to go on a deprivation diet while there. There are literally ZERO options for food unless you plant your ass in a restaurant. Now, seeing that we rented a two-bedroom "villa" with a kitchen, we expected to be able to to "self cater," at least for breakfast and lunch. Joke was on us. Despite our confirmation from Interval that the kitchen was "fully equipped" with pots, pans, toaster, plates, glasses, cutlery - nope. The kitchen was equipped with a full-size refrigerator, a range, a sink, a microwave, a shitty hotel coffee pot, 2 mugs and two glasses. That's it. Not a fork or a plate or anything at all that would have made the kitchen functional in any capacity. When we inquired, we were told that providing essentials for the kitchen would cost $50. WHAT THE ACTUAL F**k? That cost could have been built in to what we paid, but no. Make it make sense. Not being owners or Epic members, but exchangers via Interval, we paid a $699 resort fee, for which we received about $500 worth of discount coupons on services that we did not use. For example, one coupon would discount a $150 spa service by $25. We weren't interested in spa services. We asked for kitchen supplies in lieu of the coupons, but no. Not only no, but rudely no. Telling me I had an attitude no. Yes, the exchange manager, whose name I stupidly did not get, became belligerent and told me that I had an attitude. Seriously. Hospitality managers should be trained to handle unhappy customers without insulting them. FAIL. Maybe I did have an attitude. An attitude that was based on incredulity that we would pay for a 2-bedroom with a kitchen, and not have the basics to actually use the kitchen. I am still pissed off. I lost about 5 pounds in a week because I wanted to relax and enjoy the sun, the pools and the beach and not drag myself through a shower, makeup, hair and a reservation in order to feed myself three times a day. Maybe that's just me, and I should just rent an RV and pack a cooler next time. More bad: the "convenience" store on property carries the usual - souvenirs, swimsuits, sunglasses, some jewelry and the following all-encompassing variety of handy snacks: chips (crisps) in many flavors; Cheetos; Oreos; pringles. A couple of electrolyte beverages, Evian, and maybe some soft drinks and candy. That's it. OXXO/7-11 is a half mile away if OXXO/7-11 food is satisfactory and can be prepared using a coffee mug. I will never go back. I will never go to any Fives property anywhere again. I will not recommend this resort. Good luck to anyone traveling with kids - it's a family friendly place, but good luck finding a snack for your kids. I could go on, but why bother. This was moderately cathartic and I am over it. read more

Came for a wedding and was less than impressed with the property and food. Our one bedroom suite was outdated and looked nothing like the online pictures. For an all inclusive resort, they did not have plentiful food available. I actually lost weight during this vacation, between the long walk to the beach- from the room- and the lack of food. They have golf carts but not enough and they refuse to take you certain places, for some reason. The venue was nice for a wedding and we enjoyed the reception on the roof top. Other than wedding venue, it lacks a lot of offerings. They have beach volleyball, tennis, and basketball courts. Not much else going on. I won't be back. read more

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We had a week long stay in a Deluxe room at The Fives and truly enjoyed the experience. Keep in mind that it's not in downtown Playa Del Carmen, although they do have a location there, so any time you want to go there it will cost you $15 USD which is a rip off because it's not far but they know you don't have any other options. You really don't need to if you don't want to though because the resort has everything you could want! It's enormous with tons of rooms and seven pools. They offer All Senses Inclusive which you will definitely want to sign up for if you stay here so that you'll have unlimited access to all food and drink at the resort. If you book activities or excursions at the resort they are almost guaranteed to include transportation. Even though the Deluxe room is their most basic, it was perfect for us. It was spacious with a large and clean bathroom as well as a balcony that overlooked one of the pools with a swim up bar. The only bummer was they gave us two double beds which are not the most comfortable for 2 adults to share, and the beds and pillows were extremely hard and uncomfortable. Staff were super friendly and welcoming and we made friends with many of them. They were constantly cleaning outside, clearing water from the walkways after the rain, and deep cleaning our rooms. While I didn't think that this resort was as high end as others, there were definitely no lack of things to do. They have a coffee shop, sky bar, hookah bar/gin lounge, tequila and mezcal bar called Cantina 1910, smoothie bar and ice cream shop. They even have an un-swimmable cenote and a little walking path through the jungle in the middle of the resort. We saw monkeys and coatis which was super cool! We spent most of our time at the beachfront pool and bar. Keep in mind that there is a lot of seaweed so the beach isn't super swimmable although they tirelessly work to clear it. They also have a smaller craft beer bar right on the sand where you can also get drinks freshly made in a coconut, poolside tacos and woodfired pizza or beachside burgers and sandwiches. There are plenty of restaurants to select from here as well as some special theme nights where they host a party in the courtyard. Our first night was the Mexican party which featured multiple vendors all cooking up tasty food, dance performances and a silent disco with 2 competing DJ's that you could switch your headphone channels between. Another night they had a pop night featuring dancers from the popular downtown club Coco Bongo. The restaurants were overall pretty good but our favorites were Oka Sushi and Sea Olive Mediterranean. We had a salmon and orzo dish from Sea Olive almost every day for lunch and ordered so much sushi at Oka including about 6 plates of Hamachi Crudo just for myself! As you can see, this is a place where you can truly indulge your senses and it's up to you to make the most of it! read more

It was incredibly difficult to find the yelp page for this resort bc it has been rebranded to Residences at The Fives. It was roughly a 30 minute drive from Cancun's airport without traffic. We did not do the all-inclusive bc we've booked Go Pass activities. It's marketed at $90/person per night. Jose (bellboy) was amazing-- gave us a rundown of what to expect from the resort. Pros: It's a nice relaxing resort tucked away from the hustle and bustle of Playa Del Carmen. Spacious rooms (almost like a whole apartment). AC works like a charm. Champagne in the lobby. Golf carts to take chauffeur you around. Valet every time you come leave and come back. Beach is 5-10 minute walk from the Villa. Broadway shows and live music stringing along acoustic jams at night. It's a total vibe. Cons: The food at the buffet was subpar and expensive ($45/pp with a limited choice of food). The rooms, though nice and spacious, has a bit of wear and tear. The tub didn't drain. The safe didn't work. Maintenance takes awhile. Other than that, it's not as terrible as people make it sound. Don't come here with expectations of going to Vegas. We've booked with our credit card points so it was well worth it. So far, our first destination first visit to Mexico hasn't been disappointing which is great! read more

