Dreams Tulum Resort & Spa

December 24-31, 2025 (Deluxe Junior Suite with Preferred Club) Pros: -Check-in was seamless. Arrived around noon and was quickly driven to the preferred lobby in a golf cart. Enjoyed a nice cold beverage in the preferred lobby bar (drinks were excellent) as we waited to be checked in. Our rooms were available shortly after 1pm which was a nice surprise as checkin is usually around 3pm. -We dined at the Mexican and French a la Cartes (lined up at 6pm) and both had excellent food choices. We also really enjoyed the Asian restaurant with Italian being our least favourite. Tip: Line up at 6pm to avoid long wait times. -Poolside grill is convenient for a mid day easy snack (burgers, fries, nachos). Although this also resulted in long lines in late afternoon which led to a wait time of 20 minutes or more. I’m not sure why the attendant couldn’t keep a steady stream of burgers on the grill so that there would always be food available. -The Preferred club lounge is excellent (usually a quiet place to enjoy a drink) with the exception of a few large, loud groups. -Enjoyed the a la carte breakfast located at Portofino restaurant for Preferred club members. Tip: closes at 10:30 am. -The app for the resort is very helpful and would recommend downloading it (especially for information on the restaurants -which ones are open, their menus and their hours) -The loungers around the pool are higher quality than the beach loungers and provide greater support. Drink service around the quiet pool was very good. -Room service was fairly quick (40 minutes) and the burritos and sandwiches were tasty. The pizzas were not great. Cons: -Our first evening was Christmas Eve and there was a large buffet set up in the garden area. All a la carte restaurants were open (with the exception of the Mexican) so we thought we would try the Italian (Portofina). We arrived around 7:20pm and the hostess informed us there would be a 40 minute wait for a table. We left our room number with her and went for a drink. We arrived back at 8:00pm and the hostess told us we were the next table. After waiting 20 minutes, another hostess tried to seat us at a table but was stopped by the door hostess. After chatting for a while, she again told us the table was ready and then stopped again. They proceeded to make the table for a party of 8 and sat them. We were awkwardly standing in the middle of the restaurant being ignored by all staff after they told us to enter. We waited another 20 minutes and she just shrugged her shoulders when we asked for an update. We eventually gave up and went to the Christmas buffet where the host said an hour wait! By this time it was 9:30pm and so we just grabbed a plate and took it back to our room. AWFUL experience! If the restaurants have no reservations then they need to improve their system- they need to consider giving people buzzers for when tables are ready. -The phone in our room wouldn’t work- had to submit a maintenance request. It was fixed promptly though! -The beach can be tricky. There is no lifeguard -which I think there should be as many days we felt a strong undertow. A large part of the beach is not swimmable- there is one roped off section for swimming and you still need to be careful as there are giant rocks that you can trip or smash your toes on. Tip: stick close to the rope and you will be fine. The water is not clear-many waves and some days had a lot of seaweed. -The beach butler in the preferred section was inconsistent with his service. He can become short with people very quickly. Perhaps some extra training in customer service would be helpful or a change in roles where he doesn’t interact with guests. -Never received any drink service in the preferred section of the beach unless we rented a Bali bed. Also we were never offered a menu for lunch options although I did see some people have food delivered. Tip: The Bali beds cost $50USD for preferred guests. -The loungers on the beach are in need of replacement as many are sagging and not offering sufficient support. -Also staff should not allow guests to feed the birds on the beach as we witnessed one woman take food from her plate and hold it in her fingers while seagulls flew down and took it from her hand. This just causes more problems with the birds and should not be allowed. -The buffet was fairly small with limited selection. Unfortunately, there were often long lines. Overall, it was just average resort and didn’t live up to what we expected from the Dreams brand. Needless to say, we won’t be returning.

During dinner at the buffet, we had a very uncomfortable experience with a male restaurant manager wearing a management uniform. Our child was suddenly approached, and instead of calmly explaining the hygiene policy or giving a respectful reminder, the manager immediately used threatening language, saying that if it happened again, we would be asked to leave the resort. What made the situation worse was that three staff members, including the manager and other employees, stood in front of us while this was said, and it was done in front of surrounding guests, causing embarrassment and distress to our family. The manager also claimed that this was the “second time,” even though we were never informed or warned previously, which made the accusation feel unfair and confusing. We fully understand and respect hygiene rules at a buffet, and we would have immediately corrected the situation if it had been explained properly. However, the tone, attitude, and public manner of communication were intimidating and unprofessional, especially toward our family. As Asian guests, this interaction made us feel particularly uncomfortable. Regardless of background or nationality, guests should be treated with respect and clear communication. this experience significantly affected our stay. We hope management and headquarters will review this incident and improve staff training on respectful guest communication.

