Traveling with a child, some tips and tricks…My family and I just spent a week at the Palladium. I travel over there with a kids of 12 months, my husband and my parents (babysitters) I do believe this is a good resort to visit with a baby. Lot of family where there with young kids and babies.
I RECCOMMEND THIS PLACE!!

Tips and Tricks

Room:

The hotel provided a crib. A regular one, nothing fancy but a solid one. Because they can’t bring the crib upstairs they give us a room on 1 floor. Usually we prefer to be at a higher level to avoid insects in the room, but don’t worry the door has a sealer at the bottom and the balcony is closed. Also all balcony as a view on the jungle, so even if you are at the second floor the view would be almost the same. Balcony floor was marble and clean, our kid play there without any problems. Our room was a regular one, there was not bathtub but a very large shower with a hand shower, so it was easy to clean our kid. Anyways he spent the rest of the day playing in the pools, so he does not really need to play into the bathtub.

Size of the hotel:

The hotel his huge and there is a lot of walking to do. With the stroller we where fine, but if you have very young kids they may get tired of all this walking. Our location “Colonial” is the most central one. There are nice walking trails. Most of the paths are fine if you have a stroller, just 1 area has stairs, once you know where you can always find another path that does not have stairs. You just have to remember to bring everything before you leave the room because you may have couple minutes of walking to get back. There is a train that goes around the hotel, just it pass every 15 minutes. It can be long to wait.. But the size of the hotel can be fun because you can actually take walks around with stroller and enjoy a new part of the hotel every time.
Kids Mini Club: Kids club is available for kids more then 4 years old. But you can go on the site with a youngest kid as long as you stay there with him. So we went there and they had big kids houses and others games outside, really beautiful!

Beach and pools:

The beach was beautiful at the left end of the hotel. You can go into the water and there are no rocks. Near the center of the hotel there was a stripe of rocks large about 1 ft to pass before being into the sand. On the right side of the hotel it’s more to do snorkel because there are rocks and fish. On the left side of the hotel where the beach is really beautiful there was lot of palm trees, so not problem to get shade for our baby. Also chairs were always available. They had 2 kids pool and 1 area of the main pool that is build in slope (like the ocean) so kids can play there.

Food:

We follow the directives of our doctor regarding what kind of food are the more safe for a baby, and ours did not get sick at all. We also didn’t get sick. There was enough selection of food to always be able to feed our kids and ourselves.

Highchairs:

We always been able to get one in the buffets. Just some of them don’t have a tray. We did not bring our son at ‘’A la carte restaurant’’ but they also had highchairs there.

It’s more logistic to go in vacation with a baby but this hotel did not complicate anything and lot of peoples where there with their baby and enjoy their week, so definitely I would recommend this hotel for family with baby, just don’t forget your stroller!

First of all, I have to thank all of the Palladium Addict Members for their excellent information they gave me!

My fiance and I arrived on January 9 (a few days ahead of our 32 wedding guests) for our wedding on Jan. 17. Sorry for the long report!

Flight:

We flew from Edmonton, AB direct to Cancun with Air Transat. We weren't looking forward to flying Air Transat until our Travel Agent had us upgraded to Club Class! For those of you who haven't flown first class before, it is sooo worth it! Un-limited drinks including alcohol, fruit platters, snacks, appetizers and a real meal! The best service we've ever had!

Airport:

The Cancun airport is always a bit of a gong show, at least it was when we arrived. Our flight was early and they weren't ready for us yet. It was pouring rain when we got there. The bus ride was pretty good, had some coronas. By the time we got from the airport to our resort, 3 hours had passed.

Check-in:

We checked in promptly and were very happy to find out that our request for a wedding room upgrade was granted. We were given an upgrade to a Mayan Suite for the full two weeks we were there! We later found out that Lulu had also accommodated our other room requests for our guests. She is fantastic!

Our Room:

It was BEAUTIFUL! Spotlessly clean. There was a welcome fruit basket when we arrived with a letter from our wedding co-ordinator to meet with her. The Mayan Shower is amazing! A little strange at first but worth it!

The resort:

The resort is huge! It took us a couple days to fully check everything out. A lot of walking but not too bad if you're in fairly good shape. We didn't take the train until about a week after we had been there. The resort really is stunning. Beautiful lush green foliage and flowers, waterfalls, flamingoes. It really is breathtaking! And most importantly, very clean.

The bars:

There are plenty of bars at this resort, we checked out many, if not all of them! Be sure to go to Hemingways and see Ricardo, ask him to make you a White Lady, otherwise known as a Dama Blanca. They are soooo good there! Pretty good service everywhere, a little on the slow side, but this is Mexico we're talking about! Just order two at a time! And make sure to order a Rainbow shooter, they are excellent!

The snack bar:

Only one piece of advice here, don't eat the food out of the bins. Why eat cold buffet food when you can order fresh from the cook off the menu?? Best cheeseburgers and Jalapeno Poppers here!! We spent many evenings here!

The buffets:

Nicely decorated, you are seated by a hostess, it's a little nicer than some resort buffets. The food is average buffet food. Not fantastic but pretty good. If you eat the fresh grilled fish, chicken, pasta etc. It's excellent! Be sure to try a crepe, I only discovered these on the last evening!