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What a wonderful experience! The staff went above and beyond to make our vacation perfect, Caesar, Alejandro, Bernardo to name a few. Gluten free accommodations were made at every meal for our daughters. Thank you to everyone at The Fives The Myers read more

Azul Fives - Resorts Near Me - Playa del Carmen, ROO

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I need to preface that we stayed as emerald prestige members and had the penthouse with the rooftop deck. The resort is beautiful but very far from the main pool and beach. If we didn't have a butler, it would have sucked. Our butler was ok but our butler El Dorado was excellent. Our butler was not always available and left us 2 times without a ride. The best part of the vacation was the food. Every meal was 5 star gourmet. I used to own a restaurant and a chef myself. I normally dont do all inclusive just because the food can be awful but not here. I think they have one of the best Thai restaurants I've been to. We stayed in villa 19, one of the newer units and was very nicely appointed. We had pillow service, aroma service and fully stocked bar with top shelf alcohol. Hagendaz ice cream snd champagne in the fridge. They also could do better at room service breakfast. We had 2 massages included per person and i think the massages were one of the best ive had. All in all a pretty good vacation. Well go back to Eldorado for the resort and azul for the food. read more

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This place is terrible. We arrived at 11:30 in the morning and they didn't even try to check us in a bit earlier so we had to wait over 3 hours to finally check into into our room at 3 pm. Once we finally were able to check into our room the place was filthy, dingy, dated, and crusty. I requested to change rooms and had to wait 2 hours to finally get our room changed. I had to call three times to follow up on the status of our room change only to be told I had to wait 15 minutes because they were in a meeting. Terrible customer service, super useless and unaccommodating staff. Everyone you speak to gives you a run around and do not even attempt to solve the problem at hand. My parents also booked a room here and had to change rooms aswell. I will never come back here ever again. If you try to get a dinner reservation in the resort you better call two days prior to check in because everything is booked solid and you can't get a reservation anywhere at the resort except for the lame food hall. Finally they moved us to another room that was far from an upgrade. The tub was gross and the room also wasn't clean. If things weren't bad enough, my husband also got food poisoning. I will never come here again. This is definitely the lamest resort I've ever set foot on. Save your money and time and please do not come here. If you want to have great experience , stay two resorts down at the banyan tree, Mayakoba. read more

Previously Azul Fives, but rebranded as The Fives Beach Hotel & Residences, June 2021 finds this 4-Star resort offering bargain pricing as the world slowly recovers from COVID-19. Available as both all-inclusive or room-only guests will find a multitude of pools, food ad beverage available along with good customer service. Not far from Xcaret ot Xplor, plus Playa del Carmen's diverse culinary scene, expect all the trappings of a timeshare but once past that it would be hard to find a better bargain. read more

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My family and I really enjoyed our stay at "the Fives". All of the staff was friendly and personable. Most of the staff spoke English and Spanish. Our room was really nice. You must check out our video tour of our three bedroom villa. (Check out our vlog on YouTube by searching "Doug Horbelt") The food was excellent at all of the restaurants that are at the resort. There is Thai, Italian, American, Mexican and French restaurants that are on the property. The beach beautiful! Disclaimer: Water-shoes are a must! The shore is extremely rocky. We had an absolute blast snorkeling right at the beach. No boat needed, a short swim to the sandbag and you will see hundreds upon hundreds of fish of various kinds. Dora and Nemo included! I have been snorkeling in many places and this by far was one of the best I have experienced. Especially if you have young kids I highly recommend this resort and the beach of Playa De Carmen. The sandbags are there to help minimize the wave strength on shore but they have become a coral reef to many sea creatures and fish. When the kids got tired of snorkeling they would hop back on top of the sandbag and rest. Even on top of the sandbag you can see the multitude of fish swimming about. We are already daydreaming about going back. There is so much wildlife on the resort you will be want to have your camera ready to capture cuteness at every corner. We saw monkeys, coati, iguanas, Oh my! This family vacation is going down in our history of top best memories. I hope you will venture there too. read more

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A four star resort south of Cancun our family of four found this all inclusive resort to be an excellent choice. The resort was clean and the landscaping beautiful. The resort employees were fantastic - always pleasant, helpful, engaging and nice!! The food was delicious- many different styles and locations on property. The juice/smoothie bar was an awesome way to start the he day I or have a snack. The rooms were very large and ours had a huge kitchen complete with a refrigerator! The beach was great. Sand (no seaweed) was really nice and plenty of pools for those not wanting the activity on the beach. By the main pool ( the busiest pool) they made delicious tacos fresh along with homemade soft corn tortillas. We definitely would return to this property. Outstanding! read more

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I honestly don't know what people are talking about with the bad reviews. We LOVE this place. Came here 7 years ago and loved it. Spent our honeymoon here this month and loved it !! We were greeted with champagne! Got the all inclusive package which was 100% worth it ! All questions were answered and staff was always going above and beyond !! Will be going back for a 3rd time. read more

Came here for my 30th birthday in March with a few girlfriends. After the horrendous reviews here and on Tripadvisor I was extremely hesitant, but this place was wonderful from start to finish. We arrived around 8 am but check in wasn't until the afternoon, we hoped for being able to leave our luggage at best. However the concierge was nice enough to give us cards to access the resort grounds and restaurants immediately and had our 2 bedroom condo ready in a couple hours. They actually had one of the employees come to find us when it was ready, we didn't even have to ask. The condo itself was huge and nicely done. Everything was very modern, you could tell it wasn't brand spanking new, but was well kept. Keep the A/C going if you don't want to come back to a wet/humid room. The food was definitely above par for all-Inclusive. It wont be the best thing you've ever eaten, but it's still GOOD food. My favorites were the Thai and Mexican fusion restaurants. As far as the bars the best is the Cantina. The male bartender there is awesome and does tequila tastings a couple times a week that shouldn't be missed. If you've looking to actually be buzzed on your trip stick to straight alcohol or make sure to ask for double in your mixed drink as they are pretty stingy with the liquor. Also be prepared to be upsold on liquor. There are only so many included with your all-inclusive package and the more top shelf brands can be yours at a price. This place is mostly families and wedding parties which makes it good for when you just want a chill trip like I did, (believe it or not the kids weren't super loud or obnoxiously in your space because there's so much space). But if you're looking to turn up this is not the resort for you. I would definitely consider this property again when wanting to get away. read more

