Dreams La Romana Resort & Spa

We are at the airport waiting for our flight back from Dominican Republic after staying at the Dreams La Romana Resort and Spa for two weeks. This hotel is fantastic! We stayed in preferred club which was amazing. The highlights for us were: Staff - The staff all over the hotel from gardeners to chefs, from maids to front desk, bar staff, concierge, bellboys were happy and friendly and really couldn't do enough to make your holiday special. Pool area - All the pool areas were clean and well maintained, you could have fresh towels daily and there were always enough. There were plenty of sunloungers (a bug bear on previous all inclusive holidays!) and on the rare occasions where there weren't enough for a family you can just ask and they will get some more and set you up somewhere. You do not have to get up early to save sun loungers. There is bar service at your sunloungers both at the pool and the beach in preferred and normal areas. There is one pool that is preferred only for families, one that is preferred adults only and two that we saw that are for all. The main pool has an inflatable iceberg for younger children under 11. You can play with balls etc in the pool. Food - We loved the food, there is so much choice and we never got bored. The buffet for breakfast was fantastic with omelette and eggs made to order, pancakes, French toast and crepes also to order. Fruit, cheese, cereals, bread, Mexican breakfasts! I have a first family and no one wanted to miss breakfast because of so much choice! Tito at the omelette station deserves a special mention for awesome omelettes and a friendly smile every day. Lunch and dinner at the buffet were also full of choice and to a very high standard, fish, meat cooked fresh to order, sushi at lunch, salads, mexican, children's choices like chicken wings, chips, pasta! Other restaurants were great, we used Himitsu, Portofino, Seaside Grill (beautiful views) Jungle Restaurant. All fab food, great service and not to long a wait. Coco cafe is available 24 hours a day for coffee, sandwiches and pastries. Watersports - many are included in the price of you stay so we tried paddle boarding, kayaking, free scuba diving lesson in the pool (if you want to do any PADI courses you can pay to do this here - my husband and ten year old son both completed their PADI open water diving here in four days with Scuba Caribe, the on site water sports company.) Also included is Windsurfing, Hobie Cat sailing and others but I can't remember what they are! All in all, the holiday of lifetime and we don't want to go home! I would definitely recommend it and we would come back!

