Not all Dreams are created or managed equally. The Good and the Bad: The rooms were spacious and open but our daily maid kept setting our air conditioner to 50 degrees, it was like walking into a walk in freezer when we would return to the room. Our room was Tropical View which looked out over the air conditioning units which made it impossible to have a relaxing time sitting on the balcony with the drone of the AC units. Room service was good and arrived quickly to our room. Restaurants: The World Cafe buffet is good for breakfast and that is about it. The El Patio was good but we had a 15 minute wait and when we arrived upstairs into the restaurant, there were more empty tables than filled. The service here was very slow as well. The Portofino was very good with excellent service. The Oceana was great for lunch lunch but their seafood was disappointing for dinner, although the beef filet there was very good. The Seaside Grill was good with plenty of steak options.
The beach was nice and easy to walk but the water on this side of the country is not as clear nor blue as the Caribbean. The mountains made up for the murky water though.
The pools were beautiful but there was no swim up bar and you were not allowed to have a drink near the side of the pool, it had to be 4 feet away. Dreams employees patroled the pool and would scold you if you took a drink anywhere near the pool. This got old real quick. We also were told not to get the pool deck wet. When we would get out of the pool and drip water on the pool deck the Dreams patrol would comment about it. Haven't figured out how to get out of a pool without dripping water. On one of the days, while we were sitting on the side of the pool with our feet in the water, a Dreams patrol employee showed us a notebook and pointed to where it said "Must take shower before entering pool and jacuzzi". We looked at him, as we were all already wet from the pool and asked why he was telling us that?? He gestured around us and there was a drink on the pool deck that didn't even belong to our party but to the people next to us. He obviously didn't speak english nor knew what he was pointing to in his book. It put a damper on the fun when you are being monitored continuously. It was not just our family group either, we saw other guests approached as well and we spoke with others who were disappointed in the "rules" of the pool. A daily irrritation was one of the condo owners would come out on their balcony and ring a bell repeatedly.
The best part of staying at the resort has to be Julio, the pool waiter. Julio made everyone feel welcome and was fun to interact with. The other servers should observe how Julio does his job and learn from him. On Julio's day off we had two diffrent servers that never smiled once. The shows were hit or miss. The Fire Show was very good and entertaining. The Magician was more impressed with himself than we were. I have stayed at other Dreams resorts and by far, this one is the more disappointing. This is a good resort for those who like to relax by the pool in a quiet atmoshere and are not looking for shows or late night entertainment.

