Dreams Sapphire Resort & Spa — Hotel in Puerto Morelos

We only booked this hotel because I accidentally booked the wrong one and by the time I realised my mistake, this was the only comparable price swap option left. Having read the polar reviews we (as a couple without children) did not expect great things and on balance our low expectations were not surpassed. I will try and give as much of an honest and fair review as possible. ||||1. YouTube Videos ||||Do not believe the YouTube videos or claims this is a “middle class hotel”. The hotel purports to be a 5 star hotel, but truth be told this probably is only a 3.5 star at best and this is very apparent on inspection. This to be fair is reflected in its price. ||||The hotel is having a large push on its Indigo section, and it is all this that you will see on the hotel’s social media accounts. Indigo is however only a small part of the hotel. If you have fallen for the Indigo photos (and they do indeed look great) you may be better off spending that money on actually going to a more luxurious hotel and not a bolt on. You will soon realise that clever camera angles and a small section do not outweigh the remainder of the hotels drawbacks. ||||Additionally, you need to be aware that Indigo is not as marketed exclusive to those actually staying in the Indigo section. We were offered £60 per day to upgrade to keep our existing Preferred club room and have use of all the Indigo facilities. This seems extremely unfair to those that paid the Indigo room premium so we did not accept the offer. However, given the drawbacks of the remainder of the hotel it is clearly a popular upgrade option - so be aware. ||||2.Beach ||||This is not the hotel for you if you want a dream carribean beach holiday.||||When we checked in we were incorrectly told “there is no beach seating”. This was a completely bizarre statement as it is clearly evident when you visit the beach there is plenty of traditional picturesque shaded beach loungers.||||However, you will also find a beach that is near deserted. This is largely due to the barrier of Sargassum between the shore and the sea. To be fair to the hotel, there have been attempts to remove this, including with a tractor and manual labour. On my first day I counted this at least twice, however these attempts appeared to dwindle later during our stay. At no point was the Sargassum ever fully cleared, and the smell of rotting seaweed isn’t particularly nice. ||||To be fair to the hotel this is a particular problem to the area, however upon even a casual visit to Puerto Morelos town you will see that other areas of the coast with a boom protector away from the beach have very little Sargassum. ||||Additionally, nobody was actually able to explain to me why the beach constantly had a red flag flying - this never changed throughout our stay. Again, no such flags flew at Puerto Morelos town, which would have been required had this been due to strong currents. ||||In addition to these nudge tactics to keep you away from the beach the hotel also strongly advices that guests use the pools via hotel messaging. ||||3.The pools ||||There are 2 main pools in the main resort. The large main pool and a smaller adult only Preferred Club pool. Unfortunately, there is a lack of shaded seating around the main pool, which results in guests placing towels on deck chairs from 6am onwards to lay claim to their winnings. Sadly this is a cycle that would only be broken via hotel policy enforcement or people actually not partaking. We often observed couples that had been unlucky to find deck chairs having to hang out on the sofas by reception. The hotel does also offer Bala beds starting at around $60 USD, however some of these are little more than a flimsy mattress with poor positioning. This goes back to the hotel profiting from the towel reservation system so really there is little or no incentive for the Hotel to prevent people from laying claim to loungers with Towels. ||||As we were part of the Preferred Club, we elected to use the Adult pool, which is supposed to be preferred club only -though there didn’t appear to be any checks and anybody staying in the resort appeared to be able to use it in practice. ||||The big drawer with the adult pool is that with preferred club membership, Bala beds are complementary. These are well shadded and luxurious. You are able to reserve the beds 24 hours in advance, however there is a bizarre rule that you have to arrive on the day and queue up at 9am to claim your pre-reserved bed. This is quite bizarre as it defeats the purpose of reserving it in the first place. The pool consierge will casually walk up at just after 9am and there appears to be no inspection of the beds beforehand. One day I discovered a berry on our allocated bed and it was full of ants which was a pleasant surprise for me to rectify. Again, this all goes back to attention to detail which is sorely lacking.||||There is also a third pool dedicated for children with water slides and lifeguard supervision, which appeared great for children. ||||4. The room ||||We stayed in a preferred room. The building was well placed for everything. The jungle view however is a loose description as this actually was over the children’s pool and water slides.