I experienced Azulik for the third time back in July 06 and have
written a review previously. I'd like to respond to some of the recent
reviews. I think many of the complaints result from poor planning and inappropriate expectations. Why would anyone be surprised to find that Azulik, as with many other resorts in Tulum, does not have electricity?
And if it does not have electricity, who in the world would not bring a
flashlight?? Why would anyone feel forced to go to sleep at 5 PM
because of no electricity? (I always take a clip-on reading light.) How about a walk down the beach or through the village? I have always travelled down there solo yet always meet lots of new friends to help fill my evenings.
It is not unheard of, in fact it is very common in all parts of the
world, even the U.S., to be asked not to flush toilet tissue due to the
plumbing being on a septic system. I live in an area of homes set on properties of six to 12 acres. We all have septic systems. Most of us choose not to flush tissue into the septic system.
I have always found the restaurants at both Copal and Zahra to have extensive and varied menus. The food is delicious. The service is nice, also.
Though, I have found, on occassion, that the reception desk is not
manned, it is merely for a few minutes while the agent escorts a new guest to their villa, or on some other brief errand. All the staff, in my experiences (three years at Copal, and three years at Azulik) have been very helpful and concerned with any issues brought to them. And, as a two decade veteran in the customer service industry, I can assure you that people in the service business will respond much more quickly to friendly requests for assistance rather than arrogant demands. The staff at Azulik has always been warm and friendly and eagerly return my smiles and greetings. I do not treat them as servants.
The infrastructure at Azulik is fragile, and necessarily so, as it is
wedged between a sea and a forest. The salty sea air rusts things out at an accelerated pace. I think replacing door locks is almost a full time job. If yours needs to be replaced, just let someone know.
Sometimes the pipe fittings for the tubs come loose. These are not mass produced items. They are assembled on site. Fitting PVC pipe to a basically hand carved wooden tub is not an easy task. The wood flexes with the water and heat, so the seals will fail on occassion. Or the wooden tub itself may crack. A fresh bead of silicon caulk is usually all it takes to fix it, but this might require a day's worth of drying time. Just one of those things. Happened to me last time.
Okay, a missing toilet seat is unacceptable and I have no
doubts that Holly would agree with that. A simple notification to the
desk would bring a prompt replacement, I'm sure. As for the hot
water, I've only had a lack of it once when it appears the folks in the
neighboring villa used it all one evening. It is my understanding that one of the upcoming upgrades is for each villa to have its own water heater.
I have found that filling the outdoor tub early in the day will result
in a nice warm bath at the end of the day courtesy of solar power!
I don't do a lot of room service but I do have a standing order for hot
tea each morning at 0800. It is never more than a couple of minutes off schedule, if at all.
With proper planning and research, and realistic expectations (this
isn't the Holiday Inn in Omaha) there should be few unpleasant surprises at Azulik . If a guest has an issue, by all means let the staff know about it in a timely manner. Blowing off steam on a web site when you get home doesn't do you, or anyone else any good. Give them a chance to fix the problem while you are there!
Azulik may not be perfect but it's one of my favorite spots on earth
and I have done some major travelling. I hope to be back there again in the next few months. You may write me at kensterfly at yahoo dot com.
Cheers!
