Search Results for 'tipping'

[Anne]

Posted with permission from Meghan T

Just returned today from a 5 night stay with our family of 4 (two kids – boy girl aged 12 and 10). Here are some tidbits and advice on things I was wondering prior to our trip! Note some of these things are only relevant if you are staying in Family Select:

1) bring more sunscreen than you think you need and apply it often! We went thru 3 full size bottles and two travel sized bottles of spray plus a small bottle of cream. The towel carts offer sunscreen you can use if you run out. Remember to apply to the tops of your feet also your butlers can get you a small bottle to keep if needed. I also brought bugspray and never used it once. No mosquitoes that we saw.

2) we brought our own floats to use in the ocean and some of the deeper pools. It was especially handy for us adults going to the swim up bar. Family select pool has a ton you can use and no need for your own. We left ours behind for another family to use.

3) speaking of the Family Select pool, it’s a great option to secure chairs and shade if you can’t find a spot at the nearby colonial pool. Lots of little kids but great poolside service and a full menu to order from. There were a lot of chair reservers which was annoying as we never entered the pool area earlier than 10am and clearly others got there first thing in the AM. However, sometimes you just have to take it upon yourself to remove towels that have clearly been abandoned (ie no personal items sitting there) and take the chairs.

4) The Nest was a great option but I didn’t find it any better than the other buffets (Gran Azul and La Hacienda). La Hacienda was preferred by our kids due to their handmade crepes.

5) it is a large resort yes – we took golf carts to go to the sports center and white sands. However walking to White Sands is much shorter when walking via the beach vs the walkways. Other than that, it was super easy walking between the family select villas to the main Kantenah lobby and the colonial lobby. Took us about 1.5 days to acclimate ourselves

6) dinner reservations – I was able to make one the night we arrived on the app for El Dorado (ps the Filet is the only decent cut of meat). But the only other place we wanted to try – Japanese Hibachi – was full during our entire stay. However, we found that by offering a $ tip to our butler to get on a waiting list a reservation suddenly appeared. If you can get Hibachi, it was the best hands down

7) speaking of tips, we spent about $200usd over our five days. We never paid in pesos and it didn’t seem to be an issue. There really isn’t anywhere to exchange but there is an ATM that dispenses pesos should you need it. However most everyone we saw was tipping in dollars and it was fine. We tipped $10 per day to our butler, $1 every time we got a drink, $5 for bellhops, $1 for golf carts rides and $5 per day for housekeeping

8)water shoes are a must if you plan on ocean swimming. We got cheap slip on ones online that can be tossed. Kids wore them every time they ventured out as it’s quite rocky going from the shore into the ocean but then it smooths out. The beach in front of the family select area was the best. The seaweed was plentiful but not a bother. It is what it is but nothing to complain about. It didn’t bother us when swimming; you just have to step over the mound of it prior to entering the ocean.
9) we had a jr suite swimout room in building 49 to start. It was great – king size bed and full size pull out sofa bed which our kids fit on fine. At check in i asked about available upgrades and after two nights, we were able to upgrade our last three to building 40 in a rooftop pool ocean view room for $450 extra – it was so worth it! Same set up as the first room but larger and there are (VERY slippery when wet) stairs leading up to the rooftop along with a second toilet/sink in your room. If you can upgrade to building 40 – do it

10) water was fine. Tons of bottled water in room, filtered and canned water in the resort itself, no issue with ice in drinks and there’s a water bottle filling station in the lobby of building 40

11) we booked directly thru the hotel. One of the perks was the free airport shuttle. One of my biggest struggles was deciding to use that service or book a private transfer for $$. We tried the free shuttle going to the hotel from the airport and that’s our biggest regret. The shuttle itself was fine but it took 2.5 hours to get to the hotel with all the pick up and drop offs. We booked a private return shuttle (thru VIP Rivera maya) for $100 and they were prompt and it only took 1 hour.

12) can’t speak to much to the activities for kids as our kids didn’t participate – the teen club was good…they popped in from time to time but didn’t do any of the planned activities. The white party on Friday is fun – wearing all white is not a necessity but most people did. Mini golf at sports center was good but nothing fancy. We paid the fee for our kids to use the inflatable pool obstacle course at white sands – they did that while us adults hung at the swim up bar. We did not get an hour for free as stated in some places.

13) we are not picky eaters – everyone found something they liked at the buffets. The a la carts were ok – nothing out of this world but it’s nothing to complain about.

14) we did one excursion off property – booked thru VIP Riviera Maya. We swam in a cenote and ate tacos at a local spot. Snorkeling with turtles was canceled due to choppy waters

15) there is music playing around the pools but hard to hear at the ocean. We brought a speaker and played our own music. Speaking of the beach, it wasnt hard to get chairs there but tons of open bali beds that you have to pay $ for – never used one

16) one thing i noticed (and it was because of this group that i recognized it) was immediatly upon our initial drop off day 1, we were greeted by a man wearing a blue shirt. He introduced himself as our conceirge and wanted to give us a tour. At first i thought he was the butler for our villa but i remembered the posts about the blue shirt people in the lobby and realized he was trying to push being in the travel club. We polietly declined and he didnt continue to bother us.
Overall great impression. We would return! If you can swing Family Select and you have kids, do it. It’s worth it!

[Anne]

Copied with permission from Blake

We headed home today after a wonderful week at Family select grand palladium Kantenah. We have three kids (ages 6, 3.5, 2) and the kids had an incredible week! I used this group a LOT while planning so I wanted to write a really detailed review. Looking at how long this is I know I seem like a crazy person — but feel free to skim for what you need.

I’ll start with the thing I was most worried about before arriving: the reports of kids and adults contracting hand foot mouth. The first few hours we were on property I was anxiously trying to wipe things down and sanitize hands. I quickly learned it was just not going to be feasible to be extra cautious. With toddlers on vacation and toys, candy, food, playrooms everywhere you go, I basically surrendered immediately and hoped for the best. Our kids are in regular public school / part-time daycare at home in the U.S and have all had HFM before. I don’t know if the immunity was what helped or if it just isn’t actually as apparent as I thought it was. We didn’t see any kids who looked like they might have it, and our kids literally touched everything, and unfortunately more often than not ended up with their fingers in their mouths. We didn’t not get HFM or any other viruses. Overall, I did feel like everything from restaurants, to pool areas, to our bathroom was very clean.

That brings me to my second point: as everyone mentions, the grounds and facilities are beautiful. Clean, well maintained, well staffed, ample bathrooms and options for kids activities, pools, beach area, nature — everything you could want in terms of the physical grounds / facilities exists at this resort.

Family select: we continuously shared the sentiment with each other and other guests that if you had NOT booked family select and arrived here with kids, you would have DEFINITELY been disappointed. FS makes a HUGE difference. The beach without family select is almost impossible. The big pool area at Kantenah without family select was crowded, loud, overstimulating for kids and adults, constituted waiting in line for drinks, and fighting for chairs. The FS pool is stunning. There is chair side service for drinks and food and a beautiful bathroom, playground, and they facilitate awesome activities throughout the day with staff members helping organize and entertain the kids. We never had a hard time any time of day finding chairs for our group of six by the pool. The family select beach area is also stunning, with plenty of chairs. We were able to find shade for our group in the morning or afternoon. The only small bummer is the Bali beds are all “reserved” and you have to pay (I think) $75/day to use them. They were basically all empty considering it wasn’t that hard to find chairs in the shade. The water is beautiful, even with the seaweed it’s really not hard to step over / work around. The swimming experience is pristine, beautiful white sand sandbar / crystal clear water. On the windier days there were some ‘waves’ but nothing that we couldn’t easily handle with our toddlers. It’s very shallow which does help.

Another huge perk of the family select option is the nest. I read reviews that mentioned the nest before we left on our trip, but I didn’t realize that the kids playroom would be such a big perk. It’s not just a “play area” but actually an open room that closes off with a gate / is open air on the top, so that you can easily see in the room from your table while you eat, but your kids would have to enter/exit from the same gate so there’s not a concern of them running off throughout the restaurant. In the playroom they have 1-2 staff members helping the kids with toys and crafts. We found the staff who helped with the kids to be so lovely and our kids really loved doing the crafts with them. It was generally the same staff members who were in the nest in the morning and then came to the family select pool around 11am and did activities in the pool.

The main complaint we saw in the reviews was about the food. As is the case with most all-inclusives, the food is mediocre. We had a few reservations made by our butlers but if I were to come back, I would definitely email a week before arrival and request a few specific reservations. The most popular a la cartes were already completely booked up by the time we arrived, for our entire week stay. They had some later reservations (8pm, 9pm 10pm) but we really needed to eat between 5:30-7 with young kids. I didn’t find the food at the a la cartes to be much better than the food at the nest, but it does provide some variety. Rather than the “wishlist” with the kids toys, items for the fridge etc – it’s much more lucrative to ask about reservations and deal with the other stuff once you arrive. If you need anything (toys, kids items, toothbrushes, drinks/snacks for the fridge) it’s very easy for your butler to get them for you.

We only went to buffets (aside from the nest) a few times, and it was fine, but the waiting in lines and having things very spread out isn’t great with young kids. We mostly ate lunch at the FS pool at El Nui, where we could order to our pool chairs. We did have lunch once at Las olas which was nice considering the option to order off a menu, but it’s a little walk (5-10 mins) from the FS pool or FS beach and our kids didn’t really want to be dragged away from the fun for a meal.
Overall, we kept asking ourselves why they had made such strange choices with menu and buffet offerings. If I could speak with the head honcho – whoever is making food related decisions – I would advise them to cut the options in HALF and focus on a higher quality, SIMPLE product. They could do so much better with less variety and more consistency, flavor, etc. We were shocked to arrive at La Adelita, the Mexican a la carte, and see there was no chicken or beef taco, fajita, quesadilla, rice, etc. on the menu. Almost all of the meat was lamb, pork, etc. It feels as though they are trying to appeal to a certain demographic looking for a ‘fancier’ or ‘elevated’ meal, when in reality, most of us would be much happier with more simple offerings. All we wanted was some nachos, tacos, Mexican rice, fajitas, etc. The same goes for the dessert selection. They put out a huge selection of craft pastries that are all so-so in taste. Most people want the ice cream or crepe station; cut half the ‘fancy’ desserts and expand the ice cream offerings or toppings!

The service was great, everyone was helpful and super kind. Service is slow and food is usually room temp or warm at best (even when ordering off a menu) but we expected that and weren’t bothered.

The drinks are great – exactly what you’d expect from an all inclusive, all the fun and fruity options, but you really have to ask for recommendations or know what you want. They don’t have drink menus and the kids drinks have specific names that aren’t advertised anywhere. In family select you have access to top shelf liquor but have to ask for it each time.

Tipping: we had lots of questions about tipping and how much was appropriate, etc. there really is a full variety (I imagine it has to do with the cultural variety, guests from all over the world and tipping is a primarily American concept). We personally gave $5 US (100 pesos) at each meal which felt fair and accounted for our special requests (we ordered a lot of the menu at the nest rather than using the buffet) and always asked for extras like condiments, drinks, sides etc. We gave $2-$3 each day for housekeeping and $1 in the fridge most days. Sometimes we forgot and gave $5 the next day. When we left we gave each butler $10 per room (we had 2 rooms so $20 total). All in all, for 2 rooms and a group of 6, this accounted to less than $400 total. We didn’t pay for anything else at the resort, aside from the water obstacle course at white sands. We also didn’t do any excursions. Our kids were happy by the pool and at the beach and would have been bummed to be waiting in lines, sitting on a van, standing outside in the sun etc.

Overall, for the price, the kids’ experience is unbeatable. We would consider going somewhere else for a better culinary experience, but those that we looked at with great food cost about double the price, and there’s the gamble of not knowing whether the activities, facilities, pools etc would be as good as this resort. Also, knowing that you have the family select option which avoids some of the crowds and chaos is a huge plus.

Packing: I made an effort to pack us into a condensed number of suitcases (2 large, 1 small for our family of 5). Next time I would have brought an extra suitcase. I imagined that our kids would be able to rewear outfits but really that wasn’t the case, and we could have done the laundry service but it seemed like another thing to deal with. With the ice cream on the beach / food by the pool / face painting / crepes with Nutella etc, they really only got one wear out of each outfit I brought. Every day was pretty much the same for the kids and my husband and I: bathing suit and coverup to go to breakfast and the pool or beach, a change of dry clothes (romper, shorts and t shirt) for anytime they wanted to be dry / if we needed it for lunch, and then we went back to the room to shower and put on a nicer outfit for dinner. I would have also brought more sunscreen (we brought 3 tubes and 2 cans of spray and it wasn’t quite enough) and my own shampoo/conditioner as the L’occtaine wasn’t great for my fine hair. I would have also brought a big wide brim hat for myself and my husband, and long sleeve rash guards for my husband — the long days in the sun are no joke! We also brought several floaties, pool toys, goggles, which were essentials. We popped some / lost some, which we figured would happen.
If we were to come back, as I said before, I would have emailed a week before our arrival and specifically requested reservations at least once but ideally twice at the Hibachi restaurant (sumptiori), the Brazilian steakhouse which we heard was great but didn’t get to try, the Italian which we enjoyed, and maybe el dorado or Chang Thai. If they resisted I would insist on making reservations for at least our day of arrival and the 2 days following.

Lastly, possibly the most important piece to point out- when you arrive, it is ESSENTIAL to get a little bit of a “lay of the land” from your butler. Typically your butler will be there to meet you at your building when you arrive. I would take the paper map and have them explain to you where things are and what there is at each hotel / pool etc. with Family select you can access anything on the whole property (although kids cannot access TRS/adults only options). We met one family who didn’t find out about the FS pool until their last day of vacation. Another family who didn’t find out about the FS beach until the end of their stay. It really isn’t going to be spelled out for you — if you want to know, you have to ask. Halfway through the week we realized we were going the (much) longer way to the pool. We should have asked for directions off the bat.

Overall, great experience, and very thankful for a relaxing and beautiful vacation without any hiccups or headaches!

• This topic was modified 4 months, 3 weeks ago by Anne.

[Anne]

Shared with permission by Valerie C.

We are a couple in our 60s and we had no kids with us. We’re seasoned travellers, but visiting Mexico for the first time.Our visit was in March (2025)  for two weeks in Colonial, but access to facilities at Kantenah and White Sand is included.

The wifi was very good in pretty much the whole resort. We were given bracelets upon arrival which also served as the key to our room, which we thought were very convenient.

Arrival
We arrived in the middle of the week, in the afternoon. Going through immigration was a breeze. Though it was quite busy, we didn’t wait long at all for our luggage, and got through customs without being stopped. It probably took 20 minutes from departing our plane to being out of the airport. Nobody harassed us as we had heard stories of. One guy asked if we wanted a taxi, as happens in any airport. We found our shuttle promptly. Once on the road, the drive to the resort was an hour and a half, with only one stop for the hotel located right next to the Palladium, so we didn’t waste much time. The bus driver had cold beer and water. Beer was $5US.

Upon arrival at the resort, we were able to get a meal at the buffet, despite arriving later, and the mini-bar in the room was full of cold drinks.

Accommodation
We stayed in Villa 7, on the 3rd floor. The room was spacious, with 2 double beds. We enjoyed the privacy of the balcony overlooking the trees, and a variety of visiting birds. It was quiet, and the A/C worked well. Ours worked 24/7, even when if we left the room, or had the sliding door open. Others have reported theirs shut off when the sliding door was open, or when they were gone, or sleeping (there are motion sensors).

