Last December my mother and I stayed at the Iberostar Del Mar as a home base while touring numerous hotels looking for a location for my upcoming wedding. We narrowed it down to Azul beach and El Dorado Maroma (EDM) both run by Karisma Hotels. On this trip I brought my fiancee and we spent half the week at Azul and the other at EDM in hopes of picking and booking our spot.

A lot of how you form your opinion of a hotel seems to be based on what expectations you had going in so in the spirit of that here's what I was hoping for:

1. A smallish all inclusive (not normally my style but with so many people, some not used to travel at all, I wanted them to not have to search for food). Also it gives your guests final price tag food and booze included. Really hoping for no buffet except maybe for breakfast. Allows folks only coming down for a few days to really relax.

2. Air Conditioned Chapel. It's hot. It's nice to look like you're melting in your pictures. It's not nice for your future husband to miserable during the service. One place we passed on was Dreams Tulum as they have a cute little chapel but it could only hold 20 people and it had no ventilation.

3. Fabulous beach - I am a born beach bum. The beach has to be good or it's off the list.

4. Private reception - some hotels cannot accomadate a private reception and the idea of the whole hotel sharing in my toast was not so appealing.

4. Availability of activities for a wide range of guests.

Azul was the first half of the week and we really had high hopes for Azul as they allow children and it would be really nice for us to be able to include the little ones in our lives but I'm not willing to sacrifice it all just to have kids. Azul does not have a chapel but you can get married in what is essentially a giant palapa walkway off the lobby that has huge fans and a fabulous breeze. It has a killer view of the water as well. Or of course there's always the beach. But mind you, on the beach is play set for the kiddos that can't be moved.

So the whole wanting to have children at the wedding went out the window our first morning when at 6am we were awoke to a child in the next room playing some type of flute and his brother had been given a drum. The walls are very thin and you could hear every word. Same thing for the next two mornings. Yes we could have complained but the poor mom was doing all she could and I didn't want to make things harder on her so we just toughed it out. To my knowledge there is not a kid free building and my older childless guests would not be thrilled. Even without kids the walls are thin and you can hear the folks next door.

The room was fine. It wasn't spectacular it was a little dated but overall fine. We stayed in 505 and overlooked Aquanox the main bar. Every night they do a little show that was amusing enough and a little better with a few cocktails. (we were a bit of a captive audience since you could hear the whole thing through the walls). For parents clutching a baby monitor it was probably a needed diversion but it wasn't much besides that. The place goes nearly dead besides the tequila bar after 10pm. The tequila bar was fantastic. 400 types of tequila and a frozen bar to takes shots off of.

The service was great. Nearly the whole staff knew our names especially the beach butler Hans who rocked. The man was excellent and deserves to be tipped. He would leave you alone if that's what you wanted or bring you lunch to your beach bed. I thought the food at the Mexican restaurant was the best especially the catch of the day. All the food was of good quality and if it's not enough they will gladly bring you more. Just ask.

The smoothy bar, Mancha I belive it was called, was fantastic. The smoothies were a hit with everyone.

The beach was good not great. Lot's of seagrass but that's what you get with a reef just off shore. We snorkled off the beach and saw a barracuda and several other interesting fish and beings. I had noticed a large sign on either end of the beach that stated that no nudity was allowed. I thought this was a little strange until I later realized the hotel just down the way is a nudist hotel. We discovered this while snorkeling. My fiancee and I were following a little barracuda around when I noticed another couple snorkeling a little ways off from us. I thought they might want to see the little fellow too so I called over to them. She popped out of the water and even with no contacts I was clearly looking at the woman's breasts. Now I really could have cared less but those with small children in the water probably would not have been so thrilled this this au nautral couple. Just something to be aware of or you could be having conversations with your kids you didn't intend to have on vacation. This was the only naked couple we encountered and it may not happen often but I figured it was worth mentioning.

