Dreams Puerto Vallarta
September 2006

I traveled recently to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, September 9-16, 2006.  I had been there once and stayed in the Downtown area and was not impressed with where we stayed.  So I was anxious to try a different area of Puerto Vallarta and I am glad I did.

We flew from Madison on United Airlines.   We traveled shortly after the liquid ban, but we honestly did not notice delays whatsoever. Our flight was on time, our Rep in Puerto Vallarta was waiting for us outside of the baggage claim area. 

We stayed at Dreams Puerto Vallarta which is in the the Mismaloya area.  You do have to go thru downtown Puerto Vallarta to get to Dreams, so the drive was approximately 20 minutes. 

Our driver told us that we had picked the most beautiful resort in PVR and he was right.  Dreams is set in the hillside, very tropical with a lot of palm trees and on each end of the resort there are rock formations that are just beautiful.  The check-in went quickly, we were greeted with a glass of champagne and a cold wet towel to refresh us.  What a way to start our stay.

We were pleasantly surprised that the Manager had upgraded us to a Junior Suite in the Club Rooms.  The room was absolutely beautiful.  We had a king size bed which had a canopy formed over the head of the bed with a shear scarf and tropical shells. It might be hard to picture this but it was very tropical.  We  had a sitting area with a sofa, love seat and table.  Just perfect for room service (which is included)!!!!   The bathroom was very large with the shower/tub being in a separate area of the sink and mirror.  You always get an amenities kit which included large bottles of body lotion, shampoo, sunscreen and body wash.  If you needed more all you need to do is ask.  The balcony is this room category was very large.  The rooms in this category are all ocean view.

The staff at this resort went beyond all expectations.  They do have waiter service at the beach and the pool area.  Actually, you could be anywhere on property and someone will ask you if you need anything.  Due to the excellent service here, we along with others tipped a lot!!!!!!!

This resort does have an adults only pool and a beach bar right next door, just in case you don't want to wait for your waiter. They do have a swim-up pool bar which is right in the middle of the resort.  This was a very popular area but it did get very loud because it was also the kids pool.

There are 5 restaurants at this resort.  We ate at every restaurant except for the Italian.  Honestly, the food came out and you wanted to take a picture (I actually did).  The presentation was just beautiful and to top it off the food was even better.  They have a Mexican, Steak, Seafood and Italian restaurant plus the buffet.  They also had a grill set out by the pool that served hamburgers, hot dogs, tacos, etc....The food was exceptional!!!!!!!  I forgot to mention you don't need reservations at the restaurants.  We never had to wait but we did go during their slow season. 

The beach here is the best beach in Puerto Vallarta.  I have stayed in the downtown area and also on this trip in the Nuevo Vallarta area.  I love the caribbean and the Mismaloya beaches are the closest you will get to the whitesand beaches.  We could snorkel right off our property in this area.  The rock formations make that possible in this area.

If you have anyone that is a Certified Scuba Diver you might want to steer them away from Puerto Vallarta.  The currents are very strong here.  My husband is PADI Certified and has dived over 30 times in the last year and would probably not dive here again.  You don't get the visibility like you do in the caribbean.

It is inexpensive to get around in PVR.  To take a taxi to Downtown PVR was $4.00 USD each way.  A drive from Dreams to the Nuevo Vallarta area was $22.00 USD each way.  

Overall, I would travel again to Puerto Vallarta and I would definitely go back to Dreams...  We absolutely loved it!!!!!!