We stayed at the Grand Palladium from Jan 22- Feb 6 and loved it! Check in was quick and the staff were very helpful.The rooms, grounds and beach were immaculately kept. The beach was great and offered something for everyone-waves for surfing and a nice sandy area for swimming or snorkeling. The water was clean and warm and there is also a nice little salt water pool to splash around in that is great for kids.The staff were all very pleasant and courteous. Lots of stairs which helped to work off the calories. Our Sunwing rep, Aldo,was fabulous and helped us book some excersions. The food at the buffet was good and offered a lot of selections. The restaurants were good with the exception of the Mexican restaurant. We tried it twice and both times the food was cold and not very good. We also found the mattress protectors hot and very noisy but realize they are there for a purpose. They have a beach BBQ every week which was fabulous. I like the fact that this resort is Eco friendly and is surrounded by botanical gardens. It was very peacefull and relaxing which is what we were hoping for. There is an area on the beach set up for the Vendors to display their products and they are monitored by the Hotel. This is an excellent idea! The Vendors do make trips periodically up and down the beach but they are not pushy and very polite when you decline.
The resort is close to Punta Mita and Bucerius if you want to take a trip into town.
We both had a wonderful time and will be returning again.

This was our first and last trip to the Palladium. It is also the first time I have ever posted a negative review. When we arrived the check-in process was arduous and slow. The walls at this resort are very thin. Pray for neighbours who are quiet. The buffet was genuinely horrible. Vegetables were canned, items were left under heat lamps until they dried out and were rock hard and trays weren't refilled until they were empty. One morning I thought there was going to be a bacon riot when the tray was left empty and a crowd started to form. Thankfully, being a vegetarian I was able to remove myself from the fray! Food in Cuba is better.

Front line staff here work hard. Housekeeping was exceptional. I couldn't stop thinking how dispiriting it must be to work for such a mediocre brand. Tip well. the people who work here deserve it. The people who run this place are running what seems like a very weak business to me.

Late check-out is offered but we were told it was unavailabe...just a small example of many inconsistencies we encountered. I wouldn't have written this review if the Palladium billed itself as a 3 star resort but a 4.5 star rating is wildly misleading.

With all that said, a vacation is what you make it, so going off resort and visiting different places made what could have been a dismal trip a good one.

We stayed at the Grand Palladium from January 17-24th. Beautiful clean beach with lots of surf. The water was very clean more so than near Bucerias area. We arrived about 6:30pm, check in was extremely quick, Eddie the bellboy was really helpful, he showed us to our room, explained all the features of energy saving features. We talked with him a few times during our stay about different things and he was always helpful and cheerful. We liked the Hemingway Bar, it was always a quiet place to go. Food was good, sometimes the buffet food wasn't very hot. We found if you had something made to order, ie: pasta,it was hot. Same goes for breakfast, omelettes were always good, as were the made to order pancakes.
The reno'd rooms were very nice. I didn't like the plasticized mattress protector, being synthetic microfibre with the waterproof bottom we found it noisy and very hot to lay on. The airconditioner lowest setting is programed by the hotel and only 22 degrees C. Wasn't cool enough for us, sometimes we had to leave the patio door open to get a breeze, at night it was cooler outside than in. Good thing we were on the second floor.
We did all the a la cartes, all good, Bambu seemed to be the favorite, get there early, 1st try getting in was a 45 min wait, so we ate at buffet, 2nd try couldn't get in at all, 3rd time we got there at 6 and got in.
Entertainment was always fun, small troupe of 8-10 dancers depending on show, The Pop Star was really good, Alli who did the Michael Jackson was great!, wonderful dancer.
Our biggest complaint of this resort was lack of fresh orange juice!, When you ordered a Vodka and OJ you got Vodka and Tang!, This is just not right. Even concentrated orange juice is far superior to Tang. Cranberry juice is a sryupy sweet stuff too. We drank a lot of beer. Also depending which bartender you got sometimes the drinks are made differently each time. We heard due to low volume of guests two wings were closed and only one a la carte was open each night. I guess a lot of cost cutting was going on because it was so slow.
Zoo was good, We really enjoyed the Hobycat rides, just had to make an appointment for that day. Pepe was great and very informative and fun to talk with. All in all pretty good, beautiful grounds. Lots and Lots of Stairs, there are ramps as well. Be prepared to get your exercise. That part I liked after lounging all day.

Great third trip to Grand Palladium! Stayed Jan 27-Feb 3. Sunquest rep was very helpful and informative about the hotel and surrounding area. Thank you Luis! hotel staff were helpful, food was good, drinks were good. Activities are plentiful. As returning guests we received a lovely champagne bottle and fruit basket. We were 4 couples travelling together, and were all placed close by in building 1. The renovations are lovely since we were last there in 2010. The gym and spa are excellent. One small hiccup that as a goup of 8 it was not always possible to get seated in the al a carte restaurants and our last night at the Mediteranean restaurant the host just told us that they could not seat us all together and split us up, that was a bit disappointing. Wait staff at the bar were really friendly and attentive, and also the staff in the buffet restaurant very hospitable! The feeling is very relaxed at this resort, and the views of the mountains and the whales in the bay are spectacular.