General food: Fresh fruit - daily papaya, pineapple, melon, watermelon etc... very nice Smoothie & ice cream bar - a real treat to have this available as part of the all inc, lots of choices very tasty and healthy smoothie options too Coco caffe - a little bit dark inside but nice selection of coffees, herbal teas, pastries and small sandwiches/salad, perfect for afternoon pick me up or pre dinner relaxing Mexican food - daily freshly made corn tortillas, tortilla chips, guacamole, salsa's, cactus, beans, Buffet: Breakfast: good: eggs, omelette station, pancakes, french toast, waffles, hash brown, veggies etc, fresh juices, yoghurts, porridge, cheeses, meats, fresh fruit, pastries & cereal Lunch & Dinner: Good overall: Always grilled fish, chicken, soup, salad options, plus pizza, vegetables, pasta station, fresh fruit A la carte: Seaside grill (poolside): great: put your name down on the list 1 hour before you want to go as it's a long wait otherwise, beautiful view and setting. Fish tacos, ceviches, fajitas and steak, quite good. Portofino (Italian): good: nice restaurant and staff. We thought the food was ok, focaccia and breadsticks plus soup was ok. Vegetable lasagna was good. Himitsu (Teppanyaki): very good: this was worth paying $20pp for as a dining experience. The chef was very funny and entertaining and the food was delicious with a very big portion for everyone El Patio (Mexican) & Gohan (Sushi): These were ok Rooms: Very nice and spacious, maybe a little dated but no issues at all. Lots of storage space, fully stocked mini bar, very clean and comfortable huge bed. Shower pressure and temperature very good and functioning ac (a little loud). Umbrellas and bathrobes provided too as well as a clothes steamer which was great for evening outfits. The fridge for the mini bar periodically turns on in the middle of the night which can be loud and disturbing, not sure why it does that. Service: Service and people are lovely overall, everyone is super friendly, goes out of their way to assist, keep areas clean,  special shout out to Geysler at the Relax Pool, absolute pleasure and always looked after us. Entertainment: App is very good with menu for each restaurant, and timings for daily activities and shows as well as map and general information. Brazilian show/Fire show - excellent. Christmas time (specifically): Xmas Eve - special dinner buffet in the evening for all guests with tables set up all over the lobby gardens and then live singers plus stages with performers. The resort was decorated and the food selection was the best we had all week, the desserts especially were so creative in design. That was followed by a really fun Silent Disco. Everyone made an effort to dress up and had a good time, we did not pay the additional amount and in hindsight it's not necessary. Xmas Day - there was a really fun foam party & Santa's arrival Beach: Stretching, dance classes, yoga, volleyball all great on the beach: special shout out to Erick, we love you !! Beautifully clean beach, not a huge stretch but big enough and super easy to access Around the Relax Pool, feel like they could enforce the already displayed rules for some loud inconsiderate groups Gym: Pretty decent sized gym and tennis court. Range of dumbbells, 2x squat racks, quite a few treadmills/cardio machines and yoga mats, weight machines. Quite spacious and does what it says on the tin. Pool: Relaxing pool - staff are excellent, couldn't do enough for you, very clean, always got a spot, drinks service Aqua aerobics in main pool, really fun and good music, choreography from the entertainment team, Erick again is so good ! Grill is there serving burgers, fries, hot dogs plus nachos and sauces, perhaps they could mix up the offering maybe some fish tacos or quesadillas or waffles/fruit etc.. To Improve/Note: World buffet: can feel like quite a dark room, could do with improving the lighting, keeping the curtains open. Same issue for Coco Cafe. Cocktails: perhaps a little more training as they were slushy, the ratio was a little off for alcohol to other elements, too frothy in the cream-based cocktails Signage: to be improved on food at buffets as to whether it is meat, fish or vegetarian. Also, no separate vegetarian items on the big grills/cooking stations and there are sometimes meats in the salad /rice etc.. so just be aware.

We just got back and had a great trip here. Staff does whatever they can for you and were friendly. The hotel is isolated so a nice empty beach to walk on. All of the restaurants were great except for the Mexica (if yo can believe that). The food there was generic and bland. They need to get the chef to use some of his mom's recipes or something... All others we really enjoyed and tried them all. At sushi order a boat (not on menu) as it feeds two perfectly. Pork ribs at the Asian were amazing. The pools were cleaned daily and no complaints there at all. The only negative I can say here is the water access off the beach is rocky. Even the roped off area has a large formation in the middle close to shore that I discovered by accident and had to crawl over with my wife to make it to shore. Once you know it's there you can avoid it. It is just outside of Tulum so we took a private shuttle to/from airport to avoid the many stops the airline busses would make on the way down... worth the $. I would have no trouble recommending this hotel as long as the water access to the ocean is not a main thing for you. You can go in and we did, you just need to know where to do it. We were there 9 days and were sad to leave.

Our family of 12 has been visiting Dreams properties (even before Hyatt took over the brand from AMR) for 7 years in Mexico celebrating Christmas together. We have stayed in numerous locations and have always had good experiences. The Dreams Tulum property DOES NOT meet the standards we expect from Dreams. The facility was significantly understaffed which led to long lines from services and long waits for services to arrive. The staff was very friendly and tried their best to serve with a smile. We commend the workers for their efforts, but they were unmatched to the number of visitors. Of the 6 rooms we occupied (in the Preferred Club area), 5 had EXTREMELY low water pressure in the showers. Women with long hair noted they had a hard time getting shampoo and conditioner out of their hair. We strongly recommend staying away from this Dreams property. Other Dreams properties we have stayed (Dreams Vallarta Bay, Dreams Jade, Dreams Sands) were exceptional and we would recommend staying at any of them.