We have spent 2 weeks at GP Palace. It was our first trip to DR.
Hotel was really nice. Beach was excellent with a lot of space and beautiful palm trees.
The food was very good and selection at buffet was good (breakfast & dinner). There was different theme-dinner each day. We didn't try theme restaurants. Durring lunch we ate at open air retaurant - close to the beach and it was nice.
Service was also very good, bartenders, waiter were very attended. Night entertaiments were interesting and professional.
The Palace section was more quiet then others what we preferred, because we don't like crowd.
We didn't try the pools because we are 'beach' people.
The only negative was the room. The was musty smell in the room, maybe because we have the gronud floor. But when you turn the air condition on it's ok.
Few times in the afternoon the was lack of hot water.
But generally I would recommend going there.

This hotel could provide an amazing experience. It has a wonderful mix of facilities in very good condition. The beach is beautiful and there is a wide range of activities available.

The problems are all management related and provide for a very poor experience.

By doing just five things, this resort would make the grade.

1. Train the staff to be customer friendly. While some were very nice and helpful, some were just plain condescending and rude. The yard workers and women at the restaurant desks taking "reservations" were especially rude.
2. There were buffets available at all meals. There were also specialty restaurants. The only way to eat these restaurants is to dress for dinner, walk to the restaurant, put your name on a list, and MAYBE get seated. We waited two and a half hours for a seat at the Steak House and NEVER got seated. It was like this every night we tried to eat at a specialty restaurant. When speaking to a manager he justified it over and over saying that he was giving us an opportunity to go to all of the restaurants instead of just a few at a set time like on a cruise ship.....Well, in sweltering heat in the tropics, I'd rather be able to plan for a set time and walkin at that time than wait in line to perhaps get served. We got in line for the Japanese restaurant over an hour before opening to get an hibachi table. There were only a few people in front of us. Evidently, people behind us had gotten papers giving them a reserved table because they had complained about the service the night before and we got a table in the back that was in a closed off area that was hotter than outside. The quality of the food was poor at best.
3. The resort is so spread out that a tram is necessary. Unfortunately, there is only one and it runs a 20 minute loop and leaves people standing.....even at midnight at the casino and after the shows. It's a joke.
4. Train the cleaning crews to be polite. Delivering towels at 10PM is not acceptable. Having an entire crew assigned to a building is ridiculous. They talk loudly at 7:00 in the morning, hang out all day, and take turns doing various tasks. This means that several people are in and out of the room all day. At another Punta Cana resort where I stayed, I had one woman in and out of the room and I got to know her. She asked what times would be convenient and we got on a schedule of sorts. It was great and she got a big tip which is not necessary in all-inclusives.

5. It's time to replace the mattresses and pillows in Building 83. My group had three rooms and all of the beds were soft and lumpy and the pillows hard and uncomfortable.

Until these issues are cleared up, I would not recommend this resort to anyone.

After a year of serious hard work as a teacher, as a graduate student ,and a new mom, I was ready to escape to a place where I would be pampered and released of all worry. The palladium palace resort really did live up to my expectations with the exception of the interactions I had with some of the staff, namely the male staff at the front desk.

First, we booked a loft suite and although some reviews stated the rooms were renovated, ours was not. We arrived at 2:30 pm and when we went to the front desk to check in, we were greeted by a younger man who clearly did not care whether we were there or not. We expected welcome drinks or at least a welcome at this all inclusive, but instead Eduardo at the front desk said that there was no water available when I asked for it. We had been in transit for almost a full day and by the time we arrived at the resort, it was 25 degrees hotter than where we came from and I thought I was going to faint. I didn't know if it was a joke or what, but it turns out that the lobby not only has a bar full of water but there was also a water dispenser within feet of the front desk that Eduardo could have directed me to. Instead he told me that there was no water available.

