Jess' Dreams PV, Dazzling Details, Iglesia de Guadalupe, and Banana Cantina Review

[Jess]

Dreams

 

Food - A

The food was also very good and there were only a handful of dishes we didn’t like. For our wedding meal we had the calamari (excellent), and the poblano cream soup (guests were raving about this soup – it was awesome), and the breaded chicken and the fish fillet. The breaded chicken was okay, but the guests love the fish fillet. If I had to do it over, I’d probably go with the fish and something else for the main course.

 

In trip advisor reviews we read that the buffet was not very good. We did not find this the case at all and always enjoyed the buffet food. I didn’t get to try the Mexican restaurant but Portofino, Seaside, and Oceana were our favorite restaurants.

 

Some of our friends at Portofino one of the nights – they were very accommodating and gave us a table of 16 (4 tables of 4) right next to each other

 

Rooms – A+ Preferred Tower, B Regular Tower

The preferred tower was awesome, we did have some guests complaining about mold smell in the older tower. There is a huge difference in the two towers and I don’t think we did a good job telling our guests this so make sure you do so there aren’t any surprises for yours. Still, the deluxe rooms were fine for the most part, and most of our friends were just as happy with these rooms. Another thing to note is in the preferred tower you get free internet, where you have to pay for it in the older tower. Also, in the older tower they charge you an extra $20 per night for a balcony when you get there

 

Deluxe Room regular tower

 

Regular Room in Preferred Tower

Balcony in Preferred Tower

View from that balcony

 

The only downfall with Dreams I would say would have to do how they handled upgrades with our group. We reserved a block of 30 rooms, which you would assume would give the bride and groom or parents of the bride and the groom an upgrade of some sort (if available of course). We asked for it but they said it would be $700 a night to do so. The irritating thing is that this same day, two of our friends (two separate friends) – were upgraded to penthouse suites in the new tower for no reason and for no additional cost. If I had a group of 30 rooms, I would move the bride and groom or parents of the bride and groom to the upgraded suites and put the other guests in the room they had been staying in. I honestly just do not think they think to that level though – but they really should when they are getting that much business from a group. I know Dreams Cabo is really good at this but Dreams PV is definitely not.

 

Paul did get an upgrade to a penthouse suite in the old tower out of luck for 2 nights but the regular rooms in the new tower are a lot nicer than his was (we had separate rooms until the wedding night) – it was a really weird set up. We hear from our friends the newer tower penthouse suites are a lot better though.

 

A random, funny thing that happened was that on the wedding night they put a “Happy Honeymoon†sign on my sister and her boyfriend’s door instead of ours – they were busting up laughing when they walked in – not a biggie and we didn’t care, just funny.

 

Pool – B

The pool at Dreams is not that great. It is not horrible but I think they can do a better job with some remodeling. I guess I’m also comparing it to Dreams Cabo who has an amazing pool, so this may not help. The pool was just so so though. The beach though, made up for this as it was awesome and the water was so warm.

 

Spa - A

I got a stress cure massage which was great, not the best but very good. Some of our guests said the massage was the best they have ever had though – so I would recommend their spa.

 

I got my hair and makeup done by Blanca in the spa and she was great. I had a trial a few days before the wedding and I’m glad I did, because I totally changed my hairstyle after I saw pics. Blanca was happy to help me out till it was perfect.

 

Turtle Release – A+

They had no turtles hatching the week of our wedding, but then on our wedding night they did - we were so happy. It was amazing to be able to let two little turtles release into the ocean on our wedding night – we loved this. I absolutely recommend the turtle release if it is going on when you are there. I know it is seasonal so it does not go on all the time, but if it does when you are there – do it! If you are in your wedding attire, the staff makes sure you get turtles to release also.

 

 

General

I don’t know if it was because it was Thanksgiving week, but there were tons of kids at Dreams. We didn’t mind this, but for a honeymoon I definitely wouldn’t want to stay there just because of this. As I said though, this could be because it was Thanksgiving week – I’m not sure.

