We traveled to Dreams Tulum resort on Feb 6 thru Feb 13 2013. I was a little worried after reading some of the negative comments. The resort was great!!!! I am going to break my review up into sections to answer some of the questions that I had before I went.

Airport
We traveled thru Apple vacations so our transportation was arranged for us. It was a non stop ride to the resort which took about an hour and 15 to 20 minutes. Daniel drove us to the resort and Mateo drove us back to the aiport. They were very helpful and were great drivers.
At the aiport after we went through customs we were met by some people in blue shirts who acted like they were with apple vacations, but they were trying to sell us sightseeing trips. If you are traveling thru apple bypass everyone until you get outside and find the person in the flowered shirt who is from apple.

Hotel
We arrived at about 7 pm and were met with champagne and check in was a breeze. We were in room 8140 which was a jr suite ocean view. it was in a great location by the pool and the seaside grill. As for noise I didn't notice anything it was very quiet. It had a mini bar stocked with cokes, diet cokes, orange fanta, sprite, a corona beer. There is a safe in the room for valuables. The beds were comfortable.

The restaurants were good, we liked Portifino's the best (Victor) was a great waiter. I was not so impressed with the Mexican Restaurant (El Patio) I am from New Mexico and was expecting good mexican food. It had tomato sauce on the enchiladas. We were there for a wedding and the people we were with from Illinois loved the mexican restaurant so I guess it is what you are used to. The seaside Grill was great. The buffet was good for breakfast. All in all the food was good. Room service is 24 hours a day. It has some basic breakfast items. lunches are sandwiches soups and salads. We had the lobster one night which was $30.00 for two (This special is available at all the restaurants). This is extra not included in the all inclusive. Wine is not included in the all inclusive price either. We found if you went to dinner at 6 pm there was no wait. The later it got the longer the wait.

The Spa
We had a massage twice. The first day I had a facial which costs $119.00 but they gave me 25% off and gave my daughter a swedish massage for $75.00. The second day we had a hot stone massage (2 for $240.00) they are originally 189.00 a piece. It seems like you can negotiate a discount if you ask. The massages were well worth the money. I have the brochure of prices I will try to put them on line later. the spa was very relaxing and a great experience.

The sightseeing
My sister in law requires a wheel chair and the apple rep recommended the Chichen Itza tour and stated a wheel chair would be supplied when we got there. The wheel chair provided had caster wheels on the front and would not roll without getting stuck so the trip was a waste of time and money for us as we could not get her around. It was $100.00 per person and included a boxed breakfast, a buffet lunch and sodas, water, and beer on the bus. It was about a two hour ride by bus. Probably would have been interesting if not for the problems we had with the wheelchair. They also pushed the necklaces they were selling at the site. The tour guide was not very accomidating as far as the wheelchair issue. The guide on the bust Ricardo was great.

There is an ATM machine in the lobby, I meant to look at what cards were accepted but did not have a need to use the machine. There are pay phones where you can purchase a phone card for 20.00 but I am not sure how much talk time it will get you.

The dive shop does not accept anything but cash. My husband did a scuba training and a dive for $100.00. it was a little windy so they had to dive in a cenote. He enjoyed the experience.

There are several shops on site which you can get medicine, suntan lotion, swimsuits, hats, coverups etc. The prices are high, we bought some cough medicine for my daughter and it was 17.00. Suntan lotion was about $15.00.

The photo shop has photographers who go around taking fun pictures ( with birds and iguanas) which you can purchase. One picture for $12.00 dollars or all the pictures they took that day on a disc plus two printed photos for $40.00.

I thought the beach was nice. The staff worked hard on keeping the seaweed cleaned up. You did have to get up early to reserve your chair, but we were up early anyway.

Well, that is about all I can think of. If you go to this resort you will have a great time and receive great service.

Just got back from 10 days at Dreams and had a fab time. The staff and entertainment team were amazing. Lots going on at all times and the staff in the kids club were excellent.
We upgraded to a deluxe room near the beach which was a great decision as the rooms in the central courtyard are quite dark and a bit basic by all accounts but you're not in them long.
Lovely grounds, loads of iguanas roaming around, great pools. Does get windy and can't recommend factor 50 strongly enough especially for kids as the wind burns.
Lovely beach although sea is rough - there's a great cenote in the sea if you take a walk from hotel and left along beach.
Casa cenote worth a visit too and the hotel does walking tours there.
Breakfast and lunch excellent. Did find the dinners but salty or overlooked but I'm quite critical when it comes to eating out and my husband loved all of it.
Be prepared for a bit of queuing getting into the country at the airport.
Overall a great holiday and one we won't forget especially the kids!

The reason why you see 5 stars by some and 3 stars by others is completely dependent on which card you drew at check in! Half the resort is old, uncomfortable and very far away from the beaches, restaurants and pools. If you got one of these rooms, you probably gave it a 3 star. While the other half, closer to the amenities and pools/beaches, it was a lovely stay. We, unfortunately got the older rooms. While the food at most of the A La Cartes were pretty decent for an all-inclusive, the service was TERRIBLE! We actually timed the service in the Italian restaurant one time and it took 13 minutes before they came and took our orders...19 minutes to get our appetizer...and then 49 minutes after that to receive our entree! We didn't even bother to order dessert because we waited 15 minutes after we finished our dinner and they didn't even come back to ask if we wanted dessert...and it wasn't even busy! They were all standing in the corner talking and playing with their trays! But again, the food, considering it is an all-inclusive was pretty impressive. The Seaside Grill , which was their steakhouse, was the best restaurant there. The spa was mediocre and overpriced, but DO NOT PAY FULL PRICE! You can always negotiate there! We always talked the spa packages down at least 30% and we bought some of the photos that they take of your family throughout your trip and that you can also negotiate. I believe we talked that down 30% as well. While the front end staff was friendly, they were not all that helpful about solving problems. But the pool area was kept clean, the bathrooms were clean and the beach/water was lovely. We used the kayaks everyday and our 3 year old enjoyed his time between the pool and beach.

First off, this was our first trip to Mexico and an all inclusive resort. We stayed six nights in room 1205. Upon arrival we had a quick check in but awhile before the room was going to be ready, some people went exploring, others hit the lobby bar. Limberth the lobby bartender was amazing in all areas of service. He had great suggestions, made good consistent drinks and could serve them fast to everyone around the bar. Once in the room we found a pleasant room with comfortable bed, clean scent, stocked fridge and in general everything promised. We had very good luck with food, aside from not enjoying breakfast at the World Cafe, everything was great! The Chicken Sandwiches at the Barefoot Grill were amazing as quick snacks. Seaside, Patio, Sushi and Asian all impressed us with great food and very good service. The two fancy restaurants sounded great but we never got around to getting in there although some people in our group said it was great. The grounds were kept very neat and it was obvious by the amount of staff that they tried hard to impress. The beach was nice for both lounging and activities, getting schooled by young foreigners made for great times. We traveled off the resort two days, one to the Tulum Ruins and the other Xel-Ha. I highly recommend them both for travelers at this resort.

In conclusion, our trip was very enjoyable. Pleasant staff in all areas, good food at every turn and enough alcohol to get the job done.