We have just returned to the UK from the most amazing resort we have ever stayed in. On the last day I said to my partner "we have to think of some negatives" and we genuinely couldn't.

The flight with Thomson from Newcastle was excellent - the extra legroom and individual TVs really helped make the flight enjoyable. I was worried about taking my 2 yr old on a 9 hour flight but he was great. We arrived into gorgeous sunshine which lasted our whole stay. The airport at punta cana is mainly open air which means it's wise to take light clothing to change into as it's pretty warm. We were through the airport and onto the bus quickly, our bags came straight through. The transfer took almost an hour, and whilst it was quite bumpy it was nothing like some of the reviewers on this site have implied!

On arrival we were given a glass of champagne and a cold washcloth and checked in quickly. Our room was in block 2 looking out over the main pool bar area and the beach. The room was beautifully decorated and contained everything we could want, even a set of bathroom scales! With the extra bed and the pushchair in, the room was a little cramped but still perfectly adequate. The fridge full of cold drinks was very welcome. The bellboys delivered our bags within a few minutes and we headed straight down to the pool. We had no noise at all from our neighbours during our stay, a welcome change from the paper thin walls of the med!

The pool is the crowning glory of this hotel, it's absolutely huge and the most gorgeous temperature. We never had any problem at all getting a bed, at the top end most of the beds didn't get taken all day. The iceberg was a great hit with the little one, as was the toddlers area at the beach. This really made our lives easy as he could play happily whilst we chilled out on sunbeds, it gave us a bit of a break whilst still being with him. The area has a shaded sandpit, climbing frame with swings, indoor play room and a pool shallow enough for babies to sit in. It is right on the beach but fenced in with a lock so only adults can open the gate.

The towel service is briliant - you can take as many towels as you want, and get new ones when you wet them. This was really wonderful as we were able to make a lovely comfy bed for our son to have a nap which meant we didn't have to go back to the room.

The beach is also gorgeous - the sea was rough the first few days but the second half of the week was calm and I even managed to persuade my 2 yr old to swim on his own in the ocean. There are rocks straight ahead of the hotel but go about 50 feet to the left where the trampoline is and it's fine. I'm not sure how anyone manages to cut themselves as you can see the rocks clearly. We took fins and snorkels and had some great times communing with the many fish! The trampoline is great fun but be warned it's meant to be just for kids - my partner got told off for jumping off it! There are kayaks and sailboats available on the beach although we didn't use them.

The food was hit and miss. We found the buffet in the world cafe always hit the right spot, their breakfasts were excellent and the roast meats at night were superb. The italian was also tasty. We tried Himitsu, Oceana and the Seaside grill also (once each) but found the food was quite bland there so we mainly stuck to the world cafe. For lunch we went to the beach BBQ and had burgers and nachos.

A couple of other things that made this a brilliant holiday: the self-service soft drinks and ice at the barracuda bar, the unlimited ice cream in the afternoon, the floats in the pool (tip: if anyone is hording them just ask them "are you using this?" - they can't exactly refuse to let you have it), the activities during the day (spanish lessons, ping pong, crossbow etc) and the sheer hard work by all the staff. We were amazed by the number of staff who all work so hard to keep the hotel spotless and the guests happy. It made us ashamed of the (lack of) work ethic back home. These people are probably working for peanuts but do it with a smile of their face and to a really high standard. The grounds are beautiful, the flamingoes were a great hit with our son. The photographers (based in the lobby by the world cafe) are amazing - we got a couple of photos taken by the wandering photographer - there is no pressure at all to buy, you just go and browse the pictures on the computer, if you do want to buy they are $10 per print or on CD. You can also book an hour long session with a minimum spend of $150 (15 prints). If our little one hadn't been so camera shy we would have done this. The pictures we did see of other guests were beautiful.

We saw a few weddings while we were there and you couldn't have asked for a more spectacular setting. If/when we ever take the plunge I would happily go to Dreams to do it!

I had a massage in the spa while we were there, it seemed expensive to me at $110 for a 50-minute aromatherapy massage, but the spa is gorgeous and it was a lovely relaxing break away from toddler-world!

Overall this was an amazing holiday and for once I can honestly say I would go back tomorrow!

