I stayed at the Grand Palladium Select Costa Mujeres for six nights in September in connection with a destination wedding. A number of our friends and relatives were staying at the resort at the same time, so some of the experiences described below were theirs as well as mine.
I have traveled extensively and stayed in hotels and resorts ranging from modest to luxurious. Unfortunately, this was the worst overall hotel or resort experience I have had, particularly considering the price. Many of the problems themselves could have been resolved relatively easily; what disappointed me most was the way management responded when guests raised legitimate concerns.
There are certainly good things about the resort. The grounds are attractive and well maintained, and guests have access to a private beach. Electric carts provide transportation around the large property. There are several restaurants, including Indian, Mexican, Japanese and steak restaurants, as well as a buffet, coffee shops and a pizza takeout restaurant.
Most of the frontline employees we encountered, including waiters and cart drivers, were very pleasant. Our room was large, with a nice bathroom, safe, refrigerator, plenty of hangers and a small drying rack on the balcony. The gym was good. The Isla Blanca buffet had ample seating, and we rarely waited more than three or four minutes for a table.
There were, however, numerous problems.
Our room had relatively low water pressure in both the sink and shower, and one sink did not drain properly. Although the resort has an internal transportation system, finding a cart when we actually needed one was sometimes difficult.
The airport shuttle was another frustration. The resort advertises complimentary transportation between Cancun airport and the property, but it took multiple reminders before I received the vouchers needed for our arrival transportation. The return arrangements were remarkably inflexible. One member of our group had a 7:50 PM flight but was assigned a 9:45 AM shuttle to the airport. The resort declined the guest's request for a later departure.
On our own departure day, I had arranged with the front desk to collect my bags at 8:15 AM from our room. Nobody arrived, and eventually we had to find a staff member ourselves who would come to the room and collect them.
My most serious problem involved the amount I was charged at check-in. I had two reservations covering consecutive three-night periods. I discovered at check-in that I had inadvertently made the first reservation for one person rather than two.
I do not dispute that the resort was entitled to charge something for the second guest. This is an all-inclusive resort, and an additional guest receives food, beverages and other services. My original three-night reservation, however, had cost approximately $987. The resort charged me an additional $984.35 simply to add my wife to that same room for those three nights—almost the entire price of the original reservation.
I objected to the amount at check-in and asked the resort to reduce it. At that point, however, my prepaid reservation was nonrefundable, my wife and I were already at the resort, friends and family were staying there for the wedding, and we had prepaid for a sightseeing excursion for which the resort was the pickup point. The resort would not add my wife without payment, so I paid the additional charge and continued to dispute it.
I filed a written complaint and was told that someone would respond within 72 hours. Nobody did. When I followed up, I spoke with someone who identified himself as a manager, but from the conversation it appeared that he had not read my written complaint. I found his manner intimidating rather than helpful. After another email, the resort eventually told me in writing that the amount was its rack rate and that it would not reconsider the charge.
Other members of our group also encountered troubling situations.
One couple was asleep when someone repeatedly banged on their door at approximately 11:30 PM. They could see the person through the peephole. When they subsequently made a formal complaint, they felt that they were treated very rudely.
Another guest told me that items were missing from his room and reported the matter to the resort. I do not know the ultimate outcome of his complaint.
A family with two children had a room in which a glass partition separated the bathroom from the bedroom, with no blind covering it. Turning on the bathroom light at night illuminated the bedroom, and using the shower created an obvious privacy problem. They reported the problem several times and said that each time they had to explain the issue again from the beginning. Eventually, a blind was installed.
Restaurant availability was another major disappointment. Although this is advertised as an all-inclusive resort with several sit-down restaurants, roughly three of them were closed during much or all of our six-night stay. We were told this was because September was the off-season. If substantial restaurant closures are routine during the off-season, I think guests—particularly groups considering the property as a destination-wedding venue—should be told before booking.
This was especially difficult for vegetarians. On one day, there was no sit-down restaurant (including the buffet restaurant Isla Blanca) open for lunch or dinner that offered meaningful vegetarian choices. A pizza takeout restaurant was open in the afternoon, so we bought pizza then and ate the leftovers cold that evening.
Vegetarian choices generally were limited, and vegan guests would have had an even more difficult time. Because of the restaurant closures, we ate frequently at the Isla Blanca buffet. Labels did not always make ingredients clear, and employees we asked often could not tell us whether particular dishes were vegetarian. We ended up eating pizza and pasta for many lunches and dinners. Even the breakfast cereal selection was surprisingly limited.
The buffet also appeared understaffed. The waiters were pleasant but seemed overworked, and it frequently took ten minutes or more to receive coffee, water or juice.
Finally, the resort's phone app was of little use to me. I was unable to link my reservation to it, and it sometimes displayed restaurants as available for reservations when they were actually closed.
The property itself is attractive, the rooms are spacious, and many of the frontline employees are friendly and hardworking. Unfortunately, those positives were overshadowed by repeated service and management problems and, in my case, an extraordinarily high additional-guest charge. Based on my six-night stay and the experiences of the group traveling with me, I would not choose to stay at this resort again.
