Azul Beach Resort Negril

This is my personal review of the hotel and its features. First and foremost , my first trip to Jamaica 🇯🇲 Arrived mid afternoon and despite TUI advertising 90min transfer it was 3hrs.Traffic , people getting dropped off at hotels etc etc. On arrival we were checked in and all very smooth. Taken to our Adult only section of the hotel. There are 2 of these Blocks 1 &2 and Blocks 8 & 9. Swim up room, with a pool bar at the end. Room was large , great rainfall shower and very comfortable beds.Fridge stocked daily and cleaned daily. Nice big TV with lots of channels. Films galore. Some people reading this may think " why do you need a TV, your on holiday" Well , some days we had rain and had to go back to the room. Fortunately we had a great room and it came with an area outside which we could sit , whilst undercover. Shielded from the rain. Beach is literally on your doorstep so that is perfect , it's a lovely beach , sea is warm and not very deep. 50 meters and you are still at waist level. They " brush & rake" it every morning, so it's very tidy and full of sun beds. However it's not a sun bed war situation but if you want a prime spec then I'm afraid you will need to be up early. Saying that there are lots of pools and staff are more than happy to move the vacant beds onto the beach for you. The beach is a full days entertainment, lots of the locals singing , wandering up and down. But they are NOT allowed to approach you!! They have a boundary line and they stick to it. They are all very friendly and love a chat. Of course they offer you " cannabis" after all you're in Jamaica . As I wrote this it's 8:50am and someone is already on it. Doesn't bother me it's just what I expected. The food is excellent. I was impressed the most with the Italian , waiter service great staff and very very nice food. But , if you want to eat there be sure to get there before 7 , or you could be waiting a good 90mins for a table. You may think 7 is early but oddly enough I didn't get past 9:30pm everyday.. so relaxing is this place that I found I was exhausted and slept for Britain! ( NO I did not smoke any weed) Drinks are premium and choice is vast. Cocktails, don't miss a chance to have one or two or five of these. Go to the bar at block 8-9 The bar lady , Camille makes a "purple rain" cocktail .. loved it. Tipping , not compulsory but we tipped our favourite members of staff , who went that little bit further. We took Jamaican dollars.. but should have taken US dollars. They take both but I would recommend US ! We went to Rick's Cafe .. please do here. You can book and pay for a taxi at reception for going and then getting picked up. You give them a pick up time.its charged per person NOT per taxi. $20 per head ( return ). The hotel is not massive !! It's on 3 floors and has ,I think 276 rooms. Unlike the ones you see on the route to the hotel , that are massive! Literally like tower blocks. Not my thing , I would not fault this hotel and recommend it , and if you are going soon or looking to book , please don't worry this is a good choice. No mosquito bites !!! Which I was elated about. The onsite shop is expensive. If you are on the beach , face the sea turn left walk 200 yards and you will find cheaper.

The Azul Beach Resort is a 3 story hotel, with not much depth, where the beach is close to all rooms. It is a lovely place! We had a couple of rooms which were both fab. Fridge was always filled daily with beer and soda. The beach is not deep but it is lovely and perfect for walking and taking in the beautiful views. There is everything you need in this resort, if you want to keep busy and make the most of it. Water sports, catamaran, pimp pong and volleyball on the beach, a good gym, and daily roster of activities. Entertainment at night was good, my favorites were Michael Jackson (don't miss it) and the silent disco with dueling DJs (for all ages) Lots going on for you to take part in. The staff are kind and always ready to help. The management was also kind and helpful. I was not expecting much because of the bad reviews, but we loved the place and so did all the people we met. The spa is lovely if you get a chance to go ,it is well worth it. Walk the lovely 7 mile beach, which is technically only 4 miles. Beautiful sunsets on the beach. Sunrise over the tropical hills can be seen from the 3rd floor if you walk to the end. Ricks Cafe: A group of us took a luxury taxi from the reception which was 20 USD per person. The driver waited for us for 1.5 hours and then took us back. (This was the only trip we did) Think about tipping staff on the resort in USD. A little for everyone will be helpful to them. There are 3 stingrays and a manta ray if you walk up towards the right side, when facing the water. You can see them from the shore or snorkel with them. Have a great time. Try everything. Wish I was back there...

