Month: August 2012

As I mentioned, Karisma Hotels operates a chain of hotels on the Mayan Riviera, including the three Azul hotels we toured. It was interesting to me how each of the three Azul hotels had completely different energy levels and vibes, right from the moment you walk into the lobby.

Azul Beach Hotel is the smallest of the three, offering a quieter and more mellow environment. I think this would be the best choice for families with wee children (say, ages five and under) and families without children. There were quite a few families with small children when we were there, and it was clear that there was plenty of kid-speed activities just for them. There’s a kids’ club with daily programming at the Azulitos play house:

The Azulitos Play House has equipment and special programs created for children from four to 12 years old. There is a play space designed by Fisher-Price® with all the latest educational toys to enhance early childhood development. Kids sing, listen to stories, and work on talking and sharing skills in playgroups.

Highlights for older children include video games and a full schedule of challenge games and activities. There is mini-yoga, handcrafts, face painting and movie time. Kids love all the beach activities, which include a treasure hunt, sandcastle building and balloon wars.

There’s a small playground on the beach, and three swimming pools, in addition to the suites with swim-up pools. Every day as we hustled from one activity to the next, I looked longingly at the craft station set up on the beach (they were painting ceramic figures) and I thought about how much my boys would have loved that particular activity. I’m pretty sure their heads may have exploded when they saw the dedicated Lego room, and the mini-trampoline, and the swing chairs, and the video game stations. And then, of course, white sand beach with rolling waves.

And everywhere, there is evidence of Karisma’s partnership with Fisher-Price, from a toy-lending library to Fisher-Price booster seats scattered throughout the restaurant. Each of the restaurants has a kids’ menu, but of course kids are welcome to choose from the regular menu, too.It truly seems that children are welcome here, and just an inconvenience or afterthought.

Here’s the the #FisherPriceMoms Canadian team (well, the half of us that could make the trip) together with Eddie and Sonya Lee. (I must admit, these overly-life-sized Little (not so much) People may have freaked Lucas right out, but many of the kids at the resort seemed fine with them.)

Azul Sensatori, the much larger hotel just down the road, has a totally different energy.

Azul Sensatori Hotel features never-before-seen suites that have a heated Jacuzzi for two in the lazy river off the terrace. There are also guaranteed family connecting suites, adults-only and premium sections, and honeymoon suites with wrap-around balconies.

This Gourmet Inclusive®, 438-suite hotel is just 20 minutes from the airport in Cancun. Special experiences foster togetherness for families, couples and groups of friends.

Available baby amenities include strollers, baby bath tubs, changing tables, baby monitors, cribs, play pens or pack n’plays, baby step stool, baby bath robes, bottle warmers & sterilizers. Azul Sensatori caters to kids and teenagers, with the Azulitos Playhouse and Extreme Breeze Teens Club. The exclusive Family & Friends Vacation Planner coordinates family reunions.

And the baby bath robes? Are adorable! Azul Sensatori has plenty of amenities for the littlest travelers, but also features a teen club with activities like DJ mixing lessons (this has Simon written all over it!) and a rock-climbing wall that Tristan would love. Here’s the play area at one of the pools:

I don’t think I told you about my (ahem) suite at Azul Beach House yet. Third after chasing the sunrise on the beach every morning and the food, my favourite thing about Azul Beach House was the bathroom in my suite. It was easily the size of my kitchen at home (which, I admit, doesn’t say much about the size of my kitchen!) It had a stand-alone jacuzzi tub and a separate shower enclosure with both a shower wand and one of those rainfall shower heads in the ceiling. (And it only took me getting zapped in the ear once by cold water from the shower wand to learn to make sure it’s aimed down before turning on the water!) It was simply too large to capture decently in a single photo, so here’s a panorama of the bathroom:

You know what I really loved, though? There was one of those iPhone charger clock radios in the bedroom, and it was attached to speakers in the bathroom. I plugged in my iPhone one day to charge it and was playing some music to cover up the sound of the silence (I’m really not used to silence anymore!) and was delighted to hear the music being piped into the bathroom speakers. Again, little touches like that really impressed me.

And speaking of water, my fears about water quality in Mexico were unfounded. My vow to use no ice cubes melted (ahem) in the first day of 45C humidity, and with all the food I ate there was no way I could avoid the fresh fruits and vegetables they tell you to avoid when traveling in Mexico. And I had no problems whatsoever.

This post has been all over the place, hasn’t it? I have at least one, maybe two more posts left in this series, but I want to make sure I can cram in as much of the awesome as possible!

