Dreams Los Cabos

I have posted a photo tour on my blog (Dreams Los Cabos Wedding Photo Tour) please check it out for over 50 photos.

Arrival

It was a very short ride from the airport to Dreams.  Maybe 20 minutes?  Upon arrival we were greeted with wet towels and a glass of champagne.   They asked me if I was Trisha and when I answered yes they said they’d been waiting for us and asked us to take a seat.  I must say, it was very professional and made us feel important. 

Check in went very smoothly until I had to sign paperwork.  It was at that time I noticed our check-out date was wrong.  We had to go to the front desk and clear things up, but within minutes we were on our way to our suite. 

The Room

It was on the second floor all the way at the end of the hall looking over the small quiet pool.  The room was a honeymoon suite.  We walked into the kitchen where we had a refrigerator, a nice table for dining and some storage.  There is a bottle opener hanging on the wall that came in handy for the Coronas.  The living room with a fold out couch was next.  This had a lovely flat screen tv and a cute little balcony with a table and chairs. 

The bedroom had a four-poster bed with large sliding glass doors and a beautiful view of the sea.  It would have been nice if there was a balcony out these doors, but at least they opened to allow the breeze in. 
The closet was a nice walk in closet.  The bathroom had two sinks, which was very nice, and a separate shower and toilet area.

The room has a safe.  I am a professional photographer and was there to photograph two weddings.  The safe does not hold a 17” laptop, however it did hold almost all of my equipment (two professional body cameras, four lenses, two flashes and accessories).

Restaurants

Sadly, I’m allergic to gluten and shellfish, so there weren’t too many options for dining. 

El Patio

We ate here the first night of the vacation.  It’s buffet.  Probably five different options for the main meal, a few different salads and some desserts.  Standard buffet.  Nothing over the top, but nice.  El Patio also takes turn with Seaside grill offering a menu lunch and buffet.

Seaside Grill

This is where we ate dinner every other night of the vacation.  It is a steak restaurant and had the most options for my dietary needs.  It was delicious.

Himitsu Restaurant

We did not eat here, however the Seaside Grill overlooks the Himitsu and many individuals from the wedding parties tried to eat here.  It was always at least a two-hour wait and if you had more than four people, it was practically impossible to get a table.  The people who did wait it out enjoyed it, but most ended up at El Patio.

Convention Center

The Convention center is very large and a typical ballroom.  Nothing too fancy.  This is also where the internet station is.  There are six computers in this room and you have to purchase internet access.

El Dorado Ballroom

This ballroom was the location of one of our wedding’s receptions.  It was very nice and has it’s own private bathrooms and outdoor bar area.  I would say it easily would seat about 40 people with a large dance floor.

Fitness Center

The fitness center is very large and has ample equipment for everyone working out.  There are TVs stationed throughout and it’s well air-conditioned. 

Activities

We participated in some of the organized activities such as water polo, finger painting, and beach side stretching.  These were all ran with very nice entertainment staff who spoke very good English.  Also available are ping-pong tables, pool tables, air riffles, beach volleyball, beanbags, horseshoes, mini golf, and croquet.  There was always something to do to keep you entertained. 

Pools

The large activity pool with the swim up bar, slide, water volleyball and infinity edge was always very cold.  Refreshing on a hot day I’m sure, but in April it was only warm outside.  It was very clean, however, and had plenty of lawn chairs for relaxing poolside.  There was a broken tile in the pool that caused one of our volleyball players to have to go to the medic.  That was sad.
The Tranquility pool was much warmer and less crowded.  You could always find a premier lawn chair around that pool and the wait service was just as delightful.  Everyone around us was raving about the fish tacos that they delivered. 

Medical Services

We had a few run ins with the medical staff.  The first was during our beach volleyball game.  The staff came to her and quickly bandaged her up. Very fast and efficient.  The second incident was on one of our wedding days.  One of the ladies stepped on a piece of glass (dropped a bottle in her room) and had the piece of glass stuck in her foot.  First they came to the room and attempted to help, but it was a bad enough case where she had to actually go to the medical office.  I did not go along, but they were all pleased with the staff and they didn’t charge her anything, including the medication to numb her foot.  The third incident was with a baby guest of the wedding.  She developed what I believe was an ear infection during the trip and they were also pleased with the medical staff onsite. 

Town

Going to town is not cheap.  We went to San Jose Del Cabo and downtown Cabo.  San Jose was a $20 taxi ride each way.  We went to the Plaza Mijares in the art district.  It was beautiful and I wish we could have spent more time in the shops.

Cabo was $25 taxi each way or you could take the Dreams provided shuttle.  Sadly you had to tell the shuttle what time you wanted to come back, so it was hard to use the shuttle and enjoy your day.  The shuttle also dropped you off at the mall, so it was quite a walk to get to the end of the marina where the famous nightlife is located. 

Weddings

I photographed two weddings while we were at Dreams Los Cabos.  The first wedding took place on the beach with the reception beside the activity pool.  The second wedding was in the gazebo with dinner by the Tranquility pool and their reception in the El Dorado Ballroom. 

The beach location was gorgeous with the giant waves crashing in the background.  There were not many bikini clad on-lookers which was very nice.  The bride choose a pink and orange draping at the alter.  It was absolutely gorgeous and a vibrant contrast to the blue water behind them, however I will advise that this will cause the bride & groom’s skin to be pink and orange due to the sunlight shining through.  I would recommend standing in front of the alter instead of beneath it if you choose to go this route.

The poolside reception was beautiful with Chinese lanterns lighting the dance floor and guests partying under the stars.  The dinner was on a higher level (about three steps) which turned out to be a problem for toddler guests, however overall it was a gorgeous location overlooking the sea. 

The gazebo wedding location is very close to El Patio.  I think it surprises most people when they see how close it actually is.  Probably only 15 feet from the restaurant?  The gazebo is beautiful though.  White and built up high enough that you can see the sea from every angle.  Very beautiful.  The bride hides in Himitsu and then walks through the buffet of El Patio to get to the gazebo. 

The Tranquility pool reception was very nice and private.  The palm trees were lit up and the building looks very cool at night.  You can’t really see the sea from this location, but it was beautiful all by itself.  The wedding couple also had fire dancers at this point, which was very much enjoyed by all the guests. 

Children

We did not have our child along with us on this vacation, but we could very easily see how we could have.  There was plenty to do, shallow areas in the pool, children’s activities, and the Explorers Club.  We saw the Explorers Club group doing fun things such as hunting for lizards and feeding them bananas and making smores.  Fun activities that I think most children would enjoy. 

Overall

Overall we had a lovely time at Dreams Los Cabos.  There turned out to be a few more snags with our departure date which was unfortunate as it took away our vacation time and caused undo stress, but overall it was a nice trip.  With the travel date issues and the lack of food for my poor picky self, I’d give the trip a B+; however those are just small things that personally were not great.  If it weren’t for my dietary needs and the date confusion I would have rated it an A for sure! 

Remember to check out Dreams Los Cabos Wedding Photo Tour for photographs