||||The room itself, was inoffensive and close to the beach. Athough the shower was to a good standard, it lacked a bath.||||You may see several reviews referring to cockroaches. We did not see any evidence of these. However, we did have ant like bugs in our bathroom, including on toothbrushes. Again, not something you would come to expect of a high end hotel. ||||We did not notice any mould, though sometimes you could smell the rotting Sargassum, which may partially explain what others have reported. ||||However, there were two green flashing lights from the smoke alarm right above our bed. This woke us up on our first night and it is inexplicable why this would be positioned here. ||||5. Food ||||Our Taxi driver summed this up perfectly “The food is catered towards the American market”. If you like this type of food, then you will probably love it. ||||The restaurants all follow the same, Hyatt, Secrets and Dreams formula, so if you have stayed at one of these resorts before, you will know what restaurants to expect. Except that the names are the same, the quality of food compared to lets say a Secrets is marketably different and there are not the same high standards. For example, having stayed at a Secrets my fiancee was really looking forward to the French Toast from the World Cafe. This, however did not live up to expectations or Secrets standards. The best way to explain this is it is akin to wearing glasses if you have 20:20 vision, the shapes look the same but everything is blurry. ||||Oddly, the World Cafe buffet did a good matar paneer curry which was a strange surprise and regularly had paneer at lunch. The egg station at breakfast and protein stations at lunch were to a good standard and the chefs here were true unsung heroes working in such heat for little or no thanks. The best restaurant by far was Hiromitsu. Again, if you’ve ever actually been to France or Italy you may be a little confused about what is being badged as their nationalities food here. ||||It’s also worth noting that few restaurants actually have air conditioning, no doubt this will change as the hotel updates, but if this is a deal breaker for you beware.||||6. Staff ||||This is a really hard one as we found it mixed. I want to give a special shout out to the ladies in the coco cafe. They are lovely and actually helped me with my Spanish - even though they are fluent in English and their English far exceeded my Spanish. I found them the most geniune and kindest people the resort has and I really enjoyed my interactions with them. I’m not sure they realise the added value they provide guests, but they are a true credit to Dreams. They are also the only people that would speak to me in Spanish and not expect any form of personal gain from it such as a tip.||||Additionally, the waiters in the World Cafe, the station staff and the replenishment staff work their butts off for little or no reward. I am sure the same applies in the kitchen also. ||||7. Tipping ||||We soon became rather perplexed why guests were not tipping staff - we found this even more confusing with American guests who come from a strong tipping culture. If you are reading this review I recommend a quick google to understand what staff actually get paid. Spoiler Alert - it is not a lot! A $2 tip at breakfast could actually help someone more than you realise, particularly if more people did it.||||We always made sure we tipped for drinks and meals in particular. However, we noticed that with the majority of guests not tipping, it did result in some unintended consequences. In particular waiters at the World Cafe would try and divert us to their section to secure a tip.||||We also had 2 bad experiences. Firstly when a male pool attendant replaced the existing one, and I tipped him $2 for a couple of drinks, he exclaimed how much he “liked money” and then wouldn’t leave my fiancée alone, when I went for a swim, trying to insist that I needed a drink although I was swimming. This behaviour made my financee as a female on her own feel rather uncomfortable. I was also then confronted by him when we left for lunch to ask if I was returning. It was quite transparent that this was a financially driven question. My advice to Dreams would be to keep Cristell as the pool attendant at the Adult pool. She is extremely hardworking and professional.||||The second incident occurred on our last day when the older Bell Boy just said “MONEY!!!” after he put our bags in the Taxi taking us to the airport. This behaviour was disgusting and I suspect a lot of guests are expierencing this from the same gentleman. It had very much a vulgar and ransom feel to it and again it was completely unacceptable. This was the last interaction we had with any representative of the hotel.||||8. Excursions ||||Like most Hyatt Hotels the majority of the excursions were organised by Amstar. I am still no clearer on their pricing structure. For example I was quoted over $95 for a snorkelling trip to Puerto Morelos. When you go to tripadvisor to calculate the actual price of snorkelling the dive centres charge you will realise that this may be the most expensive 3 km taxi ride you will ever take. Bizarrely Amstar by the main pool were only charging $76 including a tip.