There were a few minor issues like a burned out lightbulb, and some flaky outlets, but likely no more issues than in any other hotel room in the world.

The shower worked well with plenty of hot water any time of the day. There was a safe, a mini bar fridge, a coffee maker but not kettle (the front desk could not provide one). The issue was solved by getting boiling water at the buffets or at some bars. (Note: The water running through the room’s coffee maker is not hot enough to steep tea).

There were only sheets on the beds so we asked for blankets that were promptly delivered. The mini fridge was regularly filled and the room was cleaned when we needed it. No mustiness, only the usual tropical humidity. No mustiness either in our clothes when we came back.

Food
We had access to 3+ buffet restaurants, 8 a-la-carte restaurants and multiple bars. An extra 3 restaurants, Chic Cabaret, Bravo and Le petit chef are not included but can be booked for a fee.
There’s outside dining available at the Italian, Thai and Japanese restaurants, and the seafood restaurant is located on the beach.

Everybody has different tastes, so it’s difficult to rate the food on offer. Some food I liked my husband did not, and vice versa. In the same restaurant, I could enjoy my meal whereas my husband disliked his. In these cases, how can you say a restaurant is bad or good?

We went to all 3 buffets.
La Hacienda at Colonial (breakfast, lunch and dinner) is the biggest and is usually busy and noisy. Food that should be served hot can often be cold however.
EL Gran Azul next to the pool is outdoor and is open for breakfast and lunch.
La Dalia at White Sand (breakfast, lunch and dinner) was our favourite. The decor is fresh and inviting, and it’s airy and quiet. The food was better here, and hotter than the others.
Generally speaking, the food was decent. A few perks for me were the generous and daily offerings of freshly cut exotic fruit like mango, papaya, guava, pineapple, passion fruit… the crêpes and waffles were freshly made in front of you.

Talking with other guests, we learned that some just loved the buffets and did not care about going to the a-la-carte restaurants. Some said the food was superior to other all inclusives they went to.

We went to all 8 a-la-carte restaurants. We found booking fairly easy if you went to the concierge early. We preferred booking this way, as the app was sometimes buggy. The offerings are: Mexican, steakhouse, Japanese, Italian, Argentinian, Brazilian, Thai, Seafood.
After trying them all, we did some repeats of our favourites: Japanese, Thai and Argentinian. I would also have loved going back to the Mexican and Italian restaurants if we have had more time.

All in all, we had 11 dinners at a-la-carte restaurants and 3 dinners at buffets. As mentioned, food is a rather subjective subject, pertaining to each person’s likes and dislikes, but overall, we found the quality at the restaurants better than at the buffets.

We wished they would offer snacks around White Sand pool or the Secret pool so that we could avoid going to the buffet and take up a table for just finger food, but there are no options at all at the Secret pool. Sometimes there’s a cart with shrimp skewers, ceviche or fruit at the White Sand pool, but no options if those are not suitable. Grabbing a snack around the resort during the day was very much lacking. A hot-dog and burger cart would be welcomed.
Sometimes they set up a small buffet between the main pool and the beach, but it only seems to operate briefly, so you must be quick. We missed it both times.

Pools and beach
The beach is breezy, with little shade, with some areas with rocks and seaweed. There is a lifeguard. The water is quite shallow, so not the greatest for swimming. I had brought water shoes but ended up not needing them. There’s a bar/mini buffet and a volleyball area.

The main pool has a lifeguard, and is usually busy, with lots of families with kids.

I tried the Aquagym once but it was a disappointing experience. Barely 20 minutes in shallow water splashing around. Not the 1 hour hard core exercises I am used to back home! I didn’t go again and chose to do my own exercises by myself.

The pool at White Sand is less busy, and is shallow, with a lifeguard on duty. There’s a swim-up bar in the water and a pool table on the deck beside another small bar. There’s a large inflatable play structure for the kids for an extra fee (US$15 for the hour, US$25 for the day per person).
The White Sand pool was our preferred choice, as there were lots of options to lounge in the shade and it was pretty quiet.

The Secret Pool was also a favourite. Neither shallow nor deep, it was perfect for swimming or lounging around on floaties. It’s adults only and usually quiet. But when it gets busy it’s not as enjoyable because it’s so small. Shade was also hard to come by.

All in all, the pools are lovely, very warm, and so is the sea. Pools were at 29-30° C whenever we used them.

The grounds at the resort are beautiful. There are well maintained and full of wildlife. We saw lots of colourful birds, iguanas, coatis, agoutis, raccoons, squirrels and a kinkajou. Lots of bodies of water, fountains, and shaded paths.

It was easy to walk everywhere. Distances may seem greater on the map, but everything was close by and it took only minutes to walk from an area to another once you learned the quickest routes.
There were shuttles going everywhere all the time that could pick you up and drive you to your destination if you were tired of walking.

Staff were extremely friendly, helpful, polite and respectful. You could truly feel their dedication to providing you with the best service and experience at the resort. They were hardworking, and it was always pleasant interacting with any of them.

Whether it was in the accommodations, restaurants, maintenance, or entertainment, the operation of the resort felt like perfectly orchestrated and smooth. There’s more behind the scenes than we can imagine, making everything work well.

Apart from Aquagym mentioned above, we did mini golf, rifle shooting and archery. Don’t waste your time with mini golf as the course is not very well maintained and barely usable due to gravel, leaves, etc. It’s also very boring as most of the holes have the same design.
Rifle shooting and archery were good activities we enjoyed doing. The instructor was nice, funny and knowledgeable. You need to book in advance as there are limited slots available during the week.

We went to a few nightly entertainment activities. We enjoyed the White Party with a fire show at the beach. Taco and Tequila was a fun night with Mariachis and other Mexican performers. Casino Night allowed us to play some games with fake money.
There were also live music, bands, piano, and DJs.
At night, the Colonial lobby was busy and noisy, making it difficult or nearly impossible to have conversations.

Kantenah and White Sand lobbies had nicer decor and atmospheres, and were a better choice for spending a relaxing evening.

I would say the any real issues were not because of the resort at all but rather the guests! With a large number of guests around you, you will encounter many who are obnoxious, disrespectful and rude.

Smokers were among the worst, standing smoking on the pathways or out in their balconies. These people seem unaware that the people walking through their smoke, or trying to enjoy their balcony might not enjoy it. One guy in our block walked along the path smoking a smelly cigar, then continued up the stairs, and right into his room still puffing away. I pity the next guest staying in that room.

Another problem is entitled individuals who would rudely hog loungers all day while they are absent, or blatantly disobey the rules at the Secret (adult) pool, bringing kids, or playing loud music or ball games in the water. Also, when they are finished with the loungers, many people leave their towels in place, making the loungers look ‘reserved’.

It’s a shame that a few selfish people would ruin others’ vacations but we live in an imperfect world! In these cases, it would be good if staff would enforce the rules, but there is no enforcement at all. Guests can pretty much do what they want.

Noise levels in many inside areas were also a big issue, making it sometimes impossible to speak to each other or to understand the staff members. The restaurants are large spaces, with high ceilings and tiled floors, so the sound is amplified and bounces around. Adding rugs, carpets and acoustic tiles would help mitigate the issue. Loud guests must shout to each other even though they were sitting right beside each other, adding to the problem. Our ears were ringing lots of the times due to very high decibels, usually between 80 and 90 or more. We wish management would address this serious issue. We already had some difficulty with the Mexican accents of quieter serving staff, but this is made much worse in such noisy areas – the other patrons were louder than the waiter, and you miss much of what is said.

Something else worth mentioning is tipping. Although most all-inclusive resorts have a no tipping policy, it is not the case at Grand Palladium, so we had to regularly change large pesos bills for smaller ones in the lobbies, and always carry money with us.
Most staff graciously accepted these tips, while others expected them, even asking if we liked their service and wished to give them something. Some even gave us cards with their names, and asked us to rate them. We found this annoying. The omelette cooks in the buffets kept bills stuffed beside their grills, obviously hinting for tips. One should not need to tip multiple times in the same meal. Our tip at the end should be shared. Likewise, all the bartenders keep bills sticking out the edges of the serving mats as a hint for tips.

Around the pools, wait staff walk around taking drinks orders. It is quite noticeable that they avoid some groups of people, presumably that don’t tip enough. I thought we tipped well, but sometimes they would walk right past without stopping, then stopping at other people to take an order.

The all-inclusive aspect of the resort is a bit misleading, and would best be described as some-inclusive. Extra costs were all around. It seems that the level of service you receive is related to the tipping amount. This is not how an all-inclusive should be.

A-la-carte restaurants have a large drinks/wine menu on the tables, labeled “premium” but serving staff would refer to them as “wine menu”. All drinks on this menu had additional costs. Of course if you knew better, you just order your usual drinks, or ask for “house wine”, there was no extra charge. Also, many food items on the menus come with an extra charge.
Several areas and restaurants were “members only” access, that could be added at extra cost.

There are staff walking around greeting you who wanted to talk to you about buying spa services, or others who wanted to get you to listen to their spiels about time-sharing deals. Photographers wander around taking your picture, sometimes they are in costume and pose with you. Then they inform you that you can visit their shop where they display them so you can buy your photos. None of this is mentioned until after they’ve had you pose – and they don’t let you take your own photos of them. I’m not really comfortable having our photos on display in their shop without asking if we mind if they do that.

Even on Casino Night, with fake money, we had a Blackjack dealer boldly ask for a tip before we left the table. When we gave him what we thought was a good tip, he seemed to scowl.

We’ve not seen this in other all-inclusive resorts, but perhaps this is unique to Mexican resorts. We’re used to tipping the appropriate staff at the end of a stay, but this is the first resort we’ve been to where everything you did required suitable tips many times a day throughout the experience, or have extra cost items offered for everything. We’ve never had to worry about carrying a wallet everywhere in a resort until visiting Palladium.

Despite these things, we still had a wonderful time at Grand Palladium Colonial. We chose to embrace the tipping, and overlook little annoyances in order to make it an enjoyable vacation.

Departure
The arrangements for checkout are a bit unclear – a FAQ sheet is needed. Once we’d asked around, we were able to figure out what to do regarding luggage pickup/transport, checkout, re-retrieving our luggage, and bus pickup. We “heard” there was a room you could use after checkout for showering etc., but no staff ever mentioned it. Checkout is at noon, but the lunch buffet doesn’t open until 1pm – this is a flaw if your transport is early afternoon. Even our airline rep gave us inaccurate information when we met her.

Once sorted out, the ride was smooth, and our airline had provided a nice air-conditioned coach.

At the airport, it was busy, however getting through security was easy and fast. Once inside, food was outrageously expensive so we didn’t buy anything and chose to wait for the meal on the flight. The A/C worked well, and there was lots of seating. Wifi worked for an hour at a time before disconnecting you.

If you are hungry and thirsty at the airport, I suggest paying the US$45 for three hours of executive lounge access. It includes a buffet, drinks, wifi, and more. This is likely no more than you would spend at one of the airport restaurants for one person. We will do this if we visit again.

We would like to thank the Palladium management and staff for making it a great vacation.

Hints and tips
If you want coffee in your room, bring your own instant coffee. The hotel coffee packs are not very tasty. Wash your own cups and saucers – the cleaners just rinse them in the bathroom, then put them back.

Bring lots of small bills for tipping. Your room cleaner and mini-bar person are two different people. Leave a tip out for the cleaner, and leave another separate tip in the mini-fridge.

If you’re a beer drinker, bring a large thermos flask and have them fill it at the bar. The cups are small and flimsy.

Visit the Concierge at 8am for the best luck booking a-la-carte restaurants. Don’t trust the app. Many times it will show no availability when in fact there is.
If you book the Japanese restaurant, make it clear at booking if you want a menu meal at a table, or if you want the full cooking show. Try both if you can – they are very different experiences.

Don’t eat pre-cooked eggs at the buffets. Line up for the omelette grill. They will also cook fresh fried or scrambled eggs.

Bring a power bar. There are limited outlets in the room for your devices.
Be courteous. When you’re finished with your lounge chairs, return your towels so people know the chairs are available. Think of the others in the pool before throwing your football back and forth. Don’t bring your children to the adult pool. If you’re an adult at the adult pool, act like one. Don’t hog all the bacon in the buffet.

At the airport, when you connect to the free wifi, answer “no” when the login asks if you’re over 18. If you say you’re over 18, you must supply your name, email, and phone number to proceed, and you get product ads you must view. If you say no, it just connects. Check your connection often – it disconnects after a period and you have to go through the process again.

• This topic was modified 4 months, 3 weeks ago by Anne.

[Anne]

Shared by Lucy C

We just returned from a week at FS Kantenah and what an amazing time we had! Myself, husband and 13 yr old twins. We flew from Toronto to Cancun.

We used Canada transfers to get us to the hotel , we were met at the hotel and immediately taken to the private check-in area for FS. I was very impressed with this as we were all hungry after the flight and the couch, video games, fridge, coffee machine, snacks etc. exclusively in that area for FS people was a great touch. 

We were upgraded from the junior garden suite to the ambassador suite without asking – apparently because we had booked with Expedia. After check-in, we collected our bags and with a bellboy were escorted to our rooms all in a timely manner. 

The room was great. We had two double beds in one room and a separate area with a pullout couch. This ended up working well for us – I do wish that there were rooms where you could book a king size bed with two single beds or a large pullout couch as my boy /girl twins were not too keen on sharing a double bed.  I am originally from the UK and whenever we travel in Europe, you can usually get a family room with one large bed and two singles or one large bed and bunkbeds, which always works out better.
Definitely wasn’t a big deal for us though.

The resort was amazing. We used our butler the next morning to book all the A La carte restaurants which we got without issue.

The ground are absolutely stunning, animals everywhere which we loved. The pools are very large very spacious. Everything is clean, tidy and the staff and friendly, gracious and helpful.
Restaurants – we did Sumptuori Japanese, Chang Thai, Portofino & El Dorado. I’m not a huge foodie myself, but will say we were more than happy with everything.
Our favourite place for breakfast was the nest and our favourite place for lunch was Hacienda. Both these restaurants are light & bright and very good selection. I found the big buffet by the pool quite dark and busy so we usually skipped it. Es Nui by the family select pool was also very nice and the kids enjoyed swimming while we were waiting for the food.

The service could be a little bit slow when you were ordering from a menu at the nest or es Nui, but again not a big deal for us…. We are on holiday and in no rush.

We did not see any mosquitoes while we were there and we had blue sky & 28° everyday.
I had read some negative comments about different things before going, but didn’t experience anything negative ourselves. Maybe we are just easy-going or maybe we just got lucky but I would 100% recommend this hotel …..if you are going soon just have a wonderful time!!!

I tipped here and there, but never felt like I needed to- there was no pressure to but the staff were so lovely they definitely deserve tipping. 10/10.

Sorry, this is such a long review, but I found this group so helpful when we were planning our visit and wanted to share our experience! 