I always read reviews carefully before booking hotels so my expectations are realistic... And I appreciated a few details posted by a visitor last month, so I'll confirm what she taught us about Azul Beach Resort. The main factor is that Azul is a beautiful resort in a fantastic location in Negril. The beach is calm and warm...just steps from hotel rooms. All the staff was excellent during every encounter- kind, polite, friendly, & helpful. There may have been 1 or 2 times a server was quiet/aloof but never rude. Tipping 1-2 dollars per service was very common here but servers were thankful and didn't automatically expect it. The rooms were quite comfortable and any signs of being outdated were minimal. The beds were great and the whole resort was very clean at all times. The shower was spacious but water pressure and temp would fluctuate from warmish to hot to cold and would turn to a literal trickle for 5 seconds before returning to normal. This occured all week, no matter the time of day...weird but tolerable. There is definite truth to the lack of towels! If you leave dirty towels for housekeeping they are not replaced. We used the same soggy hand towel as a bath mat all week. Very few hooks/bars for drying towels...bring your own clothesline to hang wet stuff up. The tropical setting made everything take a long time to dry completely. You have to get up before 8:00am to get pool/beach towels... They do not get refilled for the rest of the day unless a lifeguard or beach attendant pities you...or you gave them a good tip the day before. Bringing your own beach towels & floats is your best bet. If you want a cabana/bed or even chairs, you have to save them before 7:00 a.m. Other guests do respect towels and belongings laid on them but we saw lifeguards move things if chairs were unclaimed by 10:00ish... The pools were nice and well maintained but we couldn't resist the ocean so we didn't swim there. The food was nothing special. There was plenty to eat but the buffets were boring... Breakfast was the same basics everyday (eggs, fruit, cereals, breads, bacon, sausage) which was fine. The lunch/dinner usually had a theme (like Mexican) but lots looked overcooked and fresh fruit or veggie options were limited. The 3 restaurants were Caribbean, Asian, and Italian where you could pick from about 10 entrees. We found this food to be better quality but you did have to be prepared to wait for a table...they didn't take reservations ahead. The coffee bar was great and bars always had good service. Overall, we had a great time... but we also got a good rate with an Expedia Black Friday deal. I would have been annoyed if I had paid 5 star prices for this 3-4 star resort. As long as you know what your getting, I would totally recommend this resort for a relaxing Jamaica vacation! 👍

