Fantastic 10th vsit! by Kern

We visited the Grand Palladium Colonial in mid-April 2015, and had a wonderful vacation! This was our 10th Palladium stay, having vacationed at Palladium resorts in Punta Cana, Jamaica, and our favorite, the Riviera Maya many times. Upon arrival we were greeted warmly and given a kind welcome home greeting! Check-in was easy, and we were brought to our junior suite in Villa 20, which was the perfect location. The room was beautifully adorned with rose petals and a lovely floral arrangement. Wow! A fantastic welcome home!

We vacationed with our daughter, who is in her mid-twenties and she was delighted to return to the resort that had become her favorite over the years – the Grand Palladium Colonial!

Since we travel during peak travel periods the resort is typically quite full, but it never seemed crowded. We had a fantastic week.

Being repeat guests (10), we received Gold bracelets which allowed us to enjoy a few perks. Thank you!!!

It is nice returning to the same resort, as one can immediately relax and get into vacation mode. We arrived at the resort before our room was ready, so changed into our bathing suits and went to our favorite spot – the Kantenah end of the beach! Fernanda was working at the beach bar and greeted us with her gorgeous smile! She is amazing – a real gem.

Unfortunately, my husband was stung by jellyfish during his first swim! He was stung a couple of times on his hand, and ended up having to receive medical attention later in the week with the resort physician, but he didn’t let the pain get in the way of his fun!!!!!! (tequila helped!) The water was rather rough that first day, and you couldn’t see bottom, so he didn’t know what hit him. It was all pretty ugly, but he recovered nicely.That first night we enjoyed dinner at La Adelita – always nice to kick the vacation off at the Mexican restaurant! We received wonderful service.

In the early morning it was beautiful walking to the beach, getting a cup of coffee at the Beach Bar (Colonial), and watching the resort come to life each day.

The weather was perfect as it typically is mid-April. Each day we set up camp on the Kantenah end of the beach. Enjoyed watching several weddings from afar, too!

It was fun having breakfast at El Jardin, and we went there 4 out of the 7 mornings. On the other mornings we opted to simply go to the large buffet due to its proximity to our villa. We dined at Portofino twice, Mare Nostrum, the steak house on the Colonial/ Kantenah side, Japanese, and El Jardin on our last night. Everything was perfect.

At lunchtime my husband had fried snapper at the beach bar one day, which he enjoyed. It was beautiful sitting outside looking out at the beautiful ocean! We typically had lunch at El Gran Azul. As always, there was a great selection of food.

The resort is as beautiful as ever, and very well maintained. We enjoyed walking through the wooden walkways throughout the resort, and got lots of exercise. One of our favorite things to do is hike over to the salt water pool late afternoon to relax, enjoy the views, and have a cocktail. It is absolutely beautiful there!

As far as excursions go, we took the colectivo to Akumal once to snorkel and see the sea turtles (always fun!), and on another morning went to Tulum. Since we have been to the resort so many times, we have done lots of sightseeing in the area, and didn’t feel the need to venture out any further on this trip.

We were treated very nicely by all staff members, and that’s one of the reasons we return – everyone always has a smile and a friendly hola!

Each day when we’d return to our room there would be some sort of treat waiting for us – chocolate covered strawberries, cheese,pears…all quite delicious!

Our tenth trip was relaxing and fun – just as we had hoped. Looking forward to our next visit to the Grand Palladium!