Azul Ixtapa

Had a family reunion in the newer section of the hotel, the Grand Azul Ixtapa. There were 20 of us; some traveled from the US and some from different parts of Mexico. The hotel is beautiful and new. The reception was less than warm and the lady who checked us in seemed to be inconvenienced by our arrival. some of the problems we encountered were:
There is NO beach for the hotel. You have to either go to Club Med’s beach or elsewhere if you want to enjoy the waves and sand.
Food was average at best; lots of choices but all of them forgettable and the restaurants didn’t follow the posted schedules. Mostly they’d be closed.
The hotel had promised to pick us up and drop us off at the airport; they did pick us up and mentioned a $ 140 dollar fee, fortunately we were able to convince the driver it was the hotel’s service. We didn’t have such luck on the way back to the airport: some family members had to drive us.
Check out took almost an hour for four of us; Mr. Benigno Avila wasn’t efficient, or helpful, or friendly. He charged me for my 6 year old daughter, even though their website states children 6 and under are free. When i mentioned that to him, he said it was an old summer promotion. I told him it was currently on their website and he ignored it. When told about the drive to the airport, he didn’t offer any help or even an apology.
There is a gym in the hotel and it doesn’t have a single window to look out anywhere. it was of course empty all the time.
The water in the shower pools up because it desk;t drain properly.
Only certain areas of the hotel have Wi-​Fi. If yo want it in your room, you have to pay extra.
Lastly, there was a gentleman calling or waiting to talk to us regarding some form of time-​share even during our breakfast and when we were ready to check out. Once he found out we were not going to buy, he was flat out rude.
To be fair, the maids, waiters, cooks and most of the staff were friendly and helpful, except reception and check out staff.
Never visiting that hotel again.