mysti

UH OH - now you spring/ summer/ fall brides can find a better place to do your wedding - sorry some bad news: This just in from our TA: AZUL FIVES HOTEL BY KARISMA TO OPEN IN LATE FALL 2009 MIAMI (Feb. 12, 2009)—Azul Hotels by Karisma, a premier collection of Gourmet Inclusive® properties located throughout the Riviera Maya, Mexico, today announced that the opening of Azul Fives Hotel by Karisma is delayed until late fall 2009. The financial crisis and economy’s continued decline has adversely affected the official launch of Azul Fives Hotel, as with many other projects of its kind, impacting the availability of funds and subsequently, impeding the property’s completion. As such, after serious consideration and exhaustion of other alternatives, construction on Azul Fives Hotel was promptly halted.

We just got home from Playa. Our wedding was on Feb. 5th at Grand Velas - jawdroppingly gorgeous and service like you can't imagine. Originally we'd booked at Azul Fives but changed the location 2 weeks before the wedding. So we had some time to walk the beach and walk down to Azul Fives the day before our wedding on Feb. 4 to see what we were missing. The resort had under 20 people staying there. The first impression we had was "work in progress" with construction people milling around and wires. The pool was nice but small. The overhead patio bar on the backside is the Sky Bar where we almost made full payment to host our reception, and it was NOT DONE. They said it would be at least another 2 weeks on that bar. Karisma basically lied to us - said all was a-go knowing the whole time they intended to move us to Sensatori. There is a huge gap of land between the Sky Bar and where the rooms are - it's all shrubbery and un-landscaped, not the most pleasant walk down to the pool. One pretty cool thing was that they had these cabana type huts on top of water for one of their restaurants behind the pool which would be nice for candlelit dinners or maybe a reception of 15 people or so? As for the rooms, one of our relatives walked back and toured them - said they were really nice but again did not seem complete. We were put off with the dishonesty of Karisma and the hands off approach with wedding planning. Getting married is a huge ordeal so every bride deserves some attention to detail - we are so thankful we landed where we did. We were the first wedding at Grand Velas but every person on staff waited on us hand and foot saying they were so happy for us and they put all of their effort into planning our wedding. They were so organized and the staff celebrated with us - so very cool.

Natalie Ann, After the way Azul Fives treated us, we lost complete faith in Karisma. Not to mention that that we have two families coming with children, so that limited our options if/when we had to move last minute. So we are heading to Grand Velas. It was actually our TA who suggested we move. And she just won an award with Karisma and has great relationships with them. She said when she stopped getting returned calls from them, that is when she decided to pull the plug. She went out and found Grand Velas, on her own, and negotiated a heck of a deal for us and our guests. Good Luck with your wedding. El Dorado looks amazing as well. M & D

We're heading to Grand Velas next week. After a disasterous attempt to pull off a Wedding at nearby Azul Fives, our TA moved us and our entire party over to Grand Velas. So far, the Wedding Coordinator has been so incredibly helpful, much unlike those at Karisma Resort (parent of Azul) and the pictures look amazing.

We wish you all the best. The scary ride got too scary for us, and we moved everyone and everything elsewhere. The big thing for us was pictures - and we couldn't understand why Karisma would not send any after months of requests. Have an amazing time down there and a beautiful wedding day. It's much deserved after such a roller coaster ride.

Hey there! Has anyone been out on the town in Playa, or experienced the nightlife? We'd like to cruise in from Azul Fives with around 25 people for drinking/ dancing on a night before the wedding. I heard Casa del Aqua is good for cocktails - but maybe not so much a nightspot? Any suggestions are greatly appreciated! Mysti Feb. 5 Bride

Dave, my brother!!!!! I too am a groom to-be (using my Fiance's login to sneak into the wedding forum). We are schedule for Azul Fives Feb 5th, so I have a feeling we have a lot in common (ie FRUSTRATION). Our biggest issue is no pictures of the resort. We are working with Fabio, Tiffany and our travel agent to pictures of the Zky Bar, the Beach and the Gazebo - so we can plan the ceremony and the reception. Where are you gys doing the ceremony? How about the reception? At least it sounds like we will have the resort to ourselves for the first couple of days. Dean