Dreams Karibana Cartagena Golf & Spa Resort - All Inclusive

“My stay at dreams cartegena”

Our experience was wonderful especially with the entertainment team. They out did themselves. They entertained us from day 1 to the end. We played bingo, aerobics, water sports, volley ball and that’s the highlight of my trip. Ruby was amazingggg, Elena and Evelyn too were wonderful and friendly. M… more

Our experience was wonderful especially with the entertainment team. They out did themselves. They entertained us from day 1 to the end. We played bingo, aerobics, water sports, volley ball and that’s the highlight of my trip. Ruby was amazingggg, Elena and Evelyn too were wonderful and friendly. Mauricio and Jonathan were great and certainly Made our time there worth it. Jesus and the other guys at the pool bar also were amazing. Over all, the entertainment team made our stay great, the restaurants were ok, front desk, well, ok.. Thanks to everyone, the ambience was good, room was excellent. Thank you.

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“Family Vacation”

We had a great time! I always find detailed reviews help me make decisions on our next vacation, so wanted to share ours to help others; Travel Safety/Hotel Security: We felt very safe at the resort and even when touring off the resort - the resort coordinates drivers and they also took safety ve… more

We had a great time! I always find detailed reviews help me make decisions on our next vacation, so wanted to share ours to help others; Travel Safety/Hotel Security: We felt very safe at the resort and even when touring off the resort - the resort coordinates drivers and they also took safety very seriously. There are large portions of the hotel that are outdoor so therefore not air conditioned as they are connected to the outdoors. As such, there was quite a bit of humidity throughout the hotel. This is related to safety as it became a challenge for the doors to shut - sometimes our door would not shut and we would have to forcefully pull it shut. Just be mindful of this at this resort and always double check your door before leaving your room. We saw other rooms with their doors slightly ajar, though we also noticed one time when it happened to us a housekeeper walking by knocked and then immediately pulled the door shut (we were in the room at the time). Noise Levels: They had a DJ by the pool set up by the kids splash pad and swim area though the DJ was really only entertaining adults. It was very loud and difficult to have conversations in the kid’s pool. The nightly shows were hosted outside by the adult pool most nights. These shows were very loud and could be heard within the rooms, though they ended around 10pm (a reasonable time). We brought white noise machines for our kid’s and they slept through the noise. Outside of this, the resort was very quiet. The beach/pool combo area was very peaceful and no loud music. The Beach: The beach had been destroyed by a storm - which we kind of knew based on reading reviews, but the hotel website seems to still be advertising it. We were told at check in with full transparency that the beach had been destroyed by a storm, but that a small renovated area of the beach was still available via shuttle - the shuttle was not long (3 ish minutes). Though with a stroller was difficult to navigate – the staff were really friendly with helping our family get on and off the shuttle. Earlier in the week they had a golf cart which was a lot easier to navigate in and out of with kids, but halfway through our trip we were told it was in for maintenance. The water was calm but murky on the beach and it was a soft sand into the water. You did not need water shoes to get into the water. The beach was very clean. It had a pool attached to the area alongside a fish restaurant. The fish restaurant (Oceana) was very good - though admittedly it was outdoors and the birds were very interested in the food - they would fly right in and take food right out of your hands while eating. This was hard with kids. There were lifeguards on duty. The chicken fingers at the beach bar were fantastic for kiddos! the empanadas were also excellent. Oscar and Miguel were great hosts at the beach bar! Preferred club: There weren't many bonuses for preferred club, so I am not sure if preferred is worth any additional money at this resort. For benefits - there was a private lounge that served breakfast that was nice – though the breakfast buffet had fresh pressed coffee and an omelette bar that was fantastic so hard to pass up visiting the main buffet. You did get one round of hydrotherapy in the spa - which was easy to book (we booked it one day in advance with no issues). The Spa: very nice, very clean, well serviced. Hydrotherapy circuit was a true circuit (steam room, cold shower next to it, sauna and a pool). Food: The food at the resort was mostly good! Sometimes they ran out of things (like salad dressing) and they did not attend well to the buffet about an hour after opening (I would recommend going right when it opens). There was limited variety in the buffet - often serving the same things every day, though generally the food was good. Sometimes, they had pizza and every morning they served fresh omelettes but there weren't many other food stations (e.g., no pasta station). There was a kid’s corner with kid friendly food in the buffet that was generally a hit with our kids (typically one pasta, and some sort of chicken or fish). Room service was basic but consistent and consistently good it does take about 45 minutes to come, but you can order in advance and book