[Anne]

I got a message about currency in TRS Turquesa but it didn’t tell me the author. When I last went to TRS Turquesa I used US dollars for everything. (Tipping, tours)

[Anne]

Tipping:  Here is a handy guide to tipping at an AI. While tipping is optional, the staff do greatly depend on tips and appreciate them.  It is best to tip in pesos but US dollars are also acceptable (no foreign coins)

Tipping

[Anne]

Posting with permission from Susan McGrady Mullen who just returned from GP Colonial

We just returned and I thought I would post our review, and hopefully, some tips for those of you traveling there soon. First of all, let me preface this by saying this was our first experience with an all-inclusive. The only thing we could compare it to was a cruise. And, in my opinion, the only thing cruises do better is the food. Everything else with this resort is far better than a cruise.
My husband and I traveled with our 17 year old son and had such an amazing time. I have another post about some of my favorite things but here are the positive reviews we have:

1. Even though the resort had a lot of guests, we never once felt it was too crowded. While the Colonial pool had more people, once I found the White Sands pool and the adults only pool, I was more than happy there with the peace and quiet.

2. My son is very independent so he was off every day playing lots and lots of basketball on the courts, soccer, pool in the Junior Club and enjoying all the buffets. . Because he couldn’t use the gym on his own, he enjoyed working out with my husband several times during the week.

3. It was so easy to walk around the resort — definitely got 12-15K steps in every day just walking from place to place. If you dont’t want to walk as much, there are always carts that can pick you up and drive you wherever you need to go.

4. The gym was very good and their equipment is well maintained. I was able to get 4 great work outs in during the week. They also provide bottles of water which was so convenient.

5. Easy to stay hydrated. I left a tip every day for the beverage service in the room and he kept us supplied with at least 5 liters of water every day, and enough soda, peanuts and snickers bars. . We don’t drink alcohol so they replaced the beer with more soda as per our request.

6. The spa was amazing and I think well worth the extra cost. I’m from NY and the prices were very reasonable in my opinion.

7. The staff—-they were just awesome. Service was top-notch. They were friendly, helpful and very attentive. Definitely worth tipping them if you are so inclined. I went down with lots of $1 and $5 bills.

8. The activities…so much fun and so many to choose from. We liked the pool bike class, yoga, shuffleboard under the lights, and so much more. With the app, it’s easy to sign up and set reminders for yourself. We signed up for archery but cancelled that morning because we chose to hang at the pool instead.

9. We found the Wi-Fi pretty decent everywhere. There were a few spots like the beach where it was difficult to get service but I was pretty impressed how strong it was.

There were only a few things we didn’t like but nothing here took away from the overall positive experience we had.
1. The sliding glass doors have no mechanism to open from the outside. The only way you can sit on the balcony and enjoy the peace and quiet is to leave the door ajar. But that shuts down the AC, and I wasn’t willing to have that go off because the room could get a little stuffy. I only went on the balcony when either my husband or son were inside and could let me back in.
2. Be careful of the monkeys when you’re eating outside. One of them got pretty aggressive at the table next to us at lunch one day and then came for the the fruit on my plate. I left pretty quickly and never went back to that outdoor buffet at the colonial.
3. The food is wonderful for breakfast but sometimes the lunch and dinner buffets could be hit or miss. I appreciated all the choices because I didn’t have to plan it, shop for it or cook it. . So I was fairly easy to please. But my husband who is gluten free felt like the choices were a little limited for those meals. Definitely try out the restaurants. The Brazilian was our favorite HANDS DOWN. El Dorado was great one night but terrible the next. Not really sure why. We didn’t try the sushi one that some rave about.
4. When you’re walking around, just be cautious of the carts driving by. They’re electric (which is great) but sometimes, it makes it hart to hear them. When you can, use the shaded walkways especially if you have little kids.
5. There are not a lot of outlets in the rooms, so pack a power strip. That was one of the best tips I found on this page.
Overall, I would definitely head back. I really unplugged and relaxed more than I have in a very long time. I’m not ready to go back to work tomorrow.

[Anne]

Here is a general guide to tipping in  Mexico. It is customary to tip at the Palladium but not mandatory. If you are going to exchange currency then it is best to use pesos. Try and bring small bills (20s & 50s). If you plan to use US then bring lots of ones & fives. No foreign coins are useable.

Tipping in Mexico

Note the housekeeper does not refill the fridge. There is another person who does that. If you need something in the fridge leave a note with $1 or 20 pesos.

[Anne]

Lisa N has given me permission to copy her report on TRS Yucatan

I wanted to leave our review which specifically compare TRS from 2019 pre pandemic to late 2022.
We had a WONDERFUL time

! I would recommend this resort, and go again. I read a couple of negative comments and was a little nervous it wouldn’t be as good as I remembered…but I think it was even better this past trip in most aspects.
One change was we had to pay $35 USD per person for the Chic show, in 2019 it was included for TRS guests, but you know what… it was worth it. The staff is interactive, it’s lively and a fun night.
When we arrived we were greeted with a welcome drink, check in was fast, smooth and friendly. We got the room we requested and it was ready at check in time.
Our room was clean, in a great location and the air conditioning worked well. Our butlers were attentive, and this trip gave us their “whatsApp” text information and sent us a text daily with information. We had a nice filled minibar. We had a couple of extra requests like an extra blanket and they were quick to get that to us.
The waits may have been a little longer at restaurants BUT I saw those hardworking waiters and waitresses moving quickly and I reminded myself I am on vacation.. I am not in a rush, and I just relaxed and enjoyed myself.
My tips for the perfect TRS vacation:
1.Water shoes (it’s slippery and sometimes hot around the pools)
2. Tumblers (for water and ice or to keep.your drinks cold)
3. 1 dress up outfit for ladies and 1 pair of light khakis or linen pants for gentlemen and closed toe shoes for gents.. they are required at Chic.
4. Small bills for tipping. The staff works so hard, and are paid little. They never requested or hinted at tips, but they appreciated those who did. We tipped the golf cart drivers, the people at the towel areas, housekeepers, bartenders, waiters and the bell captain.
5. If you have any sensitivities to noise or smells.. I suggest pack ear plugs and a cheap plug in air freshner for the room. We did NOT have any issues with noise or smells , but after a storm the tropics can smell musty and some other guests can be loud, and I have read people sometimes complain about that.
6. Any over the counter medications you MIGHT need, bring them, it’s expensive to purchase them at the resort. I carry on a small ziploc with medication “just in case” like ibuprofen and immodium, benadryl, bandaid, neosporin, We didn’t need it either trip, but it’s good to have. We also pack 2 pairs of sunglasses and 2 sandals/flip flops in case one breaks, again expensive to buy on the resort.
7. ASK your butler or a manger if there is something you need, or want, or you have any issues. Don’t wait until you get home or when You are leaving to complain…its too late for them to fix it at that point. We found all the staff very gracious and they do their best to help guests, and they do it with a smile.
8. Make your dinner reservations the fay you arrive with your butler so you can get the restaurants you want to visit.
9. If your budget allows, book a spa treatment like a couples massage.. and a tip everyone will share.. don’t purchase it at the spa.. they sell pspa services cheaper near the pool or beach. Workers in blue shirts offer spa services at a significant discount.. they walk around the pool area or ask the bartender, he will flag them down.
Have a safe, and great trip everyone!

All reactions:
2323

[Anne]

Cash & tipping.

I went to my bank today to order pesos. I have done this previously as it is easier on the staff to receive pesos for tips.  My bank quoted me a poor exchange rate and were going to charge me a $20 fee so I just took out lots of US ones & fives. Plan ahead for your currency. Someone reported today on another page I manage that the ATM fee is $30 and the resort is offering a poor exchange rate so plan ahead. Please tip.

Note: Please only tip in pesos or US and do not use any foreign coins.

Tipping guide

[Anne]

Long Review:
October Trip to TRS CoraL   By Page Hall

This was our second trip to TRS Coral and our 12th visit to a TRS/Palladium property beginning in 2010. Our first trip to Coral was in June 2019. Beginning last year, we began going fall instead of summer as the weather is cooler. I will break this review into categories.
Travel—We had a private transfer to/from the airport as we traveled through the Palladium Travel Club. They use TraficTours, and we had no issues coming or going. We did have issues with our flight as we traveled the weekend Southwest cancelled thousands of flights so we arrived at our tiny Corpus Christi Airport to find our flight had been cancelled and another flight out of Corpus was not for three days. So, the awesome SW staff helped us rebook out of Houston for later that day and we drove to catch our plane at Hobby.
Getting through immigration upon arrival was not a problem at all. We deplaned and were done with immigration within 10 minutes. We then waited at least 30 minutes for our luggage. After that we breezed by the customs folks (nothing to declare) and out of the airport to our travel guides. We made it to the resort in around 40 minutes.
On our return, we had no issues either. We showed our negative covid results and our health questionnaire at check in and at the gate. No problems as I did take pictures of both the health questionnaire and test prior to leaving the hotel so we did not have to use the internet at the airport and only pulled up the photos. We paid no tourist tax nor were asked to at any point during arrival or departure at the airport.
Check in—We were checked in and to our room within 15 minutes of arrival at the hotel. The Travel Club staff made us a reservation at Tentazione for that night. Since it was 6 p.m. already, we were happy to get a 7 p.m. reservation. The bar staff offered us awesome drinks: a margarita on the rocks for him and a mohito with vodka for me.
Room—In 2019 we had an Ambassador Swim Up. This year there were none available so we had a Junior Swim Up. It was room 1027. I was worried we would miss the extra room, but we found it to be very spacious. We both loved the patio outside (no jacuzzi). We loved the bed on the patio as well as the very cool swinging chairs. I am currently looking for these to purchase for us to use in our outdoor kitchen here at home. We had a great view of the TRS pool, sun in the later afternoon in the swimout but our patio stayed shaded the entire time which was awesome. Each morning I had coffee on the patio and chilled.
The room itself was lovely with plenty of space in the bed and bathroom area. We had the shower, deep jetted tub and separate toilet closet. The bedroom area had plenty of space for me to workout in every morning before we got going for the day. The bed was super comfortable. I had no back pains the entire week, and we have a purple bed at home. This bed was as comfortable as our purple.
The only complaint we had was the lighting in the safe area. Actually, we had NO LIGHTING in the safe area which made it hard to find things in the safe and to even open the safe. They need to fix this by adding a light when you open the cabinet door that contains the safe. Actually, they need a light above that area. It’s very dark. There was plenty of light in the rest of the suite—bathroom had 4, and bedroom area had at least 6. Also the room has a TON of places to plug items in both regular and hdmi. Both sides of the bed had at least two HDMI each, there are HDMI and plugs under the TV area. There is a plug as you walk into the bedroom area and there are plugs in the bathroom. All in all we loved our room. We loved the space, the location and would certainly do a junior suite again, and it was a better price than the Ambassador.
Restaurants/Food—We ate at Capricho, Helios and Isla Blanca for breakfasts. We loved the service at the TRS exclusives ones, but Isla Blanca had the omelet making stations which I liked much better. Food was overall good at all. I used the coffee maker in my room for 3 mornings until I ran out of coffee. I don’t do the expresso. I ordered coffee from room service the other mornings. It arrived within 30 minutes of order. Coffee can also be ordered the night before, and I did that twice. They asked for a time to deliver and delivered right on time.
We had room service for two lunches and one dinner (too much alcohol). The fajitas are great. My husband said wings were okay (not my thing.) We had the club sandwich, and it was good. Pizza was ok. They gave a time frame of 40 minutes to an hour. We never waited an hour and usually had our food within 30 minutes. We also had food several times poolside. Service there was awesome. Food was good for eating at the pool—nachos, sandwiches and sushi.
Tentazione was our first diner. The food there was fantastic. We had soup, salad and the steak cutlets. This was the second best beef dish we had at the resort. The tiramisu was the best dessert I had (not counting the crème puffs from the coffee shop.)
Second dinner was Bhogali. This was birthday night for me. My husband was reticent to have Indian food. This may have been the best dinner we had. We both ordered the tomato soup, the turnovers and butter chicken. All were fantastic. We asked for bread (ask), and they brought out Naan. IT WAS SO GOOD. For dessert they brought a piece of cake with a sparkling candle and sang “Happy Birthday. “ This was very sweet!
Third dinner was El Gaucho, and probably our least favorite for food. The service was excellent though. The meat was too fatty (husband ribeye) and too over cooked for me (flank.) The food was not bad by any means just not our fave. The sides were yummy. The cheese in a skillet—great—it is cheese in a skillet.
Fourth dinner was Sumptori—neither show or sushi. The food here was excellent! I asked for sushi, and they brought two small rolls which were fabulous. I had the chicken teriyaki, and he had the steak. Both were very good, but his steak was as good if not better than the beef the first night at Tentazione. Service was fabulous.
Fifth night was room service. See above as I had too much to drink breaking my 4 p.m. happy hour rule.
Sixth night was La Adelita. Food was ok. We are from South Texas so we have very good TexMex all around us. They served pork rinds with their salsas. My husband loved the rinds. I asked for chips which they brought me. The salsas were great. The tortilla soup was good. The fajitas were ok, and my flank steak was ok. The room service fajitas are better in my opinion. Service was great though. I did have the drink of the night which was a mango margarita. I am not a tequila drinker but this was a good drink.
Our last night was sushi at Sumtori. It was awesome to watch Francisco work. He is very much an artist. The rolls we had (yes 3 rolls with 8 pieces each as I can eat my weight in sushi) were AMAZING. I left happy and full.
We also got dessert to go most nights when we were in the village for dinner from the Coffee Shop. The brownies are good, the chocolate cake is good but I love, love, love the crème puffs. So, I would take one to the room for later.

Pool/Spa/Massage—We did the relaxing massage which was wonderful. We used the hydro therapy area at the spa once. We could have used it more but never got back. The hydro therapy pool is very cool and worth going to IF you don’t have to pay. We spent a lot of our days at the pool. We had amazing service from the wait staff. We met some cool people and had a great time for our 1-2 hours a day of lounging.

Staff and ameities—Everyone was so kind! We had our pillows ordered on the butler form as well as a bottle of vodka and two cans of club soda.

Tipping—We spent about $300 in daily tipping not counting dinners. We did $5 a day for the cleaning staff, $2 in fridge (got plenty of water daily), $2 for drinks or food at the pool. $3-5 for room service. For service at breakfast we did $5, and the cooking tables $1 per item. We tipped the TC staff who booked our dinners ($10) and helped us. For dinners out, we tipped $20 to our waitstaff. We did $20 to the sushi maker and $10 to our waiter on our last night.

Covid Test—Upon arrival, they schedule your test. We chose to do ours 48 hours out. So, Friday at 10 a.m. we took our test. We had our results by 2 p.m. The few hours in between were stressful even through we were fully vaccinated. It is still scary to think about getting COVID and having to stay longer than planned. Once we had our results, I took pictures on my phone. I also asked the TC to print the results for us which I put with our passports. On Sunday a few hours before we left, I did the Health Questionaire on line and then took pictures of the result as well.

TRS Coral vs. TRS Yucatan—I love the jungle setting of TRS Yucatan, and I love the largeness of the resort. However, Coral being so compact, we never used a cart to get to where we were going. I like the swim outs at Coral. Coral also seems to be better built than TRS Yucatan. What I mean by that is small things like the plumbing fixtures and wall socket are solid (not wobbly.) The sliding glass doors seem to be better quality as well as the furniture. Plenty of areas to plug devices in is also a huge plus. The resort is also newer having only been constructed in 2018 so the bones just seem sturdier. I like the modern feel as well. Another plus is the shorter drive to Coral. We did miss the wildlife and all the cool walkways that Yucatan has.

To sum our trip up, we had a FANTASTIC, RELAXING vacation. We love TRS Coral and the Palladium brand. Until next year….

