Dreams Aventuras Riviera Maya

We have been to many all inclusive resorts over the last 20 years so are very familiar with quality and how things work. With 10 trips to tulum area alone. We are 2 adults without kids and had a preferred club. Cancun Airport- customs is now a breeze than it was 20 years ago, every year it seems to improve. What has not improved is waiting for your luggage, expect minimum 30 min to 1hr. Plan snacks and water if needed appropriately as no water or food available in that area. The " gauntlet " (vendors) is the same, keep walking head straight until you get outside to the massive group of boards with your transport name. Highly recommend private transfer if you can afford as group busses take 2-4 hrs. Especially if going to playa carman and beyond to tulum. We use Canada transfers and never had an issue. Took 1hr to peurto aventuras. Rooms- we had a king bed on the 5th floor. The room was clean and air conditioner worked great. As it is on the ocean you will always have a musty smell but no "sewer" smell in our room. Everything was clean. Something to note they have good toilet paper here which I have never seen before, its always the thin stuff. Always had enough towels. Anything missing they would bring up right away. We did have Pringles and m&ms in our room, no beach bag or extra alcohol save from the dos equis in the fridge. Fanta, coke and sprite. They do have fresca in the resort as well. Bed was a good medium, not hard, not soft. Large balcony. Our room was generally cleaned between 2-5pm. If they ever forget the mini bar just call concierge and they fix it right away. Food- if your expecting nice Resturant grade food like at home then go to an a la carte hotel. The food here is very typical of all all inclusives. We loooove food and good food and always found things to eat here. Its all edible and tasty and never hungry. Really appreciated the no reservations at the restaurants as that can be frustrating when on vacation. And as this is a small resort it is very easy to go from one Resturant to a different one if full. Never had a problem for 2 people to get in no matter what time and had 2 weddings when we were there. Buffet vs a la carte. Always found enough food at the buffet for breakfast and lunch but it is very repetitive. We did the oceana for preferred once and just found it easier to go to the buffet, same food just food made to order at the oceana for breakfast. I'd say just order room service in the morning and eat on your balcony was even better and took only 15 min to get food. Even room service for lunch or dinner was good and recommend! Was a nice added feature. You will not go hungry in this resort. Food available all the time. Our favorite was portifino. Oceana and seaside grill was good, el patio unfortunately was just very slow service so our food was cold. Shout out to Issac and arman Drinks- this is were the preferred status comes in handy. You actually get good liquor and more places to get it. Without you definitely get watered down liquor. Preffered or not they have an abundance of water and pop and coffee everywhere which was nice! Amado in preferred club was great! Pools/chairs/ and towels vs prefered service For the 10 days we were there, it varied on chairs available. Busy resort then chairs were taken as early as 8am, beach chairs even earlier. For 2 people you could find some around the pool, but any more than that it would be difficult. More chairs on the preferred side pool and we're better taken care off. Preferred beach chairs were very used and definitely need replacement. In agreement that this resort needs more pool and beach chairs for everyone, especially that they have room for it, my only big gripe at this hotel. If you are adults only I would suggest preferred club as that pool is definitely quieter and yes kids are still in there but all depending on who's there. Half our week had kids the other half there was only 2. The preferred club also had a waitress that eagerly got you food and drinks and concierge that helped you find chairs or moved a sun shade if you needed. The main pool by the beach was very busy and loud music. The waterside was fun for everyone! I also liked that you had access to endless pool towels no pool towel cards or counting per room, and they had them always available for everyone. A very nice perk regardless of preferred status or not. Beach- great accessibility beach for people who just want to lay in the water or kids or people who have accessibility problems. Very nice slope to the beach, loots of room to spread out on a towel or play. You dont need water shoes if you stay in a certain section, If you go a little further out sure but not necessary. The sand is not cancun sand but not awful like other reviews say. Unless you have very sensitive feet you will be fine. No waves as it is behind a rock wall. Then go to the public beach were there are some but still small. Town- highly recommend walking around the town, as they have dolphins to watch and shopping. Also go to the public beach with access in the parking lot of the beach club. They have a security guard there who will help. No glass allowed on the beach. We rented a golf cart through Cindy Adam's and was great to explore! Staff- This resort had the friendliest staff I've ever encountered. Tip is appreciated but they are friendly regardless! They keep this resort very clean,! Do not waste your time on any sales pitches that they say will take an hour and they will give you an excursion for free. Waste of your vacation and just pay for the excursion because they get aggressive and it takes 3hrs not 1. Overall this is a 4 star hotel. It is not a 5 but it is better than most hotels in mexico in a reasonable price range that say 5 are definitely 4 star. I would recommend this hotel for families, people with accessibility concerns or if you are new to all inclusive. If you want adults only and a beach for walking and waves then lots of big resorts to choose from close by. Couples only get the preferred, it is worth it! Catalonia vs dreams I walked over to catalonia resort next door, the beach is easy to access and you are allowed to use it and vice versa. They do have wrist bands and dreams does not. I did notice and heard thr loud construction by the rivera maya section so be warned for the next 6 months. Just from observation only it looked more cramped on the beach and pools than dreams. And the beach is very sloped and rocky. Saw lots of people snorkeling. My only observations to note as have not stayed there Read less

We had a great stay at Dreams Aventuras Riviera Maya overall. It’s a smaller family-friendly resort, which we actually really enjoyed. There were quite a few weddings happening during the week we were there, but they were well organized and never interfered with our holiday. We usually spend most of our time by the pool on vacation, but this resort has a lagoon area that we ended up loving. Since it’s calm and not very deep, we spent most of our days floating around there and relaxing beachside instead of at the main pool. We stayed on the Preferred side, which gives access to an extra lounge, pool, and beach area. Because the resort doesn’t use wristbands and guests just provide their room number, the Preferred areas didn’t seem overly monitored, but it also never felt crowded. Our swim-up room itself was great, but it faced the main pool and beach area. This meant it was a bit noisy during the day and the sun moved off the patio fairly early (around 1–2pm). Our kids had a swim-up room on the opposite side facing the Preferred pool, and they had sun most of the afternoon. If we returned, we would definitely request that side of the building. There were several restaurants with a good variety of cuisines including Japanese, Italian, Mexican, seafood, and more. One of the best parts was that reservations are not required. Most nights we were able to walk right in, and only once did we encounter a wait list. The buffet is a bit smaller than what you might find at larger resorts, but there was still enough variety. The staff truly made the stay extra special. Everyone we passed made a point to say hello and ask how we were doing, and their friendliness really stood out. Overall, a great experience and a lovely resort for families looking for a relaxed and welcoming atmosphere. Read less