A Dream Turned Nightmarish Stay at Dreams Macao Beach, Punta Cana

This isn’t my usual “ I had the time of my life blog post.” To be honest, I spent my vacation at an all-inclusive resort surviving off fries, white rice, and bacon.” The beauty of being a content creator is that I have an obligation to share both the good and bad parts about travel. Grab some popcorn and prepare yourself for a fun read about my family trip to Punta Cana.

Earlier this year, my father-in-law requested that we take a family trip. He has 3 grandkids and although we’ve traveled with my in-laws we’ve never been on a trip as an entire family. As a group, we decided to visit a tropical destination that none of us had been to and landed on Punta Cana.

If there’s one thing you should know about me, I do extensive research when it comes to hotels and resorts. In the past, I’ve toyed with the idea of becoming a travel agent and posted tons of reviews on Tripadvisor prior to creating this platform. I’m the girl that spends hours looking at Youtube videos, Tiktoks, reads countless reviews and documents notes in a spreadsheet with a full overview and pros/cons of each potential resort. I love every second of it.

Since this was a family trip and costs were a concern, I knew this wouldn’t be the typical splurge the hubby and I make when it comes to all-inclusive resorts. I had my heart set on Hyatt Ziva Punta Cana (one of the best resorts in Punta Cana), but sat my preference aside to make sure we agreed on a more affordable, kid-friendly resort that everyone would like within the budget.

To give you context resorts like Atelier Playa Mujeres are my jam. I’ve also stayed at Excellence Playa Mujeres and loved Hyatt Ziva Los Cabos. Last year we stayed at Impressions Moxche’ so figured we’d give their Dreams brand a try. How bad could it be?

We decided on Dreams Macao Beach, which wasn’t my first choice, but it checked all the boxes for a waterpark, fairly new, lazy river, multiple pools, good entertainment, kids club, etc. It wasn’t on the whitest stretch of beach, but still looked nice. I had read some reviews where food quality was a concern, but this is typical at many all-inclusive resorts. After all food is subjective. As we got closer to our trip, I started seeing more and more posts about people getting sick. I immediately felt nervous and started to think that I may have to survive off fries and juice for the entirety of our vacay. I threw some boxes of crackers, a few cans of pringles, and a small arsenal of activated charcoal and tummy meds in my checked luggage as a precaution. As the president of the “sensitive stomach club” I was terrified that our group would get sick. However, I figured there’d be no way we couldn’t find a dish we didn’t like. If it meant sticking to that go-to dish during the trip, we could do it. Boy, was I wrong!

Before I get into the food fiasco portion of the trip, I’ll say this, the property is nice and the staff was pleasant, aside from asking for bottled water but more on that later. The kids had a fun time and it was great spending time together as a family.

family beach time

skyy and her auntie

A few notes about Macao Beach

The beach isn’t white sand and there’s security. If you’re looking for white sand like Cap Cana or Bavaro Beach, this isn’t the resort to choose. Although we were preferred guests, the location of the preferred section is too far back to see the waves which is a no-go if you have little ones with you.

hedges block the view of the ocean from the preferred club

pathway to the beach

There are lots of vendors selling items on the beach and although there was security it was kind of a pain being bothered constantly by the locals. I get they have to make a living, but it was constant. There were also a few stray dogs and cats on the beach so keep that in mind if you have little ones. However, the water is beautiful. This stretch of beach is known for being a surfing beach so swim with caution. There are lifeguards.

Entertainment

Dreams/Secrets has a great entertainment program and we really enjoyed the family shows.

The Food (SIGH)

Simply put, the food was practically INEDIBLE. This was a first time I’ve visited a resort where the World Cafe buffet room was hot. Seriously, it had to at least be 80 degrees in there. Not only was the room warm, but it was apparent that food wasn’t being served at proper temperatures. The resort will not tell you this, but there is a separate seating room for preferred guests. Once you walk into World Cafe you’ll see it on the left. If you’re a preferred guest ask to sit there. It’s about 10 degrees cooler than the main dining area at World Cafe.

We tried the Italian restaurant one night, and all the kids in group refused to eat the pizza. You know it’s bad when kids won’t eat pizza. I got sick after eating there and lived off fries, bacon and white rice for the entirety of our trip. I am NOT exaggerating. I believe it was an undercooked shrimp in my risotto that did it. Funny enough, I only ate 1 of the shrimp.

the risotto that took me down

We found the other restaurants to be lackluster. Either our food was cold, a tiny serving, or restaurant wait times were too long. Like 2 hours long. I will say, the rest of our family tried the hibachi restaurant and everyone said it was good. However, you can’t make reservations at any of the restaurants and it was impossible to get a seat for hibachi before 10pm each night. The selections at World Cafe, the buffet restaurant were minimal.

Unfortunately, the kids weren’t the only ones who didn’t love the food. My husband got sick the second night after dining at Seaside Grill. Dude literally almost passed out at the table. Between the two hour wait, heat, and small portions it was too much for him. Thankfully, he ended up being ok but since the resort doesn’t provide Gatorade, I ended up paying $12 for one at the gift shop. My sister in law, almost threw up after eating at the Italian restaurant but held it in. I promise you, I’m not making this up! I spent the majority of the trip hungry. We typically gain weight on vacay but after getting on the scale when returning home, I had lost 3lbs, my husband lost 5, and my other sister-in law lost 6! The food was that bad!

room service meal, chicken was undercooked

After the second night fiasco at Seaside Grill and not having any good experiences at restaurants, we decided to eat at World Cafe (buffet) for the remainder of the trip. If you go this route, I highly recommend arriving when they open or going early for breakfast to make sure you aren’t eating items that have been sitting for a lengthy period of time. The buffet selection is small. They have a few Dominican dishes available, but there’s not a lot to choose from. Despite the warm temperatures inside, we felt this was the best option to eat where we could see if food was being replenished and to see some things prepared. We also tried Oceana, for the preferred breakfast and didn’t care for it.

Bottled Water

If you do decide to stay here, make sure you keep bottled water with you. We’d ask for bottled water at every restaurant and the buffet and were always told they didn’t have it. Instead, one of us would have to go to the coffee shop, preferred club, or one of the bars to grab a bottle. Whenever we asked, it seemed like the staff got annoyed. I’m not sure if they’re instructed to offer the guests filtered water, but we steered clear of it…you could literally smell salt in the filtered water!

Overall Thoughts

It was nice spending time together as a family, I loved spending time on the beach, but this resort was a huge disappointment. I know food is subjective, and I wasn’t expecting Michelin star quality, but at a minimum I expect my food to be edible and served at proper temperatures. Beautiful resort but the food quality and handling is concerning. If you’re looking for a family resort in Punta Cana, look elsewhere.

Thankfully, the hubby promised me a re-do later this year, and we’re already discussing next year’s family trip. I’m excited about some of the resorts we’re considering and I’ll definitely be booking with my travel agent to make sure I have my T’s crossed and I’s dotted!