[Anne]

Tipping in Mexico

[Anne]

Tipping article

[Anne]

This guide has recently been updated by Getting Stamped, a travel blogger

Tipping in Mexico

[Anne]

Thank you to Travel Agent Natalie

Tipping guide

 

[Anne]

Third fabulous trip TRS Yucatan

I recently visited the TRS Yucatan for a third wonderful trip since it was rebranded in December 2017. I truly felt like royalty. The staff, who are without a doubt one of the greatest assets this resort has to offer, have an innate sense of making one feel special and as though we are
“home”. Their frequent response when being asked for something is, “My pleasure”, and I get the sense that it is their sincere pleasure to insure the guests are happy.

I arrived to be greeted by Israel. He has been at the Palladium for many years and has been promoted to bellboy Captain at TRS . I congratulated him and asked about his granddaughter. He beamed and in turn asked me about “your beautiful daughter”.  I came upon many staff during my stay that remembered me, and anticipated my needs, welcoming me “home” , asking if I wanted my “regular” drink or just bringing me my drink of choice without being asked.

At check in I was given a cool cloth and offered a champagne or a cocktail of my choice. I  was pleased to be met by Corina, the new Manager of TRS who was joined by Alba & Celia, both of whom I have had contact with over the years.  When I mentioned how fabulous Cynthia the ebutler is they called her out to say hello. What a welcome!

I booked this trip to meet some Canadian friends who were celebrating their 50th anniversary. We all met at the Palladium 12 years prior and have remained close friends ever since, often meeting at the GP when they are there. I was  also thrilled to attend their sons’ wedding at the GP and was happy to be meeting him and his bride again. Corina asked me about my friends’ wedding anniversary and said the resort planned to do something special. Attention to detail is everywhere.

Rooms:   

Check in is at 3 but fortunately my room was ready early. As my friends had requested a room with an outdoor jacuzzi, without being asked, the resort was kind enough to locate us in the same building. We were  in 70 which is part of the original Royal Suites. The rooms have been tastefully updated and are stunning. I was thrilled to learn that I was given a gorgeous suite with 2 rooms. It was a corner room so had 2 balconies where I would sit and listen to the birds in the morning while I had coffee.  The rooms are “smart”, ie your bracelet opens your room, you can order 24 hr. room service from an extensive menu through the TV, a movie & popcorn, make reservations and more. Lights are on sensors. There is a ”green light” to turn on when when you want your room made up. 70 is steps to the Terraza pool (Alberto is awesome) which is opened until midnight and halfway between the Infiniti pool & the lobby. My friends’ adults kids requested ocean views and the son/bride were upgraded for their 9th wedding anniversary. Another nice touch. In my previous visits I had a room in 67 & 68, both with ocean views and very close to the Infinity pool.

I walked around the swim ups. Foliage has really grown in since last year. I would suggest any swim up in the rear buildings except 67 which is not private. 68 is very private in the rear.

Butlers:  

My butlers during this visit were Erasmo & David, both of whom were wonderful and met every request promptly and with “It is my pleasure”.

Wandering  to the salt water pool, I plopped myself down for most of the afternoon in a Bali bed or lounger. This was common for me as it is very peaceful there and one can listen to the sounds of the surf.  Returning to my room, I found a bottle of champagne, a unique plant, fish shaped cookies, fruit and house wine in the room fridge which I had requested as I declined the bottles of alcohol offered.

That evening my friends and  I met at the Full Moon bar. It was like old times. They are such lovely people! The Full Moon bar is a great place for before & after dinner drinks as it is outside Chic and they often have pre and post show parties.  It was nice seeing Mayra there who gave us a warm welcome and remembered our drinks from last year. She has been a favorite server for years. Erik is a new bartender there and was very personable.

When we travel together my friends and I remain flexible during the day, meeting for breakfast by chance and always having lunch together. The staff at Capricho always found us whenever we arrived and seated us together. We then went our separate ways most days until lunch.

My first morning I decided to stroll around and to walk to Kantenah and see Fernanda, the lovely lady who works at La Jarra and services the TRS area.  She greeted me with her huge smile and “Welcome home Annie”. I missed her on my previous visit as she was on maternity leave. It was on this day on this trip that she confirmed she is going to have her 2nd little girl!

The TRS beach area was very quiet. I lounged awhile in a Bali bed then strolled to the Colonial beach bar to see the Mad Dog band at the Rock n Burger lunch event (Thursday). Imelda saw me and walked over with my day drink of choice. Amazing memory!!

From there I walked to the Secret pool on the Colonial side and saw my old friend Irvin who used to be at La Jarra. He is very happy working at the Secret pool with Angel. Lovely people.

Food:

When I first arrived I ordered room service which has an extensive menu via the TV. It took about 30 minutes to arrive.  Shrimp Ceviche & salmon with salad were perfectly prepared. That night my friends messaged me that their flight was late so I went to Tentazion for a salad and some lobster stew. It was delicious and the service was excellent.

We usually ate breakfast at Capricho which has both a menu and a lovely buffet area. I often got an omelette made to order or eggs Ranchero with a variety of small dishes from the buffet. They also serve champagne and have blood mary/Ceasar ingredients (including Clamato). Louise raved about the eggs Benedict.

There is food served at the Infinity pool. My friends and I always met at Helios for lunch. Staff there are lovely. Some of them work at Capricho for breakfast so they always remembered us. Some favorite dishes at Helios included the grilled salmon, grouper, a chicken and noodle dish, the burger with guacamole and shrimp, and pasta dishes.  We all found the food and service at Helios to be excellent at lunch. We always met for dinner and also ate one night in Helios. We enjoyed surf & turf (lobster & filet) and catch of the day. Louise enjoyed the ice cream and sorbet there.

We tried El Gaucho which is an Argentinian steak house and serves excellent lobster & steak, awesome garlic shrimp & grilled chicken.  El Gaucho was to everyone’s liking and I believe my friends ate there more than once. Boheme is another favorite where Francesco gave excellent service. We had the onion soup en croute, lobster & beef filet, lamb chops, chateubriand, and excellent deserts including Creme Brulee.

Food allergy program:  

The resort is very attentive to those with food allergies. They will give you a card at check in to show your servers indicating your allergy(ies). In more than one case the chef came out to talk to us. We were asked about food allergies at every restaurant we went to.

Water:  

The water at the resort is filtered and safe to drink. They treat the water at their own on-site plant via reverse osmosis and bottle it there. Never a problem getting as  much water as you wish. If you need more leave a note in the fridge with a small tip. “Mas agua por favor”

Cleanliness:

Resort is immaculate & very eco-friendly.

Snorkeling:

I don’t snorkel but my friends do. There was some seaweed which the resort cleans up daily. It is arduous work. My friends did snorkel off the Kantenah beach and saw lots of fish including an angel fish for the first time. They felt the snorkeling has improved.

Tipping:  

While this is an all-inclusive, I feel the staff deserve tips and it gives me pleasure to tip them. I never felt as though a tip was expected and bring either a bunch of US ones & fives or pesos in 20 & 50 notes for tipping.  (Staff cannot use coins other than pesos so no foreign coins please.)

Transportation:

On the resort the cart & train system is very good. At TRS I never had to wait for a cart. Alberto always remembers me and has gone out of his way to assist. Alejando was especially pleasant and available when he saw me walking.

As always, I used AGI Tours for airport transfers. They have been there for me and my daughter for 16 years. This time they met me in a new 17 passenger Mercedes. I felt very spoiled. On the way back Mario picked me up in a brand new sedan. Highly recommend.

WiFi & phone:

Very good everywhere. I have Verizon and was not charged for data when I used text

Medical equipment:

One of the adult kids sprained her ankle and they found crutches available for a small deposit. The resort keeps an assortment of medical equipment as well as having a doctor on-site.

Conclusion:

I stayed in TRS Yucatan in December, 2017 shortly after it had opened. It truly has evolved into a five star resort. Once one has stayed on the TRS side it is hard to stay elsewhere. I do love the Romance Suites on Kantenah but it would be hard to give up the pampering on TRS. My friends mostly stay on the Kantenah beach during the day but they too felt it would be hard to not stay at TRS. We love the restaurants, staff, views, Infinity, Terraza and salt water pools. I also greatly enjoyed Chic the last 2 visits. It is a plus to be able to use all the amenities that three other resorts offer including the beautiful walks through the jungle,  Kantenah beach, the restaurants (one of which is AO per night), Hemingways & of course seeing the wonderful staff whom I have come to know over the years.

If this is your first visit to this resort you are in for a treat. My motto is “don’t sweat the small stuff”.

I can’t wait to return either to TRS Yucatan or TRS Coral which my daughter and I visited over Christmas.  Thank you Palladium for another perfect trip to Paradise.

[Anne]

TRS Yucatan

12 th trip to GP, 11 th to GPRM, 1 st to TRS

This trip was to celebrate our 50 th anniversary with our daughter & son & their partners.  To make the trip extra special our good friend Anne joined us for the first half of our stay. Also our son & his wife were celebrating their 9 th anniversary that took place at the WS gazebo.  One night our room was decorated with rose petals & champagne on ice.  Thank you to the staff.  Tip, pick up the rose petals before opening the bed sheets, I saw a housekeeper in the adjacent room on her hands & knees picking up petals off that hard marble floor.  I felt so bad for her.

On our flight down I developed food poisoning from breakfast sausage & had stomach issues before I arrived at the resort which remained during our stay. On return home I found out I had salmonella!  Lesson learned, no more airplane food.  Luckily my husband declined the breakfast.  Our flight was delayed one hour, then 1.5 hours in immigration at Terminal 3. Immigration cards were handed out on our flight .  Got the green light & found Mario from AGI still holding up our name.  Moses was our driver to & from the resort, great driver, perfect English.  We got a 10 % discount being a UP member. Thanks Anne & Javier.  Our son & daughter each booked AGI also & very pleased with their service. Anne was waiting to greet us even though she had been up since 3 am & it was now 9:30 pm!  Big hugs & off to our room for a quick orientation.  We loved the new decor & some of the new features, ie TRS bracelets with a chip for our room key, perfect, also the red/green light to show if we were in the room.  Even though we had received gold bracelets on our last several visits giving us TRS perks we were very happy we chose to book TRS & are forever spoiled. The rooms are lovely, we liked the location & it was easy to get a cart to the Kantenah beach.  The cart drivers are more than eager to take one anywhere & stop to offer rides whenever we walked.

We were in a junior suite in bldg 70, good location for us. Our son & daughter each in bldg 67 & were upgraded to a royal suite. Gracias management.  Our butlers were David & Edgar & were excellent, always asking if we needed anything & only asked them to book dinner reservations & our Chic tickets.

We enjoyed all our meals at the TRS a la cartes. We booked the Sumptori cooking show one night, great food & great fun.  Our son & his wife ate at Poisidon one night,  they noticed a few raccoons but they were not up on the tables.  Room service was very good, prompt & efficiently served.  Chic is a fantastic show but the menu is not to our liking. Maybe there could be red cards to show the server if you want to decline a certain course. If we told our server no thank you, another server would notice the empty place & quickly place a dish in front of us. We hated to waste food.  The servers work very hard & quickly to make the whole dining experience run smoothly.  We also loved Helios & Caprichio.  The greeters at all the restaurants do a great job & how they remember guests is amazing.  After Anne left they would ask where is your friend, where is Miss Anne?  Our son’s friend who met Anne 9 years ago at the wedding asked if he would be seeing Palladium Anne.  She is so kind & friendly to everyone she is easy to remember.

The staff at the TRS lobby & patio & all the bars work tirelessly to please their guests as well as the staff at the a la cartes.  They deserve more than one day off a week.  My husband always tells Filiberto that he hopes the union will one day offer more time off to the staff.

Once again our family enjoyed snorkeling & this year it was better than we’ve seen in all our trips.  The first day there was a lot of coral as you entered the ocean but much less after that.  Not sure if it washed away or if the tractors also cleaned it up.  Our daughter slipped on some coral even though she wore water shoes causing a fractured metatarsal. This didn’t set her back too much & she continued to swim. Her SO found crutches to be had for a small deposit.  The staff treated her extra special, elevating her foot on pillows at meals, bringing ice packs etc.  When I wasn’t feeling well many offers were made for a remedy, ie Jacinto’s medicine of fernet & lime, Marlene made chamomile tea with lemon & honey, cold cloth when I had a fever , Martha mixed pepsi, fernet & lime & said drink all of it!   So very very kind, management should be proud.

The ocean was extra warm this year so not sure if it was a factor but our son contacted sea lice, the first we’ve encountered in 12 years.  The rash is very itchy so a diluted vinegar wash, Benadryl creme & an antihistamine were in order.  This will not deter us from the ocean but just be prepared if you develop a rash.  The sargassum was much less than last year & the resort continues to clean this up daily.

Our kids found it very disappointing to notice few folks were tipping.  We felt good about taking extra cash to share with these hard working people who always seem to be happy & caring.  We’ve known a lot of the staff for many years & I am always reluctant to mention names knowing I will miss someone.  We’ve know Jacinto Cauich since 2007, he now works at El Riconcito, Mayra Coba poured the champagne at our son’s wedding in 2009.  Many others, Marlene, Wendy, Martha, Tania, Diana, Rene, David, Edgar, Guadalupe, Gabriola, Lourdes, Sylvia, Fernie, Lucy, Roberto, Laura, Karen, Gretal, Gabriella, Enrique, all the cart drivers, greeters, servers, housekeepers & so on.  Some of the staff were trainees & doing very well.

The kids took a snorkel tour to Akumal & seeing only one turtle as there were so many boats about it disrupted the experience. Then followed by a swim in a cenote which they enjoyed.

The salt water pool is a little bit of haven for TRS guests since there is no water front beach on this side.  We only wish there was more shade in this area. One eager staff was moving the heavy umbrellas around to help those who wanted shade.  He said many umbrellas had been destroyed by high winds recently so I’m sure more will be brought in.  The infinity pool is lovely but can be very hot in this area for us.  We had no trouble finding loungers at any time of day, even at Kantenah beach even in the shade.

All I can say is this resort is our home away from home partly because it is so beautiful  & the lovely  jungle setting but mostly due to the amazing staff.  Some of the staff call us their abuelos, what an honor & yes we are old enough.  Gracias to everyone & thanks to Anne for her friendship & the Unofficial Palladium site. It was due to this site that we found the GPRM in 2007 & we will return.

 

 

[Anne]

Lokes and I always meet for a cocktail at the Full Moon bar before dinner. Lovely staff there. They are usually setting up a band for the pre-Chic show around 7 pm.

We had a reservation at La Boheme for 5. As we waited for 2 of the kids to arrive (adult kids) the hostess asked us to wait at the bar as they like to seat the entire party.  I checked out the gin for flavored gin. They do have Oliver brand lime gin.

Finally hungry three of us got seated and then the kids arrived. Fransesco (sp?) was nice enough to move us to a table for five.  The kids praised AGI driver (not sure which?) for saving them $5 at a convenience store where they stopped for supplies. Apparently the cashier took the liberty of tipping himself. The driver checked my friend’s change and confronted the cashier. He retrieved $5.

In Boheme we ordered a combination of salads, onion soup, chateaubriand, salmon & lamb chops. All were excellent.

 

After a wonderful night of food & friends I returned to the room for a welcome bottle of tequila!

