Dreams Las Mareas Costa Rica Reviews
Reviews
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4.5 out of 5 rating
4.5 out of 5 rating
15 Reviews
89% recommend it
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![Sarah]()
Sarah B. Sent on 11/26/2023Tropical Paradise Wedding
Dreams surpassed my expectations of wedding day. Their onsite coordinator, Naomi, and I communicated via email for about 3 months leading up to the wedding. She was able to put together all my visions without me ever stepping onsite to the venue until the day before we got married. All of our guests had an incredible stay at Dreams as well. They definitely know what they’re doing there in terms of weddings and hospitality. -
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![Mayra]()
Mayra A. Sent on 12/01/2021Amazing wedding
Beautiful resort. Daniel Meza the wedding coordinator made sure everything was perfect. It was a dream come true. -
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![Jon]()
Jon W. Sent on 09/24/2021Nothing less than AMAZING
Daniel was my wedding coordinator and I would recommend Him to anyone and do it 100x over. I sent Daniel a PowerPoint of my vision and THAT WAS IT, He made my dream wedding come true. My wedding was identical to the power point. The events leading up to the wedding were so perfect. Daniel did everything for us, I didn’t even have to think the whole time I was there. We started with a welcome cocktail, the next night we had a private dinner for rehearsal and then our wedding. Thank you Dreams for making the most important day of my life perfect! -
![Kirsten]()
Kirsten T. Sent on 12/23/2021Beautiful resort!!
Amazing place to get married! So many options from food, flowers, music. Dreams in Costa Rica utterly blew me away!!! They are equipped to give you the wedding you’ve wanted and more. -
![Jessica]()
Jessica Sent on 02/27/2020Absolutely incredible! Dream wedding!
My wife and I had our wedding at this resort and couldn't have been happier! The wedding coordinator, Daniel, was absolutely incredible! The entire staff at Dreams makes sure that you feel right at home throughout your entire stay. We had stayed at Dreams twice before and have been impressed each time. Whether you step going on vacation with friends, celebrating your honeymoon, or marrying the love of your life, this resort is perfect all occasions. We plan to return for our wedding anniversary! Amazing! -
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![Sommer]()
Sommer Sent on 01/26/2022Wedding amazing - Photographer provided do NOT use
Daniel was absolutely amazing. I would recommend this venue to anyone! Everything was beautiful. I barely had to do anything. DO NOT USE FERNANDO photography. He comes with the resort package. He attempted to get into my accounts after the wedding and will not deliver my pictures. He is extremely unprofessional. Daniel is resolving the issue with him but do not use Fernando. I also hired a SEPARATE photography company. Jenn Guillen Costa Rica Wedding Photography. She was absolutely MAGIC. She is well worth the money and made the day so easy. Daniel and her were the best. Fernando is a scam do not even have contact with him. -
Tiffany R. Sent on 04/11/2021
What a Dream!!
The entire week, and day was incredible.. an outstanding resort as we are huge AMResort fans.. this property knocked it out of the park. Gorgeous scenery and food/service outstanding. Our Wedding was on Arboleda Beach with the reception at the Seaside Terrace. I highly recommend the Seaside Terrace for a more private function. I utilized the bridal suite and it was well worth the money! We booked a SwimOut room that was also worth every penny.
The vision I had was completely brought to life, and was absolutely gorgeous.
If looking for a destination spot, Costa Rica has all the exotic traits to offer!! -
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Haley F. Sent on 08/09/2024
We had our Destination Wedding here July 2024!
TL;DR - This place is great and we had a blast. The wedding team takes a while to get back to you which can be frustrating, but they're amazing on the day of. Shout out to Paula, she's the best. The wedding flowers are gorgeous. The cakes are delicious. The DJs are perfectly fine. Hire your own photographer and hair/makeup person. Get ready in your suite, not the salon they have. Get a destination wedding travel agent, they are usually free and infinitely valuable. Tico Time is real. Trust the process, relax as best you can -- the pina coladas are fantastic and can help with that.
