Azul Beach Resort Riviera Cancun

A couple of days ago, a group of us—three couples, two of us with babies—decided to give this hotel a try after reading so many positive reviews. We thought it sounded like a great option for families, but unfortunately, it turned out to be one of the most disappointing hotel experiences we’ve had. From the moment we arrived, the welcome felt very underwhelming. We headed to the café while waiting for our room and were greeted by a very rude waitress who told us to hurry up and place our order because someone was behind us. Ironically, the person behind us didn’t seem to mind at all and was busy talking on her phone. We also noticed other guests receiving welcome drinks while we weren’t offered anything, which made us feel overlooked. Since our room wasn’t ready, we went to the buffet for lunch. The dining area was incredibly hot. We understand it’s summer, but an air-conditioned restaurant shouldn’t have guests sweating while they eat. As for the food, it was just average and nothing memorable. That evening, we decided to try one of the specialty restaurants. At check-in, we had been told only two restaurants would be open. We first went to the Mexican restaurant around 8:00 p.m. and were told they weren’t accepting any more guests, despite there being more than 10 empty tables. We then walked over to the Italian restaurant, where there was a huge line because everyone was being redirected there. We were told to put our names on the waitlist and that we’d receive a text message when our table was ready. That text never came—not that night, and not even by today. To make matters worse, while we were waiting, we watched multiple groups get seated who hadn’t even stood in line. For the price, there are plenty of other resorts that offer much better food, service, and overall organization. My family and friends stay at resorts every few months, and this was by far one of our biggest disappointments. If you’re trying to decide whether to book this hotel, I’d honestly recommend looking elsewhere.

I’m only leaving 1 star bc I wanted to be able to share our experience to save others the disappointment to anyone considering staying here…. I have now read mixed reviews for the resort most seemed ok others seemed to be poor service related wait times at the bar which I can look past but this is NOT ok- hotel on the website depicts a completely different location- fine I’ll make the best of it. Multiple families staying there were also expecting to be at a different location . checked in on July 15th toilet didn’t work..ok, ask the front desk to request it to be fixed. NO beach and not because of seagrass that’s mother natures beast which dumped 3 tall foot barriers between the lounge chairs and water which was only about 10ft from hotel steps to water with a drop off not a “beach”. So we opt for an upgrade to a swim up room for an additional cost. No place for kids to play and pool closes. 5 restaurants yes, are they opened? no. Of the 5 the first 2 nights none were open, buffet only. I mentioned my disappointment to the hostess and she got mad and told me to find my own seat. Thought to myself ok didn’t mean to piss you off just disappointed she didn’t need to take it personal. Clearly, I shouldn’t have had said I was disappointed, she then stood over us and was giving us dirty looks until we left. Public relations associate came to me to apologize for the experience set a reservation ( they don’t make reservations) it’s first come First serve med for dinner-I thought wow nice, So third night we had an option to pick from 2 restaurants being there was nothing on with menu my daughter would eat. She said not to worry we can prepare something for her and asked what could be provided as long as they had notice … I didn’t request anything extravagant (chicken empanadas with just chicken essentially dough and chicken or chicken quesadilla without the cheese) assured me they would make a specific order for my daughter being the restaurant would be prepared. Mention to the associate toilet still not working … Get to the restaurant and was advised the food accommodation could not be completed. My daughter would have not had a food option.. so I complain that the PR associate explicitly made accommodations- there had to be confusion. Another manager comes and says oh no we don’t have the ingredients they step away and come back 15 min later oh yes, sorry we can do that (I’m not really a complainer I swear-I was really trying to make the best of it) 4th night same restaurants were open never had a chance to experience the others during our 7 night 8 day stay. We were offered a cabana for the rest of our stay as a courtesy, go to the cabana and it’s being occupied by another family and was told sorry by staff it was an error, No cabana- By day 4 we found cockroaches! Kindly asked asked the hotel to clean spray we would be out of the room for the day decided to stay out to give them time did an excursion - came back I was assured it was clean and exterminated go back to the room roaches were still where I had killed them demanded a new room told them to inspect the room prior to moving with my children! I walked into the new room with the staff who just told me nope it’s perfect ….and sure enough roaches! I demanded a refund! Day 6 Toilets still not fixed- still using the lobby restrooms. Day 7 we slept in another room by 11 am we were asked to go back to our original room. Thankfully we left early on day 8. Iberostar was by far the worst experience I’ve ever had at a resort. I requested a refund and was only credited back the up charge of the swim up room. No refund! Ha and the invitation to buy into their investment for future discounts ha you can’t pay me to stay in another Iberostar, now I know why they wanted my feedback 8am on day 2 lol I didn’t get the full experience. Room service can not be ordered unless you have the app-sadly I had no service there even on WiFi So no room service ever. Not all Staff is not familiar with events or timing of ice cream bar availability I asked what time does it close when were at the pool they said six we get out of the pool 5;15 go to “hut” and it’s closed and another staff member says oh no they closed at 5. Very poor communication people Definitely push excursion sales in the pool areas while you are passing through - I will say Cesar at the front excursion kiosk was the most honest level setting but another employee did try to under cut him offering a lower price and to not sign with Cesar. But truth was the other employee wasn’t being upfront about the fees involved. Also, I will say Alondra, Wendy, James, and the Zumba instructor were all the phenomenal poolside!