[Anne]

Jeff says:

Things I noticed, as an American at his first all inclusive in Mexico. Not bad things just items that may help you on your trip.no particular order

1There is never salt and pepper on the table
2The table service is mostly by waiters and is very formal regarding table etiquette .I greatly enjoyed it even at breakfast.This is rarely found in the US anymore everything seems to be fast food and very informal.
3When you ask for coffee most times you will get a product more like a US expresso
4when you ask for cream for your coffee The will not understand ,ask for lettchee and you will get warm milk .
5ketchup will be a challange
6Portion sizes of the meals are very small compared to what you find in the US
7I did not find any potatoes on the buffet for breakfast
8I found converting to peso a pain in the butt
9I took $150 in us 1dollar bills and it worked great for tipping
10The front desk did not have US currency ,I had taken hundred dollar bills expecting to be able to break them into smaller bills but was unable to.
11Charges to your credit card will be in Pesos and converted by the card company
12could not use my discover card any place I tried, not accepted
13The Pepsi (I never saw a Coke)is much more carbonated than it is in the US .When you unscrew the top it pops like nothing I have ever seen. Do not drink it fast from the bottle it gave me indigestion ,pour it over Ice let it air out, especially if you have kids
14No craft bears like is all the rage in the US right now
15My biggest disappointment no Corona beer. I got over it ,just surprised.
16Mexican construction is not on the level of quality that you find in the US. Very elaborate construction but the attention to finish details is very inferior to what we are used to. I think some of this is due to the speed at which they built this facility and the available work force.
17Also regarding construction they use a lot of manual labor and very few machines. The men and women working, work long hard hot days
18bathing suits and other wet things ,even the deck on our swim out do not seem to dry, I cant explain it .its just weird. Doesn’t mater if it is inside or out.
19You will not find typical US tv channels no ABC CBS NBC there was FOX CNN and others
20 Shower and toilet lights turn on automatically you can not turn them off they timer off ,so if you like showering without bright lights you are out of luck.
21toilet noises can be heard thru the whole sweet since everything is tile and glass so turn the volume up on the tv before you enter
22I do not think there is a exhaust fan in the toilet
23very little lighting in the safe area hard to see the numbers don’t forget your reading glasses
24you can not turn off swim out deck lights ,cover them with an outside pillow its a little more romantic.
25 Trs swim out suite is very open floor plan not sure I would want to be there with someone I wasn’t pretty intimate with
26There is a beach Waiter named Jesus tell him Jeff from New Jersey sent you. this guy hustles, I would tip him big when I got there and my glass was never empty. Great guy, tip him well. Also in the French restaurant waiter named Martin was unbelievable had dinner with him twice.
27I didn’t feel the quality of the steaks was as high as what you find in the US
28The lobster is warm water lobster, no claws ,not the Main cold water lobster you get in the North East.
29 Not a shell on the beach pure white sand it is pretty amazing.
30No sea gulls, it blew my mind, not a one. You can eat lunch without being swarmed.
31go para sailing it was an amazing view of land and ocean only $70 per person the captain will take pics and sell you the sd card for $40
32We did a Cenote tour that was mind blowing, look it up ,it takes all day. You repel or zip line into them and swim around they let you dive off the 30 foot cliffs well worth the $120 plus $59 for 190 photos their photographer took.
33curently there are no blender drinks at the beach only on the rocks.
34The guys in light blue shirts are a pain in the but they act like they work at the hotel but they are trying to sell their vacation program avoid, avoid ,avoid. They even approach you at the beach. Close your eyes act like you are sleeping
36plenty of souvenirs ,alcohol ,cigarettes and cigars when you get to Cancun airport on the way home .I am not sure I would have ventured into the city.
37 Ft Lauderdale airport customs is a mess it took us 4 hours to get thru and we missed or connecting flight had to get a room and spend the night and fly home the next day.
37 make sure you go online and fill out your Mexican immigration forms and print them before you go it will save a lot of time.
38Some women here wear very small thongs to the beach and pool. Much smaller than you will ever see in the US.
That’s all I can think of right now hope it helps, enjoy your trip .

[Anne]

By Jennifer Hart

 

Ibiza Report (sorry for any spelling mistakes and HOW LONG this is)!
OK so I’ve received many MANY private messages asking me about Ibiza! Sorry I haven’t gotten back to everyone but there were A LOT.
So, first things first, I think it is important for me to state that I believe people fall in love with particular resorts and when they do this they can have a hard time going to a different location within the same brand family. I’m not saying this is good or bad, but those that really struggle with this should keep booking the place that stole their heart. If you know you love it, go back to it.
With that in mind, we first joined the GP family in 2011 when we visited RM for 2 weeks. It was breathtakingly beautiful and we had a great trip. I don’t have complaints other than by week two I was beyond bored with being stuck on a compound. No, we didn’t do the excursions but that was because we had young children and none of them particularly appealed. I wanted to leave the resort feel and not go with people I’d run into. I look for vacations to be an escape from it all, which is why I fell in love with Ibiza and have been back 4 times. Ibiza island has such a weird reputation but I want to tell you that the resorts are completely safe, away from the techno rave life and hooligans. Most of that garbage is on the other side of the island in San Antonio.
The resort:
It doesn’t look like the RM tropical rainforest style because that doesn’t make sense here. Think more Mediterranean-the classic starch white buildings with beautiful flowers and a stunning (seaweed-free) beach! The two resorts, Palace and White Island, are connected by a foot bridge that is both stroller and wheelchair accessible. There are 3 main pools plus a large kids pool with slides, climbing equipment, the big bucket of water that tips over, etc. The hotel is 5 minutes from the airport which means on day one, you will notice the planes overhead (not in the rooms, though) and by day 2 almost forget they are there.
Restaurants:
For the a la cartes, please note people dress quite fancy in Ibiza. Sundress and shorts are both ok but they need to be smart and no flip flops. I didn’t even see anyone try to wear flip flops. It’s Ibiza, people enjoy the summery, smart dressed vibe here.
I hate buffets but they do for the morning. The quality is absolutely great and I love the omelette and fresh juice/smoothies areas. Other than that, I don’t go to the buffets for meals outside of breakfast.
La Doña: Mexican a la carte. We enjoy this restaurant. If you can take the heat, sitting outside is nicer than inside. They make their own hot sauces from mild to hot which is a nice touch. Also, don’t be afraid to ask for extra guacamole (as my family did lol).
Il Palazzo: Italian a la carte. Excellent food. My kids loved the calzones and pizzas. The chef is from Italy so the food is authentic. Think more Naples and less Dominoes. Again, sit outside if you can.
The Sports Bar: American-style a la carte with pizza and salad bar buffet. This restaurant/bar is open 24/7. They serve coffee and pastries early if you have a really early flight to catch but most of the day it is wings, pizza, burgers, etc. We went here a few days for lunch as the service and food are great, it was air conditioned and out of the sun and there wasn’t a dress code (ie beach/poolwear is fine)
Portofino: Mediterranean-inspired. I saved the best for last. I love this restaurant so much I don’t even know what to say. The lunch is sort of ‘buffet’ but you can get a grilled chicken breast, burgers, etc, to order. The quality is great, the salad bar is extensive and it is ON THE BEACH. You can’t beat the vibe and location. Wearing your beach clothes, bikini, etc, to lunch is perfectly fine. At night, this restaurant becomes a gorgeous, zen-like, high-end a la carte. It is my favourite restaurant in the GP family. The food and service under manager Marco is soooooo gooooood we went back 3 times.
The beach: The good. It is incredibly clean and seaweed-free. The sand is beautiful and soft and the water is warm and non-tidal. It can be calm some days and rougher others but the Mediterranean is rarely dangerous!!!!
The annoying (I wont’ say bad because it isn’t). Platja d’en Bossa (where the beach is) is a public space so the beach has locals, hotel guests, some guys selling cheap fake Gucci glasses and so forth. You get used to it and ignore it. As for the hotel having chairs and umbrellas, unfortunately the governing body for the beach stopped this from happening so what you do now IF you are a travel club member is rent chairs and an umbrella from the guy right outside Portofino restaurant, get a receipt and the TC will give you 100% reimbursement of the cost. There are also these pretty comfy cushions available for free for hotel guests but they can be a bit big to lug around with you. Anyway, there are options that cost you nothing in the end.
A note on beaches in Spain: topless women are pretty common and this isn’t something anyone feels should be an issue. Mothers, 20somethings, grandmas, you name it, they all take it off. This is NOT mandatory so do what works for you. But, if you can’t handle bare breasts, then go elsewhere. Spain isn’t for you
The pools: I am not a huge lounge at the pool all day person but we did go a few times. There are roped off areas for TC members and in the height of August when it was PACKED this was a godsend. No getting up at 5am to beat the Germans and Brits to the chairs!! Lol The pool bars were great and the activities (ie aqua aerobics, volleyball, etc) are all generally the same.
Fitness: the fitness centre is fantastic even if it is small. I never found it too small, if that makes sense. There are classes poolside including yoga, meditation, step aerobics, etc.
Tipping: It isn’t normal for Europeans to do it so it isn’t expected. You can leave some (Euros, please, not dollars) if you feel your service deserved it but don’t feel badly to not do it here.
Ibiza itself: Ohhhh this island. It truly is a Mediterranean gem. One of the BEST parts of Ibiza is how safe it is. Unlike other resorts, I am happy to leave and explore for entire days. You can walk, take a taxi or hire a car in the hotel lobby. Our favourite spots: The Hippy Market, Cala Benirras (an unspoilt beach with an amazing Italian/Spanish beach bar called Elements nearby), Formentera island (day trip) and shopping in Old Town Ibiza. You can walk for ages on the beach and hit up different shops, restaurants and bars if you like. You can take the beer out of the mini fridge and walk up the beach with it. Open drinking is 100% OK. This is Europe, afterall
Service: There had to be a minor down point, right???? OK so this is Europe. For all the amazing things that means, it also means this isn’t a staff trained to deal with Americans and their standards. Also, and this is a BIG POINT for me as a multilingual person myself, the staff speak several languages (most a minimum of 4). If you can remind yourself of that point then please do. Why do I say this is important? Well, being a server in Mexico that has learned one other language (English) is NOT the same as someone who has learned 4,5, 6 languages. It is hard to learn the ‘finesse’ of every language and this can sometimes wrongly come across as rude. When a server knows enough to get the basics but doesn’t know the flowery, chit-chatty part of a language, sometimes this can come off as awkward, offensive, etc. This isn’t always the case and needs to just stay in your mind somewhere. As a multilingual, I promise you it isn’t easy to switch between several languages within seconds of each other. Having a bit of Ibiza chill vibe and being cool with the complexities of multilingual service will REALLY impact how good of a time you have. Trust me.
Entertainment: Top notch! The big stage is located on the Palace side and is a refurbished stage from the Hard Rock hotel. It is AMAZING. The sound and light shows alone are worth a visit. While we were there they did a disco night, Michael Jackson tribute and full length Lion King. We missed a few nights but those are the ones I recall and we enjoyed all of it.
The rooms: They used to be ugly but now, ahhhhh. They have refurbished all the rooms and they are lovely. The categories are different from RM but we are Presidential level and stay in a Master Suite (located Palace side) here. We had 2 bedrooms, a living room, 2 bathrooms and entrance hall. It was perfect and the view right on the beach can’t be beat. Anything in the 5000 block is a perfect. They are ALL beachfront views.

That should do it for now so if you made it this far, congrats LOL! Happy Trip Planning!
Image may contain: people sitting, table, plant, tree, pool and outdoor

[Stig]

Hi!

This site gave me great info about my vacation, added to my excitement and I was asked to report back, so here we go…

 

The short version: it was great, I would be happy to call it a 5/5 stars week and I want to go back! Pretty much everything was as I expected or better, and the “not-so-great” either requires some serious nitpicking, or was out of their influence. So, kudos to GP RM!

 

If you have more time and interest, here are some points that come to my mind. Regarding where I’m coming from, I have been on several vacations in Caribbean AI resorts (including GP Punta Cana, in 2014 I think – it was great), never in Mexico though. This was also my first trip with a bigger group (from 12yo to guys in their 50s) and thanks to our friend as PTC guests.

Now, lets start with this … staff was awesome. I never thought someone behaved unprofessionally or “unsmiley” or something less than I could ever expect… they were great and I hope to meet them again.

The grounds are probably the most “jungly” I have seen. Some resorts have manicured grass and a few palms between the buildings (which is not bad, airy and clear), but here it seems like the buildings were dropped into the jungle, while destroying as little as possible, which we found very nice. The grounds at the spa are immaculate. We didn’t see any coati, but some agoutis, some cats and lots of iguanas. We also had very lucky timing and seen turtles hatch

The disappointment that you can’t blame at the resort was the situation with the seaweed, that is bothering the Caribbean. It was washed up in a thick line (and smelly), but also often like a carpet covering a lot of water, so… not great. That said, we have been in the ocean a few times, when it was better and as a silver lining: almost all loungers at the beach were free

Also, they are making great effort to clean it up, all day, every day, but it seemed like a Sisyphean battle with nature.

Surprisingly, I ran into a little issue, when I ran out of my tipping bills (again, everybody was so nice, even without a tip, that we tipped more). I went to the reception and asked if they could break at least a $10 but they said they don’t have small bills, maybe tomorrow. So I went to the lobby bar (I was thinking they get tips in small bills, so maybe…), the bartender smiled a bit, turned to his colleague and she just said no. I think it isn’t a mystery what for I would want smaller bills and in the end, it is not really for me, so maybe coincidence, maybe bad timing, maybe they are not allowed… don’t know. I tried the next day in Zentropia, they said they don’t have any cash. So for a while I tipped more, but less frequently, or I didn’t, and then my friends came from a tour and helped me out. But I’m left with a feeling, that this should have been very easy (and in their interest to make it easy)… maybe one of the unused “phone booths” around the corner from reception could be re-purposed for a “break a bill machine” (what ever they are called).

Food & drinks… overall great, buffet nice (had dinner buffet just once, but breakfast great), snack options great (buffet & to order at the beach, ice cream at the bar…), restaurants generally nice, though there have been highs and lows (steak house meat perfect, Mexican octopus & Sinaloa beef delicious, Thai green curry great… and then the “sticky rice” dessert… well, either just take it off the menu, or look into it – it is not supposed to be just regular, little bit dry rice, with a bit of condensed milk (?) splashed over it as an afterthought… but “avocado smoothie” dessert great again – if you go for a dinner, have a chat with the waiter of chef, they know whats good ).

The specials were also great, paella on the beach tasty, chocolate Thursday at Hemingway’s delicious… New for me was the constant question “any food allergies?”… and if so, the chef would come out and talk to you.

Drinks also very nice, bartenders knew more cocktails than those on the menu and were forthcoming with special wishes, including branded alcohols… not to everyone though… I witnessed a short conversation at the swim up bar:

3guys “can we have a cerveza and two tequilas?”

bartender “could I please see your armband?”

3guys “never mind then…”

and walked away with their green (minors) armbands

:)))

Few other notes: the resort was pleasantly “under-crowded”. There were always some free chairs somewhere around the pool, line at the bar was never too bad (when it was getting there and there was just one bartender instead of two, he switched into turbo mode, moved really fast and still did same great drinks ). Same for the breakfast buffet line, never too bad, unless you are an irritable grumpy German guy (in front of us one morning, waiting maybe 3-5min seemed to ruin his vacation… but there seem to be one like that everywhere ).