||||Instead I elected to take the free cycle tour ride to Puerto Morelos the hotel offers usually twice daily. I’ve actually lead bike rides myself and it’s not easy, but Hannia our guide did a great job and her constant energy levels were impressive whilst at the same time ensuring everyone’s safety. The bonus of the ride itself is actually the stop at Puerto Morelos itself and it includes half an hour to walk around the beach and town. The beach there is outstanding (compared to the hotel’s) as is the walk along the pier where you can see Rays and fish if you look into the water. In my view the cycle tour is a real hidden gem and I would strongly recommend this to anybody staying.||||9. Summary ||||The Preferred membership really saved it for us. Without the access to the air conditioned Preferred Lounge and the Bala beds in the Adult pool we would have really struggled. As it was 7 nights was enough. ||||Oddly when we checked out the hotel seemed to imply we would return, which I found slightly presumptive. Would we return, most definitely not, however that’s not to say the hotel is awful and we did enjoy parts of our stay. If you have children and want an all inclusive on a budget, then this could be a great choice. However, if you are after something luxurious then there are much better options available in the...

I didn’t think that day would come where I was giving a negative review to my travels to Mexico! I recently stayed at this resort in April 2024. I have travelled to Mexico many many many times in the past and have always been blown away by the amazing service, resorts and food! I’m a seasoned traveller, I’ve been across the world also and not once have I had an issue with food. I went on this resort as a cleansing and healing retreat. Mentally and physically. As a non drinker I love that Mexico has fresh healthy juices. From the first entrance into the resort I noticed how many kids! So definitely - perfect for families. But I wouldn’t suggest going there for your little one’s tummies after you hear my story. I read the reviews, they seemed good! We got to our room - and it was super muggy and hot. The first night was brutal - no air. We called them to fix in morning as there was water leaking from the unit and we slipped on the water. Even after fixing it was still hot, muggy and you felt damp. I know it’s normal with tropics but oh man this was something else. And the room stunk. We found two large cockroaches but as our first day we were like POWER THROUGH IT WILL GET BETTER! we tried the food for the first time that day it was all bland and really really bad. No flavour. Even the restaurants. We knew we weren’t being picky as so many others would ask at the lunch hut “did you find anything edible?!” Again. Powered through. Stuck to bread and snacks. Where the awful experience comes in is by day 3 we were really hungry we almost left the resort. They didn’t have fresh juices at all just processed. We started sticking to our room ordering room service. Our fridge had juice and pop but it was warm. Never cold. So I decide to order the “catch of the day” that night and my friend ordered her soup she was sticking too. It was like boiled water. I take a bite cause I’m literally starving and notice the fish isn’t really cooked. One bite. So I ate around the fish eating the veggies and mashed potatoes. Oh. My. God. An hour later I started feeling very weird. Like something I’ve never experienced. It felt like I was having a heart attack. I started to flush and get tingly and started having weird muscle spasms. I thought it was a seizure - or heart. I lay down and put a towel over my head to get some relief and like an exorcism I start projectile vomiting. Like awful, forceful vomiting. Like every ten mins. Then the stabbing stomach pains coming in waves - excruciating like worse than contractions ( I have had kids). At this point I’m not even thinking straight I was crying, then the diarrhea which was neon green water. My friend rushed to get help but they said she had to buy gravol from the store so I laid waiting. Took gravol but nothing stayed down. We instantly thought food poisoning but I kept thinking there is no way it’s this bad. I have had food poisoning. The part that scared me was my clenched jaw and muscle convulsions I couldn’t control. I honestly felt my body shutting down. I suffered day then knew I needed medical attention. 400 dollars later - they gave me a shot in my butt - 2 - that would stop the vomiting so I could make my flight home. ( and diarrhea). After an hour I puked again and knew somehow I was gonna have to suffer and get through an airport to get home. Worst. Experience. At this point I was in a wheelchair I don’t even remember - airport staff helped get me on to plane. On plane I started vomiting again and the stewardesss was not gonna let the flight take off until I could produce my diagnosis “food poisoning” from the hospital. They were so kind to me checked on me entire flight as I was so embarssed. When I got off plane - I kept having muscle spasms so bad I couldn’t walk. I couldn’t make it home from the airport so I checked into a hotel next door to my city airport, let family know what was happening. I was weak, green, the puking and nausea was with me for days. My review limit exceeded the word count so pls msg if you have any questions but honestly AVOID this resort...

