We stayed at the Palladium from August 15-22, 2009. We read some negative reviews before we went, but we are easy-going people who try to make the best of all situations, so we were not too concerned. We're not sure why people complain about the Palladium, because we really found no fault with it. It took us about 35 minutes to get there from the airport, but the length of this trip would depend on the traffic. We got there on Saturday at noon, so traffic wasn't too heavy.
The staff at this resort are amazing. They all speak fluent English and they are all very eager to please. Our check-in went smoothly and we did not experience any problems with the front desk staff. We had two rooms which were adjoining, and we had no problems with air conditioning or anything else that people have written about on this site. I saw one tiny bug (and I mean tiny) in our room on the last night we were there, but otherwise the rooms were spotlessly cleaned every day, and we do not have one complaint about them. (We quickly learned that if we wanted the rooms cleaned in the morning we had to put out the "please clean this room" sign by 9:00 am, otherwise we did not have our rooms cleaned until 4:00 pm.)
The activities staff were awesome, too - very friendly, very good with the kids. There were a lot of families at the main pool, but we did not have any issues with other people's children or anything, as some have noted in their reviews. We have three small kids and we understand that some people prefer not to encounter children on their holidays so we are careful to keep them out of adult areas, and we take our meals early so that people who do not have children can dine at the prime times.
We only ate at the buffet, again in deference to people who prefer that children be kept in their place. The food is ok, but let's face it, we do not travel to Mexico for the food. If people are looking for gourmet cuisine, they might be better suited to a cruise or a trip to Europe. We love Mexico because of the Mexican people and the beautiful landscape, not the food.
The fitness centre is well-equipped, but not air-conditioned and there is no spray sanitizer available for the equipment. I went there first thing in the mornings because I can not imagine how sweaty everything gets as the day goes on. It would be a good idea to carry hand sanitizer with you if you plan to use the fitness centre.
All of the staff work very hard at this hotel, and we found that (as in most places) a smile and a sincere "thank you" goes a long way, as does a fair tip. The food service staff all pool their tips and share them, but the housekeeping staff does not do that, so do yourself a favor and tip your maid. She will appreciate it, and her work will reflect that.
We have travelled to Mexico from Canada seven times and stayed at seven different resorts. This might not have been the best resort we've ever stayed at, but it is certainly not the worst, and it absolutely does not deserve some of the negative reviews it has received. If you want sun/sand/pool/relaxation, this is a good resort for you. If you want nightlife and gourmet food, you may want to look elsewhere.
