TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

My family with kids 9 and 11 had a fun time at this resort. A bit different with a smaller pool area. The chair game seemed to be day dependant. We walked around outside of the resort.

We travelled as a group of 6 to Dreams Vallarta Bay March 20-27th, 2026. This was our 3rd time to the property, but first staying on the Dreams side. The service of the amazing staff is what keeps us coming back. Our first night we had an unfortunate dining experience in Castaways, five of us ordered steaks and they were all raw. We immediately let the UVC staff know and they went above and beyond from that moment on. Thank you to Cristian and Jose Luis for the extra care. We were invited to the wine room at the Italian restaurant to make up for it, and their food and beverage manager Fernando checked in with us daily. We had the pleasure of connecting with Francisco at Capers, we dined with him 3 times and each time he made our experience 5 star worthy. He even stopped by our cabana a few times before his shift started to say hi and find out where we were eating that night. On the night that we went to the Mexican restaurant he had arranged with the supervisor to prepare a special guac for our table, and they were ready for us when we arrived. Hugo at the pool cabanas is one of the people that we met on our first trip. He gave us his personal contact info and pre-arranged our cabana booking prior to our trip. Hugo treats his guests like absolute royalty. Hugo even arranged to have coffee delivered each morning before his start time as a couple of us needed to work for a few hours and did that pool side before his shift started. The resort has a small footprint and for the most part the food quality is well above average for an all inclusive. Entertainment was light this time but capacity was lower after the PV cartel incident a few weeks ago and so that was understandable. We certainly had plenty to do. We travel to all inclusive resorts 3-4 times per year and this one has become our absolute favorite. If you travel with kids, go to Dreams, if not spend a bit extra and go to Secrets so you will have access to both sides of the property. Either way, you won't regret it.

This is supposed to be a family friendly resort. Sadly the balcony doors / wall is not soundproofed enough to keep the outside music to something even close to a low roar. It's loud in the room until well after 10, bring headphones for the kids if that's going to be an issue. There is *no* air conditioned venue for lunch or breakfast. The buffet and Italian restaurant have a/c units however they are non functional. If it's warm and there is little to no breeze coming in off the water, you will likely be uncomfortable until you get in your room. The food is mostly pretty good however the menu is only one page long, don't come looking for a large selection. I did get some inedible bits in my chicken enchilada and a big date seed in a piece of cake. You probably don't want to get the grisly steak on the lunch buffet either. The fish tacos were neither crispy nor hot. The day we arrived the main entrance to the buffet was blocked by equipment and they routed is down the stairs and up a steep ramp with no handrail. In the US they would never be allowed to operate like that. When I explained that my wife has knee / mobility issues that just looked at me like I was an idiot. I ended up guiding her both up and down that hazard, fortunately neither of us were hurt. Service was generally pretty good. There were a couple of less than pleasant servers. We stayed in the "preferred" section. There was a jacuzzi on the balcony that we didn't try and a lounge on the first floor with some buffet style food. There was also a bar on the second floor (neither of these had a/c) and if the three times I tried to get something from the bar, there was someone working it only once. I'm not really a day drinker, I just wanted water or lemonade as neither were available in the "preferred" lounge. It wasn't bad, I wouldn't pay extra to be here if I were ever to come back. The place was clean although not particularly comfortable. No full height chairs in the room, the lobby seating wasn't very comfortable. The management doesn't discourage the "stake-out and abandon" approach to the lounge chairs on the deck. While almost of all of them were empty, very few had active sitting in there, all the rest had a towel draped over it. Better managed resorts will remove personal items left unattended for a set amount of time, usually less than 1 hour. Save your money. Go to a nicer hotel and pay for your meals and booze. You will spend less, eat better and may or may not have late night entertainment keeping you up later than you might care for.

Immaculate resort with great views, good food, great pools plus water slide. Excellent staff and service. Would definitely return. I wish the buffet had a greater selection but quality was good. Visited for only 3 days but was totally worth it!

Our stay at Dreams Vallarta was outstanding. Staff was fantastic from the person who greeted us when we first arrived, to all of the fabulous waiters & restaurant staff. Everyone went above & beyond to make certain that our stay was fantastic. Highly recommend.