Servatur Puerto Azul

This is our second visit, and we continue to thoroughly enjoy this establishment. The entertainment team is exceptional with children, offering a wide array of activities throughout the day. The evening entertainment is typical for a hotel, but I must commend that it has improved significantly since last year. The seating arrangements for the evening entertainment could be better, as guests often find themselves searching for chairs. It would be wonderful if additional chairs were readily available for guests to use, and if the tables were more stable. The beverages are quite good; my husband particularly enjoys the beer. The cocktails are delightful, and the mango daiquiri was especially delicious at €6. The all-inclusive options are also quite satisfactory; a tip is to request less ice, and they are often willing to add more rum if you prefer a stronger drink. The food is excellent, with a wide variety of choices and fresh cooking stations offering meats, oriental, Asian, and Tex-Mex cuisine. There is also a great selection of sushi and desserts, ensuring that the food will not disappoint. It is, in fact, the best all-inclusive food we have experienced. The premises are impeccably clean; any untidiness observed is typically due to inconsiderate guests. It is important to remember that the staff, including cleaners and bar staff, are not subservient and deserve consideration for their diligent work. Please do not allow negative reviews to deter you; if you choose to visit, you are likely to have a brilliant holiday. The hotel also offers lovely adult-only areas, a teens' game room, and an arcade. While the pool area can be slippery, and we did observe a few young children fall this year, addressing this and the seating situation would make the experience truly flawless. The views are magnificent, the rooms are excellent, and the hotel itself is wonderful. Most of the staff are polite, cheerful, and eager to assist when needed. Thank you for another splendid holiday; we will certainly be returning.

Unfortunately, our experience at Porto Azul fell well below what I would expect from a hotel marketed and priced as an all-inclusive resort. Our concerns started from the moment we arrived. There was a substantial queue at check-in, yet only one check-in appeared to be taking place at a time, meaning the process took far longer than it reasonably should have. No refreshments were offered to guests waiting in the queue. What I found particularly unacceptable was that, while waiting, I went to the bar and asked for a glass of water for my two children, aged four and six. I was simply told no. Refusing a basic glass of water for two young children, particularly when guests are being made to wait to check in, was extremely disappointing and reflected very poorly on the attitude and level of service we experienced. The biggest issue throughout our stay was that the hotel simply does not appear to have sufficient facilities or staffing for the number of guests it accommodates. There is effectively one main bar, often with only one or two members of staff serving a very large number of people. This results in constant and unnecessary queues. If you only want a beer you may be reasonably catered for, although the quality of the drinks generally feels very basic and budget-focused. Wine is served from self-service taps, which regularly run out without being replaced promptly. The soft-drink/Coke dispensers also close at around 5pm, which seems ridiculous for an all-inclusive resort, particularly for families. The pool areas were another concern. The pools did not appear particularly clean and, more seriously, we found glass in the children’s pool. There also appeared to be very little, if any, active monitoring of the pool areas. The sunbeds are another example of the standard being well below expectations. Most are very cheap, uncomfortable plastic-style beds which are certainly not what you would expect from a hotel charging premium prices. There are some better daybeds available, but unless you are prepared to get up at an unreasonable hour to reserve one, you have very little chance of using them. The whole situation encourages the usual early-morning sunbed-hogging culture rather than providing sufficient good-quality seating for the number of guests. Basic standards around the communal toilets were poor too, with toilet roll and soap frequently unavailable. Our room also had several maintenance issues. The towels provided were extremely small, the toilet seat was broken throughout our stay despite clearly needing attention, and the telephone in the room did not work. The restaurant experience was probably one of the most disappointing aspects. There is essentially one main dining option for everybody, meaning that at busy times it feels extremely overcrowded, with guests almost crawling over one another trying to access the buffet. The food was repetitive from night to night, and much of the meat we tried was particularly fatty. For a hotel selling itself on an all-inclusive basis, there simply isn’t enough variety or choice. Evening entertainment was also very poor quality and the entire resort seems to effectively shut down at around 11pm, leaving very little atmosphere or anything to do afterwards. Overall, the hotel feels like it is trying to accommodate far more guests than its staffing levels and facilities can comfortably support. The concept of “all inclusive” is significantly undermined when guests are constantly queuing, drinks and basic supplies are unavailable, restaurant facilities are overcrowded, decent sunbeds have to be fought over from the early hours of the morning, and basic maintenance and cleanliness issues are not addressed. There are some positives, but unfortunately they were outweighed by the problems we experienced. Considering the amount of money people can spend to stay here, the standard of service, facilities and overall experience simply did not represent good value. Based on our stay, I would not describe Porto Azul as a good-quality all-inclusive resort and I would not return unless there were significant improvements to staffing, cleanliness, maintenance, food choice, pool facilities and the general standard of customer service.

Really special amazing workers…. Always smiling, happy with lots of energy! They are so talented with their work at the pool then their dancing/acting skills!

The entertainmemt team work so hard. Some great activities during the day and some lovely shows in the evenings.

I booked this hotel after seeing so many amazing reviews and unfortunately I felt slightly let down by some things but I think this was mostly due to the time of year. The hotel was lovely and clean. Aesthetically very pleasing and the location is ok. Bear in mind it’s on a mountain so if you want to go anywhere be prepared for steps and hills but we travelled via taxi due to having a child. The taxis were very reasonably priced. Our room was lovely and clean, spacious and had everything we needed. Our room did have a lot of noise from a near by hotel but that usually finished at 10.30 and didn’t bother us sitting on the balcony listening to the music! We were all inclusive and the food was OK but very repetitive. They have themed areas each night but I think they would be better off having one theme per night. The pool is a health hazard and extremely slippery - my advice would be for anyone to take wet shoes especially if you have children as we saw multiple kids slipping over next to the pool. The pool also had an obscene about of tiles coming up which we would often catch our feet on. The hotel asks guests not to reserve sun beds but nobody enforces this so be mindful you will need to get up early to reserve beds. One day we went out at 9am after breakfast and there was only a handful of beds left. Overall, it’s a nice hotel. Felt disappointing for the price we had paid given we had stayed at a chain hotel last year on the other side of the island and had a better experience. I would be keep to return but not during peak season as I imagine it to be much more enjoyable!