We booked our stay through all inclusiveoutlet.com and they told us to put in all of our requests through email before arriving and we did. All we asked for was a king bed and certain buildings to be placed in. We got neither and when I spoke to Fernando at the front desk about the fact that our room had two double beds instead of a king, he id to call in the morning to see if he had an availability. This was a but ridiculous since we booked over a month in advance and the resort was not busy at all. I asked the bell boy the name of the manager of the front desk and he said it was Julian Fernandez and when I spoke to him about the rudeness of Eduardo and our requests, he was a little nicer but rather patronizing as opposed to showing actual caring about the level of service. We had a few other interactions like this in the lobby but they were all with males and I guess I we just chalked it up to the cultural machismo. We are a same sex couple travelling with our infant and I think the lack of a man in our party definitely affected the level of service we received from the front desk to the drinks that were brought to our tables at the buffets. The women servers were super nice and we had zero problems with them for some reason.

With all of that aside, our experience at the resort was really great. We ate at the buffets for breakfast and lunch and ate at the a la cartes for dinner. The front desk failed to give us a schedule of open and closed restaurants for each night but we have travelled a lot and really just orientated ourselves fairly quickly. The food overall was good and there was a great and fresh selection of everything for everyone. We are seafood eating vegetarians and we had no issues finding enough food to eat. There is also no need to reserve at the a la carts and you don't have a limit of how many you an at at. There is a Japanese teppanyaki, Greek/mediterranean,Brazilian, Italian, Spanish,Steakhouse, and a couple others to chose from. The great thing is that the palladium is a huge complex of resorts and you can access all of the resorts with the exception of the Grand Turquesa which is an adults only resort.

There are a bunch of pools as well and the one at the palace and the one at the punta Cana palladium is where we spent most of our time. They all have swim up bars, the drinks are served quickly, and the palapas were pretty easy to get. We did get up early to get our palapas on the beach and by just setting a pool towel on a sun chair, it was honored as reserved.

We didn't do much at night since we had a baby and spent evenings watching people walk by our balcony, but we had a great time in the lobbies drinking espressos and cappuccinos. There is live music every night and the original Bavarro part of the resort has a night club and shows.

One last thing to note is that I speak Spanish that I learned in college and it really helped. This place caters to Spanish speakers but if you speak English that is okay too, you will just stick out like a sore thumb. We also left a $2 tip per day for our maid and the same for our mini bar guy and it paid off. Our mini bar was stocked well and rooms cleaned daily.

We left very happy with our stay feeling that we definitely got our money's worth but as we were leaving, I went to the kiosk across from the front desk to do my exit survey and as I began, the kiosk oddly shut down just as I watched Eduardo from the front desk go to the back and come back out. Hmmm....

If you are adventurous and can get over it fairly easily, I would recommend this place. The setting, pools, and beach are awesome. The people need a little work as they are slow to serve you but that was just what I saw as those with men at their tables had quick service and those without we're left waiting. The front desk is definitely rude and each guest does seem to have a different level of service, but it was relaxing and it was easy to access food and drinks. I feel relaxed but not going to become a Palladium Addict. (yes there is such a thing, google it!)

We stayed June 17-24. This was my first to trip to Punta Cana. Let me just say it was "Paradise". Before I left I read all of the reviews about this resort, most of them were negative, so I was very nervous about going to this resort, in fact I was very depressed about even going on the trip. I always read trip advisor for all of my trips, but I will be honest, I really don't understand why everyone was so negative about this resort. First of all the beach and grounds were awesome and very clean. We stayed Bldg 94 on the first floor. Yes this is a huge resort, but that gives you more options for dinner and things to do.. The food was fine, but that is what you get with buffet food. We ate at the Brazilian, Japanese, Mexican, Italian and the Steakhouse. They were all good and my favorite was the Mexican. It was the best meal I had all week. We never had any issues with the staff; always very friendly and helpful. The pool bars were awesome. We had the best bartender ever.. his name was William. He was awesome. We visited most of the pools and they were great and they all had something different to offer. The rooms were clean, NO BUGS. The beds and pillows were hard, that would be the only complaint I would have about the room. Yes the TV was old, but who really cares about watching TV when you are staying at a beautiful place. Our vacation was wonderful and I would definitely go back. I have no idea why I was ever depressed before I left. I understand everyone has different tastes and likes, but this place very nice and I just don't understand why it receives the negative reviews.