It was kind of funny how many Canadian connections I came across in my trip to Mexico last week. (Eek, only last week? Seems like a dream from here!) From the New York blogger who was born in Canada to the general manager and head chef at one of the hotels we visited to the chef who just won the Hot & Spicy Food Festival competition at the Harbourfront Centre, there seemed to be lots of Canadian connections.

Before we left, I took a minute to sew a Canadian flag patch on my camera backpack, which I often use as a day bag as well. I wondered if people still do that. It was the thing to do when I was backpacking in Europe in the 1990s. It had the same effect in Mexico that it did in Europe, though — when people noticed the Canadian flag, they often mentioned it to me, from the hotel staff to people hanging out in Puerto Morelos.

I don’t know whether it was my Canadianness that endeared me to the (Canadian) general manager at the Azul Fives hotel where we had lunch one day in the Arezzo restaurant, or whether he’s just an incredibly nice guy. We were having a four course lunch (which is just what you need mid-day when it’s 47C with the humidity and you’ve just spent the morning tramping around Mayan ruins) and it was a spectacular meal. We had a choice between lobster with goat cheese pasta or marinated angus beef pasta as an entrée, and I was wavering between the two. I settled on the beef with some regret, but when the entrées came out, I was given the lobster and goat cheese instead. There was a few minutes of confusion (I didn’t want to take someone else’s entrée but would have been completely happy with either choice) and even as I protested that the goat cheese and lobster would really be quite fine, my beef entrée arrived. Mario, the general manager, who happened to be sitting at our table, said a brief word to one of the servers, and a minute later there was a half-serving of goat cheese and lobster pasta at my elbow as well. “You should try both!” he said with a smile. “Vacations are not for tough choices, they’re for indulging.” (And then they served up a dessert with not one, not two, but three variations of creme brulé. It’s okay, you can hate me.)

I thought this little exchange exemplified the attitude of all the staff at the Azul hotels we visited. From the housekeeping staff to the crews who cleared the seaweed from the beach to the wait staff and chefs to the concierges to the management – to a person, they were welcoming, friendly and seemed to really want to make sure we had the best possible experience. The idea of “gourmet inclusive” (meaning that every detail is attended to with care, from food to service) seems to be ingrained into the daily life of all the hotels. It was actually a bit of a letdown to come home to Ottawa and not be greeted with a friendly “Hola!” by everyone who passed within greeting distance.

And the food! Did I mention the food? Oh my bulging belly, the food! I may have eaten my body weight. Daily.

In addition to the Arezzo’s amazing Italian dishes, we enjoyed meals on the open-to-the-sea-breeze patio of Blue Restaurant, which has a little bit of everything and all of it looks delicious. How can you not love a lunch that looks out on this view?

And if you like dining al fresco, how about a Mayan feast on the beach for dinner? Shoes optional. 🙂

How cute are the linen napkins with the Fisher-Price Little People embroidered on them? Again, the attention to detail was so subtle and so impressive.

We enjoyed sushi and tempura one evening at the Asian-inspired Tainan, where the sushi floats by on little boats. I was hoping for a little (lot!) of spice in my meals, being in Mexico and all, but it wasn’t until the last evening’s feast (and truly, you can’t call it anything but that) on the Chil terrace that I got my wish, in the most amazing tortilla soup I’ve ever eaten.

But really, if I’m going to talk about the food at the Azul hotels (and clearly I am, at some length, too!) I have to tell you about the 12-course “Molecular” lunch at Azul Sensatori’s award-winning Le Chique restaurant, truly the dining experience of a lifetime. We’d received an itinerary a few days before the trip, and this one had caught my eye. My mother and I joked about a 12-course lunch. Seriously? How could you possibly digest a 12-course lunch? I know there have been a lot of superlatives in this post, and they’re all well-earned because there was not a bite I ate the entire trip that was not head-and-shoulders above what I would usually eat on a vacation, but the food at Le Chique is in a class by itself.

Okay, so a bit of a confession here. I am not an adventurous eater. I am not exactly closed-minded about new tastes and new foods, but I prefer the known to the unknown. At my favourite restaurants, I always order the same thing because that’s what I like. The idea behind molecular gastronomy flies in the face of that. Have you heard of it? Here’s the definition from MolecularRecipes.com:

Molecular gastronomy or molecular cuisine is the science of cooking but it is commonly used to describe a new style of cuisine in which chefs explore new culinary possibilities in the kitchen by embracing sensory and food science, borrowing tools from the science lab and ingredients from the food industry and concocting surprise after surprise for their diners.

