Dreams Flora Resort & Spa - All Inclusive

“Resort closing for Renovations?”

Natura Park Resort, in addition to the current travel restrictions, the rumour at the resort was it had plans to close for 8 months for renovations. The overall resort design is really nice, the walkways, ponds, small bridges, wildlife is wonderful. No resorts to the left, lots of space between ... more

Natura Park Resort, in addition to the current travel restrictions, the rumour at the resort was it had plans to close for 8 months for renovations. The overall resort design is really nice, the walkways, ponds, small bridges, wildlife is wonderful. No resorts to the left, lots of space between resorts on the right, it’s quiet. The guest rooms are OK. But overall, it needs renovations to its basic infrastructure, not just new paint to replace the weathered colour schemes, but plumbing, room climate control, guest room furniture, public washrooms around the pool. (A set of their “premium rooms” overlook the busy poolside washrooms) The resort staff are best described as hit and miss. Some were excellent. Others never smiled or made eye contact. Others would react to the guests demeanour, they don’t naturally present a positive attitude. I always wondered what type of staff development occurs in these resorts.

less

“Mixed Bag!!”

Older Dated Resort/Great Food/Spectacular Birds/Seagrass Beach Kid friendly resort (no adult only pool or area). Clientele mostly Russians (majority) and a mixture of Italians, Germans, Canadians (lots French) and Spanish. Beach is sugar sand with lots of seagrass. Water is full of grass & ... more

Older Dated Resort/Great Food/Spectacular Birds/Seagrass Beach Kid friendly resort (no adult only pool or area). Clientele mostly Russians (majority) and a mixture of Italians, Germans, Canadians (lots French) and Spanish. Beach is sugar sand with lots of seagrass. Water is full of grass & beach cleaning is inefficient - 4 guys with rake and tractor but no machine. They only pick up 75% of sea grass and beach is never clean. Other resorts not around the lagoon have better and cleaner beaches. Resort next door has a couple guys and a wheelbarrow and their beach is superiorly cleaned. Poor tools not workers. Resort was not very busy and has lots of chairs on the beach; not many people ‘saving’ chairs. Lots of great kid programs and water sports. Pros: -Staff: friendly and attentive. Customer Service staff (esp. Julio, Jesus & Gloria) are outstanding as is restaurant & bar servers. -Food: exceptional for an all inclusive. Don’t drink the crappy coffee (weak, no flavour) use machine (good ground coffee). -Birds and flowers & fauna are beautiful as are the resort grounds (flamingos, egrets, peacocks, ducks with baby chicks). Walk to bridge outside lobby - dozens of turtles in water. -Doctor/medical on site -Store: has lots of nice souvenirs, including bags, sunscreen, bug spray and medicines. Don’t expect any customer service as those woman are inattentive and are in their phones leaning against merchandise. -Currency exchange on site. Use $1 us or $50 peso for tips. Also ATM in lobby & gate. -Screen doors (although ripped and don’t lock, but nice to have). -Patios/Balconies - although many not very private -‘Select’ rooms on nicest spot on beach but also ‘tired’. We tried to upgrade and shown same quality of standard rooms for $40us/day/couple; don’t bother. -Old beds but quite comfy with decent sized pillows. -Fridge replenished with water, beer & soda. -Lots of bars including 3 beach bars - good access. ‘Top-shelf’ drinks which are a slight upgrade for ‘select’ guests. Tips will get you better. -GREAT violinist in bar!!! -Night beach party. Lots fun loud music for the whole family. Runs into morning. -No pushy timeshare dudes on site which is a problem in other resorts. Not so Good: -Resort is old and majority of rooms are very outdated and worn. -Only 1 large POOL for everything (relaxing, adult & kid programs, sun tanning), super loud music and programs are irritating. Pool does have ramps for mobility restricted guests. -Smoking facility!!!! -Everything is about extra $$ (wifi, locks, lobster). SAFE $24 US/week to rent a lock. -No plugins in rooms except 1 (extension cord at reception) -No welcome drink. -WIFI: 15 free minutes a day; an extra 1 hour for Blau members and free for ‘Select’. $95 us/week to purchase. Archaic! Other resorts in area incl Dreams have unlimited free wifi. -Rooms identified on website not always honoured and certainly not as described. A guest paid $4000 for a superior room and received a standard old room. Moved to another standard room with no locking door. -NO 6:00 am continental breakfast or coffee machine until 7:00am which is opposite to what is advertised and guests going on excursions are caught off guard. -OCCUPATIONAL HAZARD - poor guy working under pool bar waterfall which is super noisy (12 hours/day) Totally inappropriate - why not make it a stream instead of wrecking his hearing? As a customer it was too loud and we left. -Birds sit on and eat pastries in restaurants and staff don’t shoo them away (they particularly like the corn bread just check for beak holes). -No hand sanitizer on site except one at lunch restaurant. -RESTAURANTS: Having to wait until 10am to book reservations for three a’la carte restaurants is a joke. The guy just sits there for hours every day not accepting reservations. Very inefficient and wrecks your morning having to wait and line up - everyone irritated. (Update, had to wait 6 days to reserve spot (3 in a row only option) not open every day - good luck if you want particular restaurant before your week ends. Pay premium for lobster. -Poor shows. stuff you saw in 1990s except the Dominican Show which was very nice. How many times can you hear ‘follow the leader’ music. Hardly anyone watches - just annoying noise outside of bar & only buffet. That being said, program staff give it their best to be upbeat and are engaging. -TV programs. Lots of multi-language channels including English if you don’t mind a 1980 format fuzzy small TV. -rooms have floods over bathrooms; ours got all our products wet. Maintenance guy came quick as did room cleanup. Usual occurrence. Restaurants: only open some days. Italian (basic food but really good cheeses & pesto); Fish (ok but deep fried calamari is good); Steak (mozzarella sticks yummy, steak tender but overcooked). We left tips after each meal but not sure if shared or if guy cleaning table got them. Take bug spray!! Malls: free shuttle to Blue Mall (nice expensive shopping); SanJuan $5 US (not worth it, unless want grocery stores). News: Blau has recently bought resort and is renovating it in the very near future. Lots of staff concerns as they have been told they will be laid off for 6 months. Apparently re-opening Dec 2020 but too much work needed to be done to open that soon. Don’t book here until reno is finished!!

