Our group of 60+ just returned from a fantastic week-long stay at the Palladium. In terms of the facilities, the resort was spectacular. The rooms, restaurant, pool areas, bars, and the beach were well-maintained, beautiful and clean. Their kids' club set the bar for excellence. We had about a dozen children in our group from age 4 to 17 and Palladium had the facilities and activities to knock their socks off. Elsa and Vianney in the mini club (ages 4-12) were absolutely wonderful and did the most amazing crafts with the children. My daughter loved dressing up in the extensive costumes, splashing in the little pool and making pizza. For children aged 13 to 17, the junior club had a wall of video games, a full dance club area, and a cool computer lounge. We were very impressed by the graphic art throughout. A big thank you to Ray who made the junior club the place to be for all our kids. Both clubs were open from 9 am to 11 pm with the junior club going on until midnight, perfect for parents who want to grab a drink and unwind after the evening shows. The beach was great too. There was opportunity to get relatively close to humpback whales and dolphins if you went out for a catamaran ride. Lots of waves for surfing or boogie boarding as well as quieter areas for strolling and lounging. The lifeguard on duty kept a close eye on everything happening in the water. The food in the restaurants was very good with the exception of the sports bar where the food and service were deplorable. This resort has so very much going for it, but the one flaw that kept cropping up was the communication with some staff and management (they all spoke English very well, but commitments were not reliably kept) and this became onerous after a point. Overall we would definitely come back and would highly recommend this resort.

We stayed at the Grand Palladium from Jan 22- Feb 6 and loved it! Check in was quick and the staff were very helpful.The rooms, grounds and beach were immaculately kept. The beach was great and offered something for everyone-waves for surfing and a nice sandy area for swimming or snorkeling. The water was clean and warm and there is also a nice little salt water pool to splash around in that is great for kids.The staff were all very pleasant and courteous. Lots of stairs which helped to work off the calories. Our Sunwing rep, Aldo,was fabulous and helped us book some excersions. The food at the buffet was good and offered a lot of selections. The restaurants were good with the exception of the Mexican restaurant. We tried it twice and both times the food was cold and not very good. We also found the mattress protectors hot and very noisy but realize they are there for a purpose. They have a beach BBQ every week which was fabulous. I like the fact that this resort is Eco friendly and is surrounded by botanical gardens. It was very peacefull and relaxing which is what we were hoping for. There is an area on the beach set up for the Vendors to display their products and they are monitored by the Hotel. This is an excellent idea! The Vendors do make trips periodically up and down the beach but they are not pushy and very polite when you decline.
The resort is close to Punta Mita and Bucerius if you want to take a trip into town.
We both had a wonderful time and will be returning again.

This was our first and last trip to the Palladium. It is also the first time I have ever posted a negative review. When we arrived the check-in process was arduous and slow. The walls at this resort are very thin. Pray for neighbours who are quiet. The buffet was genuinely horrible. Vegetables were canned, items were left under heat lamps until they dried out and were rock hard and trays weren't refilled until they were empty. One morning I thought there was going to be a bacon riot when the tray was left empty and a crowd started to form. Thankfully, being a vegetarian I was able to remove myself from the fray! Food in Cuba is better.

Front line staff here work hard. Housekeeping was exceptional. I couldn't stop thinking how dispiriting it must be to work for such a mediocre brand. Tip well. the people who work here deserve it. The people who run this place are running what seems like a very weak business to me.

Late check-out is offered but we were told it was unavailabe...just a small example of many inconsistencies we encountered. I wouldn't have written this review if the Palladium billed itself as a 3 star resort but a 4.5 star rating is wildly misleading.

With all that said, a vacation is what you make it, so going off resort and visiting different places made what could have been a dismal trip a good one.

We stayed at the Grand Palladium from January 17-24th. Beautiful clean beach with lots of surf. The water was very clean more so than near Bucerias area. We arrived about 6:30pm, check in was extremely quick, Eddie the bellboy was really helpful, he showed us to our room, explained all the features of energy saving features. We talked with him a few times during our stay about different things and he was always helpful and cheerful. We liked the Hemingway Bar, it was always a quiet place to go. Food was good, sometimes the buffet food wasn't very hot. We found if you had something made to order, ie: pasta,it was hot. Same goes for breakfast, omelettes were always good, as were the made to order pancakes.
The reno'd rooms were very nice. I didn't like the plasticized mattress protector, being synthetic microfibre with the waterproof bottom we found it noisy and very hot to lay on. The airconditioner lowest setting is programed by the hotel and only 22 degrees C. Wasn't cool enough for us, sometimes we had to leave the patio door open to get a breeze, at night it was cooler outside than in. Good thing we were on the second floor.
We did all the a la cartes, all good, Bambu seemed to be the favorite, get there early, 1st try getting in was a 45 min wait, so we ate at buffet, 2nd try couldn't get in at all, 3rd time we got there at 6 and got in.
Entertainment was always fun, small troupe of 8-10 dancers depending on show, The Pop Star was really good, Alli who did the Michael Jackson was great!, wonderful dancer.
Our biggest complaint of this resort was lack of fresh orange juice!, When you ordered a Vodka and OJ you got Vodka and Tang!, This is just not right. Even concentrated orange juice is far superior to Tang. Cranberry juice is a sryupy sweet stuff too. We drank a lot of beer. Also depending which bartender you got sometimes the drinks are made differently each time. We heard due to low volume of guests two wings were closed and only one a la carte was open each night. I guess a lot of cost cutting was going on because it was so slow.
Zoo was good, We really enjoyed the Hobycat rides, just had to make an appointment for that day. Pepe was great and very informative and fun to talk with. All in all pretty good, beautiful grounds. Lots and Lots of Stairs, there are ramps as well. Be prepared to get your exercise. That part I liked after lounging all day.