So in the end we did not choose Azul mostly because our meeting with the wedding coordinator did not exactly inspire confidence. Carolina gave us at least 3 conflicting answers to each question we asked. She never really listened and I just didn't get a fabulous feel from her. The bottom line was that if I paid for a private event which can only be held on the beach and it rained they would not close down a restaurant for us and we would be served in the main restaurant with everyone else. Well I'm not too game to pay upwards of 120 bucks a person for a private event that could go public so that's the deal breaker. For some this won't be a big deal but for me I'm not willing to risk it especially since you 120 a person would not be refunded, I think. It was really hard to get a straight answer on this one. I would recommend getting the terms of your wedding in writing before choosing this place. Just my two cents.

If in a few years I have young children I would come back here in a heartbeat for a vacation but it's not ideal for our wedding. The second half of our week is under the EDM reviews.

Our family of 8 (7 adults & 1 8-mo-old infant) enjoyed a 1-wk vacation in June. We were not very happy when we first arrived to find that they did not have the deluxe rooms available that we had reserved several months in advance. We were placed in smaller superior rooms for 2 nights until deluxe rooms became available, which necessitated a repacking & moving ordeal that was not enjoyable. However, with some pushing & Hugo's (the resort's Exotic rep) assistance we were well compensated for our troubles. We cannot say enough about the beach butlers & dining room wait staff who went out of their way to accommodate our every whim & request. Beach butlers, Heidi, Mario & Hans, were excellent. ALL of the employees were mesmerized by our 8-mo-old blonde, blue-eyed grandson & doted on him at every opportunity. The food was fairly good; however, service was very slow at times. And if there was a wedding reception going on, it got even slower. We used the ample buffet for breakfast until we discovered the "french toast berry & cream croissant" on the menu & fell in love with it to the exclusion of all else. My husband & I celebrated our 35th wedding anniversary with a vow renewal ceremony on the beach at sunset with our immediate family present. We did not request any services from the hotel or hotel staff & did not interrupt any other ceremonies that might have been going on. It was a very short & moving ceremony but was marred at the end by the interference of the wedding coordinator who insisted that we should have gotten permission & paid a fee of $1000 or more for the privilege of holding a private ceremony on the beach. It was very clear that the money was the real issue. We apologized & walked away with a very poor impression of the resort at that point. The La Mancha fast food bar was a delight, as you could get good snacks at any time of the day---ice cream, nachos, quesadillas. I can not say enough about how family friendly everyone was & how accommodating they were toward our infant grandson. They had cribs, strollers, bottle warmers, play mats & jars of baby food available at our request. The beach was beautiful & we were able to find 3-4 palapas in a row each day for our family to use, thanks to the beach butlers who reserved them for us ahead of time. We ate at the Blue Restaurant most nights & were pleased with the quality of food. When we ate at the Chill Mexican Restaurant we were surprised to find no Tex-Mex or authentic Mexican food on the menu and only ate there once or twice. All in all we enjoyed the whole vacation experience with the few exceptions that I have previously mentioned.

My husband and I spent a week at Azul in the middle of June for our honeymoon. It was our first stay at an all inclusive resort, but we had a fabulous time.

From champagne at check-in to the beach butlers, wait staff, and bartenders, the service at Azul was amazing. Everyone was friendly and attentive, and it just added to our wonderful vacation.

The rooms were fine, nothing super fancy, but with a beach like the one we had, who needed to spend time in the room? We spent most of our time lounging at the beach or pool, and ate in all of the restaurants multiple times. The food was good, and our favorite was having our dinner on the beach. The food was fabulous, and the service for that was amazing. It didn't hurt that there was a great sunset that night!

Even though the resort caters to families, all children we saw were very well behaved, and we definitely didn't regret not going to a couples only resort. In fact, after having talked to some other people who were staying at much larger resorts, we were still very happy that we had chosen a much smaller resort for our honeymoon.

