We recently returned from a weeks long vacation at the Dreams Punta Cana Resort & Spa (now slated to close in December 2022) in the Dominican Republic where we stayed from July 24th – 31st. We vacationed with 8 other families, including 16 adults and 18 kids ranging in age from 3 to 17. It was definitely a week to remember, but not without its flaws.
Getting There
I have to say that the travel experience from takeoff to departure could not have run more smoothly. We flew direct on United out of Dulles Airport and arrived 30 minutes early. The flight was fast and smooth, arriving into Punta Cana in just under 3 hours and 30 minutes. Customs was a breeze and we were on our way to meet our driver. I decided to veer from the travel agent’s transfer recommendation as I knew we were being raped on cost and decided to arrange my own private transfer for our family of 4. We chose Punta Cana Transfer Services and couldn’t have been happier! I researched several companies based on reviews and price and their service was by far the best value. Round trip transportation in a Chevy Suburban with beer/water included for the ride for $158. Our travel agent wanted $55/pp, so we were able to save a significant amount and had a nicer car. Our driver, Adriel was waiting outside for us, even though we had gotten in early, with a sign with our name and ready to greet our family and whisk us away to paradise. We had to pay upfront in cash upon arrival, so I was a little sketched out he wouldn’t show up for the return. Rest assured, this company is legit and professional, with friendly and safe drivers. All communication is done through What’sApp. I confirmed our pick-up on Saturday and Adriel was there on-time and greeted us with a smile to take us to the airport on Sunday morning. I highly recommend them and would definitely use them again if ever in Punta Cana!
The Resort
The staff was warm and inviting and greeted us with cool towels to freshen up and a welcome drink upon arrival. We booked in the Preferred Room category and highly recommend doing so. Being a Preferred Guest afforded you certain privileges that will make your stay more enjoyable. Most notably beach access, exclusive lounge with premium liquors and daily appetizers, and extra dining options, but more about that in a bit. Upon arrival we were taken downstairs to the Preferred Check-in Lounge. They processed our passports, confirmed our arrangements and got us settled into our room rather quickly. We had a family suite, which was essentially 2 adjoining rooms: 1 with a King bed and the other with 2 double beds. Our room was located in Building 2 on the second floor, only 1 building away from the beach, which I certainly appreciated. The rooms are definitely in need of updates. They are old and at one point we had water dripping from the ceiling in the bathroom. I only noticed it once, so didn’t bother calling maintenance. Despite this, the rooms were clean, the beds comfortable, the AC and fan worked well, and it had a nice balcony overlooking the pool with a table and two chairs. There was also a stocked fridge with beer, soda, and water, coffee maker, and a safe for storing valuables. One thing to mention is they do not provide conditioner in the rooms, only shampoo, which I found rather odd and annoying, so make sure you pack your own or suffer the consequences of some bad hair days.
The Resort is beautiful and well maintained. It has a nice lush, tropical feel with resident flamingos that meander around the resort throughout the day. The resort isn’t very wide, but rather deep. You’ll definitely get your steps in! It was a good 10 minute walk to the breakfast buffet every morning.
Starting from the lobby, paths wind you through the various buildings that cascade all the way to the beach. The pool runs the length of the resort from lobby to beach culminating in a large swim up bar. There is plenty of room for swimming, however, the pool isn’t deep at all. I would say it was about 3 – 3 1/2 ft tops! Lots of people brought their own rafts for floating in the pool. I brought some for my family, but we never blew them up.
The Beach
I’m a beach lover, so this is the single most important thing to me when staying at the resort. Sadly, the shoreline is ridden with seaweed. That damn Sargassum seaweed is ruining a lot of destinations that once had magnificent beaches and the Dominican is definitely one of them. We stayed on the Atlantic side, which is more susceptible to it and we were there at the height of the seaweed season. Of course there is nothing the resort can do about it other than constantly clean the mats of it that wash in every day. Honestly, they made little effort to clean it up though. I saw them out there with a tractor trying to move it down the beach on a couple of occasions, but other than that it just piled up as the week went on. They do have special barriers in the ocean that try to contain it, but it really taints the ambiance. If you love seeing crystal blue waters and soft, pillowy sand when you’re in the tropics, this destination will fall short for you. Some days were better than others, but the ocean was still swimmable as long as you didn’t mind wading through it at the shore line and pushing it out of the way while in the water.
Despite all the issues with the seaweed in the water, the beach itself is absolutely beautiful and I thoroughly enjoyed relaxing here on a daily basis. However, the beach for non-preferred guests is not as nice, so here’s where I think being a preferred guest really paid off! More shade, better lounge chairs, better bar, and easier to get towels.
The beach is roped off with a section of Bali beds for rent and a huge section of palapas and palm trees with an abundance of lounge chairs and shade. The preferred section also comes with it’s own beach bar with premium liquors. The beach staff was amazing and I have to give a huge shout out to our favorite beach server, Juana. Always service with a smile, checking on us frequently and making sure her “familia” was well taken care of. One other thing I loved about this resort is you didn’t have to be up at the butt crack of dawn to reserve seats. I went down one morning at 7:30am and there wasn’t a sole sitting on the beach. Finally, a resort where I can sleep in a little and not worry about getting a shaded spot on the beach!
