It’s been almost three months since we’ve returned home from our trip in the Dominican Republic. Now that my tan is looooong gone, it’s time to share my thoughts on the resort before those disappear too!
Todd’s brother and sister-in-law asked us to come along with them, their kids, and their friends to Dreams Macao Beach, Punta Cana the end of January for a seven night all-inclusive trip. The dates and the resort were already set, all we had to do was book and show up!
There were 12 of us in total; 7 adults (ranging in age from 38 to 43) and 5 kids (ranging in age from 10 to 14).
Overall, we all had such a great time. This was the first time we’ve travelled with this many people, and it turned out to be so much fun! We all got along so well, and we were so thankful the vacation went smoothly for everyone. I loved at the end of the day meeting for a great dinner and talking about our day (even though we were pretty much together all day) and having lots of laughs together.
I do feel like when you’re travelling with this many people, something like an all-inclusive resort (or cruise) is truly the way to go. There was no stress of having to make decisions, or worry about meals or extra costs, and everyone had their own space to sleep and get ready. It’s just all around easier.
It was seven full days of pure relaxation and fun. There wasn’t a care in the world. I sat by the pool for hours, I read, I played in the waves, enjoyed some beautiful weather and sunsets, played games with the kids, ate some good food, and had many, many laughs with some amazing people. This girl really didn’t have anything to complain about! Wait, we did have a couple of days of overcast, but other than that, this girl truly didn’t have anything to complain about! (What can I say, I want nothing but great weather on a sunny destination vacation haha).
Dreams Macao Beach opened in 2020, so it’s a fairly new resort. Me and Todd were excited for this resort since we had never been to a ‘Dreams’ one before (the others had), and the reviews were amazing. It has 500 rooms and is only 30 minutes from the airport. I was very surprised to see the resort was actually in the middle of a town though, unlike off a secluded highway like others we had been to. FYI – this was our 6th all-inclusive resort to date.
After we arrived and got settled, we quickly explored the grounds and tried to get our bearings on what was around and where everything was. I’m going to be completely honest and say that within that first hour, my initial thought was, “is this it?”. Gosh, I really hate admitting that because it sounds….?? But, initially it was the truth.
Compared to other resorts, the lobby entrance felt a little underwhelming and the layout felt more open, yet smaller to me. For a ‘Dreams’ property with almost a 5 star review, I think I expected something a little more.
I will say there was so many good things about this resort, and actually as each day passed, I was liking it more and more. Let’s get in to the details, shall we?
Preferred Package
It’s important we start with this one as this will help explain some things later.
Not once have I ever been to another resort that recommends or revolves around a preferred upgrade like this one.
To upgrade or not? This was a dilemma me and Todd faced even before we left. Everyone in our group had booked the preferred package (it was the only option for them when booking), but we did not. I had read beforehand that the staff at check-in would try and get you to upgrade to preferred for an extra fee. Before our trip began, we both agreed that none of the ‘extras’ were worth spending the additional money on, and unless we felt like we were secluded from the group somehow, we weren’t going to upgrade.
Here’s what’s included in the preferred package:
– Butler service
– Private lounge with top-shelf liquor and hors d’oeuvres
– Adults-only private pool
– Preferred Club only restaurant for breakfast and lunch
– Private preferred beach area
– Variety of upgrades such as: premium bath amenities, pillow menu, upgraded mini-bar/room service menu, plus pool concierge and bar service.
The first thing they did at check in was try to sell us the upgrade for an extra $100 USD per night (based on reviews I know this price can vary). Instead of offering information about our stay or the resort, they spent the time explaining where we couldn’t go or what we couldn’t do. We ultimately said no, but they told us if we changed our mind we could always come back to switch anytime.
Personally, I just didn’t like this setup. I just think it’s not great feeling right off the bat that you’re going to have so many disadvantages or exclusions on your “all-inclusive” trip.