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This was actually my second time at this resort. It was a Karisma resort before. The experience was AWFUL. If you want to feel verbally abused and crazy throughout your vacation, this is the place to go! Our first horrible experience was at check-in. A man was yelling at the front desk... I couldn't understand why. But, now, I get it. Here is why: 1. EPIC: We had upgraded to their EPIC package and had proof of receipt. But their system did not reflect this. We showed proof of payment. Then emailed the receipt of payment. Didn't matter. They said because their system did not reflect it we would NOT be accommodated. Doesn't matter that we paid for it. We had to call the reservations line OUTSIDE OF THE COUNTRY to have it fixed. YES. While we were standing in Mexico, we had to have this resolved outside of Mexico. It took several hours. We were tired and exhausted and quite frankly, no one cared. When we finally made it to our room (which was nice), none of the EPIC items were there. When we asked for them, they said yes. We got them the day before we left. 2. BUTLER SERVICE: We had their "butler" service. We paid for this. Our butler was on vacation a majority of the time. We were not assigned to anyone else. So, essentially, we did not have anyone helping us. But, we paid for it. 3. EXCURSIONS and SPA: The services (spa, excursions, transportation) are booked through the hotel. But, no one knows anything about this at the hotel. So, we probably paid a premium and when we asked simple questions like - when do we have transport to take us back to the airport, or can you print us our itinerary for the day, they will literally have no idea and not help you with adjusting any times. If you ask, they will tell you no. 4. TOWELS: You are given towel cards. But, sometimes there are simply NO TOWELS. Not at the beach. Not at the pool. They ran out, every single day. The time that they ran out varied. 5. FOOD: The food was good but it was not all inclusive (we paid for that too). Want good coffee - its extra. Want ice cream - it's extra. Want to get a reservation at the restaurant of you choice? Sorry, it's booked. Want room service. Sorry, it's extra. Want to take food to-go given you will be on an all day excursion. Sorry, that's not allowed. I could go on. 6. THE GYM: it is super small, and VERY VERY HOT. If you want to exercise, go early and hope for a spot. And go before the sun comes up. The beach was great. The spa was great. Everything else was AWFUL. I love Mexico, its culture and its people. But, this was over the top expensive with people running it who are beyond rude and inept. I tried to call today to provide feedback - I was told to call back tomorrow as no one here takes feedback. And yes, this did not shock me. Par for the course. DO NOT GO HERE. I REPEAT. DO NOT GO HERE. read more

I spent a few nights here on vacation to celebrate some of my good friends wedding. This is a very nice resort, about 45-60 minutes from the Cancun airport. I only left the resort once for an excursion which you can find in another review (Rio Secreto). I'd say this is a pretty nice resort. I've never been to an "all inclusive" before but I did enjoy my time here. Upon check in we were greeted with people taking our luggage for us and champagne. The check in process was quick and easy and we were driven to our room via fancy golf carts. We got the swim up room, if you're coming with just you and a significant other or family I'd recommend the swim up room, if you're coming with a large group for like a wedding (like me) I wouldn't recommend the swim up. It's more convenient for a large group to meet at the main pool at the beach side where the bar is easily accessible and they frequently round around the pool taking orders. The swim up pools are smaller and more for smaller parties. read more

On 11/712017 (and yes it's almost been a year but I have just had the courage to post! My family has been through so much. I still have anxiety from this incident) we went to the wedding around 5 pm. Once the ceremony was over we headed up to the sky bar where cocktail hour was. As we walked up we went to get the drinks from the bar. With having two kids I asked the bartender if he had plastic cups for the children like the ones we used at the pool earlier. He informed me they do not. I asked if someone could get some from the pool area below since it was not far away. He said well we don't have them up here and we're unable to get any. I proceeded to get drinks for the kids because they were thirsty. After this we went out to the balcony to enjoy time with friends and family. There had been a drink spilled. My mother went to inform the staff as soon as the spill happened she went to the bar and ask for some towels to clean it up. They told her that they had no towels for her. She asked for someone to clean it up and they said ok. No one came to help clean it up. We continued to enjoy our time trying to avoid the spill. There were no tables for our drinks to be put on because once all the hors d'oeuvres came out the wait staff had placed them on all the cocktail tables. So, most people who were sitting in chairs just placed their drinks on the floor next to their chairs instead of the tables. As we sat there and hung out my son came over to me he slipped on the spilled drink from earlier that we had asked to be cleaned up and fell directly on the glass sitting to the left of me on the floor and on the glass, that he had been carrying. At this point I looked down and there was blood all over the floor. I helped get him up off the floor and saw the extent of the injury and ran inside screaming for someone to help me. My Father took my son from me and held him sitting down on the couch next to the restrooms. There was people all around us and I was very concerned cause there was no staff rushing to help us. I would say between 5-10 minutes went by before two men that I assumed worked for the hotel came over and were absolutely no help. They had a very basic first aid kit. There was no gauze or anything we could use to stop the bleeding. We proceeded to use a linen napkin to wrap around his main injury on his wrist. After at least 2-3 minutes went by and we made the decision to go to the hospital. We told the wait staff to call an ambulance. I don't think any of them understood because after about 5 minutes later we thought there would be a shuttle waiting for us to take us to the lobby. Where we were at on the resort was not close to the road. When we got down to where the golf cart would take us to the lobby area and no one was there. We waiting about 2 minutes for a golf cart to arrive. There was plenty of time for them to call ahead and have someone waiting. Once we got to the lobby and again there was no one waiting for us to take us to the hospital. No ambulance, no taxi and no car. After about another 3-5 minutes again a taxi showed up. We loaded in and were taking to the nearest hospital which was Hospital San Carlos. I understand that accidents happen but policies and procedure should be in place if there is an emergency. This resort never contacted us to see if my son was ok or even offered anything. This resort could care less about you and your families well being! I want to warn everyone that goes to this resort please be careful!! read more

Azul Fives - BEWARE!!!!!! My sons arm after being injured at this resort and absolutely NO remorse what so ever. Horrible experience..... - Resorts Near Me - Playa del Carmen, ROO

Best vacation we have had to date! Except it was in height of COVID, so we did not get to experience all of what The Fives had to offer as most of it was closed. Food was amazing, the staff outstanding. We hope to return when this crazy COVID is over! read more

