Dreams Aventuras Riviera Maya

So this one was a toughie for me. I have been doing yearly Cancun vacations for the last 6 years, I now have a 3 year old and the switch up from adult only to family resorts was hard as you lose so many luxury amenities and whatnot. Anyway, last year my family and I stayed at Dreams Vallarta in Puerto Vallarta and were extremely happy with the resort and staff, we felt like we finally found a brand that would cater to our family needs and also to the adults in the group. Dreams Aventuras is located in Puerto Aventuras which is a gated community type of situation with private homes, hotels and so much more. The hotel is small and the entrance is squeezed in between condos and shops. You could easily miss it if you didn’t know where to go, the lobby is tiny and has check-in, lounge seating, a café and a restaurant. It can get extremely crowded when there are multiple people checking in and out but it was fine. There was no lobby bar, instead at night there was a small counter space where you might catch someone offering drinks, they were usually running around grabbing mixers and other stuff from other bars. There was a club type bar that opened at night and the other bars were in/next to the pools or beach. The hotel overall is outdated, the rooms could use deep cleanings, paint and fresh furniture. Our bathroom had weird stains on the mirrors, the couch was dirty and stained as were other parts of the room. We had a huge balcony overlooking the marina that was peeling, it was usable just had paint/stucco peeling and falling off all over. Our maid complained to us about leaving the balcony door open as it fogged up the mirror in the bathroom and also made a big deal about our requests for extra towels because we were a family of three and only had two towels. There was always sand pushed into the corners of the room after cleanup and she didn’t move any of our stuff to clean so countertops were not wiped down. Every other resort I’ve stayed at they usually organize your toiletries if left a mess, with a toddler we would run out sometimes and leave a few things out of place but all remained exactly where it was left before. Our phone did not work, it only called room service so we would have to call them and have them transfer us. The staff was also underwhelming, I usually note down names of those people who went above and beyond but here the staff seemed unhappy and rude at times. We would sit at the buffet and wait 15 minutes to get coffee, usually after waving someone down. Oh and we tip, we tip very well so not even that was motivation. Some of the pool and beach waitresses would not even crack a smile, it was very weird. My sister was given the option to book a preferred room but I was not, despite the preferred tower being family friendly, as soon as I added my child it was gone. If you were preferred you had a seafood option for lunch and a preferred bar and small café. Her room was half the size of mine and in the same condition. We both had toilet problems where it overflowed and had to have maintenance come in. We were told that during the beginning of our trip the hotel was severely understaffed which caused crazy wait times for food and other services. We waited maybe 20 minutes to have our order taken at an Asian restaurant and the food took another 40 minutes to begin to trickle out. Some of our table had random food (not in order) and others of us did not have food at all. Room service was fine they had a decent menu. The other restaurants were quite good in food, service did get better towards the end of our trip but starting off vacation with not great service sucks. The spa was small but nice and services there were pretty great as well. We rented/paid for a Balibed one day and that experience was also just meh. At Dreams Vallarta we rented a beach front private cabana and they offered up this special menu and all sorts of other goodies. The pools were not heated ( I don't get this, especially for family resorts where children go). The only heated pool/jacuzzi in the non-preferred area was murky and looked dirty. I felt like the other Dreams resort blew this one out of the water and was left disappointed, I guess they can’t all be winners. The good thing was that my family and I, we are troopers and make the best out of anything so although our vacation was a success the resort left a lot to be desired and the staff really did not seem happy to be there most of the time. I do have to give a shout out to Magali, my favorite pool/beach waitress she always wore a smile and had a great attitude. Also Johnnie who set up our spa services and Guadalupe who gave me the best massage I’ve ever gotten in Mexico! I don’t think I would return or highly recommend this resort in particular and would be cautious visiting others in the future. It makes me a bit worried that all of the hotels under the Hyatt name will have similar experiences. We did not choose this resort because it was much cheaper or anything like that but we could have stayed somewhere else for the same or less and maybe had better service and amenities. Read less