Dreams Riviera Cancun Resort & Spa

My husband and I stayed at Dreams Riviera for a week and overall had a nice experience. We booked through UVC and arranged our airport transportation with Amstar ahead of time. I’m really glad we did because the airport can feel overwhelming with so many taxi and shuttle options. When we arrived at the resort, we were greeted right away by the bellhop and a UVC team member, which was a great first impression. Since we got there early, our room wasn’t ready yet, so we left our bags and changed into our swimsuits to enjoy the pool. It was nice being able to explore the property and relax while we waited. Once our room was ready, we got a call and headed back to the front desk to complete check in. Before long, we were on our way to the room with our luggage. We were really happy with the room itself and the location. After spending a few hours at the pool, I showered and took a much needed nap while my husband checked out the gym and walked around the resort. Once I woke up, I unpacked and got everything organized. I appreciated the amount of storage, especially in the bathroom since I had brought quite a few things. That first evening, we were both ready for dinner. Since it was Saturday, they had a seafood night by the pool along with a fire show. The food selection was just right for us, with paella and a few other seafood dishes, plus sides and salads. We grabbed a seat afterward and enjoyed watching the show. The overall atmosphere of the resort felt very tropical and relaxing. We loved seeing the wildlife, including iguanas and even a coati running around. There were also a few resident cats, and as a cat lover, I was so happy they were friendly enough to pet. I kept spotting them throughout our stay. We spent a lot of time at both the pool and the beach. We didn’t go into the ocean because of the sargassum, but the beach itself was kept as clean as possible, and we still enjoyed walking along the shore. We frequented the Barracuda Bar and really liked Jose. He was friendly, energetic, and quickly learned our names and drink preferences. He even surprised me with a few drinks when I wasn’t sure what to order. He stayed busy but handled everything so well, and I loved sitting on the bar swings and soaking in the atmosphere. While not all of the food stood out, there were definitely some highlights. The shrimp tacos at Seaside Grill were amazing. I’m not even sure what made them so good, but they were delicious. I also loved the pad thai at Himitsu. The noodles were perfectly cooked and the dish was full of flavor. I honestly would have ordered it again if we had more time. The desserts there were also incredible, especially the cloud cake and the matcha cake. Those ended up being some of my favorite treats of the whole trip. At El Patio, I tried a vegetarian taco that was the chef’s special, and I’m so glad our server Eddie recommended it. Speaking of Eddie, he and Carlos really made a big impression on us. We saw them multiple times at different restaurants throughout our stay. Carlos was always welcoming and cheerful, and Eddie gave us some of the best service we experienced. On our final night at Bordeaux, they went above and beyond. Eddie had the chef create special dishes just for us, and they both came out to explain everything. As someone who loves food, that was such a memorable experience. They also surprised us with a plated dessert that said “have a nice trip,” which was such a thoughtful touch. Of course, I had to take photos with them to remember it. Overall, we had a good trip and enjoyed our time at the resort. Since we used our UVC membership, our options were a bit limited, but this property worked out well. That said, I personally prefer adults only resorts, so I likely wouldn’t return for that reason. I did appreciate that there was an adults only pool, though. We also had the opportunity to visit Dreams Mujeres for breakfast and a tour during our stay, which was a nice perk and something we really enjoyed.

The pool was slimy, the food make five out of five of us sick. Other travelers that we became friends with were also very sick. My one friend lined up in the hospital.

We had our wedding here and it was amazing. The wedding itself was a great time. Annabel was our wedding coordinator and did a fantastic job. Outside of the wedding the resort was great. The only issue we had was the night club Desiree was closed the entire time of our stay and they kept telling us it would be open. Every bar closed after 6pm. The only bar open was the lobby bar until 1am. We were hoping some beach bars at night would’ve been open but were not. We had 80 people there so it bummed a lot of us out. Santos, Enrique, and clever were the best servers there. They knew everyone’s name. Santos was amazing at the seaside grill we went there three times to be served by him. Overall, great trip and everyone enjoyed there time

Average, not a 5 star resort, very noisy, you can hear every door in the hallway open and close. General noise level is loud throughout the resort. The buffet was small and not many food options. It was about a 20 minute car ride from the Cancun Airport.

Overall the Dreams Rivieria is a nice resort especially if you are travelling with small children. The kids pool and explorers club are fantastic and all we needed to keep our 4 year old entertained for 7 days. The seaweed was exceptionally bad this year and we couldn't enjoy the beach, but that didn't really impact our stay much. We travelled during slow season and that impacted the quality of the buffet food and service. We were not happy that we didn't have an a la carte option for breakfast as the buffet would run out of the good stuff early (yogurt, bacon, fruit) and we'd be left with the stale items that had been sitting too long or waiting in long lines for fresh made omlettes. The wait staff was also not very attentive at breakfast. On the flip side, the specialty a la carte restaurants were great, most notable were Portofino Italian and Oceana Seafood. We went more than once. Food and service were fantastic as both locations. I'd like to also mention Anontino the waiter. He was super and we were lucky to have him assist us at Himatsu and Oceana during our stay. He was kind and attentive to our 4 year old. We would have loved to try Bordeux but they don't allow children. House wine was great and better than expected. I appreciate that they serve rose in addition to the standard red and white. One note of caution is to avoid VIP Services like the plague. They call your room and leave notes every day until you go see them, so eventually we went to see them in an effort to stop the early morning room calls that were waking us up. We were coaxed into going to Hyatt Ziva, a sister resort on a free day pass, as a gift to us due to the bad seaweed. We ended up being trapped in a vacation club sales pitch that was supposed to last 90 minutes and ended up being 5 hours... we tried to get out but we had to sit through until the end to get our return taxi chit and the day pass we were promised. In the end we only got to spend 2.5 hours on that day pass and it left a very sour note on our trip.