Azul Fives - Resorts Near Me - Playa del Carmen, ROO

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We went to this resort in October of 2018 to celebrate an anniversary with some friends. We had never been before, but we all really enjoyed our time there. The tacos at Oriola by the beach were AMAZING. We spent every lunch there and never got tired of them (so many to choose from). Arezzo was the best restaurant for dinner that we found. We went twice in one week back in 2018. Everything else was good, and we would have been happy to go back. Flash forward to December of 2020, we were looking for places to stay and found that we could return here for a decent price. Sandra (was amazing and got us what we needed) at the hotel hooked us up with a good price and airport transportation. However, before we booked, we wanted to make sure the restaurants were all open at some point in our trip. Because of COVID we wanted to make sure our favorites were still available. Sandra confirmed with us that all of the restaurants were open. We also asked 2 other staff members through other phone conversations and they said that they were all open as well. So, we booked. We arrive at the hotel and check in. The man checking us in confirmed that Oriola was still at the beach and open. We make our way there after check in, ready for some tacos. We arrive to a crowded pool area and see the Oriola restaurant boarded up. CLOSED. We were confused, wondering if it had moved somewhere else, but it had not. Completely disappointed and upset, we made our way to Lizards, another lunch spot nearby. We stopped and ordered one appetizer each (husband didn't like the options), ate, and then kept walking to eat at Natura Day Club, all the way at the other end of the resort. It had BBQ and PoBoys, so we decided to go there. We walk up... CLOSED. So TWO of the Lunch restaurants were closed, and our only options at this point were Lizards (a no for us), Sea Olive, and a stand up taco place that would only serve 3 kinds of tacos a day (greasy because they were fresh...but if you don't like that, just FYI). Sure they were fresh and good, but we only did that one lunch out of 5 because we weren't very impressed and would rather sit down in a restaurant and be served. This being said, it completely ruined our trip in a way. We were lied to by multiple staff members about the opening of restaurants. If we had known the truth of the matter, we would not have come. Which is why I'm sure they lied to us. Not okay by us and very upset to have spent so much money on a place like that when we could have tried something different and more honest/open. To be fair, they had been through a few hurricanes in the Fall of 2020, so that was the reasoning for closing Oriola (we found out later, but not sure about the other restaurant closures), but don't tell us it's open when it's really not. This also goes for the Pier, which was demolished and nonexistent now. Dinner Restaurants: All were open except for the Raw Bar, Pisco (again...another restaurant that we were told was open). The best restaurant there was the Thai place, Koh Thai. Ask for Fernando there to be your waiter, he was very friendly and made our last night there the best one yet. The Mexican restaurant, Mestizo, was not good. We hit cartridge in our food multiple times and had to "spit" it out. Which made our appetites go away from the rest of the food. The "short rib" was not a short rib, it was most definitely a cut of roast beef. At Sea Olive for dinner we remembered how good the short rib was there and ordered it again this year, only to find out that they were all out. So a LOT of things we remembered about this place that were good in 2018, were not good anymore or not even there now. So a big disappointment for us and we wish we had gone somewhere else. Staff: The wait staff there is AMAZING. They are so friendly and seem to enjoy their job. Waiters and bartenders really are top notch there. Fernando at Koh Thai and Josue at the pool bar were two that stood out to us and were GREAT. COVID: All of the workers there wear a mask. There is hand sanitizer around the property to use and at every restaurant. Our room seemed clean, but nothing different than a precovid room, so not sure if they are doing anything extra in that area. But they do leave you wipes and hand sanitizer in the room. Rooms: Could use some help as far as paint touchups and cosmetics are concerned, but over all they were fine. Comfortable beds and nice layout. The hot water though could have been better. It was mildly warm, never would get hot hot. Room Service: You are now charged for room service. $3.50 an order, no matter how big or small. Gelato NEW: They have a brand new gelato / ice cream place next to the smoothie bar and we were so excited to try it. We go in and order only to find out that you have to PAY for it. It is not included in the all inclusive price. Lovely... read more

This is by far the worst resort I've ever been to in Cancun (during Covid19) and an extreme lack of empathy for guests. So we went here right around the time they opened again (based on their own website and Expedia posting). We got there and realized that they have basically decided to lie on their website because all restaurants are closed, and you are forced to eat from your own room with a SMALL menu of items you could order. And they just forgot to mention this on their website AND Expedia. This was outrageous. We only learned about this once we got to Mexico, now imagine spending real good money (it wasn't even cheaper than usual!!) and getting there to realize an all-inclusive resort forces you to sit in your own room, and all the beaches are closed, and they don't tell you anything on their website. I would stay away from these liers, and would never ever go back. P.S. We ended up going to another hotel (Villa Del Palmar), and they have made some awesome changes to make it safe for Covid19 including, distancing tables, no buffets but instead unlimited order to make, all personnel wear mask 24/7, and also top-notch service overall. Trust me, I've been to Cancun enough to know when I see a bad resort and a good resort. read more

This resort was such a disappointing experience for me and my family.... The check in policy is a mess the lobby is tiny and staff seems to take there time in checking you in... The only postive is they have cold water and champagne in the lobb... So after waiting almost an hour we got 2 our tiny, dirty, no view room...Everything in the resort is extremely over priced a Gatorade and Cheetos was 11 dollars...The staff was not very friendly bartenders seem overworked... the grounds were well kept and restaurants were clean... Food is very average and nothing to brag about... the Buffett was the best restaurant on the resort...This is a 3 star resort with a 4 star beach read more

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First off, we'd already been to Azul Beach Hotel by Karisma...We quite enjoyed that resort and had big hopes for Azul Fives. Unfortunately upon arrival our expectations had to go lower, way lower! Upon checkin, we had to wait over 2 hours in the lobby, I'm still not sure what the problem was. When we finally go out our room, it a dangerous step right beside the bathroom and floor (when wet) is worse than ice. After a bad fall by our youngest we requested a different room. We got a new room that was infested with ants and other bugs. We'd already complained once, so we just stuck it out. The rooftop area is completely useless, went up there once (to a boiling roof, with no shade or seat cushions) and never went up again. The food was average, with not a lot of variety to choose from. The resort is enormous, our friends were staying a solid hike away. One of the real highlights was the mini jungle within the resort, we saw monkeys everyday. Overall I preferred Azul Beach Hotel by a wide margin over this resort. read more