Ala Cartes:

- Bamboo (Chinese) salad bar was excellent, main course was not very good. Just a little bland. Service however was excellent.
- Rodizio (Brazillian) Excellent! Service was pretty good, would go back there for sure.
- Portofino (Italian) Our wedding dinner was here, we ordered for the whole group. Stuffed chicked breast with mixed vegetables, minestrone soup and caesar salad. All were excellent!! Terrace was beautiful!
- Japanese (can't remember the name) By far our best meal here! Book the show table, it's worth it! If you are a Sashimi fan though they don't serve this on the menu at the show table. I would have booked this restaurant twice! Highly recommended!
- Mare Norstrom (Mediterranean) - Excellent! We sat outside, it was beautiful for our last meal there. Service was quite good, food was great!

The Spa:

Well worth going to! Absolutely beautiful! Make sure you try all the free services!
We had a massage (very good), pedicure (make sure you specify which one you want) I didn't know they had two choices and booked the basic. It was O.K. I had my hair and make-up done here for the wedding. It turned out beautiful!! My mom and sister-in-law had their hair done too which turned out very nice also. The girls their don't speak excellent english, but they do speak pretty good. If you have a picture of what you want, they are excellent!

Tours:

We went on a the Party Hopper Tour out of Cancun. Highly recommended if you like to party! Make sure you get the one that goes to Coco Bongo. By far the best club I have ever been to! Think of Cirque de' Solei - sp? Thousands of people, excellent music, fantastic show, dancing all night! Ask for Reuben as your tour guide, he was excellent. We never had an empty drink glass!
Xel-ha/Tulum: Both were excellent! The snorkeling was amazing there! If anyone finds a men's white gold wedding band would you please send it back to me! My husband lost it 48 hrs after our wedding! I would have spent the whole day at Xel-ha though and maybe went to Tulum on another day when we had more time. The beach at Tulum is stunning.

The wedding:

Let me start by saying, for anyone thinking of getting married here, you have no worries at all! We wouldn't change a thing! Rocio is amazing!
Rocio left us with a letter to meet her the morning after we arrived. We had our bloodwork, which was fine and didn't hurt. Met with Rocio and picked all our flowers and wedding location etc. And then we went and relaxed.
On the wedding day, I had my spa appointment in the afternoon. My fiance spent the day with his buddies at the swim up bar! lol
Our flowers were delivered as promised by noon, our wedding was at 4pm.
The golf cart picked me up with my Maid of Honour about 4:05, I was a little worried at first, but it came! We chose the gazebo on the White Sands side right on the ocean, it was amazing. Rocio was there to direct us and everything worked out perfectly. We were under the impression that the ceremony would be in Spanish and Rocio would translate, but we were lucky and got a different judge. He spoke very good english and did a traditional ceremony!

Photographer:

We had Claudia as our photographer. She was excellent! She was there for about 1.5hrs. We haven't gotten the pics yet, she was going to drop them off for my in-laws to bring back. (They were there a little longer than us) But I'm sure the pics will be fantastic!

Things to keep in mind:

For the brides out there, RELAX. Rocio will handle everything. She is fantastic! Our room on our wedding night was beautiful! And, don't panic if the golf cart is late picking you up! Rocio calls the driver when she is ready for you to be picked up.
If you like spicy food, bring your own hot sauce. This is our only complaint, we like spicy food and we couldn't find any here. Also, quite a few of us in our group got Mexican flu! (You all know what that means!) understandable for Mexico. Ask your doctor what you can get that is prescription to help with this. I took something my husbands aunt gave me that she got from her doctor, it worked very well.
Watch out for Philly the little monkey that likes to hang around on the rafters. He's very cute but if you get too close he likes to pee/poop on you! He pooped when my husband was trying to feed it, missed him luckily but it was very funny!

We didn't see any of the shows, but I heard from our cousin that one of them was the best she's ever seen!

Hope this was helpful for some people! I will try to post some wedding pics when I get them. If any brides have any questions at all please feel free to email me.

Will we return to the Palladium - Absolutely!!! It's only a matter of time and money......

We booked this vacation for January 13-21 back in August, based on the sparkling online reviews, gorgeous photos, and value compared to other nearby resorts ($1,500 each for 8 days, including air, taxes and shuttle van). I have to say; the handful of extremely negative reviews posted early in January got us a little worried. But I was relieved to find out that they were just a bunch of hot air.

I'd like to respond to a few things that others like to complain about first. There have been complaints that "no one speaks English." First of all, you're in MEXICO. Last time I checked, it was not annexed by the United States and Spanish is still the official language. Secondly, they DO speak English. Everyone whose job is to interact directly with guests speak good to excellent English. I had no problem whatsoever communicating with servers, front desk staff, and bartenders. And if you need to say something to a maid, or the woman cooking crepes, it wouldn't kill you to learn a few words. Keep it simple and they get the gist. It's embarrassing that some people still perpetuate the "ugly American" stereotype by rudely expecting everyone to speak their language.