a specific time through the app and it consistently showed up at the desired ordered time - there were not many toddler friendly options on the room service menu – a few pastas – but no chicken fingers (which was sad because our kids loved them from the beach bar). Portofino - restaurant was generally slow for food and the food was not very good (rice was hard in the risotto, fish overcooked, one or two small finger sized pieces of chicken in the chicken pasta – this was the same for both evenings we tried to eat here so we did not go back again). The seaside grill (meats – like steak) though was excellent, and we ate here multiple evenings. We didn’t really drink on this trip but for those who do - they only had one type of red and one type of white wine included in the all inclusive menu and the rest you would have to purchase and they sometimes ran out of specialty drinks like strawberry daiquiri mix. Staff: The staff were all FANTASTIC!!! So kind and so nice. Always going above and beyond. There were enough staff that spoke English, but I would also say you need some conversational Spanish to visit Colombia. EVERYONE WAS SO FRIENDLY AND SO NICE TO KIDS!! I cannot say this enough. Kids were practically celebrities at this resort – we also felt this way anytime we left the resort on excursions (kids get to skip lines, get detailed attention, everything is kid friendly). General Resort Comments: It is a smaller resort which for us was really nice to navigate with kids. You can also tell they take great care in cleaning and maintaining the resort. Birds (turkey vultures and smaller birds as well) were a concern on resort. Many of the restaurants were outside so this was a problem. We also had a small scary looking spider in our room one day which is to be expected in South America though I know in other Caribbean destinations they fumigate the resorts. There were also lots of mosquitos on muggy rain days - though to be expected during their rain season - I will say it did not rain much while we were there even though it was rain season! It appears that there are many short-term stay guests at this hotel on the weekends and the weekends were often overcrowded and very, very, busy with service declining. The power went out in the hotel multiple times throughout our stay - you could tell they had a generator but sometimes it took time to kick in and often things like AC or electric in the rooms would not work (just the lights). We ran out of hot water in our room around dinner time two of the nights we were there. The hotel building and structures were always clean, but they were weathered (e.g., holes in ceiling, leaks in the roof, rooms smelled like mold and very, very, humid). I would bring damprid if you are going to this resort. They often closed areas of the resort for maintenance – like the games room for a leak in the roof. You could tell they took maintenance as seriously as they could with maintenance occurring in many of the rooms around us during our stay (they were doing some maintenance in the room next door to us during our stay but it wasn’t very noisy and only during daytime hours). Could be the humidity and the climate that makes it hard to keep up with, though in comparison to other dreams resorts, was not a standard we were used to seeing. Kids Club: Was great! They have a small outdoor area with a park and indoor area was clean, bright and full of activities. Parents can go for a tour but are not allowed to in to play with their kids, but there is a viewing area with seating if you wanted to stay with your kid. Ari was fantastic. She would also bring the kids to the pool for poolside games a few times every day and had the support of the lifeguard during these times. They also include any other kids who were at the pool at that time. There was a campfire night which was so cool with snacks by a fire and an outdoor movie. Games room: limited entertainment available. It had a pool table, ping pong table and video game set up, but other than that was pretty bare. Gym: Well equipped. I did show up for 7:00am scheduled yoga and no staff were around and the session did not run. Sometimes events on the schedule did not occur. Activities/Entertainment: The schedule of events posted was often followed for activities and the entertainment crew worked really hard all the time. There were limited entertainment options and there were not shows every night – that worked out for us with kiddos anyways. Pools: The pools were always clean and there was shade with umbrellas and some mature trees. There is a fun small kids splash pad that isn't well advertised or photographed on their website - this was awesome for the kids. Pool staff were attentive, but there is only one bar – in the preferred club area, though it was never very busy and food/drinks came quickly. The food at the main pool was also very good – fresh cooked burgers. They had games set up like basketball, volleyball, a big chess board, ladder ball and more pool side! Which was great entertainment. Overall, it was a great trip with generally good and consistent quality food though with limited variety and day to day could run out of items on the menus. The hotel had excellent service and friendliness of staff. The hotel maintenance and power issues occurred and we weren’t necessarily expecting that, but it did not detract much at all from our trip and the staff were so on top of managing it all! Considering all the pros of the hotel we were really happy with our stay and had a great time despite the maintenance/power issues.

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