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We attended a beautiful wedding at Azul. After reading many bad reviews on both Yelp and Trip Advisor, I had very low expectations. After staying here for four nights, I can truly say that all of the bad reviews this place gets are a testament to the unrealistic expectations people have. I'm not sure what people expect from an all-inclusive resort, but the food and amenities were definitely standard. If you've ever been on a cruise or stayed at an all-inclusive resort before, then you know what to expect. The food isn't going to be the same as what you would find at a five-star restaurant, but you get what you pay for. Our room was nice and clean. Was it brand spanking new? No, and I didn't expect it to be. It definitely appeared to be lived in, but nothing beyond the normal wear and tear that one expects to find at a busy beachside resort in a very humid country. I will say the curtains seemed due for replacing, but besides that, everything else looked fine. I really don't care how new a hotel is as long as it's well-kept and clean, which you will find here. The resort is pretty large and spread out. None of the condos are actually on the beach, which is another thing to keep in mind if you're one of those people who MUST be right on the beach. Depending on which building your room is located in, you may have to walk about 7 min to get to the beach. *gasp* There are pools scattered amongst the resort, but the main infinity pool with swim-up bar is beachside. Other attractions located near the beach is the building that houses the sky deck (the wedding venue our friends chose), a couple of beach bars (one that serves mostly ceviche and another that is mostly burgers and hot dogs) and a taco stand. I definitely recommend kicking back and enjoying some of their fish tacos. Our room was located toward the front of the resort where the main strip of restaurants, bars and shops are. Surprisingly (and fortunately) we couldn't hear the nightlife from our room. For a family-friendly resort, there is plenty for adults to do since the focus is really on the food and alcohol. The beach is small, but very nice with plenty of chairs and activities. At first I was a little disappointed by our first meal (breakfast at Flavors) as it was mostly pastries and other standard American breakfast foods, but we later discovered that the French bistro was the best place to get breakfast and brunch. The brunch at the bistro is only served on Sundays, but it's a fabulous spread of sweet and savory. I think the only restaurant we didn't have a chance to try was the Thai one, but we heard it was very good. We ate at the sushi place above it, and it was by far our favorite meal of the trip. The Italian restaurant was also pretty good, but the service wasn't great. I don't think they were too thrilled that almost all of our wedding party came to dine together, and I don't really blame them considering there is no service charge or gratuity included. If you're on the GI plan, then the only thing you will pay for out of pocket is non-house wine, although I do recommend tipping the staff when it seems appropriate to do so. Overall, we had a great experience and everything went smoothly. I found most of the staff to be very friendly and accommodating. The wedding was lovely and we had no complaints. I was, however, appalled by how rude some of the guests were to the staff over asinine things like not being able to get drinks because they lost their room key (remind me how that is the staff's fault?) and being angry that one of the beach bars didn't serve chicken. Seriously? Be nice to the staff and they will be nice to you in return. read more

Azul Fives - The view of the beach from the Sky Deck - Resorts Near Me - Playa del Carmen, ROO

Went here for my buddies wedding. Absolute shit show for her every step of the way-- don't get married here. It's somewhere you COULD go on vacation, but if you do, know that: 1. The food and drinks are always just okay. Think good for throwing back but not to sip and enjoy. They literally told me they do not have olives for martinis. Bottom line: don't expect much outside of tropical drinks 2. When it rains, rooms flood 3. We saw a roach in our room (and outside the building, but that's less of an issue) 4. They're constantly trying to get you to buy shit. We actually were told they wouldn't seat us at flavors (the dinner place where no reservation were needed) unless we bought a forty dollar bottle of wine 5. Room service is quick, but you can't veer from the menu in any way, which is quite limited. The food also continues to just be okay. 6. The travel to and from the airport could either be quick or take forever depending on a few factors (eg, whether your driver shows up on time, if they're making you wait for more group, etc). 7. Sunscreen is insanely expensive on the resort. Bring some in advance. 8. This place as a whole seems a little all over the place sometimes. 9. Makeup service for events is not worth the price. It was just okay 10. The iron in the room is awful and the cord doesn't stay out. But the beds are very comfy, the breakfast is great, and the pools are lovely. Fully stocked fridges (water, soda and beer). Solid massages. Nice humans working here. Go to Casa de la Rosa for the best meal you'll have here. That's about it. read more

This resort is amazing. From the food to the family environment all the way to the amazing customer service. There is plenty to do in Cancun so we didn't spend much time at the resort. The all inclusive package was awesome. Our suite was amazing. Plenty of activities to do throughout the resort. The restaurants are above average as well. The steak house in particularly. I would recommend a stay here to everyone and I'm sure this won't be my only time staying here. Pools are great as well! read more

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Ok here goes (this is going to be a very long and honest review). This is now my 3rd all inclusive and 2nd in the Cancun/Playa Del Carmen area so by now, I have certain expectations of what my experience will be like. I was there Nov 3-10: Upon arrival at the hotel, we were underwhelmed by the entrance. We passed a few breathtaking ones along the way, like MayaKoba, Iberostar, etc. The lobby is small, with boutique-hotel-like vibes. We were supposed to be greeted with a welcome drink but were not. There was a wedding taking place so the entire bridal party were in the lobby taking pictures so that's probably why. We then went to front desk to check-in, and were greeted by a very monotonous man who did nothing to make us feel welcome, nor did he explain much. He had a veryyyy heavy accent in English and almost expected us to speak Spanish which was weird. He spoke in the lowest voice possible and there was a woman with kids yelling at him in spanish on my left so again, shitty experience upon arrival. Finding our room wasn't easy, this resort is massive and like I said, the first guy didn't explain anything. The resort was sooooo quiet, it felt like there were a lot of employees and no guests. I didn't realize that it was an awkward time and probably people were either napping or at the beach (around 4pm). Our room was also a little disappointing. I hadn't realized that there would be no bathroom. The shower was in a glass rectangle right when you walk in and the tiny sink area was sandwiched between the rectangular shower glass box and the exact same glass box for the toilet (thankfully a little more opaque). There is 0 privacy in this room. It made us very uncomfortable to use the toilet or shower but it's amazing what we can get used to when we don't have a choice! Also, the room was "cleaned" but not that clean. SO overall for the room and hotel greeting experience, I would give it 2*/5*. We were STARVING and couldn't find a single restaurant open except for the little hut with no A/C which ended up being a healthy, vegetarian restaurant. It's not exactly what you want to eat when you're starving (the plane offered us no food). It wasn't bad, but compared to all of the other restos in the resort, we never went back. We found our way to the juice bar, which was one of my favourite features about this resort. FRESH JUICE ERRDAY? Yes please. There were a few shops at this resort including a STARBUCKS (I was so excited to find it) but that wasn't covered as part of the AI option. Onto the restaurants, I loved almost all of them! Outstanding variety of food at this resort. Most disappointing? The Thai resto. Everyone made such a fuss about how excellent it was but I am very familiar with good Thai food and this was mediocre at best. Shit service, great decor. Our favourite restaurants were Sea Olive (meditarrean resto by the beach) and the italian resto on the second floor of the same building. Best breakfast: main breakfast buffet. Best lunch: the beach grill -- unbelievable food do not miss out on this gem of a resto! I would go back to this resort thanks to the countless a la carte restaurants offered, mostly without reservations. Another great feature of this resort apart from the restos and the juice bar is the concierge service. Ours was Maria and she was awesome! She took care of booking our Thai and Italian resto reservations, as well as documenting anything we weren't satisfied with. She also solved some of our problems!! The beach itself was nice to walk along but had some seaweed and a foul smell very early in the morning before they cleaned it though that's not their fault. Overall service at this resort was very good. We tipped at every restaurant we ate at. Overall, I would go back to this resort but will keep in mind the lack of privacy in the bedroom as well as the insane distances between some buildings and the beach/restos. read more