The long version...
We knew early on that we wanted a destination wedding in CR because hubby's family lives there, and we knew we wanted an all-inclusive experience for maximum relaxation. We also have little nieces and nephews, so we needed something child-friendly. Had that not been the case we definitely would have gone with Secrets Papagayo -- same parent company, adults only and the location is better. If you're planning a destination wedding and looking into this location, here's everything I know:
PREP
1) Get a destination wedding travel agent.
Just do it, don't question it. They're free, they handle all your guest travel arrangements so you don't have to, and they know how to talk to these resorts in ways that you don't, the two parties work together all the time. We used TripGuys, highly recommend, Mitch and Christopher are incredible, but there's a million other services that do the same thing if you want to shop around. They were in my corner from day one and the wedding couldn't have been pulled off without them.
2) Connect with the Wedding department and emotionally accept that this will take some time and you may need to send a lot of follow-up emails.
To be clear, the Weddings department at Dreams is amazing. They are geniuses who totally know what they're doing. They are also doing two weddings a day every day during the high season. It is hard to also make time for your event that is many many months in the future. Get in touch early and follow up often, but know that it will take some time. If you have a good destination wedding travel agent (see above) they can often flex for you and get you a quicker response. But try not to freak out (I freaked out many times) and know that they actually are doing a lot of work, you just can't see it.
3) Spend some time with Instagram
There's a whole instagram dedicated to weddings at this place! instagram.com/weddingsdreamslasmareas
Pretty much anything that's there can be recreated or tweaked to match your event. It'll give you a good sense of what's possible in terms of lighting and decor. Find pictures you like and share them with the wedding team. Instagram is also where I found my hair/makeup artist and my photographers. Find pictures you like, see who is credited, email them and ask for their rates. I used Adri & Lucas Mendez for photography, highly recommend, but look around and see what works for you. My two cents -- hire locally and with people who have dealt with the resort many times. The more familiar they are with the venue the easier it will be to get through security and you want every vendor you work with to speak Spanish fluently, it helps a lot.
THE RESORT
The resort itself is gorgeous. It's divided into Normal and Preferred Club rooms. The major difference is that the Preferred Club rooms are closer to the lower pools and have access to the Preferred Lounge. The non-Preferred Club rooms also enjoy lots of monkey visits, which is a pro or a con depending on how you feel about monkey visits. Lock your doors. Honestly I wouldn't have sprung for it, but we got it as a perk of using our travel agent (see above note) and I was happy to take advantage of the plunge pool.
DRINKS
The drinks are excellent, the pina coladas especially. One other perk of Preferred Club is access to top shelf liquor, so if a Gentleman Jack and Coke is important to you maybe it's worth the price. It's all free, truly free unlike some other resorts. The one kind of hidden fee is if you order a bottle of wine in a restaurant it costs extra. Don't mess with that, just get a glass of the house white or red and they'll refill it forever and it's free. Oceana and Seaside Grill try to make this a little bit confusing on purpose (can't blame them, you gotta make a living) so just put that wine list to the side and ignore it unless you want to shell out some extra. Do keep some cash on hand to tip your bartenders. Everyone takes USD so no need to do a currency exchange and especially don't do one at the airport. Those vendors charge a fortune in markups, it's a total scam and most of the staff prefer dollars anyway, so keep your money the way it is.
FOOD
This is an all-inclusive, everything is free. So moderate some expectations straight out the gate. The beef in CR isn't great. The pork is excellent. The seafood is pretty dang good. The milk and eggs and coffee are exceptional. Figure out what you like and do that and keep in mind that you're not paying for any of it, so try to take everything with a grain of salt. Everybody's different, but my hot take is that Oceana, Seaside Grill, and El Patio were a miss, Portofino, Himitsu, and Lapa Lapa were good, and the breakfast buffet at World Cafe is all time. All of our catered events for the wedding were also very good, they do catering very well.
