Dreams Playa Bonita Panama - All Inclusive

Customer Ratings & Reviews

TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

3279 reviews

• 

  Beautiful resort in a beautiful landscape

  My fiancé and I stayed at Dreams Playa Bonita for two weeks in January 2025. The resort is beautifully landscaped and set in a gorgeous area surrounded by rainforest (keep in mind it is almost a 2-hour drive from the Rio Hato airport). There is an abundance of wildlife right on the resort including iguanas, birds, coatis, raccoons, agoutis and sloths (ask the staff to show you where the sloths are)!! The only downfall to being near the rainforest is the chitras (microscopic bugs whose bites can cause itchiness and rashes) so make sure to bring bug spray (although I'm not convinced it really helped me at all). The resort obviously needs some renovations (cracks in the walls, paint, paths could be cleaned and pressure-washed, etc) but overall, we found it quite modern and clean. The beds were large and comfortable. Housekeeping was pretty diligent at keeping the room clean and ensuring the fridge was well stocked. We were definitely concerned about the food based off of reading reviews before we went. A few of the dishes we had were quite bland (ex bolognese at Portofino) but overall, the food ended up being good. The buffets were decent as expected (we liked that they changed up the buffet options occasionally and it wasn't always the same thing). Oceana and Bordeaux both had some pretty yummy dishes. I did think it would've been prudent to have another snack bar open from 4:30-6:30pm as there was only the Barefoot grill and they only ever had burgers available. The Coco cafe was a great spot to get a drink or a pastry and it was open all day. They do have little sandwiches but it would've been nice if they had more variety (only had ham). The room service was surprisingly quite good - service was relatively quick (within the hour) and opened until 11pm. Unfortunately there wasn't much night entertainment which made some nights a little repetitive. They did have a pool and foosball table as well as board games in the lobby area which was nice. The customer service overall was very good. Most staff would go above and beyond to make sure your needs were met (Kathleen - hostess, Angelo - bartender, Juan Pablo - Bordeaux waiter, supervisor at Oceana & many more). Thank you :) Overall, we really enjoyed our vacation and would highly recommend this resort if you enjoy being very close to nature and having close encounters with animals (main reason we picked it). Make sure to do some of the activities organized through the resort (rainforest tour M-W-F) or through Panamazing/Viator :)

  Jan 25, 2025
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  Terrible experience, cant beleive Hyatt allows this to be an affiliate.

  Old hotel. Understaffed. Rooms smelled and needed major repairs and upgrades. Food and room service terrible. Nothing was ever available. No one answers phone, not front desk, room service, housekeeping. No one. Can't get anything. Go somewhere else!

  Jan 24, 2025
• 

  Paid to leave early :(

  When we arrived, the lobby seemed nice, and staff friendly. We got to our room and things went down hill fast. The room smelt musty, anything with metal on it was rusty, the door had so much water damage and bubbling I could stick my nail in it and probably could have pushed the lock thru if we tried. The air conditioner was leaking so we had to leave a garbage can in the hall to catch the water. There was hair under the blankets and dirty spots on the bedding. Then we went to the buffet for lunch, had to wait in line for a long time to be seated. The lunch buffet that day had only 7 options. Fruit was yummy. The pool area.. the chairs are hard formed chairs, so not very comfy as you only get one position to lay in. The pools seemed rather dirty and in need of some fixing. I have mobility issues so getting in and out of the pool was tricky as the placement for the hand rails is not in a good place. There was only one ladies bathroom by the pool area with only had 2 stalls, and one was out of commission. We were moved to a different room for the second night on the 5th floor, that room was in better shape. The shower bar placement is behind the door, so you are unable to use it getting in and out of the shower. The pool shuts down by 6 and after that there is nothing going on, so evenings feel long and rather boring. There was some board games at one of the bars, but that’s about it. My husband and myself went to one of the restaurants for supper, nice staff, unfortunately my husband got food poisoning. The night after the food poisoning we ordered room service. After being told on the phone it would be 35-40 minutes, we waited 1.5 hours and still had not received the food. All we ordered was cereal, bread and fruit. We went down to the breakfast buffet at 10:30. The signs say open until 11, the app says open until 11. We were told they close at 10:30. The lady let us in, but there was not much to pick from. We decided that day we would rather pay extra to head home early, so we did. It was all very disappointing. We have stayed at a Dreams before and had much higher hopes for this one. Unfortunately I am unable to recommend this place. The positives - My company was great The coffee shop had good coffee The views were pretty

  Jan 23, 2025
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  Huge disappointment. Avoid.

  If you’re from Canada and expecting a nice Mexican getaway, do not stay here. This resort is old and outdated. The rooms on the lower levels are 1 star, not 4 star. Water damage, musty, dirty, you name it. The food is sub par. Buffet has the worst presentation with limited options, got food poisoning at the French restaurant and stayed up vomitting that night. Also the loungers do not recline, and there are not enough to go around. To add insult to injury, The property is way out of town with no evening entertainment. The staff can really do nothing since the property is under funded and out of date. We paid money to come home 2 days early. That should say enough.

  Jan 21, 2025
• 

  If I had it to do over, I’d stay somewhere else.

  I wanted to love this resort. It was my first trip to Panama and due to an unplanned rotator cuff surgery, we were limited in activities such as excursions. But no biggie, right? We would just take advantage of the all inclusive resort and chill. First, the food is terrible. Breakfast has very few options for things that are pretty standard at other resorts, such as bacon and an omelette station. The available food was very limited and quite frankly, not tasty. Quality was low. Dinner was a tad bit better, with Oceana having the best food, in my opinion, and that was still very basic. Luckily we went to dinner a couple of nights off the resort. Even room service was bland. How hard is it to get a warm cheeseburger and fries?? Second, the bugs. I’m aware of the noseeums and came prepared, however, I’ve been home 3 days and still getting new bites. I have a sneaking suspicion that the bites are not only due to the native noseeums, but I think they are bed bugs. The rooms are dated and in need of renovation. The cleaning crew, while nice, never left enough towels for our 3 participants so we had to call and ask for more each day. No entertainment at night. None. They had movie night, and a “disco” that didn’t disco. The resort basically shuts down after nightfall. The staff is the only saving grace. They are very nice and friendly. However, most don’t speak anything except Spanish so there may be a barrier there. I understood enough basics to communicate, but many people don’t. If I had it to do over, I’d definitely choose the Westin next door, or one of the resorts in town. I would not return to this resort. It’s one of the worst I’ve been to and I’ve stayed at 20 plus all inclusive hotels. Hyatt should reconsider this hotel as part of their offering. It just doesn’t live up to the name or standard.

  Jan 21, 2025