What this means is that the menu is the strangest-sounding one you’ll ever read, and the meals are prepared with exotic and extraordinary tools like smoke, syringes, liquid nitrogen and carbon dioxide. You end up with what looks like maraschino cherries but which are actually liquid-filled creations that burst when you bite them. You have bite-sized balls that look not entirely unlike baked hummus balls but actually taste like a plate of the best nachos you’ve ever eaten. It was a truly extraordinary meal and I savoured every bite.

And really, how can you not love a culture that serves guacamole and salsa with breakfast? Really, it’s a wonder I got on the plane to come home at all. Actually, what’s a wonder is that they didn’t have to haul me onto the plane using the cargo loader after eating like that for four days!

It’s really funny when you tell people that you’re going on an all-expenses trip to the Riviera Maya because of your blog. They give you the same look people used to give back in 2006 and nobody had ever heard of blogs, but with more incredulity. “They’re giving you the free trip why now?”

I’ve been back for two days, and I’m still suffering from sensory overload. The trip was so incredible, I don’t even know where to start telling you about it. I can’t do it justice in a series of chronological “and then we did this, and then we saw that” set of posts, so please allow me to riff on a couple of themes over the next few days to give you a bit of an idea how amazing it was, and the things I learned, and to try my best to tempt you into rushing to grab your credit card and book yourself on the next flight to Cancun. Because really? You totally should.

So why exactly was I in Mexico in the first place? Karisma manages a series of hotels and resorts including the Azul Beach Hotel, the Azul Sensatori and the Azul Fives, all on the Mayan Riviera, which is on Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula. The Azul resorts have a partnership with Fisher-Price, which means that not only does Fisher-Price provide a huge assortment of toys and activities for the extensive kid programs at the Azul hotels, but provides things like baby gear as well. No need to wrangle your stroller and pack-n-play on this trip – bring the baby and some diapers and you’re good to go! The “gourmet inclusive” plan even includes all-you-can drool baby food, and each restaurant has a selection of Fisher-Price booster seats perfect for little travelers. All that to say, it was through Fisher-Price that this trip happened for me and three other Canadian bloggers from the #FisherPriceMoms team, and a handful of new American Fisher Price Ambassador bloggers too.

Okay, in the name of disclosure, I should also tell you that I’ve never been on a resort vacation, nor have I ever been on an all-inclusive vacation. Beloved and I are explorers at heart, and the idea of a beach resort vacation never really crossed our radar. After the last four days, I will sing to you with the zeal of the newly converted. If you, like me, have never been on this sort of vacation, you really ought to try it at least once. The whole experience was so much more amazing than I could ever have hoped, and the cost is probably less than what it would cost you for a week in a Florida theme park — and it will be so! much! better! It’s far more accessible than I would have imagined.

The Azul hotels have gone way above and beyond traditional all-inclusive model by introducing the concept of gourmet inclusive. Here’s what that means in Karisma’s words:

[Gourmet Inclusive] is designed to elevate all inclusive vacations to quality levels comparable to traditional luxury hotels. Your Gourmet vacation starts the moment you enter one of our Mexico all inclusive honeymoon or vacation resorts in Cancun. You are greeted with a smile, a refreshing towel and a welcome cocktail. The décor and overall atmosphere of the resorts provide for a relaxed yet upscale environment with lush landscaping, beaches lined with beach beds and multiple pools with swim-up bars. You will be pampered with Gourmet services and amenities such as beach butlers, concierge, turn-down, 24-hour room service, premium beverages and Gourmet cuisine. The latter, which is the foundation for Gourmet Inclusive, has been lauded “Superb,” “Best in class,” “Decadent” and “Outstanding.” To us it simply means creating delicious meals in pleasant environments by our star chefs. Here, you will be indulged with Gourmet hospitality every moment of your stay.

What this means in practice, at least if you are me, is that you will be dazzled at every turn by the attention to detail, the attentiveness of the staff, and the sheer splendor of the surroundings. I have stayed at a few luxury hotels in my time, and this is by far superior to them. It also means that you pay for nothing but tips and excursions and a few extras – but your meals (amazing, gourmet meals!), drinks and entertainment are all included in the price. No extra fees for shows, for the kids programs or for alcoholic beverages, which I understand is the norm in many “inclusive” resorts.

We stayed at the boutique-size Azul Beach Hotel. It’s the smaller of the hotels in the Azul chain, and the one I liked the best of the ones we visited. The 147 rooms are freshly renovated and offer a selection of amenities – swim-up suites, family-size suites, beach front suites, all spread out in a series of villas joined by pleasant pathways that wind around the pools, bars and restaurants as well. This is your view as you enter the reception area and look straight ahead toward the sea:

See those green cushions on either side? Those are king-sized mattresses on suspended platforms – swing beds! OMG how much do I need one of those for the porch?! This isn’t a swing bed, but one of the beach huts – you can sit in one when the tide is high and dangle your feet in the surf or rest while you drink your morning coffee and watch the sun rise out of the Caribbean Sea. (Which you really ought to do at least once in your life, I’m just sayin’.)

