We just returned from our wedding at Dreams PV. All in all it was beautiful; however, the wedding coordinator did make some inexcusable mistakes. We provided the Wedding Coordinator (WC) with all the details on how the day should go in great detail and she even commented when meeting with her upon arrival on how organized we were and how easy our wedding would be, but then she still screwed some things up that were clearly laid out for her. We actually demanded a discount the next day and received a reasonable one. There was another wedding after ours the same day and they said she made some screw ups on theirs as well (and their wedding was fairly simple without a reception). We will not go back to the Dreams PV as we felt there was just too many mess ups during our stay all around and that the service was not up to par compared to other places we’ve stayed (some people were downright unfriendly… service in the buffet is particularly terrible). We normally spend a ton on tipping during our stays, but this time actually saved as we didn’t feel it was warranted (the service in the al-a-carts was fairly consistently good however and the servers at our wedding reception and beach bonfire were good as well… but that was the major highlights as far as service is concerned).
We are not fussy people and this is the first negative review I have left on any resort / hotel we’ve stayed.
Arrival:
The resort made a bunch of room mistakes upon arrival, which was ridiculous since we booked in June 2010, and we found that the service was not nearly as good as anywhere else we have stayed in Mexico (in the past 7 years we’ve traveled to Mexico 8 times and have never had any complaints… most of our travels have been to PV as well). This is the first 5 star resort we’ve stayed at, mostly we’ve stayed at 4 – 4.5 star places and one 3.5 star and they have all provided much better service and friendlier staff.
Rooms: We stayed our first night in a balcony room at the corner of the old tower and then upgraded to the new tower (the bathrooms in the old tower also need serious attention…ours the 1st night was not 5* quality that’s for sure… the 3.5 * place we stayed had better ones) and the older rooms were mediocre for what you pay. Also, the patchwork on the ceilings and walls in the older rooms are super shotty. Getting a reasonable upgrade took a while as we were quoted $100 for non Jacuzzi rooms and $200 for Jacuzzi rooms at first, then the next day told $190 / night for a Jacuzzi room and that there were no non Jacuzzi rooms left, then literally minutes later we spoke to another person at the front desk who gave us a non Jacuzzi room for $70 / night (when there apparently were none left….). The new tower rooms are nice (however the standard rooms at the last resort we stayed, which was a 4.5 star, were just as nice with no upgrade required). The beds and pillows are very comfortable and the view from the new tower is amazing (and the bathrooms were much better). A few of us also had issues with our safes and patio doors locking. We were locked out of our safe a couple times and had to wait for security to come open and others didn’t have access to a safe all week. We didn’t even see a lock on our patio in the new tower and some in the old had flimsy locks that didn’t work… even if you’re off the ground it still makes you feel safer to have your doors lock!
Also, staff seem to come nightly to prepare your room romantically (I guess… we had this service as did another couple we were with, but not sure about everyone else). Nothing special, they just turn on the TV and pull the sheets back on your bed for the most part (kinda creepy unless you know they are coming). One night, the other couple we know were given this service were walked in on when they were in the middle of an "intimate event". They complained to the general manager at the resort (about a few things) who basically just brushed them off. The man in this couple spends a lot of time in Mexico as he owns a place in Mazatlan and family has a place just north of PV and we was baffled at the service, etc. They also just finished coming from a 3.5 star place in PV that they were at before attending our wedding and said the service they had their was fantastic (especially compared to this place).
Restaurants and Bars:
The only thing we found better about this resort over any of the others was that the food, drinks, and desserts were consistently great (however the food, etc at other places has been descent). Beware that service in the buffet is awful!
Beach/Pools/Grounds:
The standard rooms and resort grounds are not the nicest we’ve seen and the resort is situated so close to a busy road that rooms in the old tower that are closer to the middle of the resort are super noisy.
Activities on and off the Resort/Hotel:
Another bizarre thing at this resort is that in the spa messages were given by the opposite sex (no option given) and if you want a real couples message make sure you request outside (we just assumed it was all outside since we’re in the tropics)… there are many message beds outside, but we weren’t given an option then when we went to our couples message it was inside and consisted of me in one room, my husband in another and just a man door at our feet open between us. My husband’s sister also went for a message and got felt up by the man messaging her. Another couple we were with went for a couple’s message and when she was getting out of the shower in the spa one of the male masseuses walked by as the male masseuses walk around the woman’s area where they are showering, changing, etc. On the man’s side the women masseuses walk around as well. When my husband was drying off after a shower, a female masseuse walked in with more towels… very, very unprofessional!
Other Comments: We see that this resort gets rave reviews, but not sure why. Maybe it’s that lots of other people don’t travel as often as we do (we have traveled elsewhere then Mexico as well the past 7 years we’ve been together) or that people aren’t leaving reviews when they are negative or maybe it was just the luck of the draw, but everyone in our group said they would not visit Dreams PV again. This place was so disorganized and backwards and honestly not the nicest grounds either (the beach was fairly descent for weddings, but other places we’ve stayed have had much nicer grounds, pools, and locations…not right off a busy road… and likely have nice spots to get married as well). We’d maybe stay at another Dreams resort (mostly for the food…I love my food), but if we do and they run in the same disorganized fashion with more bad service then good we won’t stay at any others again period. Maybe the resort is getting numb to the needs of couples getting married since they hold SO many a year, along with the service staff to guests period….? Our tip for those getting married…If there are things that don’t go as planned, and there is usually something but in our case there were many that like I said were inexcusable on WC’s part, just try to stay calm, have someone in your wedding party or another person deal with it, and then discuss the issues with the WC (and her boss) the next day and if there are major screw-ups don’t be afraid to ask for a refund! The resort needs to know if their WC isn’t doing her job properly and they should take it seriously since they held 250 weddings in 2010 and are aiming for 300 in 2011….big business for them that they don’t want to lose.
All in all it was a beautiful and fun wedding… it was what we and those that were with us made of it. The photographer included in our wedding package from Adventure Photos took great photos (ours was Chris) and was a pleasure to work with. Everyone had a great time and said it was the best wedding they’ve been to (the mistakes weren’t noticeable to the guests, just those of us that knew how things should have been). The discount we received definitely made it sit better with us as we would still be upset if the resort had not tried to compensate. Please don’t be afraid to discuss any issues with the resort.