Once we decided to go to Puerto Vallarta, we needed to figure out where we would stay and there are quite a few hotels and resorts to choose from. We talked to a number of people who suggested various places and the one theme most of them echoed was that we book an all-inclusive resort. An all-inclusive includes food and drinks at the resort so you don't have to leave the resort for your entire vacation. This appeals to people who might be afraid of the political instability or drug war violence that has been newsworthy for the past several years. Puerto Vallarta is a long way from the border where almost all that turmoil occurs, but you never know, right? Also, an all-inclusive eliminates choosing restaurants in town that may or may not end up being someplace you really want to eat. For a first-timer to Puerto Vallarta, this is a real consideration. Lastly, the drinks are free; all you want, anytime you want.

The first recommendation for Dreams was from our dental hygenist, Jill, who had been to Dreams a couple of years earlier and had an excellent experience there. Dreams is part of a group of resorts that includes Secrets and a coworker of Joyce, Darlene, had an excellent experience at the Secrets resort in Puerto Vallarta. There are actually two Dreams resorts here, one is in the Northern part of Vallarta near the airport and the marina where the ocean liners dock. The other is a few miles South of Valarta. The Dreams near the marina is on a section of beach shared by a few other large hotels and resorts. The one South of town is on its own private section of beach. We did some web searching and found tons of very positive reviews and chose the Dreams with its own beach. Now we are among the visitors who highly recommend this resort. The staff was extremely friendly and the food and drinks were very good, especially the seafood. Maybe because it was very, very fresh, or maybe becasue they had exceptional seafood chefs; but whatever the reason, we ended up eating seafood for most of our meals.