Dreams Vista Cancun Golf & Spa Resort - All Inclusive

“An honest review after 2 week stay”

Dreams Vista Cancun – Excellent Staff Let Down by a Hotel That Shouldn’t Have Been Operating as a Family Resort This was our third trip to Mexico, having previously stayed at two five-star boutique resorts. We understood that a larger family resort would naturally be busier and have a different at… more

Dreams Vista Cancun – Excellent Staff Let Down by a Hotel That Shouldn’t Have Been Operating as a Family Resort This was our third trip to Mexico, having previously stayed at two five-star boutique resorts. We understood that a larger family resort would naturally be busier and have a different atmosphere, and we booked with realistic expectations. Sadly, what we weren’t expecting was to arrive at a hotel that was effectively a building site while still being marketed and sold as a family resort. Before travelling, we read several recent TripAdvisor reviews mentioning that the hotel was in the process of converting to an adults-only resort and that facilities for families were being affected. Concerned by what we read, we emailed Hyatt before travelling to ask whether we could transfer our booking to one of their nearby family resorts. We never received a reply. Had Hyatt responded honestly about the scale of the work taking place, we would almost certainly have changed hotels. The Staff Deserve Better The biggest positive throughout our stay was the staff. Every member of the team—from housekeeping and room service to the restaurant, beach and pool staff—was outstanding. They were friendly, professional and couldn’t do enough for us. They are the reason this review isn’t even lower. Unfortunately, they were trying to deliver five-star service in a hotel that, during our stay, simply wasn’t providing a five-star experience. Rooms Our original Family Room consisted of two interconnecting rooms but was positioned directly beside the lift, making it extremely noisy and resulting in very little sleep on our first night. We paid extra to upgrade to a Master Suite, and this transformed our holiday. It was quiet, spacious and had beautiful ocean views. It was money we hadn’t planned to spend but ultimately felt forced into because of the poor location of our original room. Housekeeping and room service were excellent throughout. Pools The main pool is large and never felt overcrowded. Staff do a good job of managing sunbed reservations by removing towels left unattended for long periods. However, the pool floor is extremely rough. By the end of our two-week holiday our daughter had several cuts on her feet. Swim shoes are definitely recommended. Poolside Bali beds were available for around US$100 per day, which felt completely unrealistic. They were almost always empty. Food The food quality was good, but the choice certainly wasn’t what we expected from a five-star all-inclusive resort. Several restaurants were closed throughout our stay because of refurbishment work, leaving a much smaller choice than advertised. Vista Prime was excellent, but after two weeks even that menu became repetitive. Restaurant bookings open at 7 a.m. each morning through the app, and unless you booked immediately your preferred dining times quickly disappeared. Beach The beach itself is considerably smaller than neighbouring hotels. The staff deserve enormous credit for clearing seaweed before sunrise every morning, but once again construction affected the guest experience. Large sections of the beach were fenced off while new adults-only facilities were being built, making an already small beach feel even more restricted. Entertainment The evening entertainment was enjoyable enough, with fire shows, musicians and other performances starting around 8:30 p.m. After that, however, the hotel becomes very quiet with little else happening. Families Were Forgotten This was, without question, the biggest disappointment. During our first week the holiday was enjoyable. During the second week the construction intensified dramatically. Concrete pumps, heavy building work, noise and disruption became part of everyday life around the hotel. At the same time, family facilities were disappearing. During our stay: * The children’s splash pool had already been removed. * The Explorers Club had been relocated from its dedicated facility into a conference room and then into an even smaller room. * The Core Zone teen club no longer existed. * Surf activities were cancelled because of construction. * Restaurants were closed. * Large areas of the beach were closed off. * Lifts were unavailable while refurbishment work took place. Yet families were still arriving every day. What makes this particularly frustrating is that none of this was communicated before arrival. Hotels have every right to refurbish and reposition themselves as adults-only. They do not, however, have the right to keep accepting family bookings without clearly explaining that many of the facilities those families are paying for no longer exist or are heavily disrupted. It felt as though the hotel wanted to continue generating revenue while carrying out major redevelopment, leaving paying guests to accept the inconvenience. Maintenance The hotel also needs more attention to general maintenance. Room service trays and glasses were regularly left in corridors overnight. Empty cups remained around public areas, chipped tiles were noticeable in places and, although the refurbished lifts look attractive, they’re now so dark inside that it’s difficult to see the buttons. Individually these are minor issues, but together they stop the hotel feeling like the luxury five-star resort it claims to be. Location The location is excellent, with the ferry to Isla Mujeres around a 15–20 minute walk away. It’s one of the hotel’s strongest features. Final Thoughts We still managed to have a good holiday because we made the best of it, spent more time on excursions during our second week and were looked after by some exceptional staff. However, this is not the five-star family holiday we believed we had booked. The biggest disappointment isn’t the refurbishment itself—it’s the complete lack of transparency. Hyatt ignored our email before we travelled, failed to tell guests about the scale of the disruption and continued accepting family bookings while removing family facilities. Once the conversion is complete, I’m sure Dreams Vista will become an excellent adults-only hotel. But if you’re travelling as a family while this transition is taking place, I would strongly recommend looking elsewhere. Overall rating: 3/5. Without the outstanding staff, this would have been lower. Mexico is wonderful and we’re looking forward to returning in the future.

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“pretty, nice restaurants but no beach”

I went here for a solo trip to celebrate Myself when I was doing a few short stays working on my brand explorer award as a globalist. The property itself was beautiful aesthetically. The beach, however, wasn’t really existent. I would not travel here with family unless you’re OK with just using the… more

I went here for a solo trip to celebrate Myself when I was doing a few short stays working on my brand explorer award as a globalist. The property itself was beautiful aesthetically. The beach, however, wasn’t really existent. I would not travel here with family unless you’re OK with just using the mini waterpark on premises. I was upgraded to the preferred club as a globalist, which was appreciated, however, I’m glad that it was free because I would’ve been upset had I paid for it - the preferred club rooftop pool was completely overrun with no seats even on the Monday and Tuesday that I was there. The perk of the preferred only rooftop restaurant however I did use for breakfast -and it was lovely with a beautiful view and yummy Benedict. I used the spa for some services - nice staff - massage was decent but skip the water bath treatment - they just leave you out there aimlessly sitting in lukewarm water with nothing to look at, a definite money grab. The staff at the restaurants were lovely and added special touches when able which is appreciated for a solo traveler. The desk staff left some to be desired - I wasn’t given an upgrade even though there were plenty of available suites which was a bit disappointing but overall the property was well kept and well furnished.

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