I just returned from a 6 night trip to this hotel - Colonial side.

Suite
Stayed in a junior suite- villa # 8. Not the best location, but certainly not the worst. Expect to walk on average 7 minutes to the buffet and pool. The suite was very nice. Pretty room decorations. Clean bathroom. Great room service. Left the maid tip every day and received good service in return. I stress the fact that our bathroom was always spotless. I don’t think there is a big difference between a standard room and a suite, so I would either upgrade to a royal or stay in a standard. P.S. just because you are booking a junior suite don’t expect to have a room close to the beach and pool, because there are junior suites located all throughout the resort. Also, there was no towel art in my room, no matter how much we tipped the maid.

Food
This was by far the worst food I have ever had in an All-inclusive resort. I've stayed previously in Iberostar, Melia, and the Riu chain (this being my 6th time in an All-inclusive). My boyfriend had an upset stomach for more than 24hrs. I guess that can happen in any resort, but seriously the food was below average. In my opinion, food should be one of the most important aspects of a trip, and it was a huge disappointment. Maybe, we are picky, but I strongly doubt it- simply for the fact that we DEFINITELY had better. I would never return for this reason!
A la carte- we went to the Japanese and Italian. I don’t know which one was worse. I love Japanese, but this was definitely not their specialty, oh wait, food was never their specialty.
Also, no self-service cappuccino machine, no fresh mangoes, and no passion fruit.
And no pretty food decorations!

Drinks
Mixed drinks were so-so. If you like straight up liquor, you can get that at any resort. The bartenders were amazing. Great job!!!

Grounds and Service at the buffets and a la carte
This resort is huge. I feel that since it is so big, they miss out a lot on the service. I never saw the manager walk around. In the other resorts we have stayed at, we constantly saw how the manager was making sure everything is okay. The people working here were less than friendly, except for the bartenders. Your dollar does not go along way here. The reception desk gave me attitude. I wanted my family to call me to my room from the U.S., but for some reason their phone call would not go through. I told the reception and they kept giving me different codes for my family to dial. In the end my family was never able to call me.
The grounds here are really beautiful. Certainly the best part of my vacation. The paths are really something to enjoy. Lots of iguanas and other animals (flamingo’s crocodiles, and even cats.) The walks can be quite tiresome so you can take the train that goes around the resort. Make sure you are aware of the train you are on-there are 2; red and green (different route).

Beach
Perfect! Clean! The water is really warm and clear. Beware of areas where there are rocks and reefs.

Pool
The main pool is huge. There are smaller pools throughout the resort. All of the pools were clean and in great condition. No complaints here.

Spa
Very nice. Sauna, steam room, hydrotherapy, Jacuzzi, and pool. Massages are expensive- 100 U.S. dollars for 1 hour and sooooo not worth it. The deep tissue massage was more like a light skin massage.

Trips
We did the ATV tour for $75 American. It was a trip that lasted for around 3.5 hours. The route is pretty straight. No crazy jungle paths. Buy mosquito spray in advance. We did not go on the beach on the 4 by 4. We stopped to see monkeys, pigs, parrots, and deer. Also, stopped in a cave that is 5 million years old and swam in a lake. The swim, animals and cave was a lot of fun; the ATV ride itself was mediocre. We had a much better time in the Dominican Republic on the ATV (also cheaper - $50).
Went to Playa del Carmen by ourselves on the Collectivo ($2 dollars each way- very safe.)There is nothing really to see here except little shops. Everything is much cheaper than at the hotel. However, considering that it takes you about 35 minutes to get there one way, this kills your beach time. I love to shop, but not worth it in my opinion.

Entertainment and "The Fun Team"
The night shows were nothing to rave about-average. The fun team was certainly not fun. They absolutely have no energy and I feel that they are extremely lazy and fed up with their job. They did a poor job of getting people involved and the worst part is that when people wanted to join, they were rude in having everyone take a turn. For example, there was a game of where you had to throw a football in a hole across the pool. There was a line of people waiting for their turn. After doing the activity for 5 minutes, there was a winner. So they wanted to stop the game. The crowd was getting upset because there were people who never even had a turn. So they decided to find a second winner. They said 10 more people can go. After 5 people went and no winner they stopped the game. The rest of the people were again disappointed. I thought they did that so they can start a new game, but instead they went to chat with each other. After that incidence, I never had any desire to participate.

