I have read many of the reviews before we went with Apple Vacations to the Riveria Maya Resort of the Grand Palladium, White Sands Resort. After my visit June 18-25, 2006 this is what I think of the resort.

Huge!, With so many bars and restaurants to choose from in a 7 day time you may not have to eat the same meal there twice.

Hear are my good coments: They have a GREAT BEACH area, to swim or to snorkle, you have a large area to do both. If Catamerand or Kayak ( sorry I can't spell either) is your choice they have both to use at no charge! The beach snack bars are open 24 hours and are great for a late night stroll or to just sit and watch the ocean. There are plenty of beach chairs to go around, but you may may want to get up early to secure a Pallapa for the afternoon sun is brutal without one. If you like topless beaches, yes this is one. The ocean water was about 85 degrees and was wonderful, we spent about 75% of our time in the water, in the ocean. The food was pretty good, unlike some of the previous reviews, I did not find anything I ate that was cold or undercooked. There was many items to choose from and there seemed to be much more pork and veal that you would be used to in other resorts. Again bring an insulated drinking mug because the heat will melt your ice befor you get it back to your beach chair. Our weather was wonderful, mid 90's each day and low 80's at night. The rooms were decorated very nice and are very roomy, we had a junior suite and it was very nice. Marble everywhere. The shower was nice and the jaccuzzi tub was good too, but we only used it once. The majority of the staff was very friendly and helpful although do not think for a moment that you are going to strike up a converstation with any of them, their English is very limited. I almost felt we were the only Americans there...we were definately the miniorty. The Pool at White Sands we felt was the best, only because it was closest to out buildings and it was only 4 ft deep. Not all of the pools are this depth. some are actually to deep to walk in(5ft 3 in) with a drink. We enjoyed the Salt Water Pool very much, the water was very warm and the marine life abundant to the avid snorkler. It was always deserted, we felt we had the pool to ourselved most of the time. The landscaping was very nice and in a few years should be full of flowering plants and trees.(but not yet) Some walkways are covered and easly negotiated with concrete or pavers. The resort is very overwhelming when being at one end or the other, bet to go by golf cart or the passing train. If you walk the entire area, better have confortible shoes and a long time to walk, it will take a white to convass the entire area.

If you like to snorkle, I would recommend the one the Apple Rep suggested. It included three snorkling adventures to a Cenota (Sink Hole, fresh water) a Ocean snorkle and then a snorkle in another Cenota, but this one was in a cave. That was real cool. We went shallow bottom fishing thru an internet site we visited and it was great, we caught Sea Trout, Red Snapper, Grouper and even caught many Barracuda. Then we had a dinner prepared with the fish we caught. What a great day this was. The only draw back was the travel to get there.

The resort; Riveria, White Sands, Colonial and Kanteneh is very large and some times a little overwhelming. The the Best asset of this resort is the BEACH !

Now, The not do good things: As the review of June 22 said, the A/C seemed to turn of and on, well, just inside the doorway is a motion detector, when there is no one there the A/C turns itself off. Now in the summer months, this is quite unbearable. We had slept several nights with sweat drenched sheets. When you leave the room, all power turned off and the moment you return, everything turns itself back on. That means even the minibar in the fridge never seemed to get very cold. There was tiles missing in the pool which seemed strange because the resort had only been open for 6 months. You will find many of these details strange for the short time this resort has been opened. On the first day there I had hoped we would be able to see the Ocean from our room. Not in this room. We were in building 57, 2nd floor and not Ocean side, and the smell of the tundra around the building was very bad. On the 3rd night there, we were invaded by an army of ANTS and they were even in the bed linins. When I inquired about moving to another room I got one but not after a heated discussion with the desk checkin manager. After the confrontation the new room in Building 52 (fartherest from the beach, but closest to the White Sands lobby) seemed to be a better room, it was on the first floor, still could not see the Ocean. The Air Condition was poor at best in every one of the Restaurants we went to. We would eat between 5:30 and 7:00 each night and by the time you finished, you were not only wiping you mouth but the sweat from your browl also, I understand a late dinner the Air Conditioning was better. If they were going to keep the restaurants that warm at dinner time, then Long Pants for men should not be a dress code requirement. If you are going to use the mini golf, better do this in early morning or dusk, because there is not an ounce of shade on the course. Watch out for the thousnds of mosquitos that bite in the ourdoors in the evening. With your sunscreen, pack plenty of bug spray. It is quite expensive at the store there. Oh also bring a water proof camera or other camera's they cost 29.00 US dollars in the gift shop. If you have to make calls out to the US, buy the card there at the resort, if you take your Wal-Mart International AT&T Calling card with you the Hotel charges a $5.00 connection charge each time they make the connection for you. You cannot do it yourself unless you bought the calling card there at the resort. The there was the trip there. We went Apple Vacations out of Pittsburgh, non stop. The flight was wonderful but unles you have prearrainged your hotel transportation be ready to be on the bus for 2 to 3 hours. They make many stops along the way. We had a private van take us to the hotel non stop. the cost was $50 each person round trip and was well worth it. It still takes about an hour and 15 minutes with the private transfer. There is not a Bottle of water in sight, which I feel is strange. The served water to our group each day, no one got real sick but what we did was from the heat. In previous visits to Cancun, there was bottled water everwhere, not here.

