Dreams Sands Cancun Resort and Spa

The hotel looks nothing like the photos advertised online. From the moment we arrived, our experience was extremely disappointing.

The problems started at check-in. Some members of our party, whose names were clearly included on the reservation, arrived before the rest of us. Despite traveling with young children, they were refused check-in until everyone in the group was present.

When I arrived, there was a minor misspelling in my first name on the reservation. I was able to correct it through the Booking.com app, but the hotel still insisted on charging a $3,000 USD deposit before they would process the change. After nearly an hour of explaining how unreasonable this was, they finally agreed to waive the deposit and allow us to check in.

Once we reached our rooms, we realized the hotel was very outdated and looked nothing like the pictures. It was a huge disappointment.

Things only got worse at the buffet restaurant. We were traveling as a family of 13 to celebrate my mother-in-law’s 70th birthday, with relatives coming from different parts of the world, some of whom had not seen each other in over two years. The hotel refused to seat us together, claiming it was their policy not to accommodate large groups. However, during our stay we repeatedly saw other groups—some even larger than ours, with up to 18 people—being seated together. The policy seemed to be applied only to us.

The entire purpose of our trip was to spend quality time together as a family, and being unable to share meals completely ruined that experience. We were forced to leave the resort and pay for meals at outside restaurants that could accommodate our group, resulting in additional unexpected expenses.

At the end of our stay, we requested a late check-out and made it clear that we were willing to pay any additional fee. Our request was initially denied. After another lengthy discussion, the front desk agreed to grant one extra hour for one of our rooms. However, immediately after the regular check-out time, we received a call from the concierge demanding that we vacate the room because they had not been informed of the approved extension. When we went downstairs before the extended check-out time, the staff apologized and said it had been a misunderstanding between the concierge and the front desk.

Overall, this was one of the most disappointing hotel experiences I have ever had. Between the poor customer service, inconsistent policies, misleading photos, and lack of consideration for guests, I would not recommend this hotel and would not choose to stay here again.

Elevators worked too slow.Breakfast and dinner buffet too small.Coco Cafe did not open to 7 a.m. for hot coffee.We were woken up 4 out of 6 nights by neighbors upstairs and next door.Beach was too small,we were right on top of each other,umbrellas are old and broken,ours had to be taped to stay up.Room was too warm,stayed at 26 Celsius, even after maintenance checked it out.The only thing we liked was shrimp tacos and burger on the beach.They did not even make scooby doo shots or mango shots.Time share was a bother,we won't do it.Offered us 300.00 dollars,told him if you even offered me 2,000 I won't do it,his face got disappointed look.Will definitely never be back.Much better resorts and food at other resorts.Been to cancun 11 times in July

Dreams Sands is a great resort for families. It was wonderful to see so many families from all walks of life, enjoying each other. Sands staff was great, resort was clean, spacious. I recommend for families to vacation.