Azul Beach Resort Montenegro by Karisma - All Inclusive

Pros: - Very good food, rich variety, especially for breakfast. - Pools, although the water could have been warmer. - Nice and well-maintained grounds. - Beach and pool bars (specially fresh fruit, ice cream). Cons: - We stayed during the second week of September, and it was already noticeable that the season was ending. The tennis courts were closed, sea castles for kids were packed up on the shore, and events that the hotel advertised around the resort, like the fire show, no longer took place, nor did the special themed dinners (international, local, etc.). - Drinks within the all-inclusive package – although the selection was rich, we constantly experienced staff telling us they were out of certain items, especially mojitos. If it happened once, it would be understandable, but it was a daily occurrence, and it was more of a surprise when they actually had everything on offer. - In case of bad weather, all bars except the one at the reception were closed. However, no food was served at the reception, which was a significant issue, especially with a small child. - Rooms and overall resort concept – the travel agency sold us a stay with ultra all-inclusive, but in reality, it was just a regular all-inclusive package with a room in the old part of the hotel, which really needed renovation (also from a hygiene perspective). The true ultra package is the premium service, which comes with its own nice new building, a separate bar with a grill, and a wider selection of drinks. I'm not sure if this was directly the hotel's fault, but we were definitely misled. It was by no means ultra all-inclusive. - Hotel location – this is not so much a complaint about the hotel but more of a warning: the hotel is 3.5 hours from Podgorica airport, which can be quite an issue, especially with a late-night arrival. We didn’t arrive at the hotel until 2:30 a.m., and although the delegate told us that food and water would be waiting for us at reception, the receptionist didn’t provide us with anything.

The hotel is really lovely and I'm struggling to understand all the recent bad reviews. There are lots of pools, including an adults only pool and plenty of sunbeds. Pools all look clean and well kept. Lots of variety in the buffet restaurant and the a la cartes are nice too. Some of the chairs are a bit dirty and could do with being replaced. We got a free upgrade to premium so we're able to enjoy a private pool and the premium grill where they cook you fresh seafood for lunch - this is amazing and we have opted for this over the buffet. Room is nice and spacious with a massive walk in wardrobe. Air con is good, shower is good and beds are comfy. Only issue is the sewage smell in the bathroom. Everything is clean, and they come to clean our room every day and change the towels. Cocktails could be better, but there is a great selection of drinks and the spirits are all good brands. The beach bar is really nice and chilled, and there are loads of sunbeds on the beach. Beach pics are a bit misleading - the sand is brown / black rather than golden. Not really to my liking, but the water is nice and clear. Free parking on site and they have a buggy to take you from parking lot to reception and then to your room. Staff are friendly and helpful. For the price we paid, it's amazing value for money, and it's been a very relaxing stay.

The restaurant is very good. The food is very tasty and beautiful. The staff is friendly. The space is beautiful and very nice. All the plates and glasses are good quality and beautiful. The music is good. But the space one is really the food. We love our experience.

So many terrible things a bulleted list is required. * Premium pool is downwind of constant sewage odors * Used plates/cups/utensils left by the loungers and cabanas around the premium pool is left all day without being collected. In the hot sun. Attracting flies. Mixing with the sewage smells. * The main restaurant has light colored fabric chairs making it very easy to see all of the food (and maybe even sick) stains they are coated in. Pretty gross and offputting. They should replace them with wipeable materials. * Stayed for a long week. Had two mornings without water in the bathroom/hotel room * Thin windows, walls, and ceilings allow you to hear every movement by your 'neighbors' * Towels - you get a towel card for each person on your booking. One card = one towel. If you go to the beach and then want to swap a sandy towel for a clean one to use at the pool they will argue and try to make you keep a single towel for the entire day. * As always, make sure you are the one watching your kids while they swim. One lifeguard on duty spent 2 hours with his face in his phone before taking a one-hour long nap. * If you book an early excursion (departing at the time that breakfast service starts) they will not allow you to grab some food to go. If you want food, you have to sneak it out. * Want to eat your dinner outside and enjoy the lovely weather? Think again. They have tables outside of the restaurant but don't serve food there. If you wish to take your food, it's no longer all-inclusive and you have to pay for the meal. * The restaurants (excluding the buffet) all require reservations made at least a day prior. They all claimed to be fully booked. None had more than 30% occupancy on any night. * There is no resort information in the rooms. At all. There are two kid-magnet activities on the property - a floating water activity center in the sea and light up electric cars in the evening. No information posted anywhere about these. Kids get very excited. Parents get tantrums when learning that they are cash only. In an all-inclusive resort where it's reasonable to expect that guests will not be carrying cash. At least the cars are near enough to the various lodging buildings. The floating activity center on the very far end of the beach, on the shoreline, means going back for an ATM card to use at the overpriced ATMs on the property is not feasible. * Need to call reception for anything? Be prepared to call 10-12 times before they will answer and not immediately hang up on you.