Dining
I stayed in the Dominican about 20 years ago and the food was awful, sadly, not much has changed. With a few exceptions, the food was sub-par and several people in our group had stomach issues from the food, including my daughter who lost a day of vacation laid up in bed from vomiting.
Regardless, there were some decent options and enough variety. This is another area where being a preferred guest made sense. They had an extra restaurant called Oceana, an open air restaurant where you can get a la carte breakfast, a nice change from the buffet, and a sit-down lunch. Restaurants for dinner included the Buffet, Japanese Hibachi Grill, Portofino’s (Italian), Oceana (Seafood), Steakhouse, and Bordeaux (French restaurant). We ate at all the restaurants, except the Hibachi Grill. My daughter ate here (fried rice only) and she had stomach issues the next day, so it turned us off to it. I think my favorite was the eggplant appetizer at the Steakhouse and the Garlic Shrimp at Oceana. During the day there was also a Beach Grill serving burgers, hotdogs, chicken burgers and nachos as well as La Trattoria, which served brick over pizza. The pizza was quite good and perfect for lunch!
On the last day, a couple of people in our group went fishing and caught Mahi Mahi. We made arrangements with the chef at Oceana to prepare our fresh catch of the day and enjoyed a delicious dinner (although late, 9:30pm) for our last night.
None of the restaurants took reservations which made getting a table for our entire group challenging. The waits were pretty long even when we split up the tables. The staff wasn’t very willing to accommodate us either. They just told us “no” and said nothing else when we asked for a large table rather than try to work with us. It was bizarre.
Activities & Entertainment
I thought the resort had a good mix of entertainment and activities during our stay. There is plenty to keep you occupied. There were daily beach activities including beach yoga, pitching contests, darts, egg tosses, ping pong tournaments, etc. They had a nice beach volleyball court and offered opportunities to play pool volleyball, water polo, and participate in water aerobics on a daily basis.
At nighttime, there is a theme based show nightly on the main stage as well as live music at the outdoor bar by the lobby. They have a small casino on site and also a night club to enjoy.
Keep in mind that if you stay longer than a week, you’ll get a repeat of all the shows, so you may want to consider heading off-resort on some nights.
The kids in our group enjoyed the Teen Club, which provided a sports area with a trampoline, pool table, ping pong table, darts, and a batting cage. I can’t speak to the Kids Club, but one of the couples in our group took advantage and said their kids had a blast. They provide cell phones to contact you if they have any issues with your children, which helps gives parents added peace of mind while trying to enjoy some much needed adult-only time.
We mainly stayed on the resort during the week, but did rent a private charter that we arranged through the on-site activities company Sea-Pro. Lui was super nice to work with and made sure we had a big enough boat to accommodate all 34 of us. We did a 4 hour snorkeling tour. For $50 per person, we had a private roundtrip transfer to where our boat was anchored. Our private catamaran was old and a little run down, but it served its purpose, and the staff was wonderful. They also had a photographer on board to take pictures of our group. They tried to charge us $350 for all the pictures. Negotiate with them! We got them down to $30 per couple.
During our excursion, our captain took us to a snorkel site with a good size reef, lots of different species of fish, and beautiful clear blue waters. The kind we all dreamed about and were hoping for at our resort! We snorkeled for 45 minutes, then headed to a floating aquarium, with sharks and dolphins that we saw from afar from our boat, and then to a shallow area for swimming. Sadly, the water here was murky and gross. It was extremely disappointing the water wasn’t the same as the snorkeling site. It would have been awesome to relax and enjoy drinks and swimming with our friends. While on board they served beer, cocktails, and soft drinks. The only food provided was chips and salsa. Lui told us we’d have small sandwiches and snacks on board. Thank god we all opted to eat before heading out for the afternoon or we would have had some hangry people on board. We returned to the resort by 6pm. Overall a good time. It was definitely nice to get off property and to see some of the beautiful water. Not sure I’d recommend Sea Pro for your activities. The price was right, but remember, you get what you pay for.
Another off-resort activity that the ladies partook in was beachfront massages. My friend found this great place called Tropical Treasure right on the water that was just a 15 minute walk down the beach. They had several massage tables all lined up on a covered deck so you can hear the waves, while enjoying your massage. If you are very modest, this may not be your cup of tea. You have to undress right at the table and lay next to strangers. If you can get past that aspect, you will enjoy the most amazing massage at a bargain price! We went twice we loved it so much. I had the hot stone massage, which in my opinion, was the best massage I had to date and I’ve been to some primo spas. I also booked a traditional massage. Both visits were just under $100. Phenomenal and highly recommend!
Some other options for off-resort adventures include dune buggies, zip-lining, and visiting with monkeys. Friends in our group did these and had a blast!
In Summary
Overall, we had a very enjoyable stay, but honestly, I think it’s the company we kept that made this vacation so memorable. If it was just our family of 4, I think we would have wanted to leave by day 4. Highlights for me were the amazing and friendly staff, the beautiful tropical feel, and relaxing on the expansive shaded beach. But between the seaweed and crappy food, we won’t be back. I think you could do better at other resorts. I will not be back to Dreams Resort & Spa or the Dominican. Thanks for the memories, but adios! Time to research my next destination!