If you have not booked your vacation yet, say Thank God, and run. Go to Iberostar instead; you will be happy you did. I was jealous of the people that we met in the airport who raved about Iberostar.

All in all, I'll never be back. Those that keep coming back have probably never seen anything better. This resort does not deserve apple rating of 5 stars!!!!!!!!!

Arrived at the Palladium resorts on December 24 and we were booked into the Kantenah. The check-in was extremely fast and the reception staff were welcoming. This was especially appreciated as we had been up and travelling for over 12 hours by that point in the early afternoon. We were immediately directed to the outdoor buffet as lunch was ending soon and they wanted to give us the chance to eat. Check out was just as efficient and quick and was done the night before we left so we didn't have to rush out the next morning for our 7 am pickup for the airport in Cancun.

For those unfamiliar with the resort, it is a HUGE complex of 4 hotels - The Kantenah, The Colonial, The White Sands and The Riviera. There is a train that takes you around if you can't walk the distance. We had booked at the Kantenah and initially the room was wonderful. However, we soon experienced some very large, black ants that decided to holiday in our childrens' room. Our room stayed clear. They immediately responded to our concern but the ants came back the next day. There were no questions asked and we were moved to the Colonial. The rooms were spacious and we were given plenty of bottled water, soft drinks and beer during our week and hygiene and beauty supplies were ample. No complaints in any way about the rooms or housekeeping. If I were going back I would book into the Colonial as it seemed more central to everything. Don't be surprised by the wildlife - iguanas outside your front door, plenty of song birds and crocodiles in croc enclosure.

The buffets (4 of them) had more than ample food that could feed anyone with any type of preference and there was usually minimal delay in getting in. Fresh omelettes for breakfast, fresh squeezed juices, fresh grilled items at lunch and supper and crepes made before your eyes. There was also the snack bar by the beach, the outdoor buffet by the pool and a 24 hour snack bar. Everone in our party agreed that the food was good and more than adequate concerning the number of guests at the 4 hotels. There were 8 a la carte restaurants and we had to choose 3. The Rib House was okay but nothing spectacular. The Chinese (Asian) restaurant was absolutely horrible. Do not choose this as one of your 3 choices as you will come away disappointed. My kids wanted to go to the buffet after these two. The Steak House was by far the best in the complex. The food was wonderful and plentiful. Glad we saved the best for last.

There was so much to do around the complex that we could not get to everything in our one week stay. Our children (teenagers) lived by the beach volleyball court whenever we were at the hotel and the hotel's entertainment staff were always busy trying to get guests involved in poolside activities. They didn't stray too far from there which was appreciated because if I wanted to get involved I did and no one pressured you to participate if you just wanted to chill by the poolor beach. We never had trouble getting loungers and at one point they even brought extra in from one of the other hotels. We went snorkeling and kayaking without too long of a wait for equipment and my kids played tennis. Every night there were 2 semi-professional shows to go to and some fun games with the entertainment team before. The Disco was a lot of fun and worthwhile seeing. We didn't use the children's daycare activity centre but all the kids seemed to come out of there looking happy and tired.

While we were there we went on 2 tours. The trip to Coba and the Mayan village was outstanding and my kids loved it. It is an all day tour but you get to experience Mexican culture and history. The tour guide was informative and obviously proud of the Mayan culture and was sensitive to the needs of everyone in the tour. We had originally planned to go to Tulum and Xel-Ha but changed our minds after reading about the Coba trip and the fact that this is the only ruin you can still climb. The second tour was to XCaret (eco park near Playa del Carmen). We bought an open day pass and arrranged our own transportation. The cost to go with the tour package was $30.00 US more than a day pass and only gave you the ride there and back. With 5 in our party that was an extra $150.00 US. We decided to pay the taxi drivers the $80.00 US so we saved the 70.00 US. You really need a whole day there as there were numerous things to do. We tried to see most of the exhibits (large cats, butterflies, aquarium, sea turtles) and we swam in the underground river. As we arrived after lunch, there was not enough time to snorkel and we didn't want to swim with the dolphins as we had done that in Cuba a few years earlier. The evening show is spectacular and cannot be missed. While you can see the show from almost every angle, it is recommended to be there about 30 - 45 minutes ahead to get good seats. The place pretty much shuts down after the show so make sure you see everything beforehand.

