Azul Hotel & Retreat

Five stars doesn't begin to describe this awesome destination hotel. Everything about it was perfect...the room was spacious, comfortable, lovely and clean. The grounds are well kept. The restaurants (two) served incredibly delicious, well prepared and beautifully presented food. Some of the activities available are a pool table, ping pong, volley ball, giant chess game, kayak and bike rentals, many board games, interesting pool with a swim up bar, covered and uncovered lounging areas, and the ocean is steps away! We only stayed for two nights - I wish it had been a week! It's off the beaten track but sooooo worth it.

Much of the hotel has a good aesthetic; the common areas are very useful for resting and even sleeping, the pool is designed for adults enjoyment, we liked it a lot. Our room had an excellent beach front location and the external bathroom was an additional pleasure... Excellent amenities! From one of the best Costa Rican brands. They had the courtesy to decorate the room in celebration of my partner's birthday. In the restaurant, the breakfasts are very tasty as well as dinners, they were very worthwhile, in addition Gillary and Yosseline were very attentive and kind. Unfortunately, we had a problem with the AC unit in our room, and we had to go to the front desk three times before the situation was properly addressed (there are no phones in the rooms and you have to walk to the front desk). They were kind enough to give us a courtesy in the room the next day, which we really appreciated. One good area for improvement is the communication prior to our arrival via email and phone, as it was not the best.

Loved this resort - the rooms, grounds and swimming pool was clean , the staff were super friendly and the food was delicious. There were not many people there when we visited but we enjoyed the peace and quiet. All the rooms look out over the ocean. The beach is dark sand - which I’m not that crazy about but we didn’t spend much time there

DO NOT STAY HERE! QUICK LIST: Don't respect allergies Allowed fruit to go mouldy in our room Left dirty rags on our bathroom counter Not able to tan on the beach Construction ALLERGIES I have a severe gluten allergy, which makes me nauseous, vomit and spend a lot of time in the bathroom (if you get my drift). Before even getting to the hotel we let them know this and they said not to worry they could happily accommodate. The first night we came to the hotel we went to the restaurant, when I asked what my gluten free options were the server looked at me like I had 2 heads, I explained it was like an allergy to flour, wheat etc. He told me he would check with the chef and came back to say I had to take my chances and he didn't know what was gluten free on the menu, and maybe a salad? I didn't eat dinner my first night at the hotel, luckily I brought some corn tortillas from home just in case so that was my dinner in my room. We emailed management who didn't respond so we ended up going to the front desk the next day, the manager apologized and said that the chef would be reviewing the menu, they did have gluten free options of their menu and they would be ready for me that night for dinner. NO THEY WEREN’T When I arrived at the restaurant I asked what was gluten free that I could possibly eat and the waiter said he recommended the spaghetti. So that's what I ordered. I ate it all, aside from it swimming in oil it wasn't bad. WRONG! 30 minutes later I had my head over my toilet in my hotel room. I then proceeded to vomit and stay in the bathroom for the next 4 HOURS! The next morning I was still so unwell we had to cancel our tour and actually drove into the city to Walmart so I could pick up food I could actually eat!!! When we expressed how upset we were they apologized and told us to come back tomorrow when the manager is actually there. IF YOU HAVE AN ALLERGY THEY WILL NOT RESPECT IT! ROOM The room was clean and inviting when we first arrived with a fresh fruit tray. We didn't end up eating the fruit and figured the maid would take it away after a day. But no, then we figured 2 days. No. We just got back to the hotel, it is day 3, there is a big plate of mouldy fruit in our room. On top of that the maid left dirty rags on our bathroom counters. BEACH Be warned that the beach here is dangerous. You can only go up to about your waist and then you take your chances of being pulled out by the tide. There are no beach chairs directly on the beach and to get to the beach you have to walk through a bunch of debris. It was nice to walk up and down during the day however. CONSTRUCTION They are doing construction right beside the pool, you will hear hammering and sawing from morning to night. They say they're building a yoga platform but be warned it's just very noisy. Also the swim up bar is not open.

Food was great, drinks refresing. Seafood was the best, we had sushi. Fruits were fresh and smoothies just perfect. The rooms were neat and clean. Staff was amicable and resourceful. Got a nice tan at the pool.

A magnificent experience My partner and I spent a couple of days off, good food, good drinks. the service is excellent and the rooms are very clean the beach is beautiful and very close to the hotel with a lot of privacy Thank you so much