[Jess]

Toya’s Nails – A

 

We lucked out with this place after getting a referral from the manager of Banana Cantina. We got all the bridesmaids mani’s/pedi’s for 260 pesos each (about $20). They did an awesome job and everyone was happy with them. They are in the Romantic Zone on Amapas and Pulpito sort of near La Palapa Restaurant. One of the other girls on the forum said they dilute their nail polish – so we just brought our own and it worked out fine. Some of the girls didn’t though and their nails lasted so not sure if they really dilute all their polish.

 

The Dazzling Details Wedding Coordinator – A+++++

 

I cannot thank Kristin and Michelle at the Dazzling Details enough for making our wedding so amazing. They are top notch and will blow your mind with your wedding and reception. It was more than we could have ever hoped for. They are truly worth every penny they charge – which really is not that much in the grand scheme of things. They took so much stress out of my wedding planning. I really let them handle everything and I’m glad I did, because there was nothing I was not happy with at our wedding. All of our guests kept raving that our wedding was “straight out of a wedding magazine.†That was of course awesome to hear and it was all because of Kristin and Michelle.

 

Here’s a glimpse of some of the “details†they did – they were incredible:

 

The Dazzling Details: Jess and Paul - Dreams PV

 

My parents surprised us with a surprise firework show right as we were cutting our cake. It was amazing. Their friend gave them this idea and then they went to Kristin and Michelle a couple weeks before the wedding and they made it happen. This was probably the highlight of our reception and I still can’t believe they did this for us.

 

Our Lady of Guadalupe – A

 

We absolutely lucked out. We went for our rehearsal with Padre Esteban and they all of a sudden put this American Priest named Father Peterson on the phone. I had no idea what was going on but I guess they asked him to officiate our ceremony. Father Peterson lives in PV for 9 months and goes home to Seattle in the summer. He was seriously a blessing. He got to know so much about us in 2 days and made our ceremony so special. We are so lucky to have gotten him. If you can – I absolutely recommend requesting him, he loves officiating ceremonies and gave an amazing homily. My parents even invited him to our reception and he came, so sweet to everyone.

 

Father Peterson – such a cute man

 

The Church itself was breathtaking and everything I hoped for. If you want a Catholic Ceremony, this is the place – beautiful! They are a little hard to deal with but if you have a wedding coordinator it makes it a lot easier.

 

 

Banana Cantina – A+

 

I found reviews on tripadvisor for this place and emailed the owner Debbie. She referred me to her manager Jae who was awesome. We rented out the whole restaurant on Thanksgiving night for our welcome dinner– it was beautiful and the food was great. Jae went above and beyond in helping me with the nail place and anything else we needed. She even went out with us to ZTai and Mandala after the welcome dinner. I highly recommend this place and the price is a lot better than a lot of restaurants in PV – and you get to rent out the whole place if you want – it fits about 55 people.

 

Debbi the owners email is pvbananacantina@aol.com

 

Website is Banana Cantina - A Puerto Vallarta Restaurant which has pics of the restaurant – they really don’t do it justice though, it is a lot nicer in person

 

 

Stephanie Williams Photography and Casa Velas Honeymoon hotel reviews to come soon – they were both so amazing I just need to get to writing the reviews!!

[snoopAsh]

OMG! It looks like you had an amazing time!

 

Congrats! And thank you for your awesome review!

[weddinggirl72]

OMG incredible design elements!!!!!!!!!! You and your planners did an amazing job! Love the yellow, white and grey! Love all of the little extras, the lounge furniture, the flowers, place card idea, etc. Thank you for sharing!!!!! I think I now want a mini hupa at our bride and groom table, your looks great.

[KarenM]

Yay Jess!! Congrats! I love it all! Those bird cages are so pretty & I love what DD did for your whole reception! I'm so glad you guys got to do the turtle release! That's one of the things that sold me on Dreams in the first place so I really hope we get to too!

[Jess]

yay Karen I really hope you get to also - it was amazing!!

[*Nadine*]

Great review Jess! You seriously were so stunning, I loved everything about YOU and your wedding!!!

[MaryS]

Everything looked amazing... good job twin date

[cbell]

Looks fabulous, can't wait to see more pics!! I can't believe you had 30 rooms and they didn't upgrade you or your family but upgraded a couple of your other guests after you asked...unbelievable. But your wedding looked awesome, congratulations!

[YaelM]

Great review Jess!!! The turtle releasing sounds amazing!! And the Church looked beautiful. So glad everything went so well!!!