So anyway, the reception. You come into the hotel for the first time and you are greeted warmly with a glass of champagne, which is nice, but then the kids are welcomed as well, with a smoothie or a chocolate shake. While you choose a scent for your room (I was a little unsure of that, but it was really quite subtle) and a soft or firm pillow, the kids are shown a selection of toys and are given a little book to record their memories of the trip.

I mentioned the swim-up suites before. How cool is this for an idea? I would have loved that when Lucas was still wee enough to be napping – you can sit on your room’s private balcony and dangle your feet in the pool while the big kids splash and play, and use the (included, of course) baby monitor to keep an ear on the baby inside while he sleeps. Also great if your bigger kids have later bedtimes or want to jump in the pool before you’ve had your first coffee. (sorry this is a little dark, I took it at sunset as I was making my way back to my room. I didn’t have one of these suites but would definitely book one for next time!)

Okay, so this is getting long, and I haven’t even told you about the food. I’m thinking that’s going to have to be another post because ZOMG! the food!!!! Stay tuned! 😉

Okay, so I know by the time I finish this series of blog posts, you will be amazed and maybe just a little bit jealous of how truly amazing this trip has been. I can’t wait to start telling you all about it, so much so that I am sitting here in my hotel room tapping away on my computer instead of walking on the beach. Again. But when you think about the awesomeness, also think about the dorkiness and misadventure that precedes it, because they kind of go hand in hand.

The hurricane hitting the resort five days before I was supposed to land didn’t phase me much. I took it as a good luck omen, in fact. I was feeling less positive when I realized at about 3:30 on Sunday afternoon that after a leisurely wander through Manotick to the Mill, the used book sale and then to the Hodge Podge Shoppe for ice cream and candy (see, I have paradise in Manotick as well as the Riviera Maya) I had somehow lost my bank card. With exactly 12 hours to go before the car came to take me to the airport. Did I mention it was Sunday? And that I’d intentionally only bought about $50 worth of pesos, planning to just take out more from the ATM when I arrived in Mexico?

Long story short(er) (ha, too late!) I figured out that the Barrhaven TD Canada Trust was open until 4 pm on Sundays (did you know that? A bank open on Sunday?) and the time that I figured this out was 3:51 pm. The drive from Manotick to Barrhaven is about 10 minutes, give or take. I took – liberties – with the speed limit on Jockvale and still arrived at about 4:02. I flung myself at the glass, and by flung I mean knocked politely while making myself look as harmless and desperate as possible, and tried to get the people inside the bank to stop shaking their heads “no” at me and gesturing for me to go away.

When one kind soul finally was foolish enough to get within hearing range, I shouted my story through the glass at him. He took a long look at me, and then started unlocking the doors, at which point I burst into tears of relief. Doug at the TD Canada Trust in Barrhaven, I have been a Canada Trust customer since I was seven years old and your kindness has ensured that I will be a customer for the rest of my life.

So that was exciting. And then when I finally did get to the airport and checked in, Air Canada had other ideas because my ticket said my name was Daniellemonique and my passport said my first name was Danielle. The travel arrangements had been made before my passport arrived, and I assumed it would have my middle name on it. Air Canada almost didn’t let me fly, but this time I resorted to jocular good humour and engaging smiles to get her to adjust my ticket and let me check in. Since my return ticket was with another airline, she cautioned me that the Mexican authorities would absolutely not do the same favour and told me to make sure it was fixed before I returned.

So that too was exciting. And then our flight from Ottawa to Toronto was delayed by almost 30 minutes when a passenger became too sick to fly, but his baggage had already been checked. The 60 minute buffer between the Ottawa-Toronto and Toronto-Cancun legs of my journey shrank to less than 30 minutes and the window was so small that the pilot requested all Cancun-bound passengers depart the plane first and RUN to the departure gate.

So I’ve been to Pearson a few times but in and out of Ottawa International Airport quite a few times, and I figured that since both the Ottawa arrival and Cancun departure were in the same terminal, the gates would be in close proximity. Ha! If you ever need a little exercise in the morning, just run the length of Terminal 1 some time.

I tell ya, it was a pretty darn exciting start to my vacation, considering I hadn’t even left Ontario yet!

(Do you like the pictures? All of these were taken with my iPhone, I haven’t even started sorting the ones I took with my Nikon – Amy, brought the big daddy after all! 😉 I’ve just been stuffing random photos into this post to make you jealous. Wow, I have so much to tell you!!!)