Dreams Punta Cana Resort- Punta Cana Vacation Packages by Apple Vacations

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“Fantastic Dreams Punta Cana”

We just returned from our 5th visit to Sunscape Beach now known as Dreams Punta Cana. We have previously been to Superclubs Breezes Puerta Plata, Beaches Negril, Victoria Resort (Puerta Plata), Occidental Allegra Playa Dorada (Puerta Plata), Gran Bahia Principe Samana, and several others.

Dreams is the only resort we have come back to even once - let alone 4 return visits!

It is pretty sad some of the negative reviews this resort gets. People who complain about this resort - get a life! If you're not happy here, I don't know where you will be happy!

We arrived during a tropical storm on the 23rd of September and thus the first night we had to stay at Gran Bahia Principe Punta Cana as the road was washed out to our resort. The staff were fine there, but it is definitely a step below Dreams in our opinion - and just reinforced our preference for Dreams. For example, the room wasn't anywhere near the quality of the room at Dreams. We had to wear those annoying wrist bands (which we don't have to at Dreams), we couldn't eat at an a la carte (which we can at Dreams - no reservations required). The TV in the room was quite cheap, and we couldn't wait to get to Dreams! The Staff were great however.

The next day we transferred to Dreams and things were spectacular. We were disappointed immensely that we lost a day of our vacation due to the flooding, and the rain continued the day of our arrival. No upgrades or any consolation gifts (like a free Spa treatment) were offered for the inconvenience. Admittedly the weather is out of the control of the resort, but the resort was less than 50% of capacity so it wouldn't have been a great inconvenience for them to offer an upgrade of some sort. For example, a couple on our bus was given a free upgrade when they arrived at Secrets just down the road 5 minutes away, and I think that would have been appropriate in our case too, but for whatever reason we, and the other party of 3 arriving at the same time as us, were not.

However, we had already reserved a Honeymoon Suite with a balcony jacuzzi with an ocean view, and it was terrific! It was well worth the extra price to have the Honeymoon Suite. We had already been given a free upgrade to Preferred Club due to this being our 5th visit at the resort and that was great too.
The Preferred Club is a nice idea - lots of stuff goes with this, but it appears to be an idea that is perhaps a little overrated on the website. Example, copied straight from their website:
"Preferred Club Benefits:
• Private Preferred Lounge
• Preferred Status and Amenities
• Concierge service
• Daily continental breakfast service in the lounge
• Afternoon hot and cold hors d’œuvres
• Exquisite desserts & fine liquors in the lounge
• Complimentary newspaper in room every day (English or Spanish)
• Free internet access in suite
• Free computer access in Preferred Lounge
• Upgraded mini bar service
• Upgraded bath amenities"

The upgraded mini bar I saw no sign of, and being our 5th visit, I would know! We got the usual - but that is pretty good. I did get Presidente Light and Bud Light after asking, but they didn't have the Heiniken or Miller Genuine Draft that other tourists had written that the resort was supposed to have. I also checked with the Lobby Bar and the Preferred Club Bar - no upgraded beers available (other than Presidente and Bud Light), but Presidente is a great beer so it was not a problem. If you're not familiar with it, I would put it easily on par with Molson Canadian, Labatt's Blue or most of the well known brands of North America.

The continental breakfast in the lounge we never once used, as there really was nothing to appeal to us - it was pretty much muffins and orange juice. The "exquisite deserts" my wife only tried once, and she had been looking forward to it for months. . . they were very unappealing and you could find just as good or better at the main buffet. The free internet in the room we were informed was not included - even after we pointed out that it was advertised on their website, and we had brought our 17" laptop because of this. We tried to buy it for the week ($60) which is handled at the other end of the resort btw, but were told it was cash only by them. We gave up and emailed a complaint to the resort. The staff relented immediately after we emailed the complaint, and we got it within an hour or so. It worked fine by the way - I think it is about 1 mb speed or less but that is fine for checking emails. The daily newspaper we had to mention a few times to staff before we finally started to get it, but in the meantime I could take the paper out of the lounge (Miami Herald by the way). Not nearly as good as the USA Today but it was still nice to read every day. It might seem we were unhappy with the Preferred Club but overall it was still a great experience! The Staff in the Preferred Lounge were great, and truly did everything they could to make the stay enjoyable. The bonuses from the Preferred Club included a private area of the beach which was hardly used while we were there; no hassle for beach towels; and a private bartender in the lounge who was always ready to make a nice drink and we never had to wait except for the time it took him to mix it. I would still want Preferred Club status during our next visit, but I caution people to have realistic (lower) expectations than what is advertised. They are building a separate Preferred Club lounge, so I'm sure it will get even better. BTW - they have free DVD borrowing as well as free internet access in the Preferred Club area (for the Preferred members) so you don't need to bring your laptop if you just want to use the internet briefly.

Food
My wife found it poorer from previous visits, and I found it much better! The pizza was definitely the best I've had in the Dominican (the pizza man will make it any way you want), the pasta was great (again they will make it your way), and the Philly Chicken Cheese Sandwiches and Mexican Burritos at the Oceana were outstanding. I could have eaten them every day. Also the hamburgers were far better than previous visits, and I would have been happy to eat them more often, but I was too busy with the Philly's. We were so well fed that we never ordered from the free room service - which we had done every visit in the past. The room service menu has improved too - and they've added the Philly! The French Fries weren't as good as in the past, but they were never that great anyway.

