The Fives Azul Beach Resort by Karisma Gourmet All Inclusive

Spend 4 nights there, had a great time, all the restaurants serve great food, my personal favorite was the Italian, but all of them are Awesome, they have a good variety. Italian, Mexican, Thai, sushi, among others. The service is top notch; room service, bars, food, entertainment, had no complaints about anything. Hope I can go back soon.

WOW, what an amazing hotel. I travelled to this resort with my wife and 11yr old son and we had an amazing time. The hotel reached all our expectations, the restaurants & food were outstanding, the grounds were immaculate and the staff were friendly and eager to please. We choose this resort because it did not seem as big as some of the others, however, the grounds still seemed huge but even over the Easter period when they were at capacity, it was still quiet. The food at all the restaurants is outstanding. In particular, the breakfast at The Brasserie and dinner at the Thai restaurant. Look out for Justina in the Brasserie, she was always extra friendly and made us feel welcome and was super attentive. There are so many pools at this hotel, each villa block has its own pool and there is the main pool by the beach. We never had trouble finding a sun bed by the villa pool but if you want one by the beach pool, get up early, and I mean early!! They are all 'reserved' by 8.00am. That said, there were always plenty of beds on the beach, so all was not lost. I used the gym a few times and it is certainly the best equipped holiday gym I've ever used. It gets busy first thing in the morning but quiet by late afternoon. There isn't anything to do locally around the hotel and it is quite isolated but that said, it's only a 15 minute cab ride into Playa Del Carmen which is worth a trip and costs around 250 Pesos each way. Our only complaint about this hotel which was the size of the beds in their 'Delux Double' rooms. We booked with TUI and expected at least double beds but the 2 beds in our room were tiny. At best, I would describe them as large singles!! They were in no way big enough for accommodate 2 adults. As such, in order to secure a good nights sleep, we had no choice but to pay for an upgraded room at a rate of 60USD per night (600USD in total). I do feel that for a hotel of this standard to supply such small beds is unacceptable and we are hoping that TUI compensate us for the extra expense. So, if you're booking with TUI, make sure you ask for a room with Kingsized beds, but other than that, I would highly recommend this hotel.

I have to say, don't judge a book by it's cover. I was quite under whelmed on our arrival, the hotel doesn't have a particularly impressive entrance and the reception area although exceptionally clean just left me feeling a little bit ' oh really, that's it ?, lacked on the wow factor front a little. but that is where the negatives stop. We had a pool side suite, which was clean, spacious and the outside was very pretty. It was quiet which suited us perfectly (beach side more lively), lovely to be able to take a swim to the pool bar for a midday drink before swimming back and quick change for lunch. The food is where the Azul Fives really comes into it's own, if you like your food there really is a really fantastic choice of very interesting and varied restaurants. (the Thai and Brasserie were our favourites) but all were of a very high standard, and all the staff friendly and attentive. We went all inclusive and I feel that this was excellent value. We wanted for nothing really. Our housekeeper was lovely, (Antonia I think) who made lovely animals out of the towels, which our young son adored. I was also looked after by the life guard (who also doubled up as a first aider........ he has the best ' office ' ever, at the end of the pontoon, sticking into the Caribbean sea (not bad). We hired a Bali bed towards the end of the stay, which was a lovely thing to do. Butler service, picnic lunch, endless drinks (soft ones too), shaded under the palm trees in comfort, kind of finished the holiday off just perfectly.

So first off the hotel and staff have been amazing and can’t do enough for u .. big shout out to Marco by the infinity pool he’s such a lovely guy and so helpful , Benny and Oscar to .. literally the nicest guys and help you how ever they can x So before we came away I had read reviews from people whom had travelled with with TUI and so looked into it luckily before we came away .. i received an email from Ana Pegler from the hotel to confirm that TUI have a contract to put their guests in the old un refurbished rooms . On arriving here luckily because I had been told this we arranged to be put in the newer rooms , the ones advertised on their website . Speaking to families whom are staying here they are all furious about their rooms , plug sockets having off the walls , rotten balcony’s the list goes on . When we boarded our plane at Bristol we were told we would be stopping at Manchester to refuel !!! Apparently we should of been told ! We are travelling we a autistic child whom suffers with severe anxiety who is terrified of taking off and landing and had no time to prepare him , it was awful ! There was no snow and a bit of rain ! I had read there was construction work here so again asked TUI and have an email to confirm there wasn’t and if there was going to be we would be informed ... 7am every day we have been woken by construction work ! Very noisy construction work . The TUI rep was rude and didn’t care but we’ve got to log the complaint with her so we can continue this complaint at home . Excursions are ridiculous expensive so book them with Edwardo in the place on site where u can book hire cars etc . The hotel Is beautiful and very big. The workers work so hard and are so lovely . When it comes to food , well u have a few restaurants and flavours which we thought would be a buffet with a bit of everything but has theme nights every night such as Indian , Caribbean and have no other food sort from them . All the other restaurants are al la carte and we have struggled for the kids . They do have kids menus but it’s pretty much chicken fingers and potatoes wedges not good every night ! The brassiere is best for breakfast and lunch as it has a buffet for choice and every where else doesn’t offer this . Def the best breakfast bacon , hash browns etc . Dinner was the hardest .. the Italian is lovely and the best for us adults it has to be booked a day before . Sunbeds ... you have to get them at 630 am to get one and stay with it because other guests take ur stuff off .. not us brits as we have manners ! Entertainment is poor in the evening be prepared to be in bed by 10 at the latest ! A few times we were sitting there and the entertainment due to start didn’t happen with no explanation. The kids club was ok , but young for my 10 year old as some of the activities are quite young but he had fun . It was my birthday whilst there and the hotel did a few surprises for me was so lovely ! This is a lovely hotel and with a few tweaks could be amazing , we’ve had an amazing time but safe to say I will never book with TUI again and i am in the process of raising a huge complaint with them . The staff at the hotel can’t do enough for u and the food is amazing . We would go back to the hotel but not with TUI .

Four of us came for my wife mom birthday and let me tell you this guy just top it of. He know how to make people feel like they are in vacation. Recommend the resort but I highly recommend the mestizo restaurant in the resort. The best. We came all the way from Albanian and are very satisfied with the great accommodation. Tung tung