Dreams Playa Esmeralda Resort & Spa

We spent one week at Dreams Playa Esmeralda in Miches in August — two adults and one child — in an oceanfront room with the Preferred Club upgrade. Overall, we had an excellent experience and would absolutely return. Arrival & service Check-in was simple and easy, and our luggage was immediately taken care of and brought to our room. A special shout-out to our butler, Juan Carlos, who was fantastic throughout the week. He checked in with us every day, shared the daily activities and made sure we had everything we needed. He was attentive without ever being intrusive and definitely added to our experience. The staff throughout the resort were consistently kind, helpful and fun to interact with. Almost everyone we encountered spoke at least Spanish and English, and many also spoke French, Italian or other languages. Knowing some Spanish made the interactions even more enjoyable, as the staff genuinely seemed to enjoy joking and chatting with guests. Next time, I’ll brush up on mine before travelling. Resort & rooms The resort is almost brand new, extremely clean and beautifully designed. The grounds are gorgeous during the day and spectacular at night, with ambient lighting throughout the property. Relaxing music also plays around the resort, giving it a calm, almost spa-like atmosphere. One minor annoyance is that occasionally the general resort music and nearby bar music overlap, so quiet lounge music and louder Latin music can clash a little. Our oceanfront room was on the second floor and the view was fantastic. The room was modern, well designed and very comfortable. The beds and bedding were excellent, and the air conditioning was quiet and easy to control. There was also an impressive selection of room amenities, including shampoo, conditioner, body wash, skin cream, sewing kit, shaving kit and toothbrush kit. We didn’t use the spa, so I can’t comment on the treatments, but the facility itself looked beautiful. Food & restaurants You definitely won’t go hungry here. Food is available throughout the day, there is plenty of it, and the overall quality was very good. I’ve seen some reviews mention that the main buffet is on the smaller side. It may not be the largest resort buffet, but we thought the quality was excellent at breakfast, lunch and dinner. There are several restaurants and most don’t require reservations. Kids’ menus were also available at all the restaurants we visited, which made dining with a child very easy. Food is obviously subjective, so I won’t go into too much detail. For us, the Italian restaurant was disappointing, while the others were generally good. We actually often preferred the main buffet. The Preferred Club restaurant was also very good for lunch. The menu was relatively limited, but the quality was consistently good. It was also surprisingly easy to eat healthy throughout the week, with plenty of fresh and lighter options. Drinks The drink selection was another pleasant surprise. There were plenty of premium alcohol options, and the bartenders really knew how to make cocktails. We ordered all sorts of different drinks throughout the week and never once managed to stump anyone, whether at an indoor bar, poolside or on the beach. They even had Clamato for Bloody Caesars, which was a nice surprise. There were also plenty of non-alcoholic options, including mocktails and Corona 0 with lime. Beach, pools & ocean We never had any issue finding beach or pool chairs. Seating was plentiful throughout the week, and there was no need to wake up early to reserve anything. The beach itself was one of the highlights of the trip and is among the nicest we’ve experienced. It stretches an incredible distance in both directions, making it great for long walks or runs. There are also some surprisingly good snorkelling areas. In particular, head toward the point to the left of the resort. Around the coral there, we saw plenty of tropical fish, sizeable trumpetfish, pufferfish and even a family of squid that stayed in the area for a couple of days. Another amazing surprise: directly in front of the hotel there are thousands of live sand dollars in the ocean. We’d never seen anything like it before. The waves in front of the resort can be a little rough, but if you continue past the point to the left, the water becomes considerably calmer. Entertainment & activities There weren’t large shows every night, but the ones we saw were very good. Most started around 9:00 p.m., which worked well for us travelling with a child. There are also plenty of activities for both adults and kids throughout the day if you’re interested, but the resort still feels very relaxed. Gym The gym is excellent and considerably better than what you find at many resorts. The equipment is premium, modern and in great condition. There are free weights, cardio machines, cable machines and essentially everything needed for a proper workout. Cold water, towels and cleaning supplies are provided, along with fresh fruit and green juice. There are also private lockers that can be locked and unlocked using your room keycard. Despite using the gym several times, it was never crowded. One practical tip: bring enough cash One thing worth planning for is cash. The resort can provide some smaller Dominican peso bills and exchange U.S. currency, but once we started running low, getting more became difficult. There are ATMs in both the Dreams and neighbouring Secrets lobbies, but none of our bank cards worked with them. It seems some banks simply don’t work with those machines. If you plan on tipping regularly or using cash during your stay, I’d recommend arriving with enough cash and smaller denominations rather than assuming you’ll easily be able to withdraw more. Overall This was an excellent family vacation. Beautiful property, fantastic beach, very comfortable rooms, great staff, good food, excellent drinks and a relaxed atmosphere. The resort feels upscale without being overly formal, and there was enough to keep both adults and our child happy throughout the week. We’ll definitely be going back. And once again, a special thank you to Juan Carlos for taking such good care of us throughout the week.

We had a Dreams preferred swim out ocean front room that was absolutely beautiful! The location could not have been any better and it was very clean. The atmosphere was tropical and there was zero noise at our building. The amenities were great. The best thing about our stay was our Butler, Juan Carlos Santana! He was truly the best and I can’t wait to go back and have him as our butler again. He’s truly top notch!

This is one of the Best Resort I have ever been to with the Family Highly recommend if you’re looking for vacation Head down to this resort.

We had a great time and the guy who showed us what to do and where to go was named Francisco Del Rosario he made our reservations for dinner and informed us about the events that were happening we wouldn’t hesitate to go back

Our butler, Juan Carlos, was exceptional. He exceeded all our expectations. He would be one of the biggest factors for coming back to this resort. Kudos to Juan Carlos! 👏