I enjoyed this resort. The pools were awesome although the adult area was a more mature environment. Lots of children running around. The restaurants were above average and a great way to save money. The beach was great and we spent most of the time there. This place is clean. The rooms are spacious and the staff is attentive. Close to nightlife and restaurants. read more

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10 mins away from Playa Del Carmen. Here you get the best of Playa. A full resort with a private beach and only minutes away from the hustle of 5th Avenue. Family resorts have always been an issue for me, either the food sucks or there are screaming kids everywhere you go. Not at Azul, here the place is so spread out with rivers of pools, that you never feel like your at a playground. And since I'm a foody, I won't stand for the crappy buffets found elsewhere. Azul has gourmet all inclusive. Now although some of the restaurants I wouldn't put in a gourmet category, this is still some of the best all inclusive food to be found. read more

Azul Fives - Resorts Near Me - Playa del Carmen, ROO

I booked this place for my first visit to Mexico. I was not part of the all-inclusive program at Azul Fives. We arrived approximately 6:30 PM at the resort and checked in at the front desk. The bell boy came to drive us and our luggage to our building however when we got there the room was for a King size bed and I specifically requested for 2 double beds when I made the reservation. Bellboy noticed that they have given us the wrong room and drove us back to the front desk. Front desk said they will find us another room and told us to wait for approximately 30 minutes so they could get a double bed room set up for us. We were already weary from waiting a long time for the Lomas (shuttle car service affiliated with Azul Fives) to bring us to the resort so were slightly annoyed that we had to wait another 30 minutes. We ended up in Villa 213-2. PROS: - Great view by the beach - You get free towels when you go to beach. You just have to present your towel card (given to you by the front desk) to the beach boy in exchange for a towel. - convenient currency exchange at front desk however their rate is 19 pesos = $1USD compared to the the usual 20 pesos = $1USD. I don't know why but USD was the only currency they required a passport for. Canadians and other countries did not require them to show their passport. - There was entertainment at night. Usually someone singing. - Our villa (building no.2) was construction free and not noisy but it was a approximately a 5 - 7 minute walk from the beach. - Concierge (located to the left of the front desk) was very helpful. He helped us called our car shuttle service. THE OKAY: - Gym was very tiny. It's located on the 2nd floor above the travel center. It's mostly cardio machines. There are 4 treadmills, a few weights, 2 bicycles, and 1 step master. Their yoga mats are super old. It needs replacing. They do provide towels in the gym so you can wipe your sweat. They also have complimentary hibiscus tea. CONS: - Spa services were pricey. - Bathroom was designed poorly and not friendly for women. There are 2 separate stalls for the toilet and shower. It's much easier if all the bathroom was all together in one room instead of having it separately. The glass doors to the toilet and shower are very loud. They keep making this loud clank/noise every time you open or close the doors. The water in the shower splashed out when showering. - Our phone in our room did not work on the 1st day so we couldn't call the front desk for anything. There was no dial tone and the phone did not light up. We had to walk to the front desk to send someone to fix our phone. - Room service was slow and inconsistent. ::::We had ordered dinner one night through room service and they said 10 minutes but it didn't arrive till approximately 45 minutes later. I had to call them again to double check whether the food was coming. We had ordered pizza and tacos. The pizza had a layer of dough powder on the bottom of the crust which stuck to my mouth when I ate it. ::::We had originally asked front desk to send us a copy of the room service menu and that didn't arrive until 1+ hour later after we requested it and we had already finished eating the pizza and tacos already. The front desk said it'd only take 5 minutes for them to send someone. Thanks, but we didn't need the menu at that point anymore... - Flavours (dinner buffet and breakfast buffet was not good). We were not part of the all inclusive program so we PAID for all inclusive type of food and that was NOT GOOD. DO NOT COME HERE. I do not recommend eating here. We only came here for dinner because we checked in really late and by the time we got into our rooms it was so late that we couldn't go outside of the hotel and eat. Soda was watered down. Soup was super salty. Dinner buffet only consisted of Mexican food. We had actually thought buffet meant buffet like in NYC where there is all different types of cuisines like sushi, chinese food, and etc. Only thing I liked during dinner was probably just the guac and chips. Chicken mole was passable but the ribs were dry and not flavorful. They also had personal sized pizza that was OK but the bottom of the pizza was charred. Potatoes were alright but the amount we paid for dinner was not worth it since we barely touched anything. Breakfast buffet was sort of Americanized. There was cereal, bread, some fruits (watermelon, honey dew, orange). Do not get the scrambled eggs because I do not know what the did with it. It was very watery and powdery. Bacon was not crispy because they stored it in one of those things that keeps it warm and it was kind of soggy. The omelets were OK. Do not get the apple juice when they ask you want kind of drinks you want. The apple juice was very fake tasting. Sort of tasted like a watered down soap drink. I would suggest you get the green juice instead.Pastries were mehh. French toast and pancakes were chewy. They do however have nutella and other fruit spreads. read more