We are avid travelers, usually staying in high end resorts. We stayed at Dreams because we were there for a wedding. They did a great job with the wedding and reception. However, we would not return to this resort because the food was not tasty, rooms need upgrading and the service was hit or miss.

We booked a deluxe room in the preferred club hoping that it would offer extra perks and we were disappointed. We’ve stayed at the Club level/upgraded in the Occidental Grand in Cozumel and Swept Away in Negril. At those resorts, we received extra perks, but that didn’t happen at Dreams.

The Preferred Club –
Usually in Caribbean resorts we are greeted with a cold towel and a drink upon arrival. That did not happen. Instead there was long line at the front desk for check in. So, we just went directly to the club building (Bldg 6) and in still the check-in process took almost an hour.

On a positive note, it was nice to have our own concierge to organize excursions if we needed to and access to the bar in the Club building. Though, it would have been nice to have a restaurant in the Club building. They offered only finger food.

The Club advertises free internet use. We often saw the staff using the one computer with internet access that is supposed to be for club guest use. I needed to quickly check my email while we were there and I asked the staff if I could use the computer and she said “just wait one minute”. The staff members should not have even been on the computer, let alone ask a guest to wait while she did personal computer work.

Rooms –
Initially we were given a ground level room and it smelled like pesticide and there was note stating that they were exterminating. We didn’t see any ants, but our friends who were in a different building on the ground level had ants in their room. Our initial room adjoined with another room via a door and it was too easy to hear everything in the adjacent room.
The club level advertises "upgraded toiletries". Our room had one bar of soap and no shampoo, lotion, etc.

Then, we moved to another room that was a smaller, corner room on the second floor, but without an adjoining room. The Club buildings are buildings 6 and 7. It’s best to be in Bldg 6 since that’s where the bar, finger food, computer with internet and club concierge are located. The rooms are decent – clean, but nothing special.

Food –
Overall, we did not like the food. The Best restaurants are the seafood restaurants. We didn’t like the Chinese restaurant – very marginal food. The Buffet restaurant had a lot of variety so we just picked food that we thought looked decent. The waitstaff in the restaurant was OK. They did the best they could but were clearly overworked.

Facility –
The pools were well-kept. The grounds were clean and attractive. The facility was well lit at night and the casino was small but fun.