This was a long awaited trip for 2 families with teens. I read every single review, inside and out before our arrival, to be prepared as to what we would find and experience. Here is my breakdown. It will likely be a long review :) ROOMS: Decent. Some signs of wear. Stained couch, chipped furniture, poor paint jobs. Good amount of space, large balcony with a lounger and bistro set and a rack to dry wet bathing suits, which was handy. Iron and ironing board as well as hairdryer coffee and tea. fridge was restocked daily with soft drinks, beer and water, particularly if I left a tip for the gentleman who restocks. When it rained, bathroom had a leak in the ceiling that I had to soak up with one of two towels, which I learned was a mistake because it wasn’t replaced, nor was the leak addressed. Walls are paper thin, toilets flush like a Boeing taking off, and doors are loud when they close. I could hear my neighbour snoring and pretty sure they could hear my husband snoring, too. Made for lousy sleep a few nights. My biggest issue was lack of bathroom towels. For a period of three days, my husband and I had to share one towel. if I managed to find the housekeeper in the hallway, she was lovely but had no towels. This is not a housekeeping issue, this is a management issue. Caution, if you leave them on the floor, dirty, they will take them away, but not replace them. For one full week, we never saw a face cloth bath mat or hand towel. And yes, I left a tip every day. To me this is unacceptable for this level of property and a very easy fix. Housekeeping did a good job keeping the room tidy. there is also not one single hook in the bathroom to hang a wet towel when you’re done showering. I found that very bizarre. Shower was hot, but water pressure fluctuated. I had a premium ocean view room, yes, view of the ocean, but kind of a side view. The downside of all the rooms having an ocean view is that you also have a very direct view into your neighbour’s rooms across from you. Good reminder to avoid walking around in your room in the buff 😉 FOOD & DRINK: I was so worried about the food! So many people complain about it! It was actually delicious. Not a massive buffet, but everything hot, flavourful and very sufficient variety. Jerk chicken on the beach awesome. Coffee at the west end grill or coffee bar in the morning, piping hot and among the best I’ve had. Mimosa bar a nice touch in the morning. Italian à la carte was terrible. Food was so subpar. Sauce tasted like it was straight out of a jar, calamari was like rubber, pasta so overcooked, it was falling apart. Asian quite good, but small portions. Drinks were rather mediocre. Artificial tasting mixes. No fresh fruit for good blended drinks, but I hear Melissa did a number on crops :( some issues with running out of things. One night at the lobby bar, we had to drink wine out of beer glasses. No prosecco at breakfast 2 mornings. Again, a management issue. Overall, I think the resort did a great job with food. SERVICE: Staff overall is amazing. Very motivated by tips, but that’s standard at many all-inclusives I’ve been to. Everyone you encounter says hi, and they try their best to help you, when needed. Front desk at check in was super helpful, sorting out an issue with Air Canada vacations and our room. I find the whole “time share sales pitch” incredibly annoying, but I was very firm in saying absolutely not and they left me alone, and stopped trying to offer the “free gift”. Beach waitress was fantastic, but we took very good care of her, not sure service was the same for guests who didn’t tip well. Staff is friendly and engaged, for the most part. BEACH & POOLS: Ahhhh, the beach. Calm, crystal clear water, no sargassum. Shallow. I didn’t pay attention more closely to the map of seven mile, it looks like this is part of the bigger seven mile strip, so I thought we could easily walk to the strip with all of the smaller hotels, margaritaville etc, but it’s far and not entirely accessible by walking along the beach. But the beach is gorgeous. Beach chairs and those great pods are hard to Come by. I went down before the sun rose every morning to get my spot and stayed allllll day, it was so beautiful. Pods and chairs are pretty much booked up before 7 am, which is unfortunate if you like to sleep in. Some of the lounge chairs are in bad shape, and need replacing. Need more umbrellas on the beach. Again, towels are an issue. Hardly ever any available. When they are, guests swarm the towel hut and they’re gone in two seconds. Some of the towels are also in abysmal condition. Big holes, frayed edges. Also a management issue. I read the towels were an issue and brought my own. Noticed that many other guests did the same. Shouldn’t happen at a 4.5 ⭐️ resort. Vendors are constant. All day long, peddling every type of drug, handmade crafts, excursions, but we found if you were friendly, said hi, exchanged a few pleasantries and a firm no thank you, they moved on. I found a couple of the men to say very inappropriate things to the beautiful teenaged girl that was part of our group, despite a very stark age difference. I wouldn’t let young women walk along the beach alone here. Pools seem nice. Never dipped a toe. There’s quite a few of them. Decking around the pool and around the general resort a total disaster. Cracked, mismatched boards, holes, uneven spots. A hazard, quite frankly. They had a foam party one day which kids loved. The beach is the highlight of the resort. ENTERTAINMENT/AMENITIES: Entertainment was hit and miss. Michael Jackson show was amazing. Dancers were great. So was moulin rouge and the bob marley tribute. Karaoke sucked. As did the game show night and silent headphone party 👎It seemed like these nights were cop-outs and meant that the guests were actually the entertainers. MC had a good sense of humour. A couple nights there was a live band that played the sleepiest elevator music, like 1980’s soft pop covers. It felt like they were trying to clear out the room. Why not a SOCA band or reggae? Why am I listening to Whitney Houston hits in Jamaica? Just a personal opinion, but I heard other guests echoing that. Full activities during the day, always something going on, but this was definitely an older crowd, even during March break, so it felt like there was not heavy participation. They need a pool table or two for an extra rainy day/teen thing to do. Resort felt pretty sleepy at night, lobby bar closed at 10 pm, I believe, so everything quieted down after that, unless you were interested in going up to disco. Overall, always something to keep you busy, even though it errs on the quiet side, compared to some other resorts. While we left here feeling like we had a great time, there is certainly room for improvement. Maintenance appears to be an issue, in some areas, but not all. Sometimes it felt like a bit of a “pig in lipstick” situation. We paid roughly 2500/pp/week, which felt like a great deal. If we paid much more, I would have felt that it was poor value. They need to either modify their star rating (I would say it’s a 4, certainly not a 5 by any stretch of the imagination) or seriously up their game. The beach is exceptional, people are warm, food is great. We came home with fond memories, sun-kissed faces and a few extra pounds, along with the definite feeling that part of our hearts are in Jamaica and mi soon come💛🖤💚🇯🇲

Stayed for the first time at Azul. We have been in Bloody Bay before however decided to give this resort a try I have no issues. Food was excellent , people are awesome. Could be difficult to get a cabana. Make sure you are up early to get one. Views of water from balcony. Balcony is large and rooms are too. Rooms were clean daily, towels were changed if you requested (leave on floor) We were travelling with a friend that was having a Birthday and they leave a desert and compliment rum bottle as a gift. Entertainment staff were around the family section. Shows in the evening were either put on my the Entertainment team or by a dance company that did several shows during the week. Drinks were strong at times. I will say the one swim up Bar would run out of Vodka sometimes however there was a large menu option to consider an alternative. If you have booked a premium ocean view suite then buildings 8 & 9 are wonderful! Loved this property and will be returning!