Dreams / Secrets Playa Esmeralda

When we went: February - March 2026

What we paid: $0 | 21,000 points/night | 105,000 points total

Overview: For my mother-in-laws 60th birthday, we took a family trip to Dreams Playa Esmeralda. Our trip included 10 people total - both of J’s parents, J and I and our 2 kids, J’s sister and her husband and kid, and J’s other sister.

The resort itself is beautiful. This is a new resort, just opened within the last year. The buildings and design are lovely and the beach is amazing with incredibly blue and green water. The Playa Esmeralda property is unique in that you get 2 resorts in one. In addition to the Dreams resort, there is also a an adults only Secrets resort on the same property. This means that adults staying at the Dreams resort can access the restaurants and facilities on the Secrets side and visa versa.

While the location and resort are beautiful, there were definitely some aspects of our stay that reminded me of how new the resort is. We saw several repairs happening while we were there, one day there was work being done on one of the bathrooms at the preferred pool. Another day they were working on some of the preferred rooms. There were a few details I noticed throughout the week that were less than impeccable - a missing part of a door frame border in a restaurant bathroom, a broken bathroom door handle, etc. And the service was largely inconsistent. There were a few dinners where we had great service, but outside of that, service tended to be very slow. So if you’re hungry, prepare to wait.

The food overall was not great. At best, it was just ok. There is only one restaurant on the property that takes reservations - Himitsu, the Japanese Hibachi restaurant. We ate dinner there for my mother in law’s birthday and it was one of the better meals we had. The chicken was a little dry, but overall the food was tasty. We also had good tacos at the Mexican Restaurant - El Patio. One night we left the kids with my sister in law and J and I went to the steak house - Castaways. The steak and empanadas here were good, but for a steak house I expected the vibe to be a little more high end and a little less casual. In fact, generally speaking the steak option was typically the best thing on any of the menus at the restaurants we visited.

My Assessment: This was a beautiful property and a great redemption. I think because the hotel is so new, it is relatively inexpensive on the Hyatt awards chart. Though there is some area for improvement, it is a great use of points if you are looking for a low key, low stress, all-inclusive beach resort option.