The only other outing was for a day of shopping in Playa del Carmen. We took the collectivo (public transit) in from the hotel. It cost only $2.00 US per person and took you from right in front of the complex to the shopping district. Going back at the end of the day was no problem and it was perfectly safe. Be mindful of all the time share sellers - they will fool you to think they are not time share until you start to talk to them for a while. I usually ignored them but my husband liked to have fun with them and string them along a bit. Just say no sorry and most will leave you alone.

We didn't have too much to complain about except with the bellboys. Language was an issue at times - for example when we booked our van to go to Xcaret, we were told it would be about 5 to 10 minutes, then 20 minutes etc. After waiting over 30 minutes a bellboy came up to us and asked if we had booked a van. We said we had with the other bellboy and the second one was a bit angry. Apparently I was supposed to book it through him as the first bellboy was only in training. The second one was not around when we first got to the lobby and it took close to an hour to get the van. In the meantime, a second van had pulled up and let out some other Canadians. They said he was nice and okay so we asked him to take us to XCaret . We were stopped at the front gate and security would not allow us to leave the property with him. We wanted to get out of the van and meet up with him on the highway but we were also not allowed to do this. The security insisted that we return to the lobby with them. We were told it was for our safety but perhaps it had something to do with their share of the cut. I will give them the benefit of the doubt although this should have been our option.

Overall, we had a wonderful vacation and would definitely recommend this complex to anyone.

A friend and I just returned from a seven-day stay at the Grand Palladium, Dec. 29-January 4, 2007. As others have written, this place is indeed huge, and the grounds are meticulously cared for, including the beach and pool areas. It is all quite impressive, and given the hundreds of guests, it is a good thing there is plenty of space for everyone.

We found this resort to be too big for our taste, and with literally thousands of adults and children staying in the dozens of buildings, it was too much of a cattle-call atmosphere at the pool and buffet restaurants. Upon our first day's arrival, we were disappointed to learn there were no open reservations at any of the four sit-down restaurants for the entire week of our stay. While the staff was friendly, they certainly didn't go out of their way to provide memorable or exceptional service. Not once did we see a manager asking guests how things were, or if there was anything we needed.

Our room, in the adult-only villas in the Kantenah section out near the beach, was spacious and very clean. The private outdoor shower was a nice touch. We requested to have the room cleaned daily at 11AM, while we were at the pool (the request card was given to us on the first day). Another nice touch, except for the fact that without exception, the maid was in our room every day at 4:30, just as we were returning to shower and clean up.

The buffet food is nothing more than average. While there are plenty of choices, after a few days, you see the same options, and given the large serving bowls, I wonder how much ends up getting served over and over again. By the fifth day, both my guest and I came down with upset stomachs, which have taken a full week to clear up. I believe it is from some bad shrimp and lobster we tried one evening -- it didn't appear to be properly iced down, and after one bite, we opted for pizza.

Early on the morning of our flight home, I went to see the on-site 24 hour doctor, hoping to get something to settle my stomach, only to find the actual hours of operation are 9AM to 2PM. If you book this resort for more than a few days, it may be wise to take along a box of Immodium pills, just to be safe.

Given the cost of a one-week stay (close to $3,500 with airfare), next time we will opt for a smaller resort in the US Virgin Islands.

Short and to the point-->
Food was okay.
Did not find the decent alcohol till the last day.
Power went out a couple times to the whole resort.
Friends had several problems getting room cleaned and even getting slippers for thier room.
Front Desk and Restaurants need major Attitude overhaul.
Beach was nice. Not very much swimming area due to rocks but we did enjoy snorkeling and wave runners.

ATV tour was okay. Would be fun with kids.
Doesn't go through a forest like advertised. GO pretty slow for a majority of it.

24 hour snack bar hamburgers are pretty good.
Mediterranean Rest was the only decent Food/Service.

Make sure all reservations for rests. are early or else food is old and picked over.

Would not go back.

Btw...Apple Ratings mean absoulutly nothing. this 5star hotel is like a 3 star for AAA or Mobil Rating...