Dreams Royal Beach Punta Cana

The resort itself has am gorgeous layout with its lazy river, and a spectacular and well maintained landscape. The design of the entire resort which was made by the previous hotel chain, Apple Resort, is extremely well thought, especially by placing the main buffet close to the beach not near the reception away from the beach, as many resorts have it. The rooms are very spacious, with large balconies and a well stocked fridge. The resort was initially named Secrets Royal Beach, and the one beside it, was called Now Larimar. They swapped the resort names and reassigned Secrets Royal Beach to the older Now Larimar, and renamed the previous Secrets resort to Dreams Royal Beach. However, the actual Dreams Royal Beach is much cozier that the actual Secrets, with its gorgeous lazy river compared to the pretty boring design of the actual Secrets resort. Te beach is another big plus for Dreams Royal Beach being very deep with sufficient palapas generously spaced, not crowded into each other offering a pretty cozy experience and a fine white sand. The service is top notch at this resort, every employee starting with the gardeners, waiters, maids, and up to the managers are alway coming forward to fulfill any demand you may have. However, there is a minus at all this paradise, and that is the food. The new owners, the Hyatt Hotel chain, forgot that this is supposed to be a 5 star resort and they cut a lot in the food section. A lot of the food is pretty blant, even at the A la Carte restaurants, offering a limited variety and a lot of tasteless courses, mostly stews and vegetable courses drowning in sauces, especially at lunch and dinner. I am not saying that all the food is bad, you can find meats like beef, chicken and pork but you have to wait for them to to be grilled, and usually there is a line for these courses which is not acceptable for a 5 star resort. I remember that the menu at Majestic Elegance and Excellence Punta Cana, or Bahia Esmeralda, they always had ready made steaks, even the famous Fillet Mignon, or breaded schnitzel or skinless sausages ready made and kept warm. Another change in the wrong direction made by the Hyatt Hotels chain, is that they turned the resort into a family one. The resort was not designed with facilities for children, and on top of that, guests from the neighbouring resort Secrets Royal Beach, which is Owen by the same Hyatt Resorts chain, come to Dreams and take over the pool lounges and palapas which leaves the Dreams patrons with limited or no option to sit around the pool since they cannot use the facilities from the neighbouring Secrets resort. All in all, I would only return to this resort, if it changes back to the Adults only status, if hand bracelets with the resort name are provided since there are no hand bracelets provided, you cannot tell if a guest is from the Preferred Club, or from the Secrets Royal Beach resort that it had before and improve the food quality and variety.

This was our 4th time back to the Dominican Republic and the 3rd time at Dreams. We upgraded to the Preferred Club again and Junior provided exceptional butler service. He was so happy to help with anything we needed and kept us informed of the days activities each morning. It was my husband’s birthday and he went out of his way to make it special for him. Jefry and Miguelito provided absolutely fantastic beach service every single day. They were so friendly and welcoming, helped us with our chairs and towels each morning and we never had to ask for a drink. Marilyn was equally as fabulous serving us in the main show area, Interlude Bar. She was always smiling and made sure we were having a great time. She remembered our drinks from the first day and was super quick to bring us fresh ones. The food was good, as usual, however the Fusion restaurant really stood out. Finally, I want to acknowledge how great the beach security was. They really went above and beyond to make sure we had another excellent experience in Punta Cana. Although the vendors don’t tend to aggravate us too much and we always make friends, they can get pretty pushy. The security guards at this resort really made sure that our time on the beach wasn’t constant vendor traffic which we really appreciated.

Billy was outstanding at anticipating our needs and delivering them promptly. Delores was always greeting us with a smile! Maria did a great job making sure the room was pristine. All around great experience.