With some exception, we had a very enjoyable stay at Dreams Punta Cana resort. I booked and paid in advance for airport transfers through the resort. Unfortunately, no one was there to pick us up. So, after waving down a shuttle driver in the pick-up area I was able to get a shuttle to come get us. But it took over 30 minutes to do so. The trip to the resort was a 45 minute ride on a two lane pot whole ridden road.

Once we got to the resort we were greeted with a much needed refreshing drink, friendly and very helpful staff. Front desk check in was a breeze and although we got there at noon and check in is 4 pm. we were able to occupy our rooms within an hour and half. Drinks in the lobby and the AI buffet Lunch available to us made our wait comfortable.

Can't say much about the rooms. They were average Holiday Inn style hotel rooms. Maid service kept our room very clean and maintained. Excellent maid service. One day after our son's room had been cleaned his child's milk bottle spilled on the bed and the maid quickly came to our aid and re-did our sheets and bedding with some urgency. The king bed was very comfortable and had a great night sleep.

Although the AI is expensive, the food, drinks and food service staff was outstanding. Great food and lots of it. They serve top shelf drinks at all of the bars along the court yard and pool area. Pool was great and well maintained. Beautiful court yard and gardens. They had a fresh fruit cart with a staff person cutting up a verity of delicious juicy fruit.

Location was in the middle of nowhere but it was on the beach and we had a great time playing in the ocean. Beach was clean and we had a access to miles of beach for long walks. Excellent location on the beach with showers and tools being available throughout the pool and beach areas.

Warning! stay away from the resort casino. The marble on the roulette wheel kept rolling off and using a coupon with a matching bet was not allowed more then once a day. With the coupon we were only allowed to place bets on red and even ONLY. Not knowing that I placed the bet on black and the dealer moved it to red even while the marble was spinning. Guess what, it fell on black.

Coupon book we were given was worthless in most places within the resort. at the spa we could only manage a 40% discount per day on a $100 spa treatment. Coupons could not be consolidated to more than the value of the coupon. Anyway, don't fall for the coupon perks.

Unfortunately, free flowing booze takes a toll on some unruly young adults that become obnoxious, destructive and obscene idiots at 2 am in the morning right outside your door. I give credit to the security staff for responding to our calls. Otherwise, we had a great and enjoyable stay and would go back.

This resort is beautifully landscaped. Upon arrival they want to sign you up to go to their other resort so they can try to sell you a timeshare. That's not how I want to spend my first full day of vacation! One restaurant is closed each day for "members only". The buffet is pretty much the same everyday and the food is extremely salty! The drinks are watered down and don't taste like they should. If you walk the beach outside of the property there is so much trash it's a shame. Our card reader to get into the room didn't work when we got to the room so someone had to come and replace the battery. The room safe didn't work so someone had to fix that. It took two days to replace a light bulb. The lighting is the bathroom is extremely poor! The help is very nice and eager to please. We won't be back to this resort.

We went to the resort on Nov. 23-30th. This was our fifth trip to the Dreams, and by far the best one ever. We got upgraded to a honeymoon suite and the room was spotless, the bed comfortable and the jacuzzi was fantastic. The staff at this resort is simply amazing. I celebrated my birthday while I was there and was treated to a special dinner of lobster and filet mignon, champagne, and birthday cake, thanks to our favorite waiter, Manzuetta. He even cut his holiday a day short so he could be back in time to plan my party. All the waiters came out and sang to me, and Manzuetta even bought me a present. I mean, have you ever heard of anyone doing somthing so thoughtful? The staff in the World Cafe was equally awesome. They all go out of their way to make sure you have everything you need. All of them greeted us with hugs every time we entered the restaurant. The names of the staff that really went out of their way are: Willy, Eddry (the super-duper waiter), Judith, Jennifer, Jose, Edison, and Jonathan. The manager at the Mexican Restaurant, Francisco, also was extremely nice to us.

Beauty, one of the entertainment staff, even made special arrangements to have the Japanese restaurant opened for a private lunch, complete with a wonderful show by the chef. Beauty goes out of his way to talk to the guests and make them feel like they never want to leave this resort.

Even though we didn't have any children with us, the staff at the Kids Explorer Club talked to us every day. Patricia and "Chocolatte" were so friendly, and we watched them work and they were amazing with the kids. I wouldn't hesitate to leave my grandchildren with them.

The food was excellent at ALL of the restauants. Everything was fresh, well prepared, and always served with a smile.

The pool is awesome. I am not a beach person, so I cannot comment on the surf, but we did walk down to take pictures and the beach was clean, and there were plenty of chairs. But why anyone would want to leave the pool area is beyond me. They had waitresses bringing us drinks constantly. Letecia was especially helpful in making sure we got everything we needed, and she even brought us peanuts to munch on while sitting at the pool.

The coco cafe, which just recently opened, was delicious. It was nice to get a cappuccino after dinner or a pastry.

Nancy, the concierge, also went out of her way to make our stay so memorable. She knew it was my birthday and had a bottle of champagne and a plate of strawberries sent to our room. She joined us for lunch a couple of times, too.

I cannot imagine how anyone could give this resort a bad review. My husband and I are already planning our next trip to the Dreams.

Went to this resort from Nov 23-28th with 2 other couples. We picked this based upon travel agent recommendations, despite some mixed reviews here. The biggest factor to consider is that this resort, is on the Atlantic side. This means that the beach is not as nice, surf is rougher and the floor is rocky. One of our couples in the group when on excursion to the south side of the island (Caribbean), and they said the beach was MUCH nicer (bluer water, nicer sand, smoother, etc).

Overall, I was underimpressed with the D.R. While we were there, it was cloudy almost the entire time. It was windy, as well. Both of the weather issues are unavoidable, and happens anywhere. The drivers there are crazy! The ride from the airport took about an hour and was scary!

Went on one excursion (the buggy ride offered through the resort). It was essentially a glorified way for them to pimp their goods. Minimal off road driving. stops are designed to get you to their people's shops, where they all sell you the same mass produced stuff. I would have liked it more if the people actually were making a craft, or doing the artwork - I would have bought some more stuff then.

Rooms - got 2 double beds when we asked for a king. were moved the next day with marginal hassle. both rooms had water/mold issues. showers were warm. minibar stocked intermittently, if at all. TV and safe didn't work in 2nd room we had. beds were comfortable. one of our couples was grossed out by the sheets and "old man" smell in pillows. for as little time as we spent there it was fine.

DRinks - we did preferred club which offered some more liquors which other bars had. I liked preferred club but most others didn't think it was definitely worth it. they only have presidente beer unless you are in preferred club then they have coors light. they had crown and CC, but ran out of it at the club. mixed drinks seemed good. they didnt skimp on liquor i didn't think.

food - HIbachi was fun and tasted pretty good. buffet was popular but not great. for an AI, food was actually pretty good. actually probably one of the highlights. small portions.

staff - fairly friendly. didn't knock our socks off. we initially tipped $1 on each drink/order but stopped after we realized that they didn't seem to care. they never said thanks and it didn't affect the service. language barrier was problematic often. entertainment staff were great.

casino- horribly rude. don't know how to count. completely unfriendly.

spa - nice. great massage. jacquzzi was awesome. wish you could get into jacquzzi without buying a spa service.

pool - nice. ample chairs.

beach - rocky. dirty. windy. crappy

Summary: wouldn't go back to the DR. atlantic side resorts suck. food good. drinks fair. rooms ok. staff so - so. however, it was cheap overall. probably got what we paid for.