The music at the pools was not what I expected after the Latino/Caribbean sounds in other resorts, but for the lack of a better word “normal western” music (I let it up to you to file it under pros or cons). Some day there was a DJ at the pool bar, then a great guitar guy, in the evening live band…

I’m not a SPA enthusiast, but enjoyed the Zentropia zone and how quiet, empty, beautiful it is there (also the healthy habits bar)… while on the other, more splashy hand, we had some nice games of pool volleyball (at white sands pool, the other has just a kiddie version)… OK, some more nitpicking: archery with one bow for many people wasn’t great, I did 4 shots in a full hour, my friends went for rifle shooting the next day, but it was full, because those who came for archery signed up also for rifle shooting an hour earlier… and sand at the beach volleyball court could be deeper/softer, but it was still nice to play (just don’t dive for the ball) and they went through it with a cultivator after the foam party (the foam pool/dancing floor was there).

And finally, something that luckily wasn’t relevant for our group, but was nice to notice, is that the resort seems quite ready for handicapped guests. Not just rooms and ramps, but there is a “floating wheelchair” ready at the pool and a sand/ocean ready version at the beach, designated loungers and so on.

OK, this is waaay longer than I planned and still so much not mentioned, but lets just say that all that I didn’t mention was great (e.g. PTC services, PTC responsible employees, airport transport, check in/out, carts, maids, minibar refill guy who seen me walk out of the room with an ice bucked and offered to fill it through his access door so I don’t have to walk a tiny bit to the ice machine without me asking him for it…).

As I mentioned in the beginning, it was a fantastic week, thank you GP RM!

[Anne]

Louise is staying in a Kantenah Mayan suite but has access to TRS based on her multi repeat guest status.  She posted,

“Had lunch at Helios, saw many old friends. Marlene, Lourdes, Wendy, Lupita, Daniel. On our way to see Jacinto soon. It seems very quiet here plus see very few tipping, the new TRS is amazing. Caprichio for late bkft, wow. Dinner at La Boehme tonight. Chic on Friday.”

 

TRS terrace outside of Chic

[Anne]

Update: tried to get pesos today. With the peso being about 19 pesos to 1 US dollar I decided to get pesos. Note you can use US dollars in MX but if you are dealing with a vendor (tour operator) or taxi you will lose out as they will not give you 19 to 1. I went to my own bank who does not provide the service. I went to both Bank of America & Wells Fargo who do provide the service but recently changed their policy for customers only. So……. I’ll bring lots of US ones for tipping and get some pesos for the excursion we are doing (cooking school) and the taxi there.

 

For those of you from UK or Canada get pesos.

[Anne]

Tipping

[Anne]

(Thanks to Joan for sharing) “Bang for your Buck in Paradise” –Kantenah

Just returned from our second visit to this resort( and not our last) . We were welcomed with a nice fruit basket . On this visit we had our 11 yr old son with us. ( First trip was older teens and young adult kids.)

Our visit was great. Weather was quite rainy before we arrived, but luckily the weather changed and we had 6 days of sun, with a sun shower one day( lasted ten minutes max) and a downpour on the first day ( which lasted all of 20 minutes, and then once again brillant sunshine ). It was hot and humid but bearable in the restaurants and our room had good ac.

Mossies were bad first two days.. but as week dried out, mossies dissappeared. Do take good bug repellant just in case.

We are beach people and we loved the Kantenah beach, even in the heat there was a lovely seabreeze that kept us from wilting . The ocean was warm but still refreshing , and the pools were as hot as bathtubs (which we don’t like , so we are glad we like the beach ) . The pool area also is quite a bit hotter than the beach because it doesn’t get the breezes, even though its close to beach ( steps away). There is some landscaping that surrounds the pools and keep it hot and still.

One thing that we really didn’t like about the main pool area was it was impossible to enjoy any peace and quiet. The music was always blaring. I want to read, and hear the waves.. not some techno crap piped in EVERYWHERE.. its hard to escape.

We had a junior suite in building 48 on the third level and were very pleased with our room. Comfy king size bed and the sofa bed our son slept on he said was very comfy. I will note the sofa bed is fine for one child over 10, but would be crowded for two, so our son was fine alone in it, but if you have two teens you would need to request the two queen beds instead of the king bed.
Room was clean and well equipped. Fridge was stocked with soda, water and beer. It would have been nice to have juice as not all of us like to feed our kids sodas.

Room service was great, they always tell you it will be 45 minutes, but we ordered it 3 times and it was never more than about 20 minutes. The chicken wings were an afternoon favorite ! Only issue we had was you can not order any drinks ( non alcoholic I mean.. so that’s what I mean it would have been nice to have at least juice in mini bar to offer child , as we usually drank the water at the beach).

Food– We love the no reservation unlimited Ala carte system. We dine early so never had to wait more than a few minutes; if you go at 7 you will likely have to wait. Smart people take the pager and go have a drink and relax. Stressy people complain.. decide which person you want to be on vacation.

We felt the food actually improved in the a la cartes this visit.. a nice surprise. We enjoyed the Steakhouse ( El Dorado) but did not like Ribs and More. ( The food there really is sub par, sorry, its like some bad chain) . However the food in the Thai restaurant was excellent.. thank goodness they haven’t blanded it down for everyone.. Thai food is supposed to be spicy !!!( Don’t change that please.. it will make it less authentic .) The beef tips were excellent . The only issue at the Thai restaurant is our son is allergic to shrimp and that severely limited his choices.. he couldn’t even order the chicken wing appetizer as they told us they use powered shrimp to season many of the dishes. It might be an idea to have more than one or two dishes that you don’t use shrimp powder on.. however.. he ordered the beef tips also and loved it. They serve it without rice, but just ask for a bowl of rice and its on your table in an instant !

We also ate at the Brazilian meat place.. it was ok.. too much meat and some of it was over cooked. ( I think some folks may like that.. we like our lamb pink, and it was well done. ) Hint.. they bring out the cheaper filling meats first, don’t always say yes.. wait for steak and lamb!

Service at all restaurants was good however.

Our second favorite meal was at the Japanese show table.. we lucked out getting to sit there as I had not reserved, but we had gone early and they had a vacancy and offered us the seats.. well worth making a reservation for.. the food was great. They start with sushi appetizers then cook the rest of the meal in front of you.. choice of five meats, you choose three. You can order 3 x of one type , or 1 of each three types of meat you can choose from five. ( I think it was beef, chicken, shrimp, pork, salmon. )

Pools – main pool is huge and clean . Never crowded . Main pool is deep in most areas so not ideal for non swimmers, but there are a few shallow areas.
Around the pool they roll out an ice cream cart in afternoon, very nice touch.
You can also get ice cream bars from the bar Azul.

Buffets – We had buffet breakfast each day and always found plenty to eat. Loved the omelette station, but they should have more than one worker on .. our omelette maker would often have a line..a long line.

Lunch – we ate at main buffet once, and at smaller one once (not as impressive ) and at beach bar twice. Beach bar buffet is not kept properly supplied. There seemed to NEVER be glasses for the drink machine, and the ice cream machine broke down twice . The rest of it was pretty pedestrian.. hot dog or hamburger. I did however like the cut up fruits offered.

The beach was our favorite part of this resort.. I walked one day all the way to El Dorado ( some other resort far down the beach) .. sand is soft and warm and white. Water is clear and clean. There was a tiny bit of seaweed but I can’t stand it when people complain about a naturally occurring phenomenon.

We loved the jungle around us.. and the paths through the jungle are the fastest way to get around.. we only took the trolley twice , and that’s mostly because our son thought they were fun.

Son loved visiting the teen club after dinner to meet friends he had made during day at the beach. He met boys from Montreal , Scotland, Poland and Long Beach. Of course it was mostly to play video games.. but they did play pool once or twice too.

This resort is great bang for your buck; there are fancier places, but you will notice a price difference. We felt we got very good value and look forward to our next visit !

Every staff member we met with or dealt with was VERY polite.. they were pleasant everywhere. It makes me mad to read a review where the staff is trashed because of one misunderstanding.. and we never get to hear how the reviewer treated the staff. I have seen some very arrogant tourists who think they can treat staff like slaves and are not respectful of them. It works both   ways !

That brings me to tipping. We tip. Sometimes we wouldnt have a tip because we were in our swimsuit etc.. but never noticed a change in how we were treated.
Ps we have been to the Grand Bahia Akumal twice and the VIM once. We would return to VIM but will now always choose the Palladium over the Grand Bahia.

[Anne]

Wonderful Mother-Daughter Christmas trip

We have traditionally traveled over Christmas to a warmer destination, having stayed twice at the Royal Suites in Mexico, and numerous times at other Palladium locations.This was our first visit to the Royal Suites Turquessa in Punta Cana.

Upon arrival I was impressed with the beautifully manicured gardens and grounds. Mexico is more of a jungle atmosphere which we enjoy. Punta Cana is very different.

As are all Palladiums, this resort is immaculate inside and out. I was greeted warmly by staff and offered an upgrade based on our multi-repeat guest status and it being my daughter’s birthday. I was shown both rooms and I happily chose the Master Suite as it had a large outdoor jacuzzi which I knew my daughter would enjoy. Thank you Palladium! Special thanks to Octavio.

I arrived before my daughter and chose to order room service as I was not yet familiar with the resort and wanted to be in the room when my daughter arrived. I ordered steak & lobster and was given two lobsters and a huge steak. Too much for one. There is some wine in the fridge for purchase. I asked if I might get some house wine and the kind server quickly returned with house wine. The staff here were genuinely helpful and even if they didn’t speak perfect English they tried hard to please. Many did speak English so the frequent complaints about language barriers make me wonder. There are many European visitors and I would not expect the staff to speak all of the languages heard on the resort.

My daughter arrived very late and was brought to the room by a friendly bell boy. She was impressed with the room; the jacuzzi in particular.

Suggestion for management: As many baby boomer moms & dads now travel with their grown millennium children it might be nice to have a Royal suite with two rooms and a private bath to accommodate these families with their different sleep schedules & privacy needs.

FOOD

We generally ate breakfast at The Gourmet which had a good buffet but we sometimes wandered to the main buffet to get an omelette made to order. At The Gourmet they are ordered off a menu which were always made to perfection but sometimes took a while to get served. We enjoyed the El Jardin in Mexico where we could order an omelette directly from the chef. The Gourmet had champagne and Smirnoff with Bloody Mary fixings (tomato juice, clamato, orange juice).I also noticed champagne and vodka in the main buffet at breakfast.

For lunch we ate at The Gourmet once but preferred the beach buffet. We tried both Bohio on the Palace beach and Areciffe on Bavaro beach. Food is similar. We generally had something freshly grilled, i.e. chicken, fish, steak, lamb chops, burgers. Plenty of salads, guac, pico de gallo, and more to choose from. Keep in mind the number of different cultures the resort serves. You may not like everything but there is plenty to choose from.

For dinner we usually ate at The Gourmet or Chanterelle at the Royal. Carlos, our butler, made reservations for us for the fabulous Christmas Eve buffet and for the Mexican restaurant.

The Gala buffet was out of this world. The Mexican was very good. I had shrimp (large portion) and my daughter enjoyed the flank steak. After those dinners we decided to stay at the Royal for dinner. We thought the steaks were excellent. We also enjoyed the lobster, rack of lamb, scallops, shrimp, onion soup, crepes for desert. My daughter loved the cheese selection there. Service was usually better at the Royal Gourmet but Chanterelle had a very nice Iive musician. One night we left the Gourmet for the main buffet for desert and preferred the wine at the Gourmet.

 

Pools & beach

We normally hung out at the Royal beach which is lovely. Never a problem getting a lounger although people did “reserve” the Bali beds and sometimes did not remove their towels when they left. In the afternoons we would go to the adult pooi or Royal pool. Wait service at all. Especially enjoyed Delores who always remembered what I drank. Note a $1 tip goes a long way here although I did not see many people tipping. Beach is long and beautiful (1 km of soft white sand and turquoise water.)

 

Entertainment

I liked to stay “close to home” so we usually ventured to the Palace lobby after dinner for live music. Then my daughter would sometimes go to the sports bar or disco to meet people her own age. She missed having the 24 hour beach bar as they have in Riviera Maya where she would meet friends at night. I usually hung out for awhile in the Royal lobby where they sometimes had music or at the pool bar which is opened until midnight. I enjoyed talking to staff about their families. All were very sweet and anxious to provide good service. I have named many staff by name on FB. I also met many nice guests from Germany, UK, Italy.

Spa

Lovely and Royal guests can use it for no fee. There are spa staff all over the resort offering massage discounts. We priced one out and got a 2 for 1 offer. We declined but nice to know it’s negotiable.

Side trips

We wanted a day trip that would expose us to the local culture. We were not disappointed in our trip with Punta Cana Mike I have done a separate report on that.

Beach at Macao

Misc.

I am a reader and ran out of books. I got several suggestions from staff on where to find them. Finally someone told me to go to Guest Services at the Palace. They have a stash in an office there. Almost all books are in German but I found a couple in English. I mentioned that in Mexico they have a huge library of paperbacks in Hemingway’s bar. It would be nice to get them organized somewhere in PC. (I volunteer for this job!)

Wi fi was good at times. We found that it was better if only one of us were on at a time (Must sign on with room number.)

Royal guests have four bottles of liquor in the room. Wine & champagne is extra although I was able to get house wine
.

Some shopping on resorts as was at Cortecito town right next to the Royal. Go to right on the beach, pass the yellow shop and take a right. Mostly aggressive vendors so didn’t stay long.

Drink only bottled water. Tap water is not potable.

If I missed anything please PM me. We enjoyed our nine days here and would return. probably to the Royal for the extra pampering!

[Boatchick]

As Americans, it is customary to tip… and I don’t have a problem rewarding hard working people who provide exceptional service…Anne I feel your description of tipping is fair and spot on…Yes I know the policy of “tips included in the all-inclusive” description and in some countries tipping is “unheard of”… But I  think it is a nice gesture for people who go out of their way to make your stay the best it can be… Yes as a Bartender and waitress in my “younger days”, I understand the rigors of this type of job, and have “walked a mile in their shoes”…..and the long hours these staff people put in to make our stay memorable… With that said… A tip is a nice and appreciated gesture, but is totally up to the discretion of the guest.

I know of a guest who refused to take a towel from the towel attendant because he did not roll it, but handed it to the guest folded, after the guest waved his “gold” band in the face of the attendant, he received a “rolled towel”. I felt so sad for the attendant, being humiliated in this way… BTW the guest walked away and unrolled the towel and put it over his shoulders…  ;-)…  What a “Touron”…

[Anne]

Tipping

Tipping is optional and a personal choice. I myself tip often as I feel the staff go above and beyond to make my visit special. I never feel as though a tip is expected but do feel it is appreciated. Here is a very general guideline:

(Note is it best to use the currency of the country you are in, i.e. pesos in Mexico. US dollars are accepted but you will get better value using pesos. (With the exception of peso coins, do not use coins as they are useless.)