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We were confused about why none of the taxi drivers had ever heard of this place and that's because they recently renamed it to The Fives Beach Hotel and Residences. We paid about $234/night on Airbnb to stay here without the all-inclusive package. That normally would've worked for us because we prefer to explore restaurants on our own and we typically rent a car. Unfortunately, the car rental fell through and it's a $15 cab ride each way to go into town. So take lots of cash if you plan on going to town a lot. They will exchange it for pesos at the front desk. Even if we had a car, it looked like it was a hassle to retrieve your car from the lot due to the strict security. We thought spending the extra cab money would be worth it because this place had an incredible pool and beach. Well, that wasn't really the case. The beach was beautiful, but it was kind of rocky and steep. I would've gone in if it had been warmer, but not worth it in the winter IMO. There were no Covid measures whatsoever on the beach. They may have removed like five chairs, but it was still packed. Whatever, there's still an amazing pool overlooking the ocean right? Not really. The main pool is not heated and there are no hot tubs, so no one was actually IN the pool. But they certainly hung out around it! The entire pool area felt like a maskless Covid farm. Tons of people pretending there wasn't a global pandemic happening. Fortunately, they have one heated pool on the property (the adult pool), so we hung out there a couple of times. It's weird that there aren't more heated pools in a place where the busiest week is in December, but I digress.... Because we didn't have the all-inclusive package, we couldn't order at the bar at the adult pool. Apparently they had no way of taking our money or charging our room. All in all, people seemed ill-prepared to handle non-all-inclusive patrons. We ate at Sea Olive and Mestizo and they had good food, good service, and decent prices. The room service was not worth the money. Now for the room: It was absolutely beautiful and well-decorated. Unfortunately, it smelled like musty/mildewy. I've experienced that at other beach properties and we got such a "good deal" on the place, I felt too bad to complain. But now I wish I had complained because the smell really bothered us. If I came back, I'd bring a small oil diffuser. The bed was insanely squeaky and not super comfortable. We got zero good nights of sleep. We loved everything about the bathroom, although our toilet had a leak (which they fixed promptly). The internet was spotty, which got pretty annoying. The "smart TVs" were the old kind that only had netflix and youtube and no ability to download other streaming apps and the remotes were infuriatingly slow. At over $200/night, I'd expect to have good internet, clear cable and at least Hulu or Amazon. If we came back, we'd bring an HDMI cable! One thing that was awesome was that the fridge was stocked with beer, soda and water, which we were allowed to completely deplete for free without being charged (they charge on the second stocking). I will say that the staff was really friendly and attentive and the place was beautiful. We saw all kinds of wildlife on the property (monkeys, a pig, a tapir), which was very cool. I think this would be a great place to stay in the warmer months, not on a holiday and only if you wanted the all-inclusive package. I would not recommend it if you are interested in exploring the area and definitely wait until Covid is over! Edit: I forgot some stuff: As non-all inclusive guests, we were required to physically stand in line to make restaurant reservations (no calls, no online booking), which we didn't ever want to do. If we didn't do that, we had to just show up and hope the restaurants had spots, which they didn't always. Currently, two of the restaurants (natura and oriola) and at least one of the bars is closed, so there are fewer options all around. It rained most of the days we were here and they did provide umbrellas, but you'd also think they'd provide golf cart shuttles so you don't have to walk in the rain, but they do not. Again, the staff was excellent, this just wasn't for us. read more

We have a 2BR penthouse but our girls' room is an uncomfortable 85 degrees no matter how many times we've asked them to fix it, 7x now on our 5th night out of 7 nights stay - to Bianca, Dinorah, Brenda, Lori, Alberto to name a few. Still not fixed. Do not go here. read more

Loving this resort!!! The staff is super friendly and helpful. Our room is hands down the best hotel/resort stay I have ever had. The food is great as well. read more

Azul Fives - Me at the Azul Resort @ Playa del Carmen, Mexico!!!!!! Absolutely resort...friendly staff and great food!!! - Resorts Near Me - Playa del Carmen, ROO

One of the most horrific experience of my life was staying at this hotel. The room was dirty and moldy. The service was mediocre. read more

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This place is truly a great place to vacation! What I am about to say is not a complaint, it's simple a fact that happens while you travel, we do travel enough to know that things do happen, it's about how the things are being handled that's important. We did have a 2 issue with our original room upon arrival, but it was resolved by the front desk. One issue was that one of the sliding doors to the balcony had a piece that felt off from the door while I was closing the door so it would not lock, we were on the very first floor corner unit so we felt unsafe not being able to lock the balcony door. Second issue was that the shower did not drain and was flooding the bathroom while showering. Dean was the one who checked us in original and went above and beyond to accommodate us to another room. So that was pretty much the biggest "things" that happened to us during our stay, still this place deserves 5 stars! The very next day our great experience interacting with the staff at the various bars and restaurants made us forget about our 2 issues we had upon arrival. Over all we were very impressed with the food selection, quality, and excellent service we have received at majority of the restaurants. The staff made this experience so much better, everyone is happy you are there and they provide great hospitality. One waiter made a great impression on us though at the KOH THAI restaurant 3 nights ago. His name was Fernando, and he was just simply amazing! I watched him interact with other tables and he made sure that nobody's glass was ever empty, every time he poured water into the glass with his right hand, his left hand was behind his back. This kind of move is typical done at 5 star restaurants, his service was just implacable, Fernando made a very positive experience for us during dinner at the KOH THAI! It's the small things that differentiate a great team member from a excellent one. The food for dinner in all the dinner locations was restaurant quality food! We were very very impressed with the quality! Also by the adult pool, the bar tender William was amazing! Very genuine and nice to talk to! We enjoyed our afternoons by the adult pool because of his great service! I would highly recommend giving The Fives Resort a try for vacation! Again impeccable service from the staff and the resort was amazing and well take care of! And you get to see monkeys at the resort along the board walk!! Also try their ice cream, it's a extra charge but soooo good! The only thing I would say that's something that the resort can't control and it's not their fault is the rocky "beach" and tons of sea weed that they tried to move from the beach every day. It was piles and piles of sea weed! I felt bad for the people who had to remove it from that beach. read more

Azul Fives - Resorts Near Me - Playa del Carmen, ROO

Winter escape paradise... This resort makes me doesn't wanna go back to reality. Too nice to be true. All inclusive, the beach is right in front of your face, clean blue ocean, good food, good massage, good facilities. Oh God, I wish vacation is my job. I mean vacation with my family, not by myself. They have everything you need. Kids club and activities? Check. Princesses to entertain your kids? Check. Kid's pool? Check. Night club? Check. Coffee shop? Check. Gym? Check. Tour booking? Check. Dollar ATM machine? Check. They even have good sushi and good Thai food. One thing that really impress me is their spa facilities. Yes, it is very pricey, but it's worth it. I was there for 3-4 hours for jacuzzi, steam room, massage etc and it was one of the fastest 3-4 hours in my whole entire live. Other thing? I love their restaurant. Full glass window with virgin jungle view, so green, so peaceful. You can see the golden tail monkeys swinging around, birds singing and flying from branches to branches. That is just wonderful. Last word? Get ready to gain weight and doesn't wanna go back to reality. read more

