We stayed at Dreams 9/20-10/4/2005 and totally agree with all of the positive reviews written.
From the friendly staff to the wonderful food, beautiful beaches, and all the personal touches such as incense and candles in our room, the cozy bathrobes, and turn down service nightly with chocolates on our bed.
Indeed the bed was hard as a rock but tolerable and the pool was way too small for the amount of people who were there but the beach area more than made up for it.
Despite all these wonderful moments our overall experience was ruined by our check in which resulted in an attitute of greed and dishonesty.
We were given a complimentary upgrade but with a price. $120 extra a night for the tower or $80 a night for an ocean view in the pyramid.
When we declined we were escorted to our room. We are not fussy people and expected to be in the "run of the house" room in the pryamid lagoon view.
To our utter disapointment we were placed in a room at the very end of the pyramid on the low floor with a view of a cement wall. The room smelled moldy, it was dark as a tomb, and the view of a cement wall was not exciting to look at while sitting on the balcony having coffee.
We told the front desk this room was very inappropriate and we would be satisfied with a room in the pyramid on the lagoon side. They told us the pryramid was "sold out" and reluctantely paid $60 more per night for a 1st floor end of the hotel room with a view of grass and a slice of the ocean.
As the week progressed we found out from staff that the pyramid was not sold out and various other couples were given an "upgrade" for a price.
We feel this tactic of placing us in a dumpy room to get us to pay more money was a very unprofessional way of doing business and the dishonesty resulted in our disappointment in this establishment.
We have notified Apple Vacations of this practice and have concluded that we will never support Dreams Resort in the future.
It was a shame that a beautiful resort such as Dreams was tarnished by trying to make more money from people who expected just a nice, simple vacation.

We just returned from our trip to Cancun and I couldn't wait to post my review.

Sadly it rained for the majority of our trip... but like all the rest of the guests we did our best to make the best of the trip. Dreams was great whether you were on the beach when the sun was out or in the spa being pampered when the rain was pouring down.

When we first checked in there seemed to be something wrong as we had to wait for our rooms for over TWO hours. Since we booked two rooms (my parents and my little family) they could only upgrade one of us that night for the imposition. We were told that they would upgrade us to an Ocean View the next day if we came down around 9:30 am. Sadly when we came back down the next day they seemed to forget their promise and we pitched a small fit since we packed our room up that morning and were put out yet again. We never make waves anywhere so you could tell how frustrated we must have been. They did follow through at last and upgraded our room. That was more frustrating than the rain.

I agree with the review I just read that Dreams should have a plan b for when it rains frequently. The Asian restaurant was closed every day we were there which was upsetting because we booked this hotel for the sushi... no fear though because they did offer sushi in the World Cafe some nights.

The only advice I would offer anyone thinking of booking this hotel would be to not to book it if you are a vegetarian. I am a vegetarian and sadly there were no vegetarian dishes on any of the menus :( I found a couple of things at the buffet each morning and evening-- but it would have been nice to get something NICE on the ala carte menus.

Also-- beware of booking tours through AMstar in advance if there is rain expected. I was amazed they did not cancel the Isle Mujeres tour the day we went--- it rained all day with no relenting!! We tried to walk through the town shops but the rain wouldn't let up. We spent most of the day under the palapa wishing they would take us back to the hotel. The reason why I say BEWARE is because you will not get a refund on the trip if you cancel the trip has to be canceled by the tour company to get any refund. Since they don't cancel tours when it is raining or bad weather your tour could be compromised-- we didn't get to do everything we wanted because of how bad the weather was but we still had to pay the full price. I do want to add that the snorkeling, swimming with the sting rays and shark encounters was great and if we were able to do everything the tour was compromised of it would have been fabulous.

The service and staff at Dreams are great. The spa choices are great and well worth the money. The prices are very comparable to the prices we pay in the states.

I loved the environment at Dreams it is fun but not too wild. We loved the activity staff they weren't pushy or to in your face if you didn't want to participate... BUT they were fun to play with when you did want to participate. My husband was shocked they remembered his name on a daily basis... very fun to joke with.