For the most part it was very quiet at the resort, with the exception of a few larger groups that came in towards the end of our stay.

Alberto in the tequila bar was great to chat with, and we learned a lot about tequila!

All in all it was a great vacation.

We stayed at Azul from June 10-16 with a group of 23 guests (including ourselves) for our wedding. Overall, the experience was AMAZING and I wouldn't hesitate to go back to Azul.

Reception was easy, relaxed and very service focused. Cold scented towels, champagne and extremely friendly staff greeted us. The lobby is beautiful and has a very spa like feel.

I was a bit concerned with our room given previous reviews but I found it to perfectly fit our needs. King bed was very comfortable, not at all hard as mentioned in previous posts. We were in a "deluxe" room (#106) and had a fabulous view of the water. All of our guests rooms were very nice, and all clean and you could see at least some of the ocean from each. Other guests complained of the walls being a bit thin and noises being easily transmitted from one room to another, but we didn't experience this at all (likely because our room was on the end). Room was always stocked with plently of bottled water, sodas, beer, juice, etc. The IPod dock in each room was a MAJOR bonus. It was very nice to be able to set our own soundtrack in the room. Rooms could possibly have been seen as a bit on the small side, but since we spend very little time in our room, I feel that a huge room is a waste of real estate. Bathroom was modern and updated. We had a few problems with toilet clogging but they were addressed immediately by Azul staff.

This is a small resort so definitely no "Disneyland" feel. Pools are small and activities are pretty mellow. It was truly perfect for us, since we had so many friends and family to interact with. It was very intimate and personal. All of the staff learned our names almost immediately and made every effort to call us all by name. There is not so much to do here other than relax so for families with teenaged children or very active types it may be a bit too quiet. Again, completely perfect for us.

I a bit of a "foodie", and overall found the food to be much better than I expected. Food at Blue was my favorite and room service items were all very good. I did not order wine (as it was very overpriced) and instead took advantage of all of the yummy mixed drinks that were included. Azul offers all of the major "Top Shelf" liquor brands you'd expect to see in the US (ie - Gray Goose, Jim Beam, etc). They made delicious fruit based drinks and mojiots. Our last evening there we did a private sunset dinner on the beach which was included in our wedding package. The set up for this event was absolutely lovely and the food was exceptional! If you are celebrating a special occassion I would highly recommed splurging on this service. The special breakfast served in the room (again included in our package but available for purchase) was also absolutely delicious.

As everyone has mentioned the beach butlers provide a wonderful service and they were all warm, friendly and endlessly helpful. I am completely spoiled!

The wedding coordinator, Carolina, as well as Lomas wedding representative, Gilberto were both an absolute pleasure to work with. Our event went off without a hitch. Decorations were lovely, officiant (a female Mexican judge since we did the legal ceremony) was wonderful and easily incorporated all of the items we wanted. My flowers were stunning, which was a suprise since I had only arranged for the ones included in the package since I didnt want to spend extra. I used the resorts hairstylist, Anna, for my hair and it was absolutely perfect. I had forgotten the pictures of what I wanted and she still was able to create exactly what I had in my head. We had a private reception after the wedding and the food was again, MUCH better than I had hoped. Everyone loved it and we had a sound system to hook up our IPod so we could dance. Photography was done by Sol Tamargo (an outside vendor who no longer shoots at this resort due to there outside vendor policy). If ANYONE is considering getting married here, please feel free to email me and I would be happy to answer any questions you might have.

The only negative I have to report is that my Dad had some cash stolen from his wallet while he was away from his room. He did not have it locked in the safe at the time. He filed appropriate paperwork but the cash (about 250$ US) was not recovered. We used our safe for all of our cash anytime we were not in the room and did not have any problems.

A few people particiapted in the time share sales pitch and found it to be interesting (and not high pressure) but for those of us who were not interested we were not approached.

If this is an indication of the level of service at ALL of the Karisma resorts, I can't wait to visit their other properties!