A holiday to remember but it was really hard to rate it because of many cons and pros. So to break it down. PROS Stunning beach and seawater Hotel and surrounding areas were immaculate Great reception staff Euron from the entertainment team was great Food in themed restaurants and beach bar was good Drinks were good Lovely clean pools with plenty of sunbeds CONS Location - miles from anywhere Staff on the whole were rude - ESPECIALLY at the beach bar!! Worst I've ever known Buffet food was cold Room was tired and we had a smashed patio door which was sharp to touch A holiday is what you make it and we made it a lovely one. If they sorted some issues out, it would be first class!

Although the resort amenities are good, the rooms and definitely housekeeping standards leave a lot to be desired! We are on day 5 of our holiday and the room floor has not been washed once, not sure it’s even been swept! The air conditioning is not working (was originally but stopped yesterday), the high chairs in the main restaurant only have their trays cleaned, the rest of them are dirty and caked in food.

All in all, it was an unnecessarily expensive vacation for actually just 6 days, where we spent 3 days only in the room (the children caught a virus - apparently from the big pool, see below). Important - transport from the airport (Tivat) to the hotel takes min. 3.5 hours!!! 4 hours is no exception, according to the hotel receptionists, this is standard... The airport upon departure - DISASTER - you stand in line for 2.5 hours, to check in and then to the passport control, which is completely overloaded and unable to keep up. It's hot in the hall, hundreds of people and a total of 6 seats! Toilets smelly, dirty. We paid extra for PREMIUM accommodation, which has new interiors - nice, modern, large bathroom, 2x TV (room for 4), fridge, close to everything. Even a large private pool + fruits, cakes, desserts that no one else from the complex was allowed to use. In addition, at the same time, unlimited use of other restaurants + 1x entry to the water park for free. But - the air conditioning didn't work very well, it kept getting worse, they fixed it at the emergency room only on the last day! We lived on the ground floor - an old smell from the bathroom every evening - cleaned on the first day, cleaned on the penultimate day. Unfortunately, we only used the main restaurant for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The food is ok, a lot of repetition, but a lot of variety, so if you don't have a limited menu, you always have something to choose from. + always fish, there were also mussels, shrimps. A bit pointlessly organized, at the beginning you will always be held up by the queue at the fries (the smallest space). If you are already very demanding, then I rate it 7 out of 10. A decently large selection of fruit. Restaurant on the beach - long wait for a waiter, busy around lunch time - understandable, but good pizza + nice burger. Water is not drinkable, consumption is low and only five bottles - water. First of all, the pools - I really appreciate the adult pool - clean, quiet, few people, pleasantly warm, always available sunbeds. A large pool for everyone - very full, you can't feel the chlorine, which was the problem, the children jumped a lot, splashed around, the children's area was already cloudy in the evening. There was even excrement swimming in there! Unfortunately, the children caught the virus - vomiting + diarrhea, fevers - my son ended up on a drip), and we also called the pediatrician to the room. The children were completely taken care of for 3 days, we were glad to fly away. More children had a problem, we know min. about 4 families having the same problem - at the time we were there! Beach - sandy, really wide, perhaps unnecessarily so, sunbeds 20 m from the sea (quality sunbeds), hot sand - don't forget your shoes. Only 2 showers on the entire beach, approx. 50 - 100 m from the sunbeds. The beach is occupied from right and left - it is private, so there is an incredible amount of people around. No peace, scooters, boa

We ate at The Knife restaurant on our second to last night. The staff were very attentive. A good selection on the menu we ordered the steak and couldn’t fault it, cooked perfectly. Plenty of food to eat, more than enough. The restaurant area was very clean and well kept.

Great hotel, good choice of food & a la carte restaurants. Lovely pools, right on the beach & good cocktail menu & premium drinks included. Plenty of sunbeds for everyone. The kids loved the Aerial playground - would highly recommend for families!