Well we have to say we have been to many all inclusive destinations around the caribbean and this stay at Dreams is amongst our favorites, it provided the best for what we wanted, economical, family friendly, great culture, multiple food choices and secluded. AIRPORT and TRANSFER: We arrive at the airport and whiz through to our bus which was a bit difficult to find through the onslaught of luggage handlers however once through people more than helpful to give you directions to where you need to be. Bus ride was a big Prieto bus that held like 40 people, we went no faster than 30mph to our hotels, made a couple of stops, and it was long ride 2:15minutes which was exceptionally long they said.....bus was having issues. We loved seeing the country side though, very eye opening and infact sobering experience. Dreams is right before excellence which is the furthest. CHECK-IN: Check in was a breeze, we were through it so quick that the champagne got to us after we had our bags taken by the bell boys, it took us under 10 minutes and we were at our room and into our bathing suits. By this time it was about 4:30pm and we were starving. This is where I give a recommendation for the resort: We, hubby, myself and 5 yr old asked where we could get something to eat and there was no place open, beach grill just closed, restaurants had closed and nothing available till 6:00pm. There should be an earlier option for incomers from longer flights .......this has to be our only complaint of the week I think. ROOM: Our room was a junior suite and it was great, living room area with pull out sleeper and couch and armoir with TV, king bedroom area with a 32 inch flat sceen on the desk, walk in closet with his and her sides, double sink area, bathroom with toilet and shower, the entry into the room there is a closet as well where we put our childs stuff, a coffe maker and fridge, patio balcony with jacuzzi where all of us fit in perfectly (my husband is 6'6, i am 6'0), we were in 9203 on 2nd floor which was the closest building to the main building and closest to the kids club. This was perfect for us!!!! FOOD: The World Cafe always had a good selection of food for breakfast, lunch and dinner including mimosas, bloody mary's, chilled glasses, childrens buffet down at their level, fresh fruits etc. No complaints, there were foods that were great and foods that were so-so, service excellent at all times. My favorite was the omlete stations for breakfast, the syrup FYI is not what us Americans and I'm sure Canadians think of as maple syrup, we did not prefer it, however the daily hand made dough nuts and pastries were out of this world. The desserts overll at the buffet were lacking, as a big dessert buff I wasn't too happy except for the FLAN and the cocnut ice cream. Oh also one day they had these chocolate balls that were fantastic. The Seaside Grill was great for lunch, we did not try it at any other meal. When we were there the first 2 days we ordered beef medallions, chicken kabobs and fajitas all of which were FANTASTIC....on the third day when we went back they had changed the menu and none of these spectacular items were offered any longer!!! We liked the Caprese Salad there as well but the others mentioned were top notch, not sure why they made the decision to switch. El Patio mexican restaurant was good, our least favorite of the week as I had too much cilantro in my meal. I should have thought to ask for no cilantro. I had the beef fajitas which were (the pieces without cilantro) scrumptious, chicken tacos for appetizer so-so, pecan pie for dessert scrumptious. My hubby had same his had much less cilantro, the shrimp cerviche which he is dreaming about it was so good and the key lime for dessert. The Italian restaurant was good, he had the beef carpaccio for appetizer which he loved and a seafood pasta for main dish which was good, I had chichen parm which was good as well. No dessert unfortunately there as our dtr was doing a fashoin show on stage and we had to go. Bordeaux was good we had won a lobster dinner for 2 which we actually did not like at all. The escargot appetizer was fantastic, the onion soup was also great, and the grand marnier chocolate mousse was so rich and yummy I could not even finish it! Great atmosphere, a bit dark so hard to see the presentation of the food! Himitsu was our favorite!!! There is a choice for a Japanese side and chinese. We did the Japanese and sat with a group at one of the hibatchi tables. There are couple of seatings which we did not know, we went at 7:30 starving and had to wait until 9 as there were enough waiting for the 7:45 sitting. Needless to say the hostess kept us nice and filled with drinks for our wait!! There was sushi to start and as a non-sushi eater I thoroughly enjoyed it especially the wasabi. You could even get warm saki!!! Then came the rice, I think the best rice I have ever eaten, then the beef, chicken and mahi mahi yummy!!!!! For dessert was a fried banana which was out of this world, I tried to get a few of them but was unsuccessful! :-) The Beach Grill I think was lacking a bit, your regular hot dogs, brats and hamburgers which wer all a bit icky, this was our least favorite food area. BARS and DRINKS:
All were excellent, the most action is at the Sugar reef bar during the afternoon, 1-4:30 particularly. Sangria was my favorite drink, it was made differently at each bar, all were good but the best made concoction was at the lobby bar (Rendevous), and secondly at the Sugar Reef. ENTERTAINMENT: Spectacular! KIDS CLUB: Top notch employees, my dtr did not want to leave all week, she had a blast with all the other kids and staff. This aspect made our vacation a Dream come true. Thank you so much for our wonderful experiences.
Service is truely their specialty.

I booked this trip in late January and paid about 2000.00 for two people for 4 nights, 5 days. The flight, airport and busride were not on the top of my list (the drivers are seriously crazy and my boyfriend got sick on the drive back to the airport) but the resort more than made up for that!
Great pool, gorgeous room - so clean!! A new towel treat every day.. the staff was friendly and fun. The SPA - wow... GREAT. They had a water circuit (which had a huge swim pool size jacuzzi, ice COLD plunge pool, SEVERAL different style showers) All coed for bathing suit apparel. We used these together everyday and had some sort of treatment everyday as well. It was well worth it. Rosa was one of my boyfriend's massage therapists and he claims she has STRONG and magic hands.. The food was really good especially in the fine dining area.. Outside was hard to keep food from bugs.. burgers by the beach were also great... Men bring more than one pair of dockers.. no shorts to nice restaurants. I would go back here in an instant.. I SO miss the lazy river.... OH and I recommend using the photographer there for a half hour session for couples.. it was well worth it. P.S. The only excursion we went on was a shopping trip that took us to a flea market (hagglers dream) a mall and then a cigar factory. The cigar factory was worth the total price. My boyfriend got to make his own cigar and they had great prices on good cigars. He was happy... that means I was too!