Came back from Dreams Palm Beach about 2 weeks ago and still dreaming of paradise! Decided to write this review while it is fresh in my mind. Get ready, this review is going to be long, but its worth it! 

Arrival: My group and I had a private bus courtesy of Air Canada group vacations! That was totally nice to have just your group in the bus, talking about VIP style! The trip from the airport was about 15 mins (not to scare you or anything but you do not see or hear the planes at all), which was nice considering it was evening time and we were all exhausted! My parents have arrived a few days before so they were meeting us in the lobby. What my fiancé and I didn't know was that she had arranged for an upgrade for us to Preferred Club for an extra sweet experience for the week. What I found annoying however was the fact that the Preferred Club concierge asked us to quickly come with him and took all of our bags to check in at a separate area of the hotel, whisked us away from our crowd. Everything happened so fast that we didn't even have a chance to reunite with family! Check in was smooth and quick, we got welcome cocktails and watched tv in their lobby while waiting for check in to finalize. We checked in and quickly ran back to the lobby. What I like a lot is that Dreams doesn't provide the bracelets as most hotels do, super great! Please contact Silverio at the lobby front desk for any upgrade questions and requests you may have, he is awesome! 

Resort grounds: Resort grounds are well kept, beautiful gardens, pools and buildings. The staff takes great care to keep everything in great condition. The resort is small (500 rooms) which was nice to save time and especially if you are travelling with a big group you can always locate your friends and family. The living blocks are in good condition, never encountered a moldy smell, very clean and well kept. 

Rooms: Our Preferred Club honeymoon suite was AMAZING! We stayed in block 5, which is the closest to the beach on the left hand side. The room was very updated, beautiful decor, two rooms (living room and sleeping quarters), two bathrooms (the one in the living room half bath), two TVs, and a HUGE beautiful balcony with a hammock! I loved our suite, felt on top of the world! There is even a pillow menu! The staff cleaned it regularly and the turn down service was always spectacular. As we were upgraded we did not have a butler but we really didn't need one. The Wi-Fi is free in Preferred Club, ask for the code at Preferred Club concierge. Otherwise Wi-fi has a price for standard rooms. 

Everyday Food: The food was good, although certain fruits are better left uneaten, like the watermelon. World Cafe (main buffet) had tons of variety and you wound't walk around with an empty plate for a long time. There is a number of vegetarian and gluten free options and great sweets table as well. Sea Side Grill is part of our Preferred Club upgrade, its a sit down restaurant in the Preferred Club area which I do not recommend. The couple of times that week we have been there they have not changed the menu even once and the wait times were close to an hour for food at times :( The food was just average at the SeaSide Grill and it is probably easier to just eat at the World Cafe if you like variety every day. Sometimes the staff organize lunch on the beach, they have a hut on the beach and picnic tables, one day we had a paella and that was to die for! 

Specialty restaurants: We have visited Hibachi Japanese restaurant, tons of fun to watch the food being cooked right in front of you with style! The food was delicious, a little salty but very delicious! We have also visited Italian and French restaurants. Out of these two we really enjoyed the French, you just have to try the steak, probably the best steak I had in a very long time! One thing that is odd is that there are no reservations needed, which I find disappointing because you just end up wasting your time waiting to be seated, especially if you are a big group. They give you a buzzer but still I would prefer making reservations, you come for the requested by you time and enjoy your dinner instead of waiting for close to half an hour, so my advise to you is to plan your time accordingly. 

Entertainment: There is tons of it every single morning, afternoon and night! Children programs, yoga, Latin dance lessons, water sports, evening shows (must see), and the staff really makes a huge difference! Special Thank you to Raymond, he is definitely a firecracker! The disco was tons of fun as well! 

Staff: The staff at the resort really makes a difference, they are all shining stars with great personalities and make your stay extra special! Always greet you with a smile on their face and service requests super quick! 

Beach: The beach is beautiful and there are tons of free lounge chairs available, even at 12pm. Real paradise! 

WEDDING
Wedding Coordinator: Our wedding coordinator was Vanessa Sepulveda. She is amazing! During the wedding planning process her response times were very timely and the way her response style works is that she answers to your questions underneath your questions to avoid miscommunication and promote organization, I really enjoyed that as I am very organized and this helped keep everything in order. My fiancé and I had a meeting with her the day after we arrived to talk over the fine details of the wedding day, and never did I doubt her work and I was super confident about her. I knew I was right on the day of the wedding, Vanessa exceeded my expectations and delivered a wedding my husband and I will remember for years to come! I totally recommend her and I assure you that you are in good hands when Vanessa is your wedding coordinator! 

Photographer: We have hired an outside photographer and videographer from MJ Studio. They used to be called Tropical Studios and used be associated with the resort, however things change and they are no longer part of the resort. One thing I can say: These guys are AMAZING! The professionalism, the talent go above anything I could ever have imagined. Our photographer was Gaston, he is remarkable, the most talented person I have ever met, he had over-exceeded my expectations with his outgoing personality, his talent, and true enthusiasm for his work. Since the first time we met with him to discuss the wedding day details we knew that we were in great hands! You can check out his portfolio here: http://www.gastongc.com.ar/. Chantal, the MJ Studio PR Director I communicated with during the year leading up to departure was super nice as well, I really recommend connecting with her to enquire about their photo and video packages. Their packages hold lots of value and are worth every penny! Chantal's email address: [email protected]. Best thing is that you will leave the resort with all your requested material on hand. The result of all my photos and videos was exceptional, very professionally done and great song choices as well. So worth every penny! The wedding package we have chosen included 50 photos and 15 min video of the ceremony from the resort photo studio Adventures. Definitely not as impressive or professional as the MJ Studio material but hey its free but what you pay is what you get. When we went to pick out the 50 photos at the photo shop they were going to charge us $774 USD for these electronic copies, we went to complain to Christina Nolasco, the Wedding Department manager, because these photos should be included and we ended up not paying a penny more, so if this happens to you go complain first and bring Christina to the photo shop, you don't need to pay anything, these are included in your package. 

DJ: We chose DJ Mannia. A bit of a disappointment :( First, they screwed up our first dance song, which to me is a big deal, we have specifically given them a USB with our song that was edited to fit our special dance and they chose to use the original from their computer, the result is obvious. Secondly, the dance floor kept coming loose and many of our guests lost their footing, had to ask the MC to fix it to avert a crises waiting to happen. However, on a positive note the music was good, kept everyone on the dance floor. 

Buffet dinner: The food was delicious, totally different from what you would typically find at the World Cafe. Lots of variety and very well planned. 

Cake: The cake turned out totally amazing, I have shown Vanessa the picture of the cake I wanted and we supplied the cake topper and some cake decoration supplies (you have to pay a lot if you let them decorate, so we brought most of the decor, cake supplies from home, although we were charged $50 dollars as a fee for not using their decor but that doesn't compare to what we would have spent if we were to use their decor) and Vanessa helped create a great looking and tasting cake. 

Overall wedding experience: The wedding was on the beach, the ceremony, cocktail hour and reception. This is something that I was dreaming about since my teen years and it came true and exceeded my expectations! The colour theme was Coral and Turquoise and the colours came so well together! Over the year I have kept in contact with Vanessa and emailed her my ideas and pictures and it all just came into place so well! I couldn't be happier with the result and it was everything I have ever dreamed of! Even the weather that is impossible to control had cooperated, not a single cloud in the sky and no wind at all! Vanessa had put together a wonderful wedding to remember for years to come!  :D 

I think that is it, hopefully I did not forget anything or anyone. Please feel free to message me if you have any questions.