The Ala Carte Restaurants were ok, but stay away from the Ribs and more Restaurant, It was real bad. We enjoyed the Steak Restaurant in the Colonial Lobby the best but the Chinese and Itialian were ok also. The buffet restaurants lacked variety, mainly the same menu every day. Again they seemed to be pushing pork and veal rather than steak. There were theme nithe but the only one that made a difference was staurday night in Colonial Buffet it was Asian nithe and most every dish had a asian flavor to it. We should have went somewhere else that night because my wife and I did not have much to choose from.

If I go again, and I know I will, I think I would rather go in April or May than the summer months...just to damm hot. Will I go back there....in about 5 years I would like to revisit and see if they have put it all together and find out what Joe Traveler really appreciates. I have been to Moon Palace twice and here in the last 5 years, and if I were to choose between them right now, definately Moon Palace, but my wife would be the opposite, because she liked the BEACH that much, and Moon Palace really had a poor beach....but the swimming pools at least you can walk in them with out drowning.

We flew from Boston on a regularly scheduled flight. Coulan't find a direct flight, Ours stopped in Charlotte, and the return flight left us in Philadelphia for a couple of hours. That's the major drowback to the White Sand. When added to a two and a half hour ride in a van to the hotel from Cancun, it makes for a long day.

Some folks have been complaining about all the walking required to get around among the two large properties, but we thought that has been exaggerated. I have a bad knee, and I had no problem. Someone with a serious mobility disability, though, might find another resort. Going over all those bridges between pools, etc simply isn't necessary, as you can go around them in most cases, or go to another pool. Instead of power walking, think of it as strolling. Besides, the tram trains are always running around the property.

The architecture and the quality of the construction trades work were first class. Beautiful designs, no details spared and carried out with great skill. How can they design and construct such a huge, high-quality project in just a fraction of the time we've grown used to? They seem to move forward with an enviable lack of red tape or union holdups there, It's amazing that they find that kind of skilled craftsmen in the Yucatan. Marble everywhere. Floors, walls, stairs, bathrooms, bedrooms. Everywhere. If something is not marble, it is beautifully crafted and finished hardwood. And please look at every wooden door and bar you pass. Beautiful pieces of furniture.

The accommodations are very nice. We had a "Junior Suite," and it was large and comfortable and very well furnished. It is about halfway between the two main buildings and we got some of our meals in each of them. (Yes, there are smoking sections in the restaurants. Just like being in a free country,)
The mini bar (in the suite) was full of water, soft drinks and good beer. (If I remember correctly, it was Dos Equis XX lager and amber.) Grab some fruit or nuts to bring back to your room. On the dresser you'll find a card with the name of your maid - leaving a Susan B. Anthony or Sacajaweya on the card each day will ensure that there's good service, and any extras needed (extra towels, mini bar refills). Actually, the service was excellent and friendly anyway. I think this is the first time that a hotel actually provided really good shower soap and shampoo. I was impressed.
Although some have written that the early morning watering of the lawns used recycled water that smelled, we never had that experience. But my wife did complain one day that the shower water had an odor to it.

I think we were in building #58. We were on the second floor. It would have been ideal if we had asked for an ocean view. Not just for the beatiful view; the ocean side of the building gets sun first thing in the morning, and shade on the balcony during the heat of the afternoon. The 24 hour beach bar is handy to that building. Next time, we'll ask for "bldg 58, second floor, ocean view."

As nice as the rooms are, for some reason there's no clock. So I'd advise packing a travel alarm clock. And bring tv listings for the time you'll be there. TV Guide or the weekly listings. There's an hour time difference (from Boston), and the channels are not the same, but I'd have liked to see if there was a movie or show - or ballgame - to try to find with the remote. Good movies. I think there were three HBO channels among many American channels and several in Spanish of course, and some others.
We couldn't fugure out any way to control the AC when we would leave the room. Something turned if off when we wern't there, and it would pop on a moment after we entered the room. Didn't matter, though, as the room remained comfortable at all times.