we were a family of 9 that just come back from a 7 night stay at the Dreams Sapphire Preferred Club hotel and I have to say it exceeded our expectations. On arrival, we had the separate (air conditioned) check-in area, and the process took around 5-10 minutes maximum, with a glass of something handed to you on arrival. We were then bombarded with information like all hotels, and the bellhop then took us to the room. There is a bar and food offered in the Preferred Club area, the food here however is basic, and there is little to no atmosphere to be honest. We didn't spend too much time in there. We did still have access to all of the resort's facilities.||Regarding the pools, sadly, you're going to have to get up early and reserve your sunbeds. we had to rent sunbeds which the guy who helps us out give us a great deal for the time we stay, this give us our own spot and didn't had to hunt down sunbeds every morning.||Food options throughout the hotel were good, we had our routines, we typically got breakfast and lunch in the buffet by the main pool, which it was really good , Evening meals we enjoyed, highly rate the Mexican, The Bluewater grill was brilliant for dinner, although it is very, very windy as it's completely exposed. We only ate there once for diner and it was nice, the setting was stunning as it's right by the water, but it did take a while to get your food,||Evening entertaining , their Fire Show and Mystique nights, these were by far the best shows and were actually very good. On these nights, the buffet is moved into the main Rendevouz area, and it's more of a grill night which is really good as well.||A couple of times a week, the hotel had local vendors come in to the hotel and set up their stalls. It actually made the evening really pleasant, it won't take you long to look around the 20 or so stalls that can fit, but it does offer a nice dynamic to the evening, and there's always a deal to be done.||The hotel app is very good at telling you what activities are on during the day, and includes things like wine tastings, guacamole classes, archery and much more. It also has menus for the restaurants, as well as opening times and a map of the resort, even though the map isn't the best.||- Room. The Ocean View "Suite" was brilliant, plenty of storage, lots of space and the beds was huge and most importantly, comfy my two daughters love the room. Linens were changed whenever you wanted them to be, you just simply leave a laminated card on the pillow on the day you'd like it changed.||- The staff at the hotel were great. Every restaurant, they were always willing to help. A special mention again to Gabriel and Ivan at the buffet, and Irais at the coffee shop, both amazingly friendly people, as well as being great at what they do.||- Food. The food was overall pretty good for an all inclusive resort. I won't say it'll blow your socks off, but it was pretty good. We've stayed at others along the coast and this was the most consistent. Buffet options were varied each day and there's plenty of options depending on whether you want a sandwich, burger or something more substantial for lunch. The only complaint we would have is that the hotel is one specialty restaurant short. Our favorite was the Asian, we ate there during our stay.||- The resort is a good size, plenty of little areas to walk around, as well as a running circuit around if that's your thing. It's not too big so you'll get lost, but also it's big enough to have a little wander and an explore.||- The beach had a lot of seaweed. Each morning, a tractor collects the seaweed from the beach as it does pile up, this is the first time I've seen this at a resort here. we couldn't swimming in the ocean at all.||I would recommend this hotel and would happily stay there again, but would only stay there if I had the preferred club as a minimum with a ocean view rooms.||Over all we had amazing vacation a and resort, specially the staff everywhere the we went...