Dreams425 Dreams Tulum Review 4/25/09

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Check In:

Some good and some bad. We did not receive our cool towels at check in and got our champagne at the very last minute as we were ready to walk away from checking in.

 

We were supposed to be in an ocean front room in the building closest to the beach however no ocean fronts were available when checked in so they upgraded us to the Honeymoon Suite in building 7 which was a bonus. We were a little bummed at first because it was farther away but our room was beautiful and very quiet and private and we ended up loving it.

 

My parents checked in with us and had a confirmation from our TA that they were in a Garden View Suite with a king size bed, but upon check in the front desk person told them they were in a room with 2 double beds, this did not fly with my dad. He was really upset and the guy checking us in was a huge jerk and continued to be a jerk for the rest of the week. Apparently the resort does not guarantee what type of beds will be in your room so be aware of this when you check in. Our travel agent did not prepare us for that at all. It ended up that my parents stayed in a Hacienda Room on Sunday night and were moved the next day to a Garden View Suite with a king. It all worked out but out of our entire group my parents were they only ones that did not receive an upgrade despite the fact that my dad paid for 9 people and 5 rooms, but at the point they were just happy they had a king bed.

 

In our contract from the resort it stated that all our guests were to have a “Private Check in†with the way it was worded I assumed that there would be a separate table for the guests to be taken straight to when they arrived. This was not the case. When we checked in we did not receive the private check in and when I asked about it the manager told me that once our guest were greeted they would be taken to the couches and would sit there and be given all of their information and checked in. This only happened for 1 guest and it did not help them to avoid the long wait at the front desk.

 

I would say the worst part of the week was checking in. Just double confirm things before you and be organized and prepared. The front desk staff is not good at problem solving or accommodating your needs so be very clear in what you want and get it in writing.

 

cont....

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The Rooms:

As I mentioned above all of our guests were upgraded except for my parents which was really nice. This was done without even asking.

 

Our Honeymoon Suite was beautiful and spacious. Plenty of room for all of the girls to get ready! I did get to see the Hacienda rooms as well as the Dreams Suites, I thought they were all very nice. I would say if your are trying to decide between booking and paying for an ocean view/front or the Honeymoon suite just book the lower category, I don’t think there was that much of a difference space wise and there is a good chance you could get moved up into a Honeymoon Suite anyways.

 

Housekeeping – Felix our housekeeping staff member was wonderful! We tipped him at the beginning of the week and he took very good care of us all week. Some of our other guests did not have the same experience unfortunately. Many of the guests said that their room service dishes were never taken out of the room and their refrigerators were never refilled their entire stay!!! I wish they would have let me know before the week was over, but they didn’t want me to be upset about anything. If something isn’t right make sure you call the housekeeping extension!! The one time I did have to call for our room to be cleaned at a certain time and it was taken care of right away

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Food:

I have to admit I was very uneasy about the food quality before getting there but I was pleasantly surprised. We have never chosen the All Inclusive route before because I am always concerned about food, but Dreams does a nice job and I would consider doing it again. Some nights were better than others but overall I was really happy. I’m a vegetarian and a picky eater and I definitely ate my share last week! All of our guests were thrilled as well. I have to say my favorite meal was the Mexican Fiesta! What a spread! I didn’t get a chance to eat at the Asian restaurant but all of the guests said this was the best one so don’t miss it like I did! Breakfast was wonderful every day also.

 

My only note on the restaurants is that service is extremely slow! Don’t wait until you’re starving to go eat.

 

Overall Service:

 

The one part of the trip I found disappointing is that I was really expecting amazing five star service, it’s not. Some aspects are really great but mostly its just not good. Part of first class service is going beyond your guests expectations and the only person I felt that did that was Landy our wedding coordinator. The front desk staff was terrible and didn’t solve any of the problems we had throughout the week. I know everyone on here has raved about the service so its possible that it had to do with the fact that the resort was at capacity all week. It wasn’t just our group though that had issues, every time I met a guest in the lobby there was some guest at the front desk fighting with them about one issue or another.