THE POOLS
So many pools, everyone will find something they enjoy. There are pools geared towards children as well as adults-only pools. They are all next to outdoor bars (with one swim-up bar!) and staff are also wandering around to take orders and clean up empty glasses, so getting another drink is never a problem. The poolside food is kind of kid stuff -- nachos, burritos, hamburgers, that sort of thing. Head over to Oceana/Seaside Grill if you're looking for something a little more adult. They'll have ceviche and roast pork, but it is a sit-down so you'll have to towel off and throw on a cover-up. We enjoyed that for a midday break from the sun, but to each their own.
THE BEACH
All beaches in CR are public property, the beaches are not part of the resort. That means that anyone can use them and you may be asked for proof that you're staying at the resort upon reentry. Keep your key card with you. It also means that tons of vendors set up shop on the beach. They can be fun or annoying depending on how you feel about buying local souvenirs and being solicited. They're respectful, but you may have to say, "no thank you" more times a day than you would like. The ocean itself is warm and wonderful and the sunsets are pure magic. Great for photos.
LEAVING THE RESORT
The front desk has tons of excursions that you can book. They do cost extra, but we found them reasonable for what you get. They will all require at least a 30 minute shuttle ride from the resort. Most will include something adventurous (zip-lining, ATVs, horseback riding) something relaxing (volcanic mud mask, hot springs, waterfall swim) and a meal. Most of our wedding guests did at least one because a full week of pool hanging can get a little monotonous, but if pool hanging is your jam then go for it! The resort is in a little slice of paradise, but it also means that it's kind of far from stuff. If SCUBA diving is your thing there are vendors that will pick you up from the beach, but you have to book them separately and in advance.
THE WEDDING
A lot of your wedding details depend on the package you select. You can find the pricing details on the Wedding section of their website. We had the Beyond Memorable with about 60 guests for comparison. It was a base cost of $11k.
That included:
A Rehearsal Dinner for up to 25 guests in the venue of our choice (we chose inside the discotheque because we were worried about rain) with the buffet of our choice (we chose Mexican) and an open bar for two hours. Tables, chairs, linens, etc all included. Did not include a stereo system for music unfortunately, would have planned for that had we known.
For the ceremony -
An arch of our choice and white chairs in the venue of our choice (we chose Arboleda Beach,) a bouquet and boutonniere for bride and groom, a champagne toast at the end. Does not include: music, any other flowers, aisle runners or any other decor elements. We paid extra for an aisle runner, a modest flower decoration on the arch, and a sound setup to play our ceremony songs.
The choice of a Welcome Party or a Cocktail Hour-
We chose cocktail hour because we knew photos would take awhile and we didn't want anyone stuck standing around with nothing to do. The package included and open bar for an hour and three passed appetizers. We paid extra for the sound system to play music for the hour to keep it festive.
The Reception -
It was more beautiful than I ever could have imagined. The package included white white round tables, white chairs, white linens, white plates, and standard silverware for the reception, a buffet selection and desert table of our choice, a two-tiered cake of our choice, plus three hours of open bar in the venue of our choice (we chose the Royal Palm Court.) The package did not include flowers, lighting, or music. You have to pay extra for that and we did and let me tell you worth every penny. We sent a bunch of inspiration photos and it all came out so much better than expected. The flowers native to CR are especially gorgeous and the lights were so beautiful. One thing to be mindful of is rain plan, you have to make the choice at 9am the morning of the wedding. We rolled the dice and got lucky, but afternoon showers are normal in July so it's something to keep in mind.
OVERALL
It was gorgeous, highly recommend. I've gotten nonstop compliments since the wedding and it was so fun to turn a wedding into a family vacation where everyone could relax the way they wanted to before and after the big day. The Dreams team is great, planning a wedding outside your home country takes time and energy and patience, but can be a life-changing experience for your family if you've got the stones to do it.