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On Expedia it gives you the option of requesting king beds and adding any special request or special celebrations. That wasn't the case when we arrived. Check in was at 3pm didn't get into the penthouse until 430pm. Once in the room the first room had a king size bed and the second had 2 double beds. When call down to the front desk the employee said that they don't offer 2 king beds... every upsetting because we were traveling with another couple and we selected the 2 king beds option. My friend and I were celebrating our birthdays and our wife's added for something special to be done and nothing was done. Our wifeys went down the concierge multiple times until they finally came up just to drop off the items and then later came back to decorate the room... pretty sad cause at that point it wasn't a surprise anymore we had seen everything. Our biggest highlight was Jimmy the manager/bartender at the tequila bar. Jimmy gave us world class service and we high recommend doing the tequila tasting! This is our second year going to Azul Five and I'm not really sure if we'll be back. The food on the resort is good but the quality of them staff isn't were it needs to be for the money you spend. A lot of over promises and under deliver... read more

On balance, this is a beautiful beach resort, but our stay - and those of many others this busy vacation week - has been impacted multiple times by easily avoidable operational failures and mediocre-at-best service. Let's start with the layout. We asked, at the time of booking, and then again the week before this day to be placed in the villas that were somewhere close to the beach, not the ones that are ridiculously far away. They failed to accommodate us after sharing us multiple times of this would not be a problem. We ended up in building 18, which is very nice except that it's an extremely long walk to the beach and the golf cart rides they advertise come by - at best - every 15 minutes. We also had multiple experiences where golf cart passed us without stopping to see if we wanted to ride, and they weren't full. Don't stay in this section if you can avoid it unless you love to walk. We had a sky suite, which is a great setup for families. The room is large and clean. The beds are comfortable and there's more than enough space for a family of four. The bathroom and showers are nice as well, although the water in the shower only goes between cool and scalding hot with almost nothing in between. Our kids stayed in the living room which has a couch that folds out into a queen size bed, and a kitchenette, which we didn't use very much since we were there on the all-inclusive plan. The pools themselves are very nice. The two pools by the beach are especially nice, and it's a nice beach as well though not particularly scenic. The problem there is that there are nowhere near enough pool chairs by the beach or the pools, and you need to show up there by 8 o'clock in the morning in order to get seats. However one of the days, I was there early to reserve seats but when we came back at 10 AM after breakfast everyone stuff was removed, for no apparent reason. This angered literally hundreds of people and no one was given an explanation. that's another example of how they are completely inconsistent in applying their own rules and don't always seem to know to operate this resort when at capacity. There are broad variety of restaurants all of which are pretty good, especially the sushi place. However three of the restaurants require advanced reservations, which you can only make at one single concierge person at one desk in the main lobby area, on 1 computer, but no one else can help with, so the lines go forever. They don't make this clear that that's only place you can make those particular restaurant reservations and if you don't make them the first day you're pretty much shut out, which is completely ridiculous. Again, poor operational management. If you want to make sure you have space at the beach or the beach pools, you basically need to spend a whole lot more money to reserve a pool Palapa or a Beach palapa. However the system for doing this makes no sense to anyone and isn't consistently policied or applied. The concierges exist largely to upsell you on things, and convince you to stay for ownership or club (directionally similar to a time-share) pitches, not to help you navigate the byzantine and inconsistent ways the resort operates. We did get a massage via the concierge and booked golf, which was helpful. The drink service down by the pool at the beach was pretty good. I would call out Pedro in particular who was fantastic. The people working there providing the service, generally, were solid, But the staff clearly were not trained in terms of customer service anywhere near as much as you see at other high-end all-inclusive resorts like Barcelo or Paradisus. It's either that or the management and operation of this resort is completely disorganized, where one hand does not know what the other hand is doing. The shame of all of this is that it's a lovely resort. The rooms are really nice, fun activities, the food is good, the staff is nice, and it has a lot of potential. However when dozens of little things continue to go wrong, which make no sense, and could not be anticipated based on the rules of the resort, it ends up infuriating guests, who pay large amounts of money to go on their vacations here. This type of chaotic disorganization is just something you don't see at most of the other resorts on this level. On balance, we had a good time, but multiple days, or parts of days of our trip were significantly impacted by the resort's inability to handle being at capacity. it's not like the resort was unaware that they were at capacity or didn't know that they might need more lounge chairs or more waiters to accommodate a full resort. Or to put you in the section that they promised eight months earlier. I would not trust Karisma Hotels as a chain in terms of their ability to operate high-end resorts as well as their high-end competitors (but seems like anopportunity for a larger competitor to buy them and fix their operational failures). Wouldnt go back without seeing major improvements. read more

Azul Fives - Beach - Resorts Near Me - Playa del Carmen, ROO

This place, like so many I visit, was aggressively fine. The good: Room was large/spacious/clean. Beach was nice, and most of the pools were never crowded. The jungle area with the monkeys was really cool and unexpected. Lots of food options. Massage at the spa was very nice. The fine: The food. People talked it up way too much; the majority of the restaurants felt like DisneyWorld in that they were the stereotypical idea of what someone thinks a French/Italian/Japanese restaurant should be. Portions were small which is fine because it's all inclusive, but I feel like you should be warned that you need to order two entrees. The lounge area in the spa seemed like it could have used a refurbishment. The annoying: There are no restaurants open 24 hours. Trying to find lunch after 3pm is nearly impossible. Beach was super crowded and people were obnoxious about guarding their lounge chairs. Yoga class was nice but if it's a planned class, it would be nice if someone brought yoga mats over, or warned you that you needed to get one from the gym. Front desk moved at a glacial pace/always seemed to not quite know what they were doing. Drinks were really underwhelming; if you want beer that's not light, you're going to have to pay for it. Overall had a perfectly nice time, but not necessarily worth the price. If you're going for a friend's event, you'll have a nice time; if you're picking your own destination, look elsewhere. read more