 

Please know that even though the service was not good our whole party still had so much fun and was thrilled to be there.

 

The Beach:

The beach is pretty, not like most Caribbean beaches because of the reef but it is still tropical and the water is turquoise. The best part about the beach is that even though the resort was at capacity we never had trouble getting chairs and we never felt crowded. Getting chairs by the pool was another story though, luckily we prefer the beach. I recommend going all the way to the end in front of seaside grill.

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Spa:

The Spa is beautiful but again, service not so great! Throughout the week I had my legs waxed, we had 2 couples massages and then my hair done the day of the wedding. The major screw up of the week was that my friends had purchased us a gift certificate for a couples massage with champagne and chocolate covered strawberries in the VIP room. Well, when we arrive for our couples massage we didn’t know we were booked for the additional items and we never received them! So when my MOH arrived and found out we didn’t get the rest of the package she complained to Jennifer and they booked us for another night with the full package. The resort also screwed up because my MOH ordered us a bottle of champagne and fruit plate to be delivered to our room the first night and we never received that either. I found both men working the front desk of the spa to be very rude when I checked in for my services.

 

On a positive note…me, my mom, and bridesmaids all had our hair done at the spa and we all loved it! Mine wasn’t anything like the picture I took but I was still very happy with it. Trinidad is a pro! My mom had her makeup done and it looked pretty, I touched it up slightly when we got to my room but the girl did a nice job overall. I ended up doing my makeup because I had not read any good reviews about it.

 

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Fishing Charter – Captain Ricks:

Unfortunately the guys went fishing on the windiest day of the week. The sea was really rough making for bad fishing conditions. It was too rough for them to even drink the beer I ordered for them! The good side was that they caught a dolphin fish, and a mackerel. Their captain sucked and was rude but their equipment and boats are first class. The booking process was also very easy.

 

I ordered boxed lunches for them through room service the night before they left and they were delivered to the lobby in the morning for the guys to take on the shuttle with them. If your group is big eaters order extra! The sandwiches consist of bread, 1 slice of ham and 1 slice of cheese J

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Bonfire:

The bonfire on the beach was a really fun get together and welcome party for our guests. We took all of the stuff to make smores with us but hardly anybody made them! I ended up leaving a case of graham crackers from Sams club sitting in our room because I wasn’t carrying them all the way back here. It was my best friend’s birthday just a couple days before so I ordered a birthday cake for her through the concierge and had it delivered to the fire. The cake was awesome and she was so surprised! The chocolate cake was so yummy! This night was really a blast, I highly recommend it!

 

Rehearsal Dinner:

Wonderful!!! Everything was perfect for our rehearsal dinner. We did the ceremony rehearsal at 6:30 and had dinner in the World Café. I ordered a screen for a slideshow and it was delivered and set up by 6:00, I went in and set up the projector and got the slideshow ready. The staff this night was amazing! We ate from the buffet and the chef prepared the dolphin fish the guys caught earlier in the day for us! Like I said I’m a vegetarian so I didn’t eat it but our guests were amazed and everyone is still talking about the fish and the fact that they did this for us. The Chef even came out and presented it and what seasoning it had on it (he prepared it 2 different ways).

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The WEDDING:

First of all I should say that whatever Landy gets paid is not enough. She is one of the hardest workers I have ever seen and her attention to detail is amazing. I have an enormous appreciation for this because I am a wedding planner myself and know I am not an easy client or easy to please. I know the amount of work that goes into a wedding day and the fact that she does it every day all year blows my mind. I have weddings 6 months a year only 1 or 2 per weekend and am exhausted I can’t even begin to imagine how she feels.