Overall Cost: About 20k, not including flights and hotel rooms -
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![Rebecca]()
Rebecca S. Sent on 05/03/2020Fall Wedding at Dreams Las Mareas
Andrea Toledo, our wedding coordinator, did such an amazing job planning and coordinating the details of our wedding! She and her staff were great at responding to our needs while we planned our destination wedding including 50 guests. The weather in September was unpredictable, and Andrea made a point to make us feel at ease and was flexible when it came time to make decisions about the weather. We have dubbed her our "wedding ninja", always working tirelessly behind the scenes to make sure the bride and groom, and every single guest was comfortable and happy. We highly recommend having your wedding at Dreams Las Mareas! The people, the food, the hospitality... Everything was absolutely amazing. -
![Markesha]()
Markesha Sent on 01/14/2024Turned out ok
I was super stressed out planning this destination wedding. Everyone’s super responsive except the weddings department! I had no idea what the total for my wedding was until the day before the ceremony! Colors were not right for some decor. It was supposed to be rose gold but it was just gold. I was just ready for the ceremony to be over with. I love Costa Rica and the resort itself but as far as weddings, I am glad it’s over. Oh and the steak served was cooked medium so my guests didn’t eat it. I asked that it be cooked well done for all guests. My makeup was very clownish so I ended up going to my room to fix it myself so that was also a waste. Overall, you have to be vigilant! Have someone at the resort to help you work with the staff at the resort so you don’t get stressed out. Then remember you’re getting married to share your life with someone and remain positive! Best of luck! -
![Jen]()
Jen M. Sent on 11/23/2022Beautiful resort
Besides a few pitfalls we had with the resort, communication being primarily one of them, we still had an absolute amazing time getting married at this resort. So gorgeous, guests loved it, food was decent for an all inclusive, and my wedding reception was exceptional! Would do it here all over again! They def make up for the lack of communication when you get there -
![Allie]()
Allie R. Sent on 02/07/2020Beautiful Resort
Our wedding turned out exactly how we imagined it. We had a total of 41 people in our group that arrived/departed throughout the week. Our ceremony and reception took place on the beach. We're very easy going when it comes to details and even with a few hiccups, would still recommend Dreams with some tips/caveats:
- Start the planning as early as possible. Tico Time is a thing and they're much slower to respond.
- The resort is secluded so tours are either more limited or require long windshield time (and with an unlimited resort, you're essentially wasting money not spending your time at the resort).
- DO NOT recommend the Preferred Club - it's not the same caliber as other all-inclusive's for the price. Basic rooms are literally the same thing - except PC gets you a few mini bottles and some Pringles.
- Recommend upgrading packages to include bistro lighting (especially for the beach) and a DJ if not already included.
- Our package came with a photographer and I was pleasantly surprised at the quality of the photos and natural shots they were able to capture. I also hired my own photography team that was with me for 8 hours versus the 1 hour ceremony/cocktail hour that came in my package.
- The Caribbean Trio that played during our cocktail hour was a really great addition - we loved them.
- We added a coconut/rum station to our cocktail hour and people really enjoyed that.
- DO NOT recommend spa mani/pedi - ridiculously overpriced and it's not a specialty. Maybe 15 color choices, didn't apply gel nails correctly and came off in two days, etc. Overall technique is just not there.
- DO recommend makeup as my artist did a fantastic job (wish I knew her name)!
- Booked the bridal suite for $125, but they were trying to charge for extra champagne bottles ordered which is ABSURD. I can technically order 20 glasses of champagne, but not a bottle.
**Overall, amazing time and a dream wedding week. Technicalities of the resort and fine print make for annoyances, but again we’re laid back and just talked to them about our issues and they were solved.
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![Erin]()
Erin Sent on 06/27/2024Dissapointing to say the least
Writing on behalf of my sister... but truly would never recommend this to anyone after attending. From start to finish the coordinators were unresponsive and unhelpful. Contracted prices and requests were ignored and overlooked. Timelines changed without any notice, flowers were extremely wilted, sound systems at the ceremony were broken, and communication was minimal. If you're considering Dreams, be sure to NOT rely on in-house coordination and be prepared to fight for things you were promised.