less

“Beautiful Grounds, Resort Dated”

Spent a week at Natura. Check in perdon not welcoming at all, tried upselling to a select room right away. Wifi free 15 min per day unless you purchase or upgrade. Safe costs $24 for the week. Other staff cordial, housekeeping great. Rooms are dated( had a 20 inch tube tv) but room was clean. Fo... more

Spent a week at Natura. Check in perdon not welcoming at all, tried upselling to a select room right away. Wifi free 15 min per day unless you purchase or upgrade. Safe costs $24 for the week. Other staff cordial, housekeeping great. Rooms are dated( had a 20 inch tube tv) but room was clean. Food typical, nothing amazing. Pool was cool. Resort buffet and bars dark and need a make over. All that but temperatures outside were a lot better than minus 20 we left and came back to. Would not go back to this resort.

less

“Satisfactory two weeks.”

While this resort is older, and the rooms physically run down, the grounds are superb, it is on one of the best and secluded sections of Bavaro beach, and the beer is always chilled and instantly available. The food selection is more than adequate, with fish and fruit to spare. The service prov... more

While this resort is older, and the rooms physically run down, the grounds are superb, it is on one of the best and secluded sections of Bavaro beach, and the beer is always chilled and instantly available. The food selection is more than adequate, with fish and fruit to spare. The service provided by staff was considerate and well meaning. Particular mention goes out to bellboy IGNACIO, waiters TONY, CARLOS and MIGUEL, and beach bartender WANDER, all of whom were most professional and conscientious. Tip modestly, with American one dollar bills as a thank you. It goes a long way for these hard working individuals. Likewise, SIIANA on the Premium desk, and I.T. person ENOCH were most helpful. Keep your expectations in the 3 star category, and you will have a good time, particularly if you upgrade to Premium and take a look at the room before settling in. It is worth it.

less