Just returned from a 7 day Family vacation at the Large Grand Palladium Resort in Riveria Maya. This was our first experience at an All Inclusive as we have been on cruises before and wanted to try something different...And different it was!
The Property Rated 5 Star Superior Golden Apples is Beautiful, cut out of a Mexican Jungle and has 4 sections...Riviera, White Sand, Kantenah and Colonial where we stayed....You can use all of the facilities (pools, beach, bars,resturants) of each section except the super upscale Royal Suites. 2 Trains make it easy to get from section to section. The Colonial and Kantenah sections feature Orchid Gardens, a Pink Flamingo preserve and even a Crocodile area.
Our room was on the 3rd floor of Villa 3 in the Colonial section and it turned out to be in a great location...Just a few minute walk to the Colonial lobby, resaturants, pool and beach if you went one way and a few minutes ti the train stop, sports complex and spa if you went the other way.
The Room was adequate, not plush by any means( 5 Star..Not!)and featured a mini bar stocked with water, pop and beer, a coffemaker and small 19 inch tv. We did see an occasional ant or bug during the week, but we are in the middle of a jungle. There was a balcony, but it wasnt used as the view was of the jungle tree tops....Just returned from a 7 day Family vacation at the Large Grand Palladium Resort in Riveria Maya. This was our first experience at an All Inclusive as we have been on cruises before and wanted to try something different...And different it was!
The Property Rated 5 Star Superior Golden Apples is Beautiful, cut out of a Mexican Jungle and has 4 sections...Riviera, White Sand, Kantenah and Colonial where we stayed....You can use all of the facilities (pools, beach, bars,resturants) of each section except the super upscale Royal Suites. 2 Trains make it easy to get from section to section. The Colonial and Kantenah sections feature Orchid Gardens, a Pink Flamingo preserve and even a Crocodile area.
Our room was on the 3rd floor of Villa 3 in the Colonial section and it turned out to be in a great location...Just a few minute walk to the Colonial lobby, resaturants, pool and beach if you went one way and a few minutes ti the train stop, sports complex and spa if you went the other way.
The Room was adequate, not plush by any means( 5 Star..Not!)and featured a mini bar stocked with water, pop and beer, a coffemaker and small 19 inch tv. We did see an occasional ant or bug during the week, but we are in the middle of a jungle. There was a balcony, but it wasnt used as the view was of the jungle tree tops. I did hear from another guest that they had severe ant problems in their room and had to be moved.
You needed to keep one of your room keys in a compartment within the room or your air conditioning and lights whould shut off after a certain amount of time. I guess that is to save energy while you are not in the room.
The cleaning crew were very friendly and did their best to keep the room clean at all times. They would leave towel art that always make us feel good upon our return.
The Spa was stunning and offered a lot, definitely deserving of 5 Stars as was the Sports Complex.
The Main Pool which is shared by both the Kantenah and Colonial was one of if not the largest I have ever seen. Well maintained with a swim up bar and plenty of chaise lounges with shady areas. Definite 5 stars. Only setback was the towel situation. 3 times during our stay when we went to get towels about 10:30 -11:00 am, there were none with a 15 to 20 minute wait before new ones arrived. Totally unacceptable at a beach and pool resort.
The Beach was a couple of minute walk from the pool and was Absolutely beautiful. Spent quite a bit of time there under the shade of the plentiful huts along the beach. Having a 24 hour Beach Snack Bar with Burgers, Dogs, Nachos and Bar was fabulous. Was a bit surprised that the Beach was Topless but many Europeans were vacationing there. Definitely 5 Stars.
The Bars throughout the Complex were fine with very friendly staff. Drinks were good and plentiful. Actually all of the staff within the resort were there to please.
The Restaurants and food in General is the main reason for this review and my problem with the Rating system. Let me just say that on an overall basis, I would give it a 3 Rating. The Food was just adequate, nothing special. I mentioned we have been on cruises before and from that aspect, the 7 day cruise food blows this away.
The Buffets had theme nights with a tremendous selection of items, but they never looked real appetizing so we opted for the al la carte restaurants.
I'm not sure if this is a new policy at the Grand Palladium but we could go to as many al la cartes as we wanted to during the week without reservations in advance. That was nice. The Mexican al la carte was weak. I expected a lot more. The Steakhouse was OK, nothing close to even an Outback. The Italian al la carte was decent. The Ribs and More al la carte served the worst, toughest ribs you would ever want. But I must say the Japanese al la carte with the show table was expectional and fun. Too bad the others werent at that level. Also, I know we are in Mexico but to have Mariachi Musicans play in a Japanese and Italian restaurant seems to take away from the ambience.
We did enjoy a special BBQ at the Beach one evening and the food and entertainment there was pretty good.
All in all I would say the Food was at a 3 Star level. I would have preferred less choices but at a higher quality. As mentioned if you are going to a 5 star rated resort, you would expect the food to be one of the keys to that rating. If their food is 5 Star then on the average places like Applebees, Fridays or Outback should be rated 10 Stars.
All in all we had a nice relaxing time and now know what to expect at an all inclusive. But be leary of the Ratings as some areas may be 5 star but that may not be consistent throughout.More
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