This was my 5th travel in a Palladium, 1st time in Jamaica.
When we arrived at the hotel at 1:00AM they don't find our reservation in their system,,,
Finally they found a room with our requests (king-bed, top floor, near the beach).

Our room was in the villa 26, room 2633.
Pros : Very well located near the lobby, the main pool, the restaurants, but far the best beach of the resort (sunset cove beach). The room was very spacious with mini-bar, jacuzzi, large shower, king bed, flat screen, main pool and sea view.
Cons : very noisy, we heard the music from the Infinity Bar up to 12:30 AM !!

The resort is very large, but smaller that other Palladium in Punta Cana and Riviera Maya.
The main pool is awesome !!
There are a couple of small beaches. The best beach for swimming is the Sunset Cove Beach, for snorkeling it is the Coral Beach. You need shoes for swimming at other beaches.

The buffets and a-la-carte restaurants are very good. If you are in the Imperial Club, you can book the a-la-carte restaurants in advance. The restaurants are unlimited. If not, you can go directly at the restaurants and wait for a place...but after 8:15-8:30 often it's over !
Even if you booked your restaurant, you will wait 30 minutes before enterring in the restaurant and the service is slow, but food is good.
For lunch time, don't miss the Jerk Hut at the Sunset Cove Beach for the famous jerk chicken !

They have to increase the service level to keep the stars rating!!!
They ran out of beach towels at 11:00AM, several nights without bath towels in our room, slow service at the restaurants, etc.

But overall this is a great resort, and I recommend it !

Just returned from this resort. The good stuff first. Beautiful property. Grand sweeping staircase, stunning gardens. Great food. But most of all, those beautiful Jamaican people. They are kind, gentle and love laughter. They want you to have a GOOD time and work hard to make that happen.
There are a number of beaches on the resort. One is for adults only. Very nice if you want to get away from the music and partying. Take note: the sand is VERY coarse and hard on the feet on all the beaches at this resort. Take water shoes. Get your towels at 9 a.m. After that, they run out.
The room was spacious and attractive. I believe it was a one bedroom suite. However, the bed and pillows were hard and uncomfortable as were with the couch and chairs in the room. There was really nowhere to flop down and veg comfortably. We had two outdoor patios that were pleasant, but again the furniture was uncomfortable. We were in room 3619. Building 36 is in the middle of the resort. Even so there was a lot of walking. Good to walk off all of that food! We did briefly lose the electricity a few times and water but that is the islands. Chill out and relax.
This is a smoking resort. There were ashtrays in our room, smoking in outdoor areas including restaurants, around the pools, etc.
The only area that you can successfully use the WIFI is directly in the resort lobby.
Enjoyed nearly all of the food. The main buffet, Negril, was tasty with many choices. There was a station where you custom make your own pasta sauce. The service was always top notch with a smile. There are two other buffets that serve the same food as the Negril, the Mo’Bay and Blue Lagoon.
A la Carte: We did not have the special pass to make reservations. Another guest who did, complained that she could only book 3 a la cartes at a time. Went to the restaurant of choice around 6 and had no problems getting in. After 6:30, you will be in a line up. Italian Restaurant, Pastafarian, food very good, service excellent. Hindi Restaurant, Bhogaki, excellent food, very spicy, super service…order one of their milky drinks to put out the fire. Asian Restaurant, food and service terrible. Poseidon’s at Sunset Cove, good food and service. The a la cartes do request a dress code. If you are wearing shorts, they must be below the knee.
Used the spa for a couples massage. Wonderful. $180 US for the day. Attached to the spa was a private pool, whirlpool, and sauna. It was worth every penny.
Hired a taxi driver named AJ for a day. He works for the resort and was drumming up business in the Grand Palladium Jamaica lobby. He charged $100 US for the day and allowed us to custom build our own tour. He took us to the Negril beach, reserved an umbrella and 2 chairs. Absolutely heaven. I missed the beach people at the Palladium. They certainly add colour to the beach. AJ took us to meet a Rastafarian. We toured his home and herb garden. Lovely gentle man. Nice experience. Shopped at a souvenir store. Shopping is not my thing. Went on to Rick’s café. Saw the diver, had a couple of drinks. Watched some kids diving off rocks into the water enticing the tourists to throw money for them to dive for. Along came security. It is not allowed. A kid around 10 years old argued with security for 10 minutes or so. That kid is going to be a lawyer! Rick’s Café is worth a visit as long as your expectations are not too high.
AJ picked us up at 11 a.m. and we returned around 6. He was more than willing to pick us up earlier. It was worth the bucks. He is not very outgoing or amusing as other drivers that I have met in the past, but he was knowledgeable enough and dependable.
For the first time, flew with Canjet which is owned by Airtransat. Airtransat is my least favourite carrier. However, Canjet could do no wrong…except we took off 1 hour late from Toronto. The service was great. We were given champagne, wine, and a hot meal. I was quite impressed with them.