Secondly, people complain about walking. This is a gorgeous, sprawling eco-resort. Why wouldn't you want to walk? We only rode the train once, for about two minutes when we were lost on our second day. People, it only takes 15 minutes to walk from one end of the resort to the other. It's no wonder there is an obesity epidemic in the U.S. I'm willing to guess that the majority of complainers are overweight and would prefer to be carted about in a wheelbarrow between the dining rooms and the bars. Walking is good for you. Even if you're elderly, it's not too late to benefit from exercise, strengthen your bones and live longer. For those who are handicapped, and do not have the patience to wait for the trains, then perhaps this resort is not a good match. However, if you book far enough in advance you might be able to request a first floor room in Cabins 1 or 2, which are very close to the reception area, bars, dining rooms and pools.

I suppose some people expect for there to be an entire party waiting to greet them when they check in. The staff was always friendly and polite. I think the key is to remind yourself that you're on vacation. If not everything goes perfect, lighten up and smile, you're not at work! And the people who are working for your comfort will respond to your good vibes. There was one snafu in that we failed to book a king size bed, and so we got a room with two doubles. It was our fault and they were booked up, so we just shared a double bed. No big deal.

Food
The food was good to very good. Keep in mind that they're feeding over 2,000 people. It's not going to be gourmet. However, we had no complaints about the wide variety of juices, fresh fruits and vegetables, cereals, yogurts and much more. If one thing doesn't meet your standard, like some pineapple that's not quite ripe, there are twenty other options. They made omelettes to order, and there were even bottles of champaign open to mix with the juices. Nice touch. Lunch was served near the pool, with outdoor seating. There were always different kinds of pasta with different options of sauces made to order, and fish (usually salmon, grouper and mahi mahi, grilled with olive oil, seasonings and lime juice). Plenty of good healthy options. And there was always pizza, fries, burgers and hot dogs for the rest, ha ha. Dinner featured a different theme every night, and again, no complaints. If I didn't like something, I go get something else. One thing I would suggest they add is to make hot sauces and chili sauces more available, since they're a little tame on the spices so as to not frighten the Americans, heh. We booked three nights for a la carte restaurants no problem at all, no wait. The Japanese was no match for our favorite sushi places in Chicago, but it was still great, with a showoffy chef who had an elaborate routine of flipping and juggling utensils and food. The Brazilian place was no Fogo de Chao, but it was still very good. Meat lovers will love it. Try the Caiphirinha, made with cachaca, Brazilian liquor made from sugar cane. The Mediterranean was my least favorite, but I still left full. Overall the food was better than that of Riu in Negril, Jamaica, a five star resort. It wasn't quite as good as the food we had on two Norwegian cruises.

Beach
The beach is gorgeous. Staff was great about raking up seaweed every morning. Those who complained about rocks obviously didn't bother to explore the whole beach. The whole southern end, stretching nearly 300 meters, was completely, perfectly sandy. From that end I could see El Dorado Seaside Suites, point and laugh at them because they're paying 50% more for a supposed 5 star resort. The water is much clearer than it was in Negril, but not as nice as Grand Cayman. I snorkeled only one day. The rest of the days, the water was just too rough, with red flags indicating the water is "dangerous." I don't know if it's a seasonal thing, and if the wind and waves calm down later in the year or not, but obviously the resort can't do anything about that! I imagine the large waves push the rocks in, and they aren't able to clear them near the shore of the entire half mile long beach. But if you wear water shoes, you can get to the sand again about 20 feet in. Additionally, there were empty beach chairs all along the whole beach. The resort was booked to capacity yet we had no problem finding places to sit, both in the shade and in the sun. I don't understand how people can complain otherwise.

Pools
I've never seen a resort with so many pools, winding around everywhere. They were nice and deep (over 5' I believe), slightly cooler than the ocean, but fresh water. Colonial and Kantenah share the same pools, and for a change of pace you can go over to the White Sands/Riviera side, which also features more winding lagoons with many bridges. Pretty amazing. There's also an adult pool and a salt water pool right next to the ocean on the northern end.

Renova Health Club & Spa
Renova hasn't gotten enough acclaim. This place is awesome. From the gorgeous architecture, with its columns and open air lobby, to the curved, all-glass walls of the fitness center facing the jungle, to the brand new, state of the art workout machines, to the plentiful water coolers and fresh pitchers of tea and green drink full of healthy stuff (which didn't taste too bad), to the outdoor pool with whirlpools and the snaking waterway that connects to the spa. It was so amazing to cool off after a workout in the pool, float on my back, winding my way to the spa, and finding myself in this amazing room with hot tubs, saunas, steam rooms, and a large, circular whirlpool with about twenty mini waterfalls set up so you can sit under them to massage your neck, shoulders and back. Look up and there's a circular opening in the ceiling where you can see the stars (we'd work out usually at dusk, around 5:30). It's truly magical. Thrown in a Swedish or Shiatsu massage ($77 to $99), and it's almost paradise.

Critters
It seems not many people appreciate the amazing ecosystem. The resort is teeming with wildlife, making it unique from all the others I researched in the Riviera. There are signs everywhere, identifying the various species and plants. We had many iguana and lizard spottings, fish, cranes, and of