My kids loved the free room service and mini bar! The explorers club was a little to young for them (they are 7 and 11) BUT as a parent I loved the fact you could check them in at night to have an adults only dinner and cocktail.

A word of caution- when we were reading up on the hotel we thought you could check the kids in and go outside the hotel on a tour--- CAN'T DO THAT. You have to stay on the hotel premises at all times your kids are in the Explorer club. We decided to take the kids on all the tours which was great for them and us anyway.

Many of the pluses are well worth choosing this hotel.

Ok....

We just returned from a 5 night stay at Dreams returning October 2. We went there for our honeymoon - we are both early thirties and of the middle class socio-economic group.

Upon arrival, we were greeted with cool, damp cloths scented in eucalyptus. Our room wasn't ready so we received a free upgrade to the ocean view of the pyramid and pleasantly surprised! The room had marble floors, a huge window to the balcony, a table and 2 chairs... The decor was a tad on the plain side, but very vibrant with color in the linens and curtains. We've read complaints about the marble floors and condensation.... We thought the marble floors were a marvelous idea considering this resort is geographically located in a place having lots of rain, humidity and sometimes flooding. The hotel provides nice, thick robes and a pair of slippers. We had no problems at all with the floors, we wore our slippers and laid towels in the bathroom during showers. The shower is unique having an open "door" that is glass, facing a mirror and coutertop filled with fresh, thick, wrapped white towels.

Our maid service was excellent. Our room was cleaned daily, we had fresh towels each day when we came back to our room, one of the afternoons we came back to our wash cloths folded in the shape of hearts, as well as the floor towel in the shape of a swan. She brought us an activities schedule for the next day and a mint on the pillow.

The mini bar was restocked everyday with water, coke, coke light, orange juice and corona. There was somewhat of a language barrier between myself and the front desk. One of the evenings we realized our coffee had not been replinished, so I called the front desk and ask for some around 9:30 p.m. I called again at 10:00 and the lady told me they only refill the minibar at 9:00 a.m. I tried explaining my mini bar is fine, I need coffee - but I do not feel like she ever understood what I was trying to tell her. I finally asked for the manager and he brought us coffee within 10 minutes. Nothing to complain about, harmless mistake - but I think if I would've been able to speak Spanish I could've gotten coffee the first time - no biggie.

We thought all the restaurants were good. We had the World Cafe every morning for breakfast. They had a tremendous amount of selection - everything from yogurt and fruit to omlettes, ham, bacon, sausage, pancakes, french toast, - you name it, it was available and there were also folks there to prepare something specific for you. We had lunch there one afternoon and it was really, really good too. They served a cordon bleu that was awesome. Wide variety and lots to choose from on their lunch buffet too. Service here was very attentive and pleasant as well.

The Snack Shack has some yummy lunches too! We had a "burrito" that was more like a ham and cheese quesidilla - it was fabulous! Service at the Snack Shack was awesome too! They were friendly, quick and very attentive. We had a great time one afternoon at the Snack Shack with Pedro! He was too much fun! Ronnie is a lot of fun too - he is the activities coordinator. We took a spanish lesson with him!

The Oceana had oustanding dinners. The first night we had dinner there, the service was excellent, food wonderful, and we had a great time. However, when it rains - note, they do not serve outside so the wait can be a while and patience is required.... Being in the tropics, the weather is so tricky, it's beautiful one minute, soaking wet the next - but the rain only lasts for short spurts of time. We personally thought they could've had a "plan B" for when it rains - since it does rain so often so that was a little frustrating.

We've heard lots of great things about the Seaside Grill but unfortunately never tried it. We did go one evening, but because of the rain, the wait was too long and seating was very minimal. Again, no plan b - but oh well... We also did not dine at the Himtsu because there was nothing on the menu that appealed to us. My husband does not eat Sushi and that was the primary main course for that menu. The servers were nice and polite, attentive, but we did decide to go to the Oceana.

