TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

Excellent service - Angel, Antonio, Sandra. Best meal at ElPatio Ty Christian & Miguel. David’s great too. Pristine beach. Very safe.

Food was great, staff friendly, the rooms are simple but nice, good balcony view.

Alright buckle up because I am going to write the type of review I wish I could see for every resort and it's going to be a LONG ONE. I'm talking clear your schedule for at least 5-10 minutes. Keep in mind that it was our first time travelling to an all-inclusive and we visited right at the end of the high season, so my review is not going to perfectly sync up with those who went in December/January during the busier times. I travelled with my husband and five year old. The hotel is NOT in Mazatlan itself. It is a half hour drive minimum to get into the city, so you have to be aware when you are booking it. We knew this going in, so it was not a problem for us. However, since it is out of the city, it is only about a 10 minute drive from the airport, which made getting there very easy! It also means that it is a very quiet resort. Do not go here expecting parties and wild nights. It is more family friendly and relaxing, especially at the time of year we went. We arrived at about 3:30 in the afternoon, and were taken directly to our room after checking in. The rooms are quite spacious and we had two double beds, a huge tv and a small seating area. The bathrooms are also large. One of the major downfalls of the rooms is that while they are cleaned every day, they are not always 'clean.' The couch in our seating area had some stains, there were scuff marks on some of the walls, and the grout in the shower and toilet rooms could use a good bleach around the floor area. The humidity is so high because it is right on the ocean, and therefore it is very humid and damp in the rooms at all times. The beds were comfortable and had a few options for pillows. The air conditioning in the rooms does not go below 21 Celsius, but other than the first night when we were getting used to the temperatures, it was fine. There is also a ceiling fan over the seating area if you really need it. The hotel itself is showing some wear and tear despite only being a few years old. One of the buildings is losing some stucco, and some of the decorative stone is falling off in places. I will say, there are always people fixing or cleaning, so the effort is definitely there! All of the rooms face the ocean, which is a huge plus. The sunsets and early mornings are amazing, with great views all around. You CAN NOT swim in the ocean at this resort, as the riptides and strong currents are not safe to do so. However, because the resort is out of town and bordered by vacation rentals and a golf course, you can walk for kilometres in either direction without being disturbed or having to stop. We walked every morning for at least an hour, looking for seashells and watching the marine life. While there we saw multiple sea birds, so many crabs, some small fish, and even a pod of dolphins from afar. You can also watch the fishing boats, cruise ships, ferries, and container ships as they head into the Mazatlan port. The pools are very clean - every single day there was someone in the pool early in the morning scrubbing it down or using a net to fish out leaves/feathers/debris. There are a decent amount of chairs and it depends on the day and time of day for if you get a chair and some shade. We swam most mornings at around 9:30/10:00 as well as late afternoons from about 3:30 - 5:00. We are very pale caucasians so we had to stay out of the sun at peak times so we didn't become lobsters. Poolside service begins at 10:30, and I have to mention Augustin, who is one of the servers. We did not often order from him because we were active in the pool so much, but he was very attentive, always said hi to us even when we weren't in the pool, and made great suggestions for non-alcoholic drinks to try. The Barefoot Grill, right beside the pools has pizza, hot dogs, nachos, french fries, and burgers. We ate there every day for lunch and it was great because we could grab it and take it back to our air conditioned room. One thing that I will mention here that I have not seen any other reviews mention is that the water slides have a height requirement of 47 inches. We specifically booked this resort because our daughter wanted to go on the slides, and she missed the cutoff by an inch and a half, so it wasn't safe for her to go on them. She was really disappointed at first. I wish that had been mentioned anywhere on the website or in the app, just so we were aware. She rebounded quickly because the lazy river (which is VERY slow and lazy) and the splash zone were great, along with the three pools we had access too. When you come to this resort, you have to have the app. We had no problems using it, relying on it for room service, choosing restaurants, and seeing what the evening entertainments were. Restaurants are not open every day, so you need to look up where you want to eat. The buffet is also only open for breakfast and sometimes lunch, so make sure you plan for that. As everyone mentions, Sandra at the omelette station is wonderful! The coffee shop is open every day all day, and is a great place to grab something to eat and some coffee for your mornings. The ice cream shop is open...when it wants to be. The app said it was open Thursday/Friday, but we found it closed on Thursday and then open all weekend until Tuesday. Who knows! We had dinner mostly at Portofino, the Italian restaurant, and were very lucky to have Astor as our waiter every time. Astor is AMAZING and deserves all the credit! He is a wonderful, attentive waiter and remembered our drink order after only one visit! Guillermo was another waiter who was also fantastic. The tomato basil cream soup and pesto linguine were great, and my daughter was obsessed with the baked Alaska for desert. Oceana was great for lunch, but we didn't enjoy their options for dinner as much. Unfortunately I can't remember the names of the staff who assisted us there, but they were very good. Meraki was one of the places that we were very excited to try, but we were a little underwhelmed. The service was amazing, again, but the food took a long time to arrive and was not what we expected. I ordered Chicken Pad Thai and it tasted like spaghetti with plum sauce. The spring rolls and gyoza were delicious starters. We didn't participate in much of the night time events because we hung out in our room or on the balcony, but there were things like movie nights (we watched part of Lilo and Stitch and K-Pop Demon Hunters) as well as casino nights, karaoke, dance lessons, and '100 Mexicans Said', which is Family Feud. The movies start at 6:30 and the other events at 8:00. Finally I have to give the ultimate shout out to the staff at the Explorer's Club. I was hesitant to send our daughter because she doesn't speak Spanish other than a few words, but she loved it. Noemi and Melisa are so patient, understanding, and friendly! They do a lot of fun events like crafts, face painting, kite flying, and outdoor games. There was also a cupcake decorating 'contest' where all the children registered got supplies to make a cupcake and then eat it or take it back to their room. Karla and Enrique assisted Melisa with this event and they were awesome. If you have made it this far, congratulations! I hope you have found this information helpful. I can also sum up all of my long winded review like this: The hotel is 3 out of 5. The staff is 10 out of 5. We might go back, but might also try another resort. Thank you again to the following amazing staff who made our stay that much better: Astor! Noemi! Melisa, Guillermo, Sandra, Augustin, Enrique and Karla. We also interacted with Arturo, Oscar, and many others in the buffet every morning, but I can't remember everyone!

