Beautiful location. The rooms are spacious, well equipped and comfortable. We fully endorse what another reviewer said about beds being comfortable but “pillows suck”. Hard square pillows just don’t work. A warning to all the honeymooners, the doors between adjoining rooms are not sound proofed. Be warned you can hear everything going on in the neighbouring room. For those that can’t survive without WiFi, it is excellent around the whole resort, even the beach, and in the rooms.

A la carte restaurants all pretty good although menus not particularly extensive but there’s enough to choose from and largely delicious. Fusion restaurant for Sushi, Teppanyaki, etc. is especially good. If you’re Preferred we’d suggest Seaside Grill for breakfast. Raul was our favourite waiter and was really attentive. Buffet restaurant dishes not kept hot enough and left out way too long so the dishes dry up and become inedible. Buffet desserts consisted of various flavours of mostly very sweet artificial cream based cakes and mousses. Fresh fruit is wonderful though.

We were Preferred Club but apart from using Seaside Grill for breakfast (recommended) and lunch, it felt like quite a lot to pay for very little benefit. You still get served all the same non-premium drinks at the bars (the alcohol content was low). The Preferred Club areas around the pool were not restricted other than by signs which were simply ignored and no one checked anyway. Butler service didn’t live up to all the other wonderful reviews.

The resort is very clean (rooms, restaurants, pools, toilets, beach, etc.). They do a great job of cleaning up the seaweed too. Beach is soft white sand. As many others have commented, there are lots of beach vendors and very little the hotel can do to stop them. We found that if you courteously say you’re not interested, they will leave you alone and move on. Unfortunately the resort suffers from the ubiquitous problem of guests reserving sun beds around the pools, although signs suggest this isn’t allowed, guests did it anyway. Lots of beds on the beach though. Not sure how they do it, but no matter how long the sun shines, the walkways don’t get hot.

Struggled with housekeeping. Not sure why it was so difficult to get three towels in the bathroom; even after having to request extra towels for a couple of days in row, we still only got 2 towels for 3 guests the rest of the time. The filling of the minibar was also hit and miss, but they eventually got the message.

Evening entertainment is a bit hit & miss and the main event only lasts 45 minutes so by 9:45pm everything wraps up.

There are lots of excursions available. All priced in US$ but you seem to always pay in Dominican Pesos. Just be careful when you pay they have given you a reasonable and current exchange rate. We went on a semi-private tour (as opposed to the bargain tour) to Saona Island which was expensive but worth the trip. It’s really beautiful. It was a speedboat there, stopping off (with hundreds of others from the bargain tour!) at a sandbar to see the starfish. Unfortunately the starfish had decided to ‘move on’ so it was just drinks, snacks and (lots of) photos in the warm shallow waters. The photo package was way overpriced at US$200. Our suggestion would be to negotiate hard. We got ripped off with the exchange rate too when they used $1 = 62.70 DOP (the rate at the time was closer to 56.50). It was a catamaran ride back which took a little longer, but if you want to consume copious amounts of rum, this is the trip for you. On top of a US$500+ tour for 3 adults, you’re encouraged to tip everyone you encounter, so it’s an expensive day out.

SeaPro Water-sports in the resort will also arrange trips. We opted for a snorkelling trip for two with the ability to drive our own speedboat. Given this was a two-hour trip for US$150 you can imagine the disappointment when we only got to snorkel for 20 minutes on the reef just 300 yards from the shore. The guide took the obligatory photos and video. We were then whisked off to a “natural pool”. As we put on our snorkelling gear, the guide pointed out “no fish here” so we just bobbed around in the shallow water for 15 minutes (a complete waste of time). Another 20 minutes of the trip is then taken up by stopping off at a shop further up the beach from Dreams to view the photos and video. We did complain and Eliot did his best to put things right and thanked us for the feedback. We were offered a free snorkelling trip the next day, but unfortunately we were just taken back to the same place for another look at the same fish we saw the day before. We’re sure there must have been other options. Certainly not worth $150.