As others have said, there should be no problem getting into any of the specialty restaurants, as they seemed only half full at most. (Again, a few dollars ought to do the trick.) We dined at the Italian and the Rib & Steak place. Both were excellent. Service, food, wines (for the price! ha ha) and atmosphere.

As a matter of fact, some folks have written that they are still trying to put the White Sand together - get everything built, repaired from the storms, train the staff, etc. (Maybe that's why the place was so empty) Well, nothing could be further from the truth. Everything there was up and running smoothly. First Class in every aspect.

We spent most of our time at the saltwater pool. It was almost deserted each day. The bartenders (no food there, bring your own) were bored, lonely and happy to have a few patrons. And the drinks at any of the bars are as strong or light as you choose. Straight rum, if you've lost your senses. A couple of bucks at whatever bar you're using gets you a friend. As friendly as they were, when my wife went to get a couple of bottles of cold water, there was none to be had. I thought that was odd, so I went to ask. Of course he remembered me (or a couple of dollar coins I'd given him) and out came a large bottle of ice water. Maybe it was to be his own, I don't know.
Does it sould like I'm a big spender? Well, the whole week I went through about 60 dollars, total. Maid, table service, luggage handling, van, bartenders, snackbars. We heard that five dollars is a daily wage for those jobs, so it costs very little to help a worker have a successful day. But the employees were consistantly pleasant, helpful and friendly, anyway. The wine would have flowed at the dinner table without a daily tip.
Many of them are trying to get a handle on the English language, and many others haven't advanced that far. but even the (few) misunderstandings are friendly.

Some people have said to pack a couple of those large, insulated mugs with a straw sticking out of the top. That's not a bad idea - you can tell the barman to put in three or four daqueris or pina coladas and get quietly hammered without any further need to move a muscle. If you like to walk around on the beaches, some areas are better visited with good walking sandals or "beach shoes." Not necessary, but if you're walking on some of the coral areas....

Now, the food. It was always at least "pretty good." I made use of the custom pasta cook, and the omelette cook at breakfast. The coffee was pretty good (we didn't use the coffee maker thing in the room), and of the dozens of selections in the main restaurants there are always several that were quite good. Everything was fresh, and plenty of choices familiar to Americans, along with the ones that were more Mexican. They have theme nights, but I don't know why - it didn't make much of a difference.
Others have (rightly) carried on and on about the desserts. Very tough to pick just one. Or just four.

The nightly shows. Don't feel too awful if you miss one of them. Or several of them. They're fun, of course, and energetic. But they're kind of amateurish, as you'd probably expect. Some of the kids are talented and they go non-stop, but the spirit of Bob Fosse does not visit here.

My wife and I have been to many of the Mexican and Caribbean all-inclusive resorts. When we like one, she'll say something like, "If this place has a promotion with reduced prices, we could return here..."
The White Sand vacation was the first time she's said, "Let's plan to round up some of our friends and come back to this place."
And we'll probably do just that.

We returned from our stay at the Palladium – White Sands Resort on May 25th and it was wonderful. I was a little concerned, because I did not know anyone personally that had stayed there. Actually, we stayed on the first floor for two days, and then I asked if there was an opening on a higher floor so that we could see the ocean and they were happy to move us. The place is new, and our room was beautiful. We had a corner suite in building 59 with a panoramic view of the Caribbean. The suite was huge – living room with balcony, mini bar (stocked every third day with beer, pop and water), TV and coffee maker, hall, large bath room with Jacuzzi tub and separate shower and large bedroom, bathrobes,TV and balcony.

The staff. They were wonderful. The maids spoke little English, but were great. We tipped them $3 every day and had beautiful sculptures done with our towels. They also made sure that our coffee pot was laid out with sugar, creamer and cups, saucers and spoons. (all china, no paper or plastic). We went with Apple Vacations and our Apple representative (stationed in the White Sands lobby) was wonderful. He was really helpful and very nice. The bartenders were good too – very friendly and helpful. As a matter of fact, I really couldn’t complain about any of the staff.

The resort itself is huge! There are 4 separate resorts in one. You can walk everywhere, or take the train. The train is like several golf carts hooked together with a train engine on the front. It basically goes from one lobby to the next and then sometimes it goes all over the property stopping a train stops, picking up passengers. Sometimes the wait is really long. Also, there are signs everywhere when you are walking that give directions, but they are a little confusing. I think they work well for the golf carts, but there are many other ways to walk and get there much quicker. It just takes a while to orient yourself to the grounds.

The Colonial Lobby is the busiest, with the most people and the most jumping bar of the lobbies. We never really saw the Kentenah Lobby, except from the train. The Riviera Lobby was very quiet and beautiful. The White Sands lobby was also very pretty. If you stayed in the Royal Suites in the Riviera, you have a private lobby within the Royal Suites complex and with a private pool and bar. Royal Suites also have hot tubs on their balconies. Also, you can eat every night at the ala-carte restaurants. However, they are not ocean front and are really kind of isolated.