 

The ceremony – so beautiful! We took the sashes for the chairs. Everything was perfect! We played music and they didn’t charge us for setting up the sound system!! Our ceremony was at 4:00 we started a little late but no big deal. The ceremony was symbolic and was conducted by a minister. He was a funny man….his cell phone rang in the middle of the ceremony but at that point everyone just laughed. I would make your coordinator confirm that the persons cell phone is off before you start J

 

 

Cocktail Hour- on the terrace of the lobby. I was completely thrilled with this set up. We had hors d’ oeuvres and champagne out there and it was beautiful. We chose melon and prosciutto, mushrooms stuffed with cream cheese and shrimp on melba (I think). The only one I could eat was the mushrooms and they were yummy. The other ones seemed ok the prosciutto and melon didn’t look impressive but I’m sure it tasted fine. The staff at cocktail hour never let anyones champagne glass get empty. This was a blast! It was hard to tear everyone away to go to the reception. Cocktail hour took place from 5:30 – 6:30.

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Reception – Our reception took place from 6:30 – 10:30 by the Dolphin Pool. Absolutely gorgeous and so much fun – the perfect spot! We had DJ Mannia playing music (details below). I took all of our own linens, overlays, napkins, napkin rings with us. My family and friends all said I was crazy but it looked so pretty they all changed their minds and agreed it was worth lugging them to Mexico.

 

 

Food – the food was very yummy! We had a Caprese salad to start followed by a Spinach Cream soup in a bread bowl and then chicken stuffed with spinach and cheese and for the vegetarians Portobello mushrooms. Everything was delicious! Our guests couldn’t believe how good the chicken was. I loved it all. Just be prepared that dinner service moves very slow so a good portion of your evening will be spent eating.

Drinks – the staff brought our drinks right to our tables, nobody had to get up. At one point in the evening my MOH ordered tequila boom booms and every one of our guests got in a line and did repeated tequila shots it was hilarious and so much fun.

Wedding Cake – we had vanilla cake with strawberry filling, it was so good! As a planner I taste a lot of wedding cakes and this one definitely ranked high! I was so pleased. It made me sad that they didn’t deliver the left over cake to our room though. Everyone should ask for this! We had half of the bottom tier left.

 

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DJ Mannia – Carlos was so easy to work with and totally responsive to all of my emails and questions. He even called while we were there to check in and confirm some last minute items. I was very impressed by his service. He was arrived early to set up and was ready to go. I checked in with him after our pictures before we went to cocktail hour and he had me listen to a couple songs to confirm they were the right versions. He was really good with service. One note for any upcoming brides using him- be sure to send him a list of “must playsâ€. I wasn’t specific at all which led to a lot of music being played that we were not interested in but this was totally my fault. I did ask him on 3 occasions to play Fergie during the night but it never got played, just be specific and send him a list prior and you will be thrilled with him! I have his music list if anyone needs it just let me know.

 

After Party – when the reception ended at 10:30 our entire wild group moved into the diso. I changed out of my wedding dress and into my short, white, party dress and we had so much fun. Everyone danced and drank and nobody remembers much except that we had a lot of fun!

 

Photographer:

We used the resort photographer and purchased the 30 picture package but ended up buying the entire CD. We had Reuben as our photographer but this was a last minute change as we were supposed to have Nicholas and had already met with him and talked about we wanted. Reuben was great and lots of fun to work with. The only issue was he was supposed to arrive in my room prior to the ceremony which I confirmed 3 times and he never showed up. Nicholas also seemed like a lot of fun if anyone wants to request him. We felt rushed through our group shots and I didn’t get all of the family ones I wanted unfortunately (no shots with my grandparents or brother), make sure you are specific with them that day. I had talked to them prior but then with the photographer change we didn’t get everything we requested. I think our pictures turned out beautiful

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but for a total of $790 I would say its worth it just to outsource and get a ton more pictures we only have 250. If you are looking to stay within a budget which we were in the beginning then the resort photographer does a great job, just don’t let them rush you.

 

OVERALL:

We had the wedding of our dreams and I wouldn’t change anything. Everyone should relax and enjoy the process and know that your day will be all you hoped for and then some.

 

Thank you for everyone’s help and all of the creative brains on this forum! I hope this review will help someone as so many of them have helped me along the way. Your planning months go by so fast, treasure them.