The pools were clean, and yes, there is a smaller pool on the tower side, but we felt like it was a nice touch for a more quiet, relaxed time at the pool. The bigger pool is not huge, but we didn't feel crowded and the pool bar service was excellent.

The beaches are BEAUTIFUL! :-) The water is a crystal clear, amazing shades of blue. There is a large trampoline in the ocean you can ride a float to and play on. The service at the ocean was incredible. We ordered drinks and food from our chairs on the beach! We've also heard complaints about the drinks being weak... When we ordered drinks, we always ask for them strong, and strong they were! We never had a problem with that at all. These folks are at your service and very attentive to what you want... - and, how you want it.

We did venture into town to do some shopping and did not find this one of our favorite things to do... Shop owners were very irritating, constantly hassling you to buy this, "just stop and look at this," "give me a chance," - la la la - after a while it was irritating. There were even times when we didn't feel safe because of the chaos. Dreams has some nice gift shops on the property. We loved the lady in the silver store and bought a few things from her.

The spa - a MUST. We did the Ocean View couples massage and it was one of the BEST massages I have ever experienced!! We get massages on a fairly regular basis, but THIS one was fantastic! They massaged our scalps, lips, eyebrows, - fingers, toes, - everything! We absolutely LOVED it!

We took the Isles Murrjeres (sp?) tour (The Island of Women). It was from 10:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m. We boarded a ship and went to this island. Rented a golf court and the tour guide took us around the entire island. The community all in all wasn't much to see - the village seems run down, lots of construction, etc. - but the coastline is BEAUTIFUL... We got lots of great pictures from the island. The tour leaders on the ship were lots of fun - food was good and service was excellent. This trip includes swimming with sharks and sting rays. We did do this too - and that was fun. Probably the closest you ever come to a shark without being in danger... The sting rays were interesting too - there was a baby sting ray in the waters so the director asked us to please be careful and not step on her... :) We did go on the shopping excursion included with this package and that was a tad frustrating too. Prices were higher than what I had expected - lots of things you can get in the US for lots cheaper than what they were selling it for - but then again, we ARE on a tour and they KNOW we are tourists and so I suppose we should've expected that.

A REALLY cool place to buy silver is at the Cancun airport. It's a gift shop diagnol to the Estee Lauder and Lancome store. They have some BEAUTIFUL jewelry and the prices are much more reasonable. Some things are already marked with a price and some of the items, they weigh before pricing. The service was good and I was extremely pleased with my jewelry and gifts I bought there.

We thought Dreams was a wonderful choice for us. We loved the way it was landscaped, outside the room IS hot, but it's tropical!! It's BEAUTIFUL! Also, we had no problems with our air conditioning either. There was a thermostat that you can set yourself, and being the germ nut I am, keep ours at home on 69 all the time, I set this one for 67 at times and it became almost too cold! We opened the door to warm it up some and - yes, condensation occurred - again, HELLO, I don't see the big deal over that. I feel like I am lucky enough to have air condition so cool I NEED to warm it up, and the fresh ocean air was a wonderful way to do it - so WHO CARES about the little bit of condensation on the "marble" floors for heavens sakes... lol This is not a 5 or 6 star hotel. It is rated a 4 1/2 and having had some experience with hotels, I feel like Dreams slightly exceeded the 4 1/2 rating. You don't get the goose comforters and goose pillows and the pillowtop mattress, however, our bed was very comfortable. We read reviews that stated they are "hard as a brick" but we did not experience that. The bed was more comfortable than some Holiday Inn's we've stayed in. They gave us 4 pillows and we asked for 2 more and they brought them right up. The pillows were soft and comfortable. Again, it's not the memory foam and goose - but they are comfortable. We really feel like it was worth what we spent on our trip and would recommend this resort.

We REALLY enjoyed it!

The resort was very clean and the service was excellent. The view of the ocean was perfect. The only suggestion I have would be to specify exactly what type of room you want. It took three trys before we setteled into our room, but the resort was very good about pleasing the customer.