*Bellboy who delivers luggage – 50 pesos
*Housekeeper – 50 pesos per day
*Fridge person (separate from housekeeper)(for special requests) – 20 pesos in fridge with note
*Waitstaff who personally deliver a drink at pool or in lobby – 20 pesos
*Bartender who makes cappuccino at sunrise – 20 pesos
*Other bartenders – occasionally 20 pesos
*Waitstaff in buffet – 20 pesos if they get me cappuccino (usually slip it in apron            or pocket)
*Waitstaff in a la cartes – 50 pesos or more depending on service
*Room service – 50 pesos
*Cart driver for individual service – 20 pesos
*Others – 20 pesos as the situation warrants

[Anne]

Gracias NS Stampqueen (Donna)  for sharing

Visit number 5 to this property (once to Royal Suites, twice to GP Riviera and our second stay at White Sand). Many nice updates to this property. Nice new a la carte’s – great new features like cotton candy for the kids in the buffets, hot dog carts at the pool during the day – very popular feature by the looks of things! Lots of activities around the pools – exercise classes every day.

We arrived to a smooth and simple check in – took minutes at the most. Our flight was an evening flight so we arrived at the resort around 8pm. Got our package and quick update from reception and were whisked off to building 59. We booked a junior suite – which is more than big enough for the two of us. We were in 5914 – a nice view of the trees – second floor room – with just a hint of another building through dense trees. Very quiet location – we’ve been in this building before. Room was very clean and nicely laid out. A bottle of champagne (cava) and a fruit basket were waiting for us as return guests. We also had a very nice welcome back letter from management and a phone call shortly after arriving just making sure everything was okay.

We were giving the option to make 3 dinner reservations because we had returned 5 times. We booked a few dinners – for hubby’s 50th birthday specifically, as well as another. Then we booked the Japanese show table, always a favourite. The night we arrived, even though it was late we quickly changed clothes and headed to La Lola – the Spanish tapas restaurant and were able to walk in with no waiting (more than a few minutes anyway). The food was much better than I had expected. I am a bit of a fussy eater – not really picky, just fussy, and I found lots of choices – I could have gotten into the watermelon sangria bites and the melon mojito’s – they were very good; there were too many choices to list – I wasn’t big on the hot food choices, but the cold ones more than made up for it.

We went to the Brazilian restaurant on night two – this has always been our hands down favourite – we usually dine here 3 out of 7 nights, not this trip. We loved the updates – it has been remodeled and is very elegant and updated. The colours are stunning, the atmosphere is elegant and modern. Gone are the metal sculptures and outdated decor. Now the chairs are comfy and classy, the tables have no tableclothes, just placemats, the buffet is tucked in it’s own little inset area – makes it a little difficult to get a plate, but it’s ok – the buffet more than makes up for it the choices are fresh and different. No more mandatory bread service, the bread choices are different – although getting butter is a bit difficult. Service was a bit off for us – we found that with a lot of the a la carte dinners. On to the meat service – it has been scaled back from previous visits – they had two kinds of beef – brisket and one other, both extremely rare – to the point we couldn’t eat it – I like medium rare to rare and it was too rare for me. There was pork ribs and pork roast – the ribs were good the roast was undercooked – couldn’t eat it. There were two kinds of sausage – hubby said they were good – I don’t eat them. They were out of turkey – I thought that was odd as it wasn’t even 9 pm. They did have the pineapple which I am a big fan of but it was a bit dry – still good but dry. We thought we might give them another try another night but we wen’t to the buffet – Tikal I believe, that has the Brazilian corner and the food we were served was exactly the same so we said no more. Too bad as it was our favourite.

We also went to La Adelita – great food and service; El Dorado – great steaks and fair service. We ate at the three main buffets – Kabah – Marlene G is an amazing member of their staff there – we ended up in someone else’s section once or twice and had less than stellar service but whenever we were in Marlene’s section we never had an empty cup or glass and she always made sure we had everything we needed – no matter if it was breakfast or lunch. She even got my hubby a gorgeous chocolate cake all nicely done up for his birthday! Gracias Marlene and staff at Kabah. We had a decent breakfast twice at Tikal when we had early morning tours – we enjoyed dinner twice at La Hacienda – definitely a better dining experience for dinner than Tikal. They have great options for dinner in the buffets now compared to a few years ago.

We enjoyed time at the salt water pool and the main beach area a couple of times. We upgraded to a Mayan Suite for our last three nights and wow what a nice romantic experience that was. We were in 5512 and although it is directly on the corner by the pool it was still a great location at night to enjoy the deck and enjoy the peace and quiet of the resort. The outdoor shower felt a little less than private because of the walkway to the adult pool however we verified that it is in fact private just an uncomfortable feeling to see people walking around when you are showering even though they can’t really see you. I’d stay there again in a heartbeat.

Service cleaning our rooms and filling our fridges was good every day – we never had any issues. We only had turn down service once. Not sure why.

Things I love about this resort are – tipping is truly appreciated but never demanded or expected. I have noticed that if you tip you do get a little better service from whomever you tip – they remember that you have tipped them in the past and they treat you with appreciation – but they don’t go around with their hands out. This resort respects and cares for the environment – they look after the grounds, the water, the animals, the plants and more with the utmost care and attention.

We did the segway tour this trip and appreciated so much learning all about the different areas of the resort and more indepth information about what it takes to run the place.

We will return – again and again, this place is constantly striving to improve and it shows!

Room Tip: Junior Suites are large and roomy, second floor is a great location for peace and quiet – building 5…
See more room tips
Green Features: Amazing care for environment – sheet and towel program – composting program
Stayed June 2016, traveled as a coup

 

[Anne]

Gracias Diana S for sharing!

We booked this resort after reading lots of reviews and doing a lot of research. The resort is family friendly, very clean and there is a ton to do if you so choose. I went with my teen son, just the two of us. We both had an amazing time but honestly don’t feel like we even saw close to everything the resort has to offer… It’s just that big! We stayed near the Kantenah side for the most part, it had everything we needed or wanted, but there is so much this resort offers that my review may be lacking on the overall offerings!
We arrived early (11am) and were given wristbands, towel cards and everything else needed to enjoy the resort with the exception of our room keys. They will gladly hold your luggage. We were given a room around 3:30. They accommodated our floor request and no smoking request. There were no bellboys around so we grabbed our luggage and off we went. Big mistake! We got lost and confused and were a frustrated sweaty mess by the time we found our room and lugged our bags up the flights of stairs. Open the door to the room, and found a king bed! Ya.. NO. We called down and within ten minutes they had sent a bellboy and cart to take us to a new room. 4236. Perfect spot close to everything (if there is such a thing :)!), third floor, no smoking. Well worth the few dollars to tip the staff to cart around our bags!
That was the first of only three glitches all vacation, all rectified by the staff quickly and without issue. The second came when we checked out the teen club two days in and were informed that my son had a purple wrist band which signaled he is old enough to drink. he’s 13. We thought it funny when staff offered him drinks the first two days and thought they were making jokes. Had no idea they were serious! Went to the front desk and they fixed it quickly and were very apologetic.
The rest of the week was beyond awesome. I’ve broken down my feedback below. (In case you’re wondering… Third glitch was in a restaurant -see the food section.) Checkout was a breeze even with a late flight. These folks do it right!
A HUGE thanks to the Palladium team for an amazing vacation. It was so enjoyable and their staff is so awesome. it made me realize how much I loved and miss it as soon as we landed in NYC and had bad service… LOL We will definitely book Palladium again!! Thank you for an awesome week!!!!

Walking- the reviews could not possibly prepare you for all the walking! NBD for us, it’s great to burn off all those calories from eating could be tricky for anyone with health issues. Easily you make your 10,000 steps a day! Never go without sandals! The pavers can be hot and once you burn your feet, you’re toast! (Haha!)

Trams/carts – the carts are everywhere. Pickups are at lobbies but even just walking on the paths we were picked up a few times by very thoughtful staff! We never had any problems with carts, if one was full another was pulling up right behind it. We only used carts going from one lobby to the next around dinner/evening times. A must if traveling from Kantenah to white sands for dinner.

Animals- are everywhere! They reminded me of our beggar dog who we love dearly but steals the food off our plate if given the chance… But they are so darn cute and who can blame them really! Iguanas coati and birds are everywhere. They love to be fed. Small salamanders are around, hermit crabs too. Kittens as well. They have flamingo and crocodile enclosures. We didn’t have any issues with bugs with the exception of one night in a lobby.. I got bit like crazy until we finally left. Odd but true.

Food – breakfast was the best buffet.. Yum! We used Tikal. Loved it! Lunch buffets were good. Pizza was delicious. Not a fan of the burgers. We dined at a la cartes for dinner. Don’t forget khaki type shorts for men, saw folks turned away. Restaurants were all pretty good with the exception of one. If you don’t like a dish, there’s another course coming. In our opinion- best was Mexican, food was good and the staff couldn’t be beat! Then Japanese (not hibachi) – best beef sushi roll! Then the Steakhouse Brazilian and Spanish restaurants. The third glitch was the Italian restaurant. The food was not great, any of it, and I was poured not one glass of wine but two with flies in it. Yep. True story. I’d just pass on that one in the future.
One tip for food is the snack bar behind the Kantenah pool. They make coffee, cappuccino in the early morning. You can be served or eat off their hot foods line starting mid morning. Nachos and cheese fries always available. A soft serve ice cream machine. Soda fountains too. We had cheese fries daily… Again, why we liked all the walking! It was the best go to while hanging at the pool daily. And it had a bar!

Drinks- the Kantenah pool bars are the best. Mario at the snack bar bar is always busy but fast! And he has a good memory! Alfredo at the pool bar by the buffet is so funny and makes drinks “strong like me”. They were my faves. Highly recommend the mango margarita…. and bring your own drink mugs!!!

Kantenah Pool – plenty of palapas and loungers to go around. I am an early riser so I started my days at the pool early. It doesn’t start hopping until around 10am. Palapas are harder to find at that point. With the heat and sun you want a palapa. Loungers are nicer at the other pools but are still fine. There’s music and games but nothing crazy or too loud. We lived at the pool all week. A few sales calls for the spa or water sports but a simple no thank you goes a long way. Near the activities center is an outdoor play area with ping pong tables and lifesize chess board.

Beach – beautiful but definitely not enough loungers. I love the beach but prefer a pool any day. If you didn’t get a lounger early, don’t plan on it. Hammocks were mostly open for those lovely beach naps Snorkel kayak paddle board or boat for free. You need to present your photo ID and room key! We snorkeled. Totally worth it though kind of choppy water on our time out making it difficult. Definitely rocky at first entry, wear swim shoes.

Saltwater pool- AMAZING. Easy walk from Kantenah beach. Great snorkeling in there. Definitely a must visit.

Room- clean and well kept! Never noisy. Great balcony with rack for drying clothes. No dampness or smells like some reviews I read. Plenty of water and sodas in room. Unplug a lamp for another outlet to charge your electronics. We set room to 19 degrees with fan on high. Of course it shuts off when you’re not in your room. Villa 42… Found it was perfectly close to lobby and pool with just a short walk…. But remember that here “close” is relative and I’m a fast walker!

Teen club/activities- activities were all day everyday… You choose if you want to participate or more. We never used the sports center although a draw to booking the hotel it was just too hot and definitely too far from the pool! Teen club was ok… Just not used by a lot of teens!! Unlike a cruise where those clubs are high in demand this was not. But a nice “break” for my son when he wanted to shoot pool or play games… Without me !! the staff was pretty awesome there too! Thanks Daniella!

Staff- awesome, awesome awesome!!! Cannot say enough good things. They are hustlers, always moving and pleased to help you in any way shape or form. We had the best service the entire stay- from the lobby to the waiters to the drivers to the cleaning crew! So friendly and so wonderful. Truly can’t say enough. I miss all of the warm smiles and “Holas” already! Palladium hires the absolute best!!

Money/Tips- bring plenty of cash! They have on site artisans who sell their creations, I wish I brought more money for souvenirs. The ATM offers a surcharge of $32. I had only cash for tips and a travel card. I tipped bar staff regularly a dollar not for every drink but throughout the day. and always at dinner a few dollars. Room cleaning team and sometimes drivers. The staff is so amazing , they deserve it! One thing to note… Tipping does NOT earn you quicker or better service. These folks hustle, but a customer is a customer tip or no tip. I for one think that says a lot of the integrity of the hotel and its staff. That being said… Everyone should tip when service is this good!

Suggestions- a coffee bar! There is a sad little machine that doesn’t work well for early risers. I asked reception and that was the direction they gave me. After the first day or two I was dying for a good cup of coffee first thing in the morning. After that I often went to the breakfast buffet when it opened at 7am – where they accommodated my request but I know they were busy trying to seat tables and feed the masses. I found the snack pool bar opened early and made coffee not until the end of my stay. A designated coffee bar would be a lovely addition for us coffee addicts!!

 

[Anne]

 

pictures

A wonderful mother/daughter vacation

My daughter & I don’t see each other often and chose the Grand Palladium Royal Suites Yucatan once again for our Christmas reunion as we are always made to feel as though we are”coming home”. We have stayed many times in other locations on the resort complex but after the experiencing the extra pampering, peaceful environment and amazing attention to detail in the adults only Royal Suites last year it was an easy decision to make.

We booked fights from our 2 locations and were happy that AGI was at the airport to greet us with a spacious 17 passenger van. We were whisked away and were at the P before we knew it!

The resort remembered my daughter’s birthday and greeted us with an amazing birthday display in addition to a number of amenities to make us feel welcome ,ie champagne, flowers, rose petals and more. Wow!

As I was starving when I arrived I took advantage of the very extensive room service
menu and had cerviche, salmon and a bottle of house wine by the time I had changed to go to the pool. Yummy.

Daily routine

We developed a routine.I usually got up early and went down to the Royal lobby for cappuccino. We’d meet for breakfast in El Jardin on the RSY property then split our days between the beach and the Royal pool. We usually had lunch at one of the buffets (see below).

My daughter enjoyed the jacuzzi on the deck before dinner. We ate dinner around 8, listened to music in Riviera, Hemingway’s or Colonial then my daughter went her own way to meet friends and Mom went to visit Filiburto & Valencia in the Royal lobby . I felt very comfortable letting her roam as staff looked out for her. She attended the White Party at the salt water pool on Monday and the Royal cart picked her up when the party ended. One night she and a friend went to the beach bar after the disco closed and a cart picked her up there when she called
Food

The subject of food is subjective. As the resort is preparing food for various cultures and thousands of meals a day, nobody will like everything but there is certainly plenty to choose from for even the most discerning diner.

We usually ate breakfast at El Jardin which we liked as it wasn’t crowded. They have a buffet there, an egg grille, and a menu. We usually had freshly made omelets and a selection from the buffet.There is inside and outside seating. They have a nice selection of fresh juice and all the mixings for Bloody Marys.

For lunch we tried El Gran Azul over the main pool on the first day. They still offer freshly grilled items which is what I have for lunch every day. They didn’t have any signage indicating that thus the confusion. Abby had a chicken burger (they have a selection of burgers,ie beef, chicken,turkey,veggie) and I had grilled chicken with a selection of salads. After that day we ate in either La Hacienda on Colonial or Kabah on Riviera. These are much larger and IMHO food quality has greatly improved. They had three kinds of paella, large paella type pans with shrimp and mussels as well as the standard pasta station, variety of pizza, salads, cold cuts, hamburgers, hot dogs for the kids, freshly made bread & rolls There were two grilling stations offering a total of 6 items to choose to have grilled including chicken,steak, pork ,salmon and more.

One day Abby ate at Punta Emilia beach bar as she enjoys the Mexican food there. They also now offer fried fish filet and whole fried fish which I enjoyed.

