My husband and I returned to this resort after having stayed there 4 years ago for our honeymoon (it was Sunscape Tulum then). We had a wonderful time on our honeymoon and were very excited to return. It is still absolutely beautiful and they have added so many new buildings. There are wonderful things about this resort and a few drawbacks but all in all, we had a great time. I'll give a brief overview of each area:

Transfer from Airport:
This is very important --- pay the extra money for a non-stop transfer as this resort is about 1-1/2 hours from the Cancun Airport. We took the Apple bus the first time we visited and thought we would never get there. This time we had our own van and it was much more pleasant.

Check-in/Check-out
We had no problems checking in or out. We were greeted with a "Welcome Home" along with a cool towel and glass of champagne ( I had two!!) The staff was very efficient and friendly. Our luggage was tagged and delivered to our room immediately. I requested a third floor room (we booked an Ocean front Dreams Jr. Suite) but we arrived in the afternoon and could not get any better than a second floor room. I didn't push the issue but if I had to do over again, would have. Check-out was easy -- we called for our bags to be picked up and they came immediately. We checked out, the van came and off we went.

Room
We booked an Ocean Front Jr. Suite in the new Dreams section. Our room was beatiful and very clean. The rooms really look exactly as they are shown on the website. The air conditioning was great in these rooms. When we stayed there before (in what they now call Hacienda rooms) the air was barely cool and made the room just tolerable so we were pleasantly surprised this time. Our room was always made up by the time we got back from breakfast and turned down by the time we got back from the evening activities. For most nights, we came home to relaxing music and a different towel animal on our bed every night. They also left a schedule and weather forecast for the next day. We were very pleased with our room other than the location. With granite floors, everything above can be heard. Also the view of the ocean would have been much nicer from the third floor. We paid for an ocean front room but really got a pool view room. It didn't ruin our trip but I would have been happier on the third floor. One other thing to consider, a lot of the ocean front rooms are next to the activities pool which is quite loud between 7AM and 7PM. We spent most of that time on the beach or at dinner so it wasn't a big deal to us but if you plan to spend a lot of time in your room, you might want to be away from that pool.

Pools/Ocean
There are two pools -- the activities pool with a swim up bar and the quiet pool. The activities pool is part of the new addition and fun if that's your thing. They have music all day and activities at certain times -- volley ball, aerobics, salsa dancing, etc. The quiet pool is just that -- for relaxing and hanging out. Both have servers to bring drinks. We personally did not spend any time at either pool because we prefer the beach which is absolutely beautiful. We never had a problem getting a lounge chair under one of the grass roofs and we usually did not get to the beach until about 10:00. There is seaweed but they keep it cleaned up every day so it's not a problem. It is quiet rocky but as long as you bring water shoes, that isn't a problem either. The water is warm but refreshing. We took our own snorkel gear and went right off the beach every day. We saw a stingray and lots of tropical fish. We took the snorkel tour one day and saw more fish around the reef. We also saw another stingray and a large barracuda. The beach service was a little slow getting drinks but I think it was because they were a little understaffed. Eduardo was very friendly and attentive when you could catch him. Most people stayed at the pools so that kept the servers at the pools too. There was a lunch buffet on the beach each day too. Good for a snack if you didn't want to leave the beach!

Restaurants
We liked the World Cafe (buffet) for breakfast every day. It wasn't the best for dinner-- service was lacking. Bordeaux (French) was good but not worth a second trip in our opinion. Portofino (Italian) was great; we went twice. Himitsu (Asian) was excellent and probably our favorite. Went there twice -- get the red snapper! The waiters there were fun too. El Patio was good for an afternoon snack of guacamole and totapas although the guacamole was better on our first trip! Seaside Grille was so-so. We were not bothered by restaurants being closed on certain nights but we knew what to expect.

Bars
When we wanted a drink, we usually went to the Sugar Reef bar because it was central and near our room. We only had one bad drink and it was a magarita. Pina Coladas, Mojitos, Mudslides and Sombreros were all good. We aren't big hard liquor drinkers so the quality of alcohol available did not bother us. Red and white wines were good and Corona was on tap.

Entertainment
There were always shows scheduled in the evening. We'd usually catch one on the way back from dinner. The entertainment staff works very hard. As another poster said, sometimes the weddings interrupted evening activities. One of our favorite things was the movies on the beach but we didn't get to see one because on two of the nights that we planned to go because it was on the schedule, there was actually a wedding reception in that area of the beach and no movie. One other night the kids were having a camp out on the beach. Coordination of events could be better.

Spa
We had a couples Swedish massage that was wonderful!!! Jennifer got us a deal and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. You get to use the facility on the day that you pay as well as the day of your service. We loved it!

Tipping
We tipped at every meal -- usually $1 for breakfast at the buffet and $5 for dinner at the restaurants. We gave our housekeeper $2 per day and got great service (thanks Marco!) We always tipped for drinks -- a lot of people did not tip even when they ordered 5 or 6 drinks at a time. I would suggest being considerate of your servers -- they work very hard to take good care of the guests.

Now for the drawback --TOO MANY WEDDINGS!!!!!!
Before we went, I read a review that said it was like a wedding factory. I didn't think it could be that bad but it turns out, they were right on. We got there on a Friday afternoon and a wedding was just starting and I thought "How cute, there's a wedding over there." Then we tried to go to dinner that night and one of the restaurants was closed for a reception and the Seaside Grille had half of it taken for a reception. We ended up eating dinner at 10:00PM! The rest of the week there was at least one or two weddings per day! The wedding wasn't really a problem but as I mentioned, the receptions were disruptive of activities in which we would like to have participated. The biggest issue with the weddings is that they draw groups of people and they tend to be a bit boisterous and disruptive-- particularly in the evening when they've been drinking. I think you can have a good time without waking other guests on your floor at 2:00AM. This didn't ruin our vacation but was definitely a disappointment. Our first time there, it was mostly honeymooners and couples and we found that to be a little nicer than the "wedding factory."

Overall
It was an extremely relaxing vacation and we had a fabulous time. The few complaints do not outweigh the good things about this resort. It is still smaller scale and quaint while providing excellent accomodations and outstanding service. We would definitely consider going there again.