But after the first day, we both felt good with our decision. Not once did we ever feel like we were missing out on something or that we would have enjoyed ourselves more if we went the other route. In fact, at the end of our trip, all of the adults agreed that the preferred option was not worth the extra cost. If it was included, great! But it was not worth an additional $700 USD. What’s funny is that the joke of our trip was that not doing the upgrade resulted in your room getting cleaned on time (it’s true – out of everyone, we were the only ones who never had any issues with our room!).
The Rooms
We were very impressed with our room and, in fact, this was probably the nicest room we’ve ever had on an all-inclusive resort. We were in a Junior Suite Ocean View King room, and it was located at the back of the resort near the kids pool with the main pool and ocean in the far distance (building 5). While we were further from the pool and beach area, we were close to the buffet and restaurants. We had a large room with a large balcony and bathroom, and it all felt clean and new.
Just a note – a preferred upgrade does not give you a room upgrade.
Every day our room was cleaned around noon and we never had to ask for any towels, toiletries, or drinks. It was always there! As mentioned above, this was a little different from the rest of the groups experience as their rooms were never cleaned on time and they were always having to ask for things in their rooms that were forgotten. I guess just like with any place, experiences can vary!!
We all experienced leaking from the shower glass door though. The first time I showered, the entire bathroom floor was soaking wet. Needless to say, we all quickly learned to use towels on the floor when showering.
Food & Drinks
Overall, we were all pleased with the food. I’m going to go even further and say that I enjoyed the restaurants at this resort more than any other resort by A LOT!!! While the buffets were standard in my opinion, it was the restaurants that really shined! Every evening we had great dining experiences, and I didn’t feel like we were eating resort food at all. The food was amazing, and a few of the restaurants were modern and trendy.
There were six a-la-carte restaurants to choose from, and my two favourite were Bordeaux (the French restaurant) and Oceana (the Seafood restaurant). After experiencing Hibachi restaurants at other resorts though, I will say the one at Dreams Macao Beach was a little underwhelming (both the food and the ‘show’).
A few things to note: (1) the Bordeaux restaurant is adults-only, although they were so accommodating and let us order food from the Bordeaux menu while we sat in the Italian restaurant (since they were adjacent). (2) while it’s stated on the website that the dress code is semi-formal and men need to wear pants, we didn’t find this to be the case, and (3) reservations are not accepted and every evening someone from our group would have to go to the restaurant early to ensure we could get a table. Since we were a larger group, there were times they allowed us to make reservations the day of, but this wasn’t always the case.
As for the drinks, we thought they were all great and pretty standard for what you’d get at other resorts. Pina coladas and tequilla sunrises were my go-to’s!!! So good!
The Service
The service was similar to other all-inclusive resorts that we’ve been – amazing and wonderful sometimes, and slower and not so great other times.
I mentioned earlier that people in our group often had to wait for their room to be cleaned. After a long day at the pool, it left them a little frustrated around 4 or 5 o’clock that they’d have to wait outside their room for a half hour while the cleaners were in there. A couple of them were also disappointed with their butler (gosh, that sounds so fancy!!!) and found them not to be very responsive.
The only other time we felt the service could have been improved was at the buffet. A lot of times we would have to wait a very long time for a drink or coffee. And for a girl who needs coffee in the morning like she needs air, that one was tough!!!
Other than that, we didn’t have any bad experiences and we really appreciated those who made our stay enjoyable.
I will give a shout out though to Yolanda who delivered us drinks at the main pool area. She was fantastic and really made an impression on us!!
The Beach & Pool
We spent 90% of our days at the pool and beach. From the time we got up in the morning until when we went back to our room to get ready for dinner, I think the only time we weren’t by a pool or at the beach was when we were eating!! I’m telling you, it was such a hard week!! (actually, me and Todd did get to the gym one morning and played tennis and pickle ball two other mornings…that sounds better, hey?).
The main pool area was nice, large, and clean, with a great swim up bar. While there were times the main pool area was very lively, there were also times when it was a lot less busy and a lot quieter. In my opinion, it was the best of both worlds! Just like at any other resort though, it was sometimes hard finding chairs in a good spot, so my amazing brother-in-law would head down to the pool every morning and reserve chairs for all of us.
