Pros:
- beautiful beach, half rocky for snorkeling, half sandy for swimming (go to the right of the beach near the seaside grill)
- rooms were clean and nicely appointed
- shows were entertaining a majority of the time
- last resort to be picked up and first to be dropped off for the chichen itza tours
- near tulum ruins and other fun excursions outside of the resort
- staff was very friendly
- decent pools
- always had clean beach towels
- decent drinks

Cons:
- FOOD WAS AWFUL! they served the same soup in three restaurants but pawned it off as different soups. If you have any distinction for good food you will be extremely disappointed with all your meals here.
- mosquitoes!!!!!!
- 1+ hour wait for any of the restaurants, and the service is extremely inefficient, had to ask repeatedly for things such as water.
- two restaurants closed each night
- wedding factory, each day there were at least 2 weddings
- only 1 egg station at the breakfast buffet 20 minute wait if you wanted eggs
- extremely limited beach drink service, maybe one server would come by every three hours

Overall:
We had a good time hanging out at the beach but felt like our evenings were spent waiting to eat at awful restaurants. My theory is that the inefficient service is due to poor management and a shortage of staff, not because the staff are lazy. In fact the staff were very hard working. Many of the servers we had at a 9:00am breakfast were still there at a 9:00pm dinner! If you are planning a wedding here understand that you will be surrounded by resort goers and other weddings. It will not be a private affair at all, and I hope you like techno music because you can hear it at the wedding site! One final tip the Dreams website is a huge exaggeration "unlimited luxury" is hardly the case.

Well I totally forgot to put my expierence at this hotel. I must say that the staff at the pool/activities crew were the best ever - never meet a group of hard working people who go out of their way to make you have the best time ever. The food was unbelievable and the service in all restaurants beautiful. I give nothing but respect for those who travel far to make our stay at any resort special and wanting us to go back. The views and rooms were not - only bad expierence was that my regular room had a leak in it but we ended up upgrading to a honeymoon suite and had a gorgeous view - loved the bathroom too. The only down fall is the trip to this hotel - so I suggest that you do a direct trip and pay the extra as 1 1/2 hours is too long after being stuck on a plane for over 4 hrs to get to Cancun and then travel that extra time with a kid and an elderly parent. So pack your bags and get ready for a great time.

My wife and I returned to Dreams Tulum after a three year absence. We had our honeymoon there in 2006 and decided to come back again.

There were a few glitches, and I'll list them first. First of all, not all restaurants are open for all meals. For example, Portofino and Bordeaux and Himitsu and Gohan are dinner only. El Patio and Seaside Grill are open for most lunches and most dinners, but not all. The annoying thing was that the daily activities sheet was often wrong about the restaurants. That was our biggest gripe. The World Cafe could have used a few more healthy entrees, but hey, we were on vacation.

Air conditioning is not quite a problem, but the upstairs suites could use larger units. It was never quite cold in the room, but never hot.

I thought that morning maid service came too early (8AM to clean the room is a bit much, so we wound up putting the do not disturb (in Spanish) card in the cardkey slot every day.

Even though you got spa coupons you still paid quite a bit for them. My wife had a 50 minute Swedish massage that she said was quite good, but even with the coupon she could have gotten a cheaper one here in Houston.

They need a little more in the way of entertainment. A karaoke set in one of the indoor bars would have been fun. The CoCo cafe (their coffee bar), was closed evenings but open in the afternoon. No one wants coffee in 95 degree heat at 3PM, but plenty of people want coffee and a biscotti after dinner. I would have opened from 11-2 and then from 6-10, but that's me. Excellent Costa Rican coffee, though.

Yes, the place is a bit of a wedding factory, but we were never shut out of a restaurant or bar as a result. The parties were one one end of the beach or in the plaza, and never blocked other guests. They did things right. My first visit there in 2004 was for my brother's wedding, and everything was handled smoothly then, and now.

I read a few other reviews, and was puzzled at the claim that bars did not use top shelf liquor. I saw a lot of premium liquors on the barback. Maybe the complainer didn't like the lack of Grey Goose, but that is only a middling vodka sold at premium prices, mostly to douchebags and choads.

What they did right: Service was excellent. Most staff spoke decent English (my Spanish is rusty) and they were very, very attentive. We heard, "My pleasure," after every request or comment. The resort is very well maintained considering it is ten years old and survived 2005's Hurricane Wilma. We had nightly turndown service, which was very nice.

Dreams obviously listened to comments because they set up a poolside grill every day at lunch so those folks at the pool could get a meal without leaving their lounges. You didn't have to pull on shoes and go to World Cafe, or shirt and shoes to go to El Patio.

The food at the "nicer" (what they call casual elegance) restaurants is excellent. There can be a wait sometimes, but it was worth it. We didn't get to the Italian restaurant until 9:15 one evening (we went to Cozumel that day), but we were seated at the bar until a table opened. We went to Bordeaux when they opened and there were eight couples ahead of us. By they way, that was the BEST French meal I've ever had. Himitsu had a wonderful ginger flan dessert. We went their twice JUST for dessert. We had room service for breakfast once, and I had zero complaints. Wonderful Eggs Benedict and the Hollandaise sauce was perfect.

Oh, one more glitch. They mean it when they say checkout is noon. We had a final lunch at Seaside Grill and got back to our room at 12:15. The door key didn't work. They fixed that immediately and sent the porter to get our bags and double check the room, all the while apologizing profusely. Turns out the computer controlling the key system automatically does that unless you request it. That happened to me once in Japan and another time in NYC, so I should have known.

I do have one comment about the location. Tulum lacks an international airport. It is a two hour drive down there from Cancun if you go by Apple or Best Day. Be warned that you are the last dropped off and the first picked up. If you plan on seeing the sites, rent a car in Cancun.

If you want to go to a place to relax.. chill.. or enjoy the local culture..this is not the place to go!
It is full of people, it is really expensive per day and it is just not my idea of a good time.
Try a smaller, cuter, cheaper and more beautiful hotel.. there´s a lot in Tulum!