My hubby and I just returned from Dreams Villamagna, with another couple for one week. The resort was at 100% capacity. It was a wonderful week overall, and this resort has some strengths but also many weaknesses. Previous Mexican resorts we've stayed at in the past several years were the Royal Decameron Nuevo Vallarta, the Barcelo Ixtapa on the Pacific side; the Barcelo Tropical Beach on the Mayan Riviera as well as the Catalonia Royal Tulum.
Upon arrival they try hard to ensure you get your “coupons”. We quickly learned that this is a way to try to get you to spend more money on high priced items (with a coupon discount). This does not seem like a very classy way to treat your paid guests upon arrival.
Pools: The pools are very nice here, and kept very clean. We sat near the ocean so did not experience any of the entertainment at the pool nearest the lobby. You are not allowed to drink in the pool or on the edge of the pool and this is enforced. The chairs around the pool are very nice, but we did have to get there at 7 am to get the chairs closest to the beach. We did not find the beach chairs to be very comfortable, and the beach vendors get a little tiring. The washrooms were kept VERY clean, but there is a need for a washroom closer to the beach.
Quiet Resort: This resort does not have a party atmosphere which we were fine with because we are not partiers. They did have a couple of evening shows which we did not go to. The entertainment area for these shows did not look very attractive, and there was no bar service there.
Lobby: the lobby is in major need of some nice lobby furniture. Not at all an impressive area to arrive to or to relax in (see pics). It would also have been nice to have more live music in the early evening.
Staff & Drink Service: I’d agree with the other reviews that the staff and the service are one of its greatest strengths. The drinks service at the pool and beach was excellent. The drink servers work very hard. We especially loved Lore and Carlos who worked so hard to please and made it very fun as well! Omar was also very good. The drinks were good but not always consistent. I personally had an issue with the hygiene of the way the drinks were served (nothing to do with the staff!). The would return to the bar with a tray of empty dirty cups, grab a bunch of unwrapped straws from the straw bin and put them in the new drinks as well as throw a bunch in their apron pouch. Also in the pouch was a cloth which came out from time to time to wipe the sweaty brow; no hand washing in between. This kind of grossed me out. “Corona” and “Verne” are two entertainment staff who made great efforts to remember our names and were very friendly.
Restaurants & food: We did enjoy not having to make reservations for the restaurants. We were looking forward to the Oceana lunch restaurant, but after the first two times found that their lunch food was not that great (see pics), so we went to the buffet for lunch the rest of the time. The buffet was fine for breakfast and lunch; not a huge selection, but enough in my opinion. The service was very good, they always came quickly to serve drinks and look after us. The restaurants did a much better job at dinner and we mostly found the food to be very tasty and nicely presented. One exception would be our second visit to the Portofino. We arrived at 6:30 when they opened and there was a line-up to get in. Once seated it took an hour and a half before we got our main course! Another couple who were seated about 45 minutes after us got their meal before we did. They didn’t seem to be able to handle that many people at once, and things happened very slowly!
Drinks: The wines are all far better than any other all-inclusive resort I have been to. They have two whites and two reds, and they pour them out of a bottle. I was not impressed with my first time at the Gohan Sky bar. I asked for Kahlua on ice and was told they did not have any, so I ordered something else. Fifteen minutes later our friend went to the bar and insisted that they must have Kahlua in that fridge and she came back with a glass. They save bottles and put them aside for special (or persistent) guests. I’m not a fan of that approach.
Mexican Night: We did go to the Mexican night on Friday and this was a very fun evening. It was held around the pool deck / buffet area. There was a Mariachi band and some Mexican dancers. A balloon guy came around and made amazing balloon hats for people, going from table to table. He provided many laughs and deserved tips because we understood later that he was not paid, but depended on these tips ... not fair! The service at this dinner was outstanding.
Rooms: The bed was very comfortable and the rooms were always clean. Nice rooms for couples. We had a tropical view (#2709) but could not enjoy sitting out there because the fans below sounded like jet engines, so didn’t make use of the Jacuzzi.
The staff did seem very open to feedback in the end, so I think they are trying hard to improve. I’d return again, but the price would have to be right compared with other resorts.

We have always had nothing but excellent experiences with the Dreams resorts but when you come home and have to spend 7 days in a hospital severely ill from testing positive to Salmonella poisoning it makes you bitter. The Oceania restaurant was the culprit, and it was the fish. Two of us fell sick in the night and the other two had a different meal and were fine. Found it to be very slow and also at the Oceania we were in ah when it was so hot and muggy that the table beside us had 4 fans on them and no one else had any, tipping means that much to the staff i guess, the more at a table the bigger the tip they must think. Not the case guys!! They had 6 people there and when they left we seen no tip left for the staff. Rooms were kept very clean. The hotel in general was very clean. Be aware of the time share people on staff that circle the lobby like sharks waiting for another load of people to come in so they can haul them off to their desk and get them to sign in. They offered us $100 off at the diamond show they have at the hotel once a week. Its in the sushi bar on the top floor and there is 5 items that you cant use your certificate for because they want you to pay for a taxi to go to town to their store. Joke! The spa was good but be careful they do the time they are paid for. Check your watch when you go in and check it when your done. Paid for 80 minutes and only got 60 of service so they re adjusted the rate when i left after telling them. My friend also found the same thing after i told her to watch the time. Notified the resort about our hospitalization and asked them to please respond to my email but no one ever got back to me so i have no choice but to share this with the public. Sorry Dreams Villamagna we are staying on the Caribbean side from now on, the beaches are nicer, the food is more elaborate and the service cant be beat.

