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6th Trip to Grand Palladium
We traveled June 13th for a one week stay in a suite at the Royal Suites Yucatan by Palladium. We were fortunate to purchase a week from a friend who has a Travel Club Presidential membership. We were here for our sixth time since 2010–four of which were in the Royal. We traveled with our sister and brother in law. It was their first time at RSY but second time at a Palladium having traveled with us in 2013 to the Royal Suites Turquesa in Punt Cana.
Arrival–we finally arrived ( Southwest delays) three hours late. Immigration and customs were short. Our luggage arrived on the first flight we were scheduled to take about 15 minutes after our arrival. We were glad to see our luggage. We all made it through with the green light. Since we were going through the Travel Club, our private transportation was part of the package. We walked out of the airport and a guy with our name was still standing there. We were quickly out of the airport and on our way. Trip took about one hour maybe a little less. We checked in at Royal. Check in was fast. We were told to meet with our TC rep the next day at noon and were on our way to our room.
Accommodations–The Royal Suite was lovely with two huge rooms–a living area and a bedroom and a huge bathroom as well. The living area has a flat screen tv, pull out bed in a regular size couch, bar area with four liquors (rum, tequila, whisky and vodka), coffee maker, small refrigerator, and sliding glass doors to balcony. The second room is the bedroom. The bathroom has a large walk in shower, two sinks and toilet. There is another larger balcony off the bedroom as well with a two person jacuzzi on one side, table and nice wooden loungers. We had fruit and cheese trays as well as a bottle of champaign and tequila as welcome gifts. We had one small room issue. The living room ceiling leaked during the two days of rain. I used garbage cans and ice buckets and beach towels to contain the water. Not sure it’s fixed as once it stopped rainy so did the water leaks. It was room 7130.
Restaurants–We ate at El Jardin the first and second to last night. First night we had great service and so so food. The second time I had beef medallions and those were good. My New York strip the first night not so good. My husbands bone was also not great. My sister got the ribeye and that was good. The coconut shrimp were way over cooked.
We ate at Sumptori, Portifino, Mare Norstrum, La Adelita, and The Steakhouse. Steaks were great . The food at Sumptori especially the sushi was AWESOME. The service was also great. We asked for more sushi and no problem got more. Portifino also had great food as well as La Adelita. Mare Norestum which I have had great meals at was not good this trip. I am looking forward to trying Thai next year when the new one is in place. We missed our meal at Punta Emelia as it was just too rainy and we stayed close to our rooms. We also did room service a few times. The beef nachos are good as well as the Royal club sand which. The barbecue at the Royal pool is a great addition. They had chicken and beef skewers as we’ll as chicken and hamburgers. They offered chips, guacamole and grilled veggies.
Bars–the Travel Club Beach Bar was very nice and had great staff. The Royal Bar Staff, especially Filberto are absolutely amazing. They are warm and gracious and just a pleasure to talk with. We very much enjoyed our evenings there before dinner. Filberto makes a great dirty Marino as well as lemon ok well lime drops.
Beach–the beach was pretty. Very little seaweed. Our first several days there was little wind. Our last two days we had lots of wind and lots of rain. It does discolor the water making it less blue. I snorkeled one day and saw fish, but visibility was not as good as in the past.
Off site excursions– We booked the Mayan Adventure as part of TC week. This was a great for. The guide Jesse was wonderful. He had a lot of knowledge, was very funny and very kind. We snorkeled at Ya Kul early in the am. Then went to a cave which I did not do. Then had lunch and then dove into a cenote and did a small zip line. It was a fun six hours. We were back at the hotel by 3 pm.
A month before our trip, I made a reservations again to visit The Jungle Place. Heidi and her husband have rescued 89 spider monkeys over the last 16 years. They have 89 at the current time with four being born there. You make an $80 per person donation prior to arriving and you get a time to come and visit the sanctuary and monkeys. We spent an hour or more on the floor with monkeys in our laps, on our heads and in our arms. The monkeys loved my husband and brother in law. This was a great place to visit and an organization I plan to give to yearly. We reserved a taxi the day before for 9:30 am. Our reservations were at 10:30 am. Cost was $1100 pesos to take us and wait and return.
Travel Club Amenities and Staff–The TC staff were great. We had a golf cart driver anytime we needed. All we had to do was call. We also had room service available, and I use it a couple of mornings for coffee con leche. Because we had a gold bracelet, we could go anywhere on the resort including the Royal areas and the TC areas. Transportation to and from the airport was included as well as one free excursion. We also had $100 in TC money that could be spent at the resort: a list of things we could buy was included with the TC money.
Staff–Everyone at the resort was very pleasant and helpful. Service at the Royal is excellent.
Weather– The weather was sunny and hot during mid day. Clouds would build in the afternoon and it would be cool at night. We had two days with rain and it was very a pleasant temperature. Mornings started cool but got hot very quickly.
Return–Our transportation was 15 minutes early. We had no issues getting to airport and aboard our flight.
Tips–we spent about $300 in tips for seven nights. We had both pesos and U.S. We tipped the maid $3-4 per day, the beverage guy $1-2, drivers to from airport $20, golf cart drivers $1-2 each time, waitstaff for drinks $1 each time, buffet servers $2-3, dinner $10 or so.
We had a great time as always. We love Mexico having been to this area 12 times now with the last 6 at the Palladium. Seven days was a good amount of time as we usually do five. The week went very fast. We hope to return same time next year with additional family members.
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