We stayed in the Iberostar Selection Rivera Cancun for a week in June. We had 2 rooms interconnected, where my family (4 adults, 2 in each room). My experience was a mixed one. The room's view was very nice (third floor main building overlooking the ocean, with a terrace), the shower was very nice. The bed not so much, the mattress was quite worn, and it makes for a less than ideal experience. The restaurants were a hit and miss, and yes, the hotel does have five restaurants, but beware: not all of them are open at the same time. They alternate. So for example, you would have the caribbean and the italian open but the spanish and the mexican closed. So not really five restaurants. The buffet was opened all the time (except one day a week it also closes). The quality of the food: Good. Not great. Except in the mexican one which is fantastic. That being said, the value was good for what we paid. The hotel itself was clean, but if you walked on the left hand side it was not pleasant. There is a lot of sargassum in the beach, and the hotel does a good job of getting rid of it .....but then puts it all in a "sargassum deposit" on the left hand of the hotel. So on windy hot days the whole thing stinks. The kids club is on the left hand side of the hotel, even though I don't have kids, whenever we walked that way it was not pleasant. The beach itself is very small, you barely have like a couple of "beach beds" then the ocean is right there. The drinks were very decent. We didn't feel the need to splurge on the "VIP" upgrade, we found it quite unnecessary as all it gets you are "better" drinks and a special pool and lounge in the hotel area. That's it. Restaurants don't take reservations, and the hotel is too small to make the $60 USD per person per day upgrade a real deal. The atmosphere of the hotel was good, bit loud at times but it is a beach, so all in all very good. And the music was great! In the rooms there might be a noise problem though, because my children could hear absolutely everything that went on in the room next to them. Not ideal at all. The service though was very good, exceptional evern. The employees really give it their all and it shows. We complained about a couple of hiccups and the manager of the hotel was at our door asking how he could help. They are on top of the client satisfaction and that is incredibly nice. All in all, it was a nice experience. Did we have a nice time? Yes, in general. Would I stay here again? Probably not, there is so much competition in Cancun, that it takes a lot for a hotel to cause such a good impression that you want to come back. I didn't quite get that here.

Just come back from this amazing an amazing 10 stay at this hotel and now have a serious case of holiday blues. The majority of staff are amazing and so friendly. Our room was lovely and mini bar stocked up all day. Your room key is on your wrist band so that was great as never lost the room key, they top up your mini bar every day and provide water bottles that you can use throughout your stay. It was also great that you could just get beach towels as and when required without needing a card or paying a deposit. The entertainment was good, big shout out to Miguel. There were plenty of good options available and all the restaurants were on a first come first serve basis. The only downside was the sales team, when you arrive you are basically hounded into attending an event and when you don’t buy anything the sales staff become rude and aggressive (even though we said we wouldn’t buy anything at the start). This isn’t fair to the entertainment team as when they approached guests, they were often met with standoffish responses as they were mistaken for the sales team. I would recommend that in the buffet restaurant, water, tea, coffee and soft drinks are self service as we did spend a fair bit of time waiting for drinks. The beach is non existent but there are plenty of pools with lots of sunbeds. We would definitely recommend this hotel

We are double black members so some of this review reflects that. We booked here because it was cheep as it just opened last fall. The hotel was about 30% capacity. In our welcome email we asked for the top floor and also said we where celebrating our 20th wedding anniversary. We did not get the floor or area we asked for and nothing was done about aur anniversary. Members are supposed to get flip flops, hats and chocolate in the room but we didn't. this was out 9th iberostar trip since 2019 and this is the only hotel that won't let you take your members wine bottle from dinner back to your room. They said they dump the rest out. We ate at the spanish restaurant and after 45 minutes with no water or drinks refilled they brought me out a raw steak and it was ordered medium so we went to goto the buffet but is was not open for dinner. At the buffet foods are not kept at proper temperatures and they just put the serving utensils right it the fruit bowls so everyone's germs can be added in. Elizabeth from star prestige is not helpful and lies. We left after 3 days and another family of 4 left the day after we did.