Bordeaux (French) restaurant was great. They introduced what I would consider gourmet coffees for desert - whipped cream, chocolate shavings, nice liquors in it. Very nice touch and my wife loved them (I don't drink coffee). We had a long wait to get in there our first time (1 hr 20 minutes! Yikes!) but it was the first time we've ever had a long wait in the 5 stays - about 30 a la carte visits! I think it was because we just arrived at a crunch time on a rainy day. If you arrive when the restaurant opens, you will never have a wait of more than 5 minutes or so. (Or I will bet 2 hrs after it opens will be okay too).

Mexican: We had a great meal first visit - I asked the waiter if he recommended Fajitas or Quesidilla's. He suggested one, I ordered it, and then they brought both! Great atmosphere!

Italian: we ordered Chicken Parmigiana last year and it was great, this year it wasn't breaded and had no cheese - just tomato sauce so that was a disappointment. Still, no biggie, the World Buffet was just a few steps away and we topped up there before leaving! If you can't find something to your satisfaction at the World Buffet you're just too fussy.

World Buffet: Always great. Lots of variety.

TexMex: They had a nice selection, but I hadn't had a burger all week, and they looked good, so I ordered a hamburger and it was great! Far better than previous years (thicker and properly cooked - you have to order beef "well done" all the time or it might come back rare). The service at all the restaurants was great, and I saw out of the corner of my eye staff watching our glasses - water, beer, etc. to make sure we were never low. How can you complain about service like that?

House Wine - not as good as previous 4 visits. Something changed, because we used to really enjoy it. This visit we just stopped ordering it. They were the only resort that had house wine we enjoyed, so that is a shame.

A great strength of this resort is the Staff, and I was pleased to see pretty much everyone from previous years was still there! Animation Team is still great! We only went to one evening show - a Magic act which was quite good, and there must have been 200 people watching it. We were up close and we had no idea how he was pulling the tricks off. The theatre is huge, so there is no trouble with seats by the way.

We had a wide screen and a conventional TV in our Suite. The reception was poor all week, but we watched DVD's so it didn't matter to us. If you can afford the upgrade to a Honeymoon Suite, we highly recommend it. It is so nice if it does rain to just relax on your balcany and have a jacuzzi and watch the ocean!

As with any resort, the biggest problem is the guests. Can't we have a resort rule where we don't allow them? Yeah, a guest free resort! . . . There weren't enough floaties because people ignored the resort daily reminders to leave them in the pool, and instead some hoarders would hide them under their beach towels, etc. I saw a group of kids in the water without one, so I gave them mine, while people in their 60's would hide theirs. I once pushed mine toward a couple in the pool figuring they would want it. They instead straightaway put it by their chairs! However, after 5 years, I would think the resort would just cave in and order more. I saw an air mattress there that I am positive was there during my second visit - 4 years ago so it's not like they get taken home. The resort was less than 1/2 full, and we didn't have enough. Order 300 more and have them stored at the side of the pool with staff, or use cards and dispense them like the beach towels. . . . do something. . . even if we have to accidently drown a few o f the hoarders - the remaining hoarders will get the message - just as long as we do something!

Tips:
Hey, don't forget these people only earn about $200 or so per month, so tips go a long way. I don't think staff expect it, but they deserve it. Everybody has their own ideas as to what is appropriate. I will say that staff will make drinks pretty much anyway you want them. I got crushed ice with my kamikaze's for example which my wife loved! Maybe the tips helped, I don't know. The staff will patrol the pool and beach and bring drinks to you, but they are overworked, so it may not come fast. I tried for the fun of it lifting a loaded drink tray from one of these little ladies that serve us drinkers all day. I'm 6' and weigh 240 and I was scared I was going to drop it! It wasn't light and I can't understand how they balance and walk with those trays. We tipped them every time they came by with the drinks and we did fine, and they were very charming and friendly and appreciative!

Donations
We brought along a sports bag which we filled with a bunch of used baseball gloves, baseballs, a few packs of school supplies and some footwear. We gave that to a wonderful Priest who says Mass every Sunday at the resort and he was very pleased to pass that on to "his children" as he called his parishioners and school students. He didn't put out a collection plate either, but people thankfully brought up their cash donations after Mass.

While we were there we overhead one sour puss say it was a 2 star resort! Get real! We once went to a 3 1/2 star in the D.R. because we got a great price, and we said "never again". It wasn't worth saving a thousand bucks and not getting Sunscape/Dreams quality. For the money, we haven't found any resort better - and I'm including Beaches Negril in that evaluation, which is usually twice the money of Dreams or more. I would take Dreams every time even at even money!

Language
I've heard some people say the staff don't speak English. Not true! They get by fine, and are better in English than we are in Spanish. How they even understand us with our Texan, Newfoundland, Scottish, English and Irish accents I don't know - but they do. I take lessons in Spanish at the resort every year which only last 15 minutes and are very useful and fun. They are just as good or better than any other of the other D.R. resorts we've stayed at.

Cool Stuff - they have a batting cage and mechanical bull and a ton of stuff for the athletic types and teens.

To summarize, I really don't have patience for people who complain about this report! If you aren't happy here, I doubt you can be happy anywhere!!!!