Dreams Royal Beach Punta Cana

We stayed during a very busy week during Spring Break with our two children, 9 and 11. I was very impressed by the activities that popped up through the week: jewelry making, slime station, inflatables, dancing, face painting, cotton candy… We also enjoyed the water slides and several of the nightly entertainment offerings. So many great memories made! Our room was clean all week, and we enjoyed the room amenities such as the stocked fridge and snacks, robes, steamer, and umbrellas. The pool and public areas were also impeccably kept. Even the beachside restrooms were consistently clean. The beach was also nicely raked and cleared of debris. In short, the resort is well-staffed by an army of individuals working diligently to maintain high standards. We really liked the layout of the resort with the meandering pool and were lucky to be within a short distance of the main pool, beach entrance, towel hut, and restaurants (building 4.) Food and drinks were all pretty good. The buffet was hit or miss—not really our tastes and often not hot—and Mexican was meh. But we had great meals, too: Fusion, both for hibachi and ordering a la carte from the menu; surf and turf at Mecure; fish tacos, preferred breakfast, and flank steak, ceviche, and crab cakes at Seaside Grille. We also loved the burgers from Tides on the beach. We did have a few looonnng waits for meals: 90 minutes for Portofino, and 2.5 hours for Seaside. Seaside especially seemed like the kitchen was understaffed (though their food was our favorite.) It would be a really nice perk, especially for Preferred, to be able to make reservations or at least join a wait list via the app. Those were tough waits with hungry kids. Poolside and beach drink service was great! I’m not sure if preferred was worth it. It’s hard to say without having the non-preferred experience to compare it to. We did sit in the preferred areas at the pool and beach but anyone really could—they only check in the morning. And we did enjoy the a la carte breakfast and lunch at Seaside a couple of times. But I feel like additional perks are needed given the cost. My biggest negative is the main pool. The speakers were so loud that it was difficult to escape it, even if you moved 100yards away. There was an odd blend of drunken adult stuff—suggestive dance moves and songs with profanity—then activities for kids. I also longed for quiet hours. I realize the “new side” is quieter, but it also lacks the convenience of the old side. We did want to be near activities and close to the beach but would have liked occasional breaks from the speakers and shouting into the microphone. They started at 10am and it never let up. I also wish the resort limited the beach vendors a bit more. It would be nice if they were available at the front but unable to walk back through the rows of loungers. They were very polite and never pushy but being asked the same questions every 5 minutes got a bit excessive. Overall, great resort with a truly amazing staff of incredibly hard workers. It is quite sprawling and packed with people, but if that’s the vibe you’re going for, they do it well. Tips: bring pool floats and pool toys in your luggage as well as plenty of sunscreen. What you pay in a checked bag fee will be way less than buying that stuff on property! Bring insulated drink cups, too. They’ll put your drinks right in there. And opt for comfy sandals, not heels. We got about 12,000 steps a day.

Beautiful resort with excellent food and amenities. Stayed in the newer preferred section and loved it. Huge rooms, 2 full bathrooms. The only downside was housekeeping service for the first two days. Our rooms were not cleaned until well after 4p.m, and that was only because Marcelo our concierge got them to come. For the price of this resort one would expect that when you leave your room at 9am and only return around 4pm that the room would be made up! Our trip was made even better by our concierge Marcelo who went over and above to make our stay fantastic!

We booked through Expedia and never stayed at Punta Cana Dreams before. Here is the thing you need to know. There is an extension to the original main building called “preferred”, which is very disconnected from the main Dreams Royal Beach. It will take you 15 minutes to go to the beach either taking a natural walk path or taking a trolley, which is not bad but if you have little kids, it gets too much going back and forth. Another bad thing is all the shows and activities are in the main building so you have to take a trolley again to get to the main area. If you have little kids and they need a nap, it gets super hard to take them back to the “preferred area” . I am not even sure why it’s called preferred. There is literally nothing preferred about it. There is only one restaurant there “portofino”, which is also a breakfast buffet area in the morning. You will not get the same experience as the people who stay in the main building. My suggestion is book directly through the resort to ensure that you stay close to the beach and activities. This “preferred area” feels a lot like a downgrade or subpar option of Dreams. Also, our rooms weren’t cleaned daily even though we left generous tip daily. For the price we paid, it shouldn’t have been an issue. As far as restaurants: The best service we got was at Seaside by the Grille. The food wasn’t the best but service was above and beyond. The worst service was at Fusion. The employees were super slow and for not being busy, the waiter ignored our requests. We had to ask random employees for our drinks and food. Market place buffet area was not good. Mexican place was ok. The whole experience we had no idea what activities were going on as all that was happening at the man building. They need to be more transparent about that extension that’s not exactly part of Dreams experience. One lady staying in the main building had a monkey land experience through amstar tours and we didn’t even know about this opportunity. That’s just tells you that how different they treat people from preferred section than the main building guests. As far as transport, we booked hqt through Viator and had zero problems unlike other bad experiences booked through resort.

Great place and atmosphere for swimming and beach. Preferred is a must. Food is not great, I would say adequate at best. My kids ate a ton of ice cream.

We are repeat guests to this property, we did love it last time and this visit great as well. The quality of service, right from the smooth checking process with special requests being attended( Shout out to Arsimendy), to the helpful and smiling staff. Awesome food and drinks. everything was nice. We did not get a chance to enjoy the specialty restaurants. We had a toddler with us this time. The wait time was crazy, the guests should be allowed to book ahead, at least some of them. We thoroughly enjoyed the World cafe though. World Café. This was our only to go place for Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner because of a toddler we had in the group. The buffet spread was really good, 60% of the menu was repeated. They were good so we really did not mind it. A feedback on the service, men are not allowed if they are wearing tank tops, REALLY, in an all inclusive beach resort!! Looking at what the girls wear in todays world this is gender discrimination. The hostess tried to fit 6 of us in a table of 4 and kept insisting that it was meant for 6 when half of the restaurant was empty(while she was adding chairs and covers). Another day we were shoved in a hot corner without any ac. All of this was done by the same person. Guess she did not like our faces. They servers were excellent, attentive happy and smiling. Blue Dorado: The bar did maintain the fun quotient. Jose and Stacey made it even better. Interlude: Interlude was our favorite spot though out, in our last visits and even this one. The staff has changed from last time but the quality of service has not. Hardworking and smiling staff. Shout Out to Gerson, Luis de la Cruz, Nahun & Franklin. Good Job Guys