This was the second time my husband and I had traveled to the Dominican Republic and we had a amazing experience the first time we visited the island; albeit in a different resort. I had high hopes as I planned this trip as a surprise 40th birthday for him and arranged for two other couples that are close friends to book a vacation at the same time/place. So the pressure was on for the resort to meet expectations. When turning off the highway onto the resort property you truly feel like you are about to enter a paradise as the road gave the impression that you were entering a truly secluded resort. The check in process was fairly fast and the concierge went the extra step and changed accommodations so that we and another couple were in the same building (#4). So far so good at that point. After our bags made it to the room we changed to swim wear and headed to the infinity pool with the swim up bar (manatee bar). For the most part it was a nice pool. It definitely is in need of a resurfacing of the floor as you could feel chips and cracks along the bottom. Its mostly for this reason I gave the pools and beach a 4 and not a 5. The bartenders at this bar were great and truly worked for tips. Ask for the Superman shot. After getting ready for dinner we made our way to Oceana. Diner beware! The sesame crusted red snapper came out with burnt sesame seeds all over it. The stuffed chicken with crab meat came out with rubberized chicken wrapped around a gelatinous mass of mystery meat. Inedible. If you eat here stick to the beef. Which is sad for a restaurant that is "seafood". The next day we had breakfast at the World Cafe. Recommend the omelet station it will not disappoint. What will disappoint is the overall lack of service at the World Café. There was no discernable method to the place. Servers walk around aimlessly. Ordered coffee? You may get it the 3rd or 4th time you remind your server. Finally a manager noticed my displeasure and asked our server where our coffee was; but it wasn't until the second time the manager asked the server actually came back with coffee. We went back to the infinity pool and managed to "tip" the attendant into securing us an umbrella. Just so you know; this is the attendants money making ploy. He seemed to place random objects, deflated floats and towels on all the chairs. You show up and he asks how many you need; magically he removes the items and of course you tip him. Now I have no problem with that; it just seemed weird or maybe wrong is how it is. So expect to have to do that. On another day when we got there and the attendant wasn't available my husband just removed some deflated floats himself and took the spot; the attendant later came by and laughed that we caught on to the way it worked. After some drinks and lunch we made it to the beach. Truly a beautiful reef protected beach with gentle waves and warm water that was clear. Very little seaweed. You will also be amazed to notice the schools of fish swimming in the bathing area around your legs. Very cool experience. Depending on the time you arrive to the beach forget trying to secure a cabana or hut. If you do keep an eye out for when people leave for lunch you can snag one; but even that is iffy. Our second nights restaurant experience was at Olio and it did not disappoint; and even managed to make up for the experience at Oceana. The Manager at Olio; Edwin; was ACES. More on him later. The Greek salad was one of the best I've ever had; the seafood was excellent, the pork was excellent. Dessert was kind of a miss here but the food was excellent. Order the house wine do not bother with the bottle service. On our third night we had another pleasant dining experience at Himitsu. Our server was Angel and he was great. Very attentive and checked on us throughout the meal. Our table tried pretty much everything on the menu and everyone was very happy with the offerings. The pork dumplings, spring rolls, Thai Baked Salmon and Teriyaki Filet were hits. Try the fried banana it will not disappoint. On our fourth night dining experience is where the wheels came off. Unrepairably so. We went to the Seaside Grill as my husband loves steaks. This was one of the only restaurants that served a rib-eye. So he looked forward to it. After waiting awhile at the bar we were finally seated at 8PM. After salad service our waiter went missing in action. Never came buy to take drink orders (we walked in with our drinks). Around 945PM he came out with the soups the table had ordered. But never gave anyone a soup spoon. At 10 pm with no waiter in sight; tables that were seated after us being served their main course my husband had enough and got up and told the table we were leaving. Two hours without a main course. Two hours without a drink (not even a water). I honestly think the waiter forgot to put the order in. We made our way to Olio in the hopes the kitchen was still open. Luckily the Manager Edwin was able to call over to Himitsu beacause Olio was shut down for the night; and he was able to get us immediately seated and served; again by Angel. Once again Angel went out of his way to give truly 5 star service. And he was well tipped to the tune of $60 when we left. Our last nights meal was at Bordeaux. Everyone at the table was impressed again with the food and the service was good. The escargot, Three onion soup, beef tenderloin, and crème brulee were all excellent. For snacks the pizza bar by the main pool was OK, albeit they sometimes would run out of pizza quick, which you would think they would keep pumping it out at lunch time. Coco Café; while advertised as 24 hours a day is not in reality truly 24hrs for all items. During certain times there is no food available. When we checked out at 5 Am there was no food available to take as a snack for the ride. World Café is your best bet for lunch daily. Throughout the day on the beach they have special presentations for drinks and food. There was a Mexican day on Saturday with tequila tasting and tacos, another day (maybe Friday) where they made drinks in fresh cut pineapple. These mostly seemed to be ran by the entertainment group who worked hard to keep all the guests engaged throughput the day; so hats off to them for a job well done in that respect. For those that enjoy water sports there is open ocean kayaking and sailing available; just be sure to reserve your time in the day early enough because they fill up fast. Dreams La Romana billed itself as a five star resort. It certainly did not feel five star. And that was mostly due to a lack of service standards. There were gems here and there; but for the most part there seemed to be a laissez fair attitude amongst most of the staff and a lack of supervision or direction in the restaurants (a few of them). Our AMSTAR coordinator intimated this would be the case when we met our second morning there. He advised us to not give tips unless truly impressed and he was right for the most part. But we came fully prepared to tip well for excellent service. All in all, for the price paid we expected more. And if you are going to advertise yourself as a 5 star resort you should make sure your team is ready to deliver a 5 star experience. As a parting note; I highly recommend that you avoid the vendors that come onto the resort property around the towel bar selling paintings, metal trinkets, cigars, and booze. Also, use the duty free for your souvenirs as the prices at the resort shops are outrageous - example - 30 US dollars for a $5.00 tube of sun screen. I truly wanted to say more nice things about this trip as it meant so much to me to book it on my own. It was supposed to be a dream 40th birthday surprise vacation for my husband. I'm thankful he was a good sport about it and still enjoyed himself; but I still expected a much higher level experience for what was advertised.

This resort was gorgeous! We enjoyed every bit of our vacation there and my friend's wedding was incredible. The beach was lovely except for when you first enter in, it's a bit sketchy with some holes... But there's nothing the resort could do about that! Otherwise, food was good, drinks were great and the disco was a blast! Would go back for sure.

My husband and I just got back from Dreams La Romana Spa and Resort and it was absolutely fantastic. The wait staff were polite and ready and willing to help in any way. The grounds were absolutely beautiful and the pools and beach were amazing. Angel in the Preferred Concierge Club was especially wonderful and Chale in Harrison's Jewelry was extremely professional and helpful. We can't wait to get back there next year

We celebrated our destination Wedding at Dreams in June 2017. We spent 9 days at Dreams and it was wonderful. What stood out for us, and guaranteed our repeat business, was the hospitality. I have traveled extensively and have rarely experienced such warm hospitality. Everyone was friendly and truly helpful. I never had to search to find someone, staff is everywhere, and if they couldn't answer the question or help us, they would go with us to find someone who could. Our wedding coordinator, Bibia Marte was fabulous. We can't thank her enough for everything she did. Also, special thanks to Danilo and Ainsley for going above and beyond. : ) If you are planning a destination wedding, ask about the preview trip. Dreams will comp a 2 night stay (subtracted from the wedding visit total) so that you can preview the resort before committing. We were so happy we could do this. Totally decreased the level of stress I felt about having a destination wedding. The rooms are lovely, classically modern and clean. The grounds and beach are expansive without being overwhelming, and well maintained. The restaurants were good but not amazing. (I am a bit of a foodie, so take that with a grain of salt, so to speak.) Housekeeping was wonderful- always nearby and happy to supply whatever you needed. They noticed how much water we drank (bottled of course) so they left us a case! Perfect! Please note, just off the main lobby is a place to donate items to local school children, everything from gently used clothing (don't feel like repacking? Donate!) to school supplies. After the wedding, we honeymooned in the Bahamas at another high end all inclusive and it was such a let down. We wish we would have stayed with Dreams!