My wife and I traveled to Nuevo Vallarta for the first time from Nov 10th through Nov 17th. Normally we travel to Cancun. I will say the area is beautiful. Really enjoyed being surrounded by the mountains. A couple things I did notice about the beaches and water. In Nuevo Vallarta the sand is much easier to walk on and the water is much calmer. However in Cancun the beaches are much prettier and the water is much clearer and blue. Ok, on to the resort.

We had a resort view room on the second floor. We booked our trip though Travelocity. Upon checking in they couldn't find our reservation. They finally did after 20-30 minutes during which the man sat on the phone singing. He then actually said we were lucky we got there so early or we might not have gotten a room. Seriously!!!! Also, while checking in I asked if we could upgrade to ocean view 4 or 5 times before finally being told to check back on Monday or Tuesday as they didn't have any ocean view rooms available at that time. No problem, I understand. On Sunday I headed up to the room to discover the room key didn't work. Ok, headed downstairs to get the key fixed. While I was at the check in desk to get this resolved, there was another couple checking in that also wanted to upgrade to ocean view. They were able to do so with no problem. So why was I told I needed to wait til Monday or Tuesday? Also when getting my key fixed. The guy never asked me for identification to see if I belonged in the room. All he did was ask me for my room number. To me this was very unsafe. I could easily say I am in room (insert room number here) and get a key.

Pros:

The rooms are very spaceous and very clean. Would be great for a family.

El Patio restaurant. Great food and great service!

Jesus the waiter in the World Cafe. Provided great service and I believe is a valuable employee to the resort.

Cons:

No drinking in the pools, this is STRICTLY enforced. I asked one of the waiters why this was a rule and he said so the PH balance of the pools isn't thrown off. He said they have a certain type of certification and would lose this certification if someone were to spill drinks. Someone else mentioned they do this to discourage people from peeing in the pool. If that is the case do they think kids aren't peeing in the pool? I highly doubt the kids are getting out everytime they have to go to the bathroom.

They will also tell you that beach chairs are not to be "reserved" by placing towels or your personal items on the chairs. I found this rule is not enforced. I would say by 9-9:30 am most of the chairs were "reserved" and good luck finding a chair by an umbrella.

Not enough umbrellas in the pool area.

Service in the bar/pool areas is hit or miss. Sometimes you have a server who is on it, sometimes you don't. Omar was one of the better ones.

With the exception of the El Patio restaurant, I found the food to be bland or boring. You have two options for breakfast. Room service (which we didn't do) or World Cafe. It is the same food everyday. What I liked about other resorts we stayed at is they would have stations that made certain foods to order like waffles or french toast. They do have those items here but sit in a warmer and become stale. For lunch there are three options, World Cafe (bland and same thing everyday) Oceana (bland) or Seside grill (four options Cheesburgers, Hot Dogs, Nachos, and Fries).

I was told there was an adults only pool. If there is, I couldn't find it. Everytime I was in the pool areas there were kids in every pool. I am assuming they don't enforce the no kids in the adult pool rule.

Some other things to keep in mind:

Not much in the area to do. About a 30 minute cab (20$) to the melacon. They are excursions from Vallarta Adventures which is close by.

I know some people don't like the bracelets some resorts make you wear. Here they don't require bracelets. Wearing a bracelet doesn't bother the wife or I. What this resort does is require you to have a towel card. When you get a towel, you give them your card. When done return your towel to get your card back. Myself, I would rather have the bracelet. I am not worried about losing the bracelet as I am with a towel card. A towel card could easier fall out of your pocket or beach bag. They is a 25$ charge for a lost towel card.

Not much night life at the resort. Fine with me but other people might be bothered by it.

We will travel to the area again but we would stay in Puerto Vallarta instead.

We have done many all inclusive resorts before (Sun Palace, Live Aqua, GR Solaris to name a few) and this one was by far my least favorite.