Check-in was run efficiently. You are given some US$ discount vouchers that can be used towards a Spa treatment; credit in the casino (@Secrets); a romantic dinner on the beach, a premium bottle of wine, etc., but you’ll need to spend some of your own cash if you want to use them. If you fit the right profile you may be given a special ‘paper key’ to exchange for an additional $200 Spa voucher. The catch is that you must attend a 90-minute Hyatt Vacation Club briefing “with luxury breakfast”. We went along not because of the Spa voucher (which we never used) or luxury breakfast (which was the same buffet breakfast we had every day anyway), but to hear what they had to offer. We had a tour of one of their premium brands, Secrets. This is their adult-only sister hotel adjacent to Dreams and is on a different level. It looked amazing. It made you feel like a second-rate customer at Dreams.

With time to reflect on the briefing experience, they used hard-sell tactics (e.g., limited offer and you must sign TODAY, upgraded level if you sign TODAY, etc.). We got passed between at least ten individuals in the near 3 hours it took (not 90 minutes as suggested). Each person providing more detail and apparently being a more senior person than the last one (to give you the impression you are important and you’re being passed up the seniority chain to get you the best deal; another hard-sell tactic). By the time we finally got to someone able to provide the price and details of the incentive to sign up, we’d already made our mind up and we weren’t going to sign without taking the time to review the numbers for what is a significant commitment. Admittedly some good sign-up incentives but really what does it cost Hyatt to provide 21 free nights for signing up to a long term commitment? Hysterically they initially offered a 40-year term; I’m 59 years old! There were other guests getting the same hard-sell experience. At one point whoops and hollers rang out in an already noisy room, when someone apparently signed up. We weren’t convinced that wasn’t staged or if they were “real new customers”. Could this have been another part of the selling tactics; it just felt like a well rehearsed show. When we told them we wanted time to consider all the numbers (and there were a LOT of numbers) and we definitely weren’t going to sign there and then, the attitude changed dramatically and we were literally abandoned. We completed their survey and told them we wanted time to consider the deal. Surprisingly they didn’t follow up. Studying the numbers and comparing with UK package deals on a like-for-like basis there’s really not a lot in it. The package operators get the very best prices because they effectively fill the rooms for Hyatt anyway. Of course you give up the chance of an upgrade by not being a Vacation Club member, but that’s not guaranteed as it’s subject to availability. What’s in it for Hyatt is that it incentivises you to use Hyatt brands rather than shopping around. This negative experience really took the edge off the start of the holiday and left a very bitter taste at how we were treated. Hyatt needs to take a serious look at their selling practices. We wonder how many others experienced the same treatment (we could see new arrivals being coerced every day by the sales folks). We’d love to know if anyone observed the same ”fake sale” that we think we did. Very disappointing experience and a waste of nearly 3 hours of our vacation. Avoid this unless you want to invest in Hyatt long-term.

Check out was equally as efficient, but the AMStar transfer from hotel to the airport was much too early. We had a 15:45 pick up for a 20:25 flight. We were are the airport 4 hours before departure.

Although stated as all inclusive, the only thing that’s given in quantity is the second tier alcohol. For top shelf alcohol you must pay to stay at a more expensive resort or pay to become a VIP member! As for the “Dream” resort the quality, quantity & amount of food served is ridiculous! That includes room service. I ate at 3 different restaurants, plus room service & all their menus lack a choice of foods! The buffet was the only place you could eat as much as you wanted but again the menu was limited! The Fusion hibachi served seafood from a frozen bag which looked & tasted horrible! The meat was just as bad! The Portofino restaurant served a meal that left one still hungry. The portions were ridiculously tiny. Like the ones you see on TV, where the person ask what is this & is told that’s their 8oz filet mignon! The amount of traveling, customs & transportation to stay at this “Hyatt” Dream Resort is needless to say “not worth it”!!!