Azul Beach Hotel Rooms

Azul recently grew from a 98-room hotel to a 149-room hotel, with the addition of several new suite categories. Rooms and suites are in contemporary two-story buildings; and one of our favorite things about the hotel is that they are all very close to the waterfront, and most at least a partial water view. Parents will love that it's literally just a few steps from room to beach. Since you can borrow a baby monitor, you could even sit on the beach or by the pool while your baby naps in the room.

Basic and Deluxe rooms are cozy but nicely appointed with air conditioning, satellite flat-screen televisions, a shower but no bathtub, stocked mini-bar, coffee maker, hair dryer, DVD player, and a balcony or veranda.

You can ask for your room to be outfitted with baby gear at no charge, including a changing table, Pack 'N Play, baby monitor, bottle warmer, stroller, and the most adorable child-sized bathrobes. Adjoining rooms are available.

There are no elevators here, so families with lots of gear may do best on the first floor.

Currently there are three suite types available: Honeymoon Suites, Wedding Suites and Junior Suites. The decor in all of them is simple, modern and elegant. The next phase of the renovation at Azul will include the addition of Family Suites and Premier Suites. Since the family suites were not available yet, we stayed in a honeymoon suite, which was actually very well-suited to families.

Honeymoon Suites (there are 11) have 711 square feet of space, a separate living room with a couch, Murphy bed (the Murphy beds will be moved into the new family suites when they are completed), and a 32-inch plasma TV. There is also a small breakfast area with a table and four chairs, and a beautiful balcony overlooking the beach. Our king bed was very comfortable, due in part to the fact that we got to choose our pillow type at check-in (feather for us, of course) as well as a scent of aromatherapy for the room. Love it!

The bedroom has another 32-inch plasma TV and an iPod docking station. The bathroom is gorgeous, modern, and enormous, with double sinks, beautiful tiling, a rainforest shower, and Jacuzzi tub. There are swim-up Honeymoon Suites available that connect to a lazy pool.

Junior Suites (there are six) are available with either one king or two queen beds, and have 531 and 487 square feet of space, respectively. They have a separate bedroom and sitting area, as well as a 32-inch plasma TV with DVD player, iPod docking station, stocked minibar and oversized terrace. Marble bathrooms have double sinks, a Jacuzzi tub, rainforest showerhead and bathrobes. Swim-up Junior Suites are also available. There are also two wedding suites available, which have 645 square feet and all of these same amenities, plus a lounge chair and vanity.

There is 24-hour room service (except on some rainy days) and the menu has simple but yummy items (nachos, bagel with lox, soups and sandwiches) and as well as a separate kids' menu. If you want to have a family movie night in your room, you can request kid-friendly DVDs to be delivered, along with popcorn and drinks.