I will mention that the adults-only pool is only available with the preferred upgrade. All other 4-5 star resorts that we’ve been to has had an adults-only pool accessible to ALL adults, and I’m really surprised by the setup at Dreams Macao Beach. We wouldn’t have used this pool anyways since there was a large group of us (adults and kids), but I certainly would have liked to have the option to go to a different pool if I was there without kids. For a higher end resort, this one still blows my mind!
The big water slides, lazy river, and kids pool are great features of the resort, and seemed to be enjoyed by both adults and kids!!! Is it bad that I wished the lazy river/pool area had a bar?
As for the beach, I’m torn! Don’t get me wrong, the beach itself was lovely! It was beautiful and clean (no seaweed…yay!), and it had nice sand. The water was pretty clear, but my goodness the waves were very, very strong. The resort had a flag up on the beach and each day it would change depending on how safe it was to get in the ocean. We only had two days where it changed from red to yellow (take caution). I read a lot of reviews and apparently this seems to be an issue no matter when you visit. This obviously isn’t the resorts fault, but it was a little bit of a bummer during our stay. We took advantage when we could though (I love playing in the waves haha) and still had a blast!
I also just didn’t love the setup of the beach – there were barely any chairs (and in areas that did have chairs, they were so far back and off to the side that you didn’t feel like you were even on the beach), and there was no bar close by. I know it sounds like I need to be by a bar at all times, but I swear I don’t…I just think having the option on vacation is nice haha!
Entertainment & Activities
Something we enjoy at resorts is the nightly entertainment, however we were disappointed with what the resort offered while we were there. We spent seven days at this resort, and not once did we see anything held in the theatre. It seemed the majority of entertainment that was offered was during dinner hours, so most nights we’d only catch the tale end of something small that was happening outside next to the main lobby. And I know this sounds bad (I really hate saying this!), but the few things we did see were not very good.
There was a fire and cirque du soleil show on the beach one night, and I will say this was fantastic! For resort entertainment, it was well above average and we were all very impressed. But, this was the only night, our first night there actually.
When I compare all aspects of this resort to other resorts we’ve been, it’s the entertainment that was the biggest difference, and the biggest let down for us. We knew what to expect with resort entertainment so it’s not like we had high expectations. I just really don’t understand what happened here!
As for facilities and activities, there’s an abundance of things to do – lazy river, water park, bowling alley, arcade room, tennis and pickleball courts, ziplining, gym, surfing lessons, kids clubs, you name it. I heard someone mention that if you’re a runner though there isn’t really anywhere to go as the staff don’t recommend leaving the resort, and the resort layout isn’t really running or long-walking approved.
One thing we found a little strange was that the tennis court was actually a clay court. We had never played on one before, and while we were still able to play, we really missed the “normal” court.
The other thing I will mention is that some of these activities you have to pay extra for, which is disappointing when you’re going to an “all-inclusive” resort. The kids especially were bummed with this!
Some of our group took advantage of the surfing lessons one day, and they loved it! It was a bit pricey for two hours (almost $200 CAD), but they all really enjoyed themselves and said it was worth the cost. They were each given their own instructor, so it was one-on-one the entire lesson. Every single one of them was successful on getting up on their board and actually spent time surfing!
Overall: 7.5/10
Overall, the Dreams Macao Beach Resort was good, but just not wonderful! With the Dreams stamp, the resort being fairly new, and the very high ratings, I wanted more. Were my expectations too high going in? Maybe! But I just don’t feel it held up to the going-price of this resort.
In a resort, I want it to be clean and beautiful, which it was. I want it to have nice rooms, good food, and good service, which it did. But I also want it to be larger in size, not so open, more lush, very beach friendly and have good entertainment at night, and these are the things at the Dreams Macao Beach Resort that didn’t hit the mark for me.
Just like with everything though, everyone’s experiences are different. For instance, I know a smaller resort would probably be an advantage for a lot of people.
Overall though, we had a wonderful vacation, and if the price was good, I’d definitely recommend this resort.
Until next time.
0 Comments