Grand Palladium Colonial Resort - Spa

Resort is very clean, well taken care of. We stayed in the Romance suite poolside, the resort is very expansive, and distance between areas is a stroll through well taken care of brick paths through the jungle. Lots of wildlife to be seen around walking paths. Employees were very helpful and friendly. Would recommend booking all dinner reservations at the beginning of your stay because they book up quickly. Would definitely go back to this resort. Read less

We arrived, a group of three friends, to the grand palladium on a Tuesday afternoon and had booked to stay for a week in the Colonial villas. Apon arriving we realised that the room we booked didn't have a 3 bed (sofa bed). We asked if it was possible to have one brought to the room but the front desk said no but it would be possible upgrade. We went to look at the room and it was a little basic so we decided to look at the other rooms and then decide. Initially we were worried we were being scammed but actually it turned out to be the best decision we could have made. We were given the option of Family Selection or TRS adult only. We only wanted extra space and family selection was very slightly cheaper so we chose that. Benjamin from Colonial lobby front desk thank you for you help! The family selection came with butler service, you just make a Whatsapp group chat with your butler and they do everything they can to help you Daniella Guillermo and Rogelio from family selection villa 50 butler service thank you so much for all your help. Be aware though, the rooms are thin walled and it's in the name 'Family' Selection, there was one night were we were woken up at like 3am due to a baby crying and the parents just let it cry for over an hour. Obviously, nothing can be done about that but if the possibility of children being children isn't your vibe go for adult only. There's many mixed reviews on the food and the Al la carte restaurants but we mostly enjoyed the food. It's not gourmet, but the quality is good and the food areas are clean and well staffed. Our only let down was the La Paisana Argentinian Al la carte that was awful. Service was terrible, food was meh and it was just not worth the long wait for the mediocre food. The fish restaurant was good and El Dorado American steak house was good/okay but the wait time was quite long. The onion bread appetizer was a winner. The breakfast buffet was our favourite. In family selection we have access to The Nest which is were we took most of our meals. Special shout out to the Nest Diana and Juan who always had beautiful smiles for us when we arrived and laughed along at our attempts at some basic Spanish. You made us feel very welcome thank you. The CHIC cabaret is so worth it if you have time to go we had a blast and absolutely didn't know what to expect 10/10 for entertainment good vibes and good food. Shout out to our server Sonia. We also tried some activities at the sports centre the shooting and archery was really fun and the staff members there were hilarious and guided us well. Gael (captain Levii) and Victor (olympic shooter ;) were lovely. At the beach we also had a blast and the service was flawless we didn't have to leave our loungers once out drinks were constantly topped up mucho gracias Family Selection Diego. The seaweed was quite bad while we were there but on different days it was better or worse, the resort put a net to catch the worst of it but we only had one day were the sea was nearly perfectly clear. It didn't stop us enjoying the beach but we mostly swam in the pools. Note there is a very deep pool and a not so deep pool. Bring a float if you want to relax in the deeper pool. Like others have mentioned yes there are sellers on the beach but if you tell them no thanks/ no gracias they dont push. I was often just with one of my friends on the beach and we never felt pressured or threatened, so just be prepared to say no and it's really not that big a deal. Though I can understand if you have children it's frustrating being offered trinkets or drugs especially. Just try to sympathise while we're on holiday they're hustling trying to make a living, a little compassion goes a long way. We actually got talking to one of the trinket sellers and they were really friendly and happy to chat. The Grand Palladium is a massive resort there really is something for everyone. You'll have a good time if you go in wanting to have a good time. The staff are really working hard to keep everything clean, fun and beautiful. We're British and don't really have a tipping culture but were happy to tip because the service was good. The carts took us wherever we wanted to go around the resort, our butlers got us reservations for every restaurant we wanted. It was our first time at an all inclusive and we'll quite likely be back again! Read less

We arrived at 9pm to the resort so reception was nice and quiet, but there was about 12 of us so it took a while to get checked in. There was a gentleman waiting with a cart to move our luggage and take us to our rooms, this was great and a really nice touch. The room was very dated, and for the money I’d have liked it to have been at least in good condition. The shower screen was hanging off, maintenance did come and tighten it up to be fair but it started to work loose by the time we left. The safe wasn’t functional and generally the room was just clearly quite old. The bed was comfortable, staff cleaned the room daily, however restocking of the refrigerator and coffee making supplies was very sparse? We had coffee creamer on day 1, and it was stocked again after 9 days! My parents struggled to get towels replaced, and my disabled grandparents had issues getting into their room so many times they had to be moved. The room they moved them to was further away from everything so in order to go anywhere they had to wait for a golf cart The pool was well kept and there was nice people walking around taking empties and bringing you drinks if you wanted. I enjoyed spending time at the pool and the beach but I have a couple of complaints - The music by the pool is very much elevator music. It was ok for the first day but I’d like to see something different as it was doing my head in by day 3 There are men on the beach constantly asking you to buy cigars, drugs or vapes. This was incredibly annoying so we didn’t bother to go back again. The a la carte restaurants are hit or miss, for example El Dorado was really nice the first time we went, but the second not as nice. The Argentinaian restaurant refused to cater for more than 15 people so we had a table of 8, one of 6 and one of 3, the table of 8 food came out at different times and was not great The Thai food was lovely, i would avoid the Italian We enjoyed breakfast at the hacienda, id have liked more variety and maybe some beans and tomatoes to go with the sausage and eggs The lunch buffet was nice with fresh meats cooked and plenty of choice. I didn’t have dinner at the buffet Staff on the resort are fantastic and will go out of their way to help you if you ask them, I really can’t fault the staff at all, but I do find the whole place quite disorganised and seemed like something was missing. The evening entertainment was so so and not to my liking but that’s a personal choice. The alcohol being served was with plenty of choice, I didn’t like the beer on offer but you could get Heineken in the sports bar (why not across the whole resort??) The kitchen in the sports bar was also hit or miss with some food coming out delicious and other things being cold or overly oily. It depended on the day and one time we were outright refused service and told to go to the buffet by the man in the kitchen. We struggled to obtain boiling water to make the baby’s bottles as most of the main bars would refuse to fill up our flask meaning we had to go to a buffet. Overall I enjoyed visiting grand palladium resort but I’d advise you visit the Kantenah resort next door as the rooms are nicer. I was not happy paying the price I paid with the room I got and I wasn’t pleased with the lack of consistency with the stocking of the room amenities Read less