For dinner we mostly ate at El Jardin choosing lobster with steak or lamb chops. We also went to LaAdelita where the food was very good and Punta Emilia. I enjoyed the seafood platter (and they kindly substituted for a fish I can’t eat). Abby had the pepper veal steak (which is beef) and it was extremely tender.

On Christmas Eve we attended the Gala dinner which was wonderful.Nothing was spared. When entering we were given a Kir Royale (champagne with cherry liquor). The ladies were given roses. Decorations were tastefully done including ice sculptures, Christmas trees, and a live Santa. Food included unlimited lobsters, shrimp, fish, roast beef (prime rib), beef filets,turkey, roast pork, chicken, many veggies, salads, fruits and deserts. Beautifully done.

We did not eat dinner in the buffet but we visited and I thought it looked to be a good variety and a high standard for a buffet. In addition they have the grilling stations for those who can’t find anything to their liking.

Overall I found the quality and variety of food very good to excellent. I rarely found something I didn’t like but considering the vast number of guests and the various cultures they are serving I wouldn’t expect to like everything. I honestly can’t understand people who complain that they can’t find anything to eat. I can’t imagine what their expectations are.

Wi Fi

Being in the Royal, we had the premium wi fi which worked extremely well both in the room and all over the Royal area. I used a lap top and my daughter used her I Phone. My daughter had an App that enabled her to text her friends when on the wi fi so she was happy. The Premium wi fi didn’t work on the other areas of the resort without a password which Jessica and Roxanna kindly supplied. Once I had the password I could access wi fi all over the resort. Only used it in the lobbies outside of the Royal.

Currency

I used both US dollars and pesos. Both are widely accepted. I brought a bunch of US ones with me for tipping then got pesos from the ATM on the resort (There is more than one bank affiliated ATM on the resort that dispense both pesos and US.) It is best to use an ATM card with a chip in it. I have an older card and had a bit of trouble but eventually got it to work. I sometimes was challenged getting smaller denominations. The front desk sometimes had smaller bills, sometimes not so I would go to the bell buys or bartenders. They were happy to help if they had small bills. Note if you want to change foreign currency at the front desk you must have your passport. Exchange for US was 15 pesos to the dollar at the front desk. It was closer to 17 in town.

Entertainment,

There is a variety of entertainment at the resort complex. Check both the bulletin boards and the schedule you are given at check-in.

Schedules are posted in theaters. There are 2 evening shows. One earlier for families in the
Colonial Theater; one late in the Riviera Theater.

Band schedule (changes) but usually there is live music in Riviera lobby and/or Colonial, sometimes in Kantenah.There is a piano player in Hemingways.

Special parties such as Paella party (Sunday at noon) with live music,Foam party (Thursday at noon with live music), White Party & Fire Show (Mondays at 10:45 pm at salt water pool), Disco – early events for younger kids, later events for those over 18.

On saturday night they have a “Fiesta”on the Riviera side before the show. That was quite fun.

Argentinian /international performe

Circus party

Teen dinner Wednesdays through Teen Club.

Breakfast with Raggs: Wednesday mornings. Sign up at Guest Services.

During the day you can be as busy or as lazy as you like. During the evenings we usually ate dinner around 7:30 or 8 and then went to look for music. We often found it in the Riviera lobby. One night we ate at La Adelita and found music in the Colonial lobby. We also went by Hemingways to look for books and there was a nice piano player that evening. On Saturday evening there was a fun Fiesta party on the Riviera Terrace followed by the Argentinian show.

My daughter usually left me around 10:30 isn to wander around and meet friends her own age. She met a group of Canadians and American at the White Party and met an Argentinian gentleman at the disco They enjoyed conversation at the beach bar after the disco closed. Two beach bars are open 24/7.

Something for everyone IMHO.

New stuff

There is never a day when the staff are not primping, trimming, painting, sweeping, scrubbing. The resort is immaculate. I love the rest rooms there!!

Two years ago I requested the styrofoam coffee cups at the beach bars be replaced with cardboard. It took two years but they did it! Also added cardboard holders like Starbucks!!

They replaced the styrofoam plates at the beach bars with heavy duty plastic. No more flying plates (fish)!!

New loungers at White Sand.

Great ice cream everywhere. (carts)

Waitservice at 2 main pools

Nespresso machines in Royal.

Daily snack platters in Royal rooms.

Improved quality of food in buffets.

L’Occitane products in Royal

New Royal carts.

Floats at Royal pool

New lobby furniture.

Colonial, Kantenah & Royal have been updated and have new beds, linens and more.

Colonial reception and bar renovated

Sports bar renovated

Some new bridges

Some a la cartes have been renovated; new LoLa Tapas restaurant, O’Pavao (replaced Rodizio)

Per guests’ request men’s dress code relaxed to allow nice shorts in a la cartes.

Room service for all for no charge.

More American beers and Gluten free for room fridge upon request

And more. The resort is always looking to improve and does listen to guests’ requests!
Off site trip to PDC

We decided to go to PDC one morning. My daughter was hesitant about using a colectivo as the last time she used one it was very old and she had to literally hold the door shut! I assured her they are all newish and very safe. We walked out the front gate from the Colonial lobby and there was a colectivo parked waiting for passengers. We sat there for a little while until it was almost full then whisked away to PDC. As we were all hotel guests the majority got off at the last stop at the corner of 2nd & 15th streets. This is also where they park to return to the P. Cost was $3 pp per trip.

We both had specific items we wanted. I stopped first at Playa Mart on 5th Ave where I do most of my shopping.Prices are clearly marked, employees are helpful and there is no haggling. I priced the tequila and vanilla there and then we went comparison shopping. Abby likes the international shops at the south end of 5th Ave where she found a reasonably priced dress. We then made the mistake of going into a locally owned shop where the shopkeeper was extremely aggressive. She had items wrapped and was grabbing for my credit card before we had agreed to anything. Eventually she made us uncomfortable enough that we left and went back to Playa Mart. On the way back to the colectivo my daughter saw a shop that was of interest. The shopkeeper was very polite and low key and we eventually bought an item from him without feeing stressed as we did with the aggressive lady. We left PDC feeling happy. There was a line for the colectivos which moved quickly. When coming back be sure and use the employee tunnel to cross the highway or vice versa if you are traveling south to Akumal or Tulum.

After that we had a nice lunch at Kabah and got too lazy to leave the resort again!

Conclusion

My daughter and I chose the Palladium for our mother/daughter Christmas trip as we feel like we are “going home”. We discussed going to P Punta Cana or Jamaica but we always end up back at the P in Riviera Maya as there are so many great staff that make us feel like family. While I love the Kantenah Mayan Suites when I travel solo, I love the Royal Suites Yucatan when with my daughter. We both enjoy the extra pampering. My daughter took advantage of the new pool floats, the yummy ice cream selection at the bar and the double jacuzzi on our deck. I used the excellent room service both upon my arrival and departure. A very extensive menu is offered as is service with a smile! I was also able to order a bottle of house wine for no charge (not on menu).

The staff both at the Royal Suites Yucatan and throughout the resort are wonderful and go beyond the call of duty to make one’s stay perfect. I have come to know many staff over the years and hesitate to name those who stand out as I would fear leaving someone out. I had the pleasure of a visit with LuLu who has been at the P since the beginning and has assisted me and others with reservations over the years. She also introduced me to Andrea whom I have come to know over the years and who is always there to address guests’ issues. I also went by to visit with Paula in Guest Services and to thank her for the outstanding attention to detail in helping me to celebrate my daughter’s birthday 2 years in a row. The resort lavished my daughter with balloons, a cake, more. Wow!!

I would be remiss if I did not mention Pedro who has also been at the resort since the beginning. He is now at the Royal and I felt like he was always quietly looking out for me and my daughter. On my last morning he tapped on my door saying, “Miss Annie are you awake?” Oh how I appreciated that rather than a shrill wakeup call. He then drove me to the lobby, led me to coffee which was appreciated at 6:30am and tracked down my transfer. It is staff like this who make the Palladium feel like our “home away from home”.

The resort is meticulous. The beach has been impacted by the widespread sargassum problems and the staff work non-stop to keep the beach clean. The entire resort is immaculate. My daughter and I always compare public restrooms to those at the P. I love the restrooms at the P! The resort has added many improvements since we were last there including replacing the styrofoam coffee cups at the beach bars with cardboard. Hooray! The resort management does listen to guest’s suggestions.

The food has been upgraded, especially at the buffets which I went to daily for lunch. I felt that the buffet offerings had been streamlined and quality was improved. The food at the Punta Emilia beach bar is improved and they now offer grilled fish. Dinner was always excellent wherever we ate. The staff are also very attentive to any food allergies one might have so mention this at check-in and to your server.

Despite being two generations, we always found entertainment we enjoyed after dinner before my daunter went of to meet friends her own age. I felt very comfortable letting her wander around the resort. The night she went to the White Party at the salt water pool she called a cart after the party and the Royal chariot was there to carry her safely home.

The weather was a mix of sun/rain/wind We spent our days between the beach and the Royal pool. There is so much to do on resort that we only left for a 1/2 day to PDC and yet we still didn’t find the time to visit the spa, take a pontoon boat ride or check out the new Spanish restaurant.

This trip was truly a perfect week of relaxing, making memories, being pampered and sharing quality time together. We have talked about returning next Christmas either at the Royal Suites Yucatan or to Punta Cana or Jamaica and can’t wait to visit the new Palladium being planned in Puerto Mujeres. Sentimental me …missing the P……I hesitated to take off my bracelet hoping it would transport me back to Paradise……..back to real life & living vicariously.

Room Tip: Don’t sweat the small stuff.Sit back and enjoy.
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[aristocat2]

We have booked a half day fishing with them.  Does anyone know if you can take a collective from the resort to Puerto Aventuras and if so, how far from the road to the marina would you have to walk?  Or, does anyone have the taxi rate for four people from the resort to the marina?  Anne, I thought you posted a picture of the current taxi rates, but I couldn’t find it.  Also, I have read different things about tipping. Do you tip the captain of the boat and he gives to the mate(s) or do you just tip the mate(s).  Also, I read the standard tip is 15-20% is that total or for each if you do tip both the captain and the mate.  Thank you for any info!

[Anne]

Wi Fi

Being in the Royal, we had the premium wi fi which worked extremely well both in the room and all over the Royal area. I used a lap top and my daughter used her I Phone. My daughter had an App that enabled her to text her friends when on the wi fi so she was happy. The Premium wi fi didn’t work on the other areas of the resort without a password which Jessica and Roxanna kindly supplied. Once I had the password I could access wi fi all over the resort. Only used it in the lobbies outside of the Royal.

Currency

I used both US dollars and pesos. Both are widely accepted. I brought a bunch of US ones with me for tipping then got pesos from the ATM on the resort (There is more than one bank affiliated ATM on the resort that dispense both pesos and US.) It is best to use an ATM card with a chip in it. I have an older card and had a bit of trouble but eventually got it to work. I sometimes was challenged getting smaller denominations. The front desk sometimes had smaller bills, sometimes not so I would go to the bell buys or bartenders. They were happy to help if they had small bills. Note if you want to change foreign currency at the front desk you must have your passport. Exchange for US was 15 pesos to the dollar at the front desk. It was closer to 17 in town.

Off site trip to PDC

We decided to go to PDC one morning. Abby was hesitant about using a colectivo as the last time she used one it was very old and she had to literally hold the door shut! I assured her they are all newish and very safe. We walked out the front gate from the Colonial lobby and there was a colectivo parked waiting for passengers. We sat there for a little while until it was almost full then whisked away to PDC. As we were all hotel guests the majority got off at the last stop at the corner of 2nd & 15th streets. This is also where they park to return to the P. Cost was $3 pp per trip.

We both had specific items we wanted. I stopped first at Playa Mart on 5th Ave where I do most of my shopping.Prices are clearly marked, employees are helpful and there is no haggling. I priced the tequila and vanilla there and then we went comparison shopping. Abby likes the international shops at the south end of 5th Ave where she found a reasonably priced dress. We then made the mistake of going into a locally owned shop where the shopkeeper was extremely aggressive. She had items wrapped and was grabbing for my credit card before we had agreed to anything. Eventually she made us uncomfortable enough that we left and went back to Playa Mart. On the way back to the colectivo Abby saw a shop that was of interest. The shopkeeper was very polite and low key and we eventually bought an item from him without feeing stressed as we did with the aggressive lady. We left PDC feeling happy. There was a line for the colectivos which moved quickly. When coming back be sure and use the employee tunnel to cross the highway or vice versa if you are traveling south to Akumal or Tulum.

After that we had a nice lunch at Kabah and got too lazy to leave the resort again!

[Anne]

My family and I went to this incredible resort for a wedding. We went Oct. 17th to 24th and It is really difficult to imagine this place until you are IN it….the lush, beautiful grounds with iguanas, coaties, racoons,a monkey here and there and so many different types of birds all around you as you walk the beautiful grounds. There is a train that will take you to whichever hotel you want as there are different activities and restaurants at each hotel. Your room is in a villa so when you are ready to go ‘home’, you wait at the lobby and wait for a shuttle (looks like a big golf cart).There isn’t much of a wait as they run continuously so you can grab a drink at the bar and get it ‘to go’ and boom! there is your shuttle! Also, the shuttle will pick you up close to your villa to go back to any hotel the next day as they run all the time OR you can walk if you prefer. The staff, they are ALL incredible and so helpful if you have questions and also are always smiling when greeting you with a friendly “Ola”…they are constantly working to keep everything beautiful and if you need ANYTHING, you will get it! The rooms are incredible….I had a room to myself and had a KING bed and everything is there….huge makeup/ shaving mirror, blow dryer, tub with jets, shower, with shampoo (loved it) body wash (loved it ) balcony with table and 2 chairs, tv, clock, mini fridge, PLUS a hideabed, coffee table and 2 easy chairs, a fabulous safe and even an iron and ironing board! There IS laundry service for an extra charge but they did a wonderful job.I was on 2nd floor and loved the night sounds of all the animals as I sat on my balcony before going to sleep. Bed is comfy and the room is spotless….the maids are workers like I’ve never seen and ALWAYS smiling! I only found one negative about the room and that is the lighting so to put on makeup or read a book was very difficult.They have added Room Service from 11a.m. to 11p.m. which is a dream and the food is soooo good and such a bonus if you want to relax and have a snack or meal. The pools, beach, entertainment, food and the buffets are HUGE with soooo many choices, the night time shows, well, everything is really fantastic! We hopped a cab to 5th Ave. at Playa del Carmen which is funky with all kinds of shops, bars and food spots and it is really cool. Just check with your cabbie before you go as one of the staff told us it is a 10 min. drive and it was 35 min. and cost $30 US each way!! Was worth it as we had 3 of us to split the cost and we thoroughly enjoyed it! All in all, it was a wonderful vacation but alas, I have no photos to share. I left my camera on one of the benches at the hotel or the bench at one of the huts waiting for the shuttle and never did have it turned in to the front desk.I would DEFINITELY recommend the Grand Palladium and hope to go again! p.s. Tipping is up to the individual but I tipped all staff….just a $1 or 2 daily and left extra and a small gift for maids at the end of my stay. They are so grateful as they work so hard for so little…Adios Amigos!

Room Tip: I was on second floor villa 48 ….I think all villas have 3 floors and remember, there are NO elev…
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Stayed October 2015, traveled with family