The food was very good. If you stay for 7 days, you can eat at 3 ala-carte restaurants. You need to make reservations by 1 p.m the day that you want to go. We made all of our reservations the first day so we were set. Actually, the first day, we ate at “Bamboo” the Chinese restaurant. We did not have reservations, but guest relations told us that sometimes if you dress properly (long pants for men) and go early – 6 – 6:30, they may let you in. The restaurants were not crowded at all. They were very good. We liked the Brazilian best. It had the best food and service. The worst was the steak house. The steaks were not really bad, but the rest of the food was really cold – like it came out of the fridge. The Italian was good also. The buffets were really wonderful. There was a large selection every day and there was always something different as a main course. Some things remained the same daily, for example, they had wonderful breads, and salads. There was always some kind of soup, and there was always pizza and pasta. The desserts were fabulous.

The beach was best in front of the Colonial. We never had a problem getting a chair. The beach at the White Sands was good, but the water had a lot of coral in it, so you couldn’t walk in it. There was a beautiful salt water pool by the Riviera. Don’t miss it. It is very peaceful.

The pools are large. I’m not even sure how many there are, but don’t miss the Secret Bar and adult pool near it. The bartender is Carlos and he is the best. It is really hidden. It’s open until midnight. You can follow the sidewalk between buildings 20 & 21 and it will go straight there. My only thought about the pools is that if you are short and don’t swim, they are a little deep – 4’10” almost everywhere.

What ever you do, do not miss the Spa. It is absolutely beautiful. There is a fitness room, steam room, dry sauna, endless pool with lazy river and Jacuzzi jets in places in the pool. Also hot tubs. There are all included. The only things that you pay extra for are the salon services. I had a deep tissue massage and it was heaven.

Tips for the trip
–Take plenty of ones for tipping. We brought $50 and were always looking for change (which is not easy to come by).
–Bring insulated cups for the beach. Drinks melt in the heat and the cups are very expensive in the gift shops.
–If you are going shopping, go to Playa Del Carmen. It is much cheaper than at the resorts and never take the first offer. They will follow you around lowering the price.
–Bring plenty of sun screen – the sun is brutal, but the water is wonderful.

My husband and I took our daughter and boyfriend (as a graduation gift) the week of May 22-29, 2006. We did take a private van after reading so many reports about the long ride from the airport to the hotel and we were glad we did - cost was $50.00 per person round trip. Everyone at the hotel was very courteous and seemed willing to assist you. We stayed in Villa 56 and had rooms overlooking the pool. They were really nice junior suites and were well taken care of by the housekeeping staff. All the waiters at the restaurants went out of their way to make sure you were taken care of, in fact, some were the best waiters we have ever had and we travel outside the country at least 3 to 4 times a year. There is a lot of walking if you want to go from hotel to hotel, but the trains run frequently, the staff who have carts ask if you want a ride - so most people should find it easy to get around. One difficulty might be some of the bridges you have to walk over the waterway. We saw people trying to carry their children's strollers over them which proved to be quite an experience. The food at the buffets was good, but did get a little repetitive. We ate at the Italian and the Japanese. The Japanese was fabulous and would definitely go again. The Italian lacked variety. The complex is extremely clean and you always saw people cleaning the walkways, gardens, etc. We did make reservations at the ala carte restaurants upon arrival although the restaurants only had about 4 or 5 people in them. White Sands was only 1/3 full, but the Colonial was full, so wasn't sure where everyone was eating. We had been to Cancun several times so only did one of the sailing excursions. It was okay, just surprised that they allowed people to drink alcohol before going snorkeling. We used Apple Vacations and this was our first time with them and taking a charter airline. The staff at the airport, in the hotel, and on the plane were fabulous and kept you well informed. Our daughter and boyfriend enjoyed the pools (they are huge) and going to the beach. We didn't have any sun the entire stay so it got a little depressing, but it didn't rain either just storm clouds the entire week. Since it wasn't crowded, there wasn't a lot of activity going on either, but none of seemed to mind. If you are staying at Villa 56 you can hear the entertainment until midnight or so from your room. The nightly entertainment in the theatres wasn't worth staying up until 10:30 at night to watch except for the Mayan show and it could be that there were only 20 to 30 people in the theatre which seats several hundred - a little disappointing. If you want large pools, great rooms with balconies, and endless supply of food and drink then you won't go wrong at this resort. We did talk with people staying at the Riu properties and Barcello properties and it seemed like we made the best choice.