We landed at 12:45 and got through emigration fast, the ride to the resort is short. We were checked in quick, but our room was not ready for 3 hours after we arrived. So we just walked around and looked at the resort until the room was ready. They have one SMOKING AREA for the whole resort lol. The busiest place in the resort. It is by the disco or sports bar there should be one at each end of the resort. Smokers are paying customers too. (lol I don’t smoke) They rely on an app to tell you what restaurants are open! What events are going on if the app doesn’t work on your phone you are out of luck. There is no signs anywhere telling you what is going on!!! The entertainment is a joke. If you like bingo you’ll like it. Before we left we researched the resort my husband loves buffets and they had good reviews. We got there they were only open for breakfast and sometimes lunch but never dinner. On the reviews they were open every day. The buffet is small, the food is cold and the trays are empty!! If you do not get there early as soon as it opens good luck with a good meal! The other restaurants are hit and miss with what you order and what you like. The coffee shop is great! The barefoot restaurant is very good as well The lazy river was great the first day they had all the jets going, coloured lights in the caves floating around was great. They for some reason turned off the big jets and the coloured lights you could hardly float around the river spoiled the experience!! The preferred area is very nice, great pool. Loved our swim out room we stayed in our pool a lot. Worth the extra money for us. We enjoyed our pool, the weather and many things, but having to check an app all day to see what restaurant is open! What entertainment is on? To walk around and see a piece of glass on the floor that was there for a week! This resort is fairly new so it’s still having growing pains, but I don’t know if we will ever travel to a Dreams again. I know we will not return here.

We recently returned from Dreams Mazatlán and thoroughly enjoyed our experience. The resort property is beautiful, well maintained, and the staff across every service area were consistently outstanding and helpful. A couple of things to consider as you plan your stay. The beach itself is pristine, with soft sand and no rocks. However, because the property sits along an open stretch of ocean, strong riptides and undertow make the water unsafe, and swimming was not permitted during our visit. As a result, there are no beach-based water activities like snorkeling or paddle boating. That said, there are plenty of off-site excursions available if those experiences are important to you. The resort offers several dining options, but we found ourselves returning most often to El Patio (Mexican) and Oceana (seafood). Both had great menus, and the food was consistently excellent. The ceviche at Oceana is worth trying. The sunsets were a highlight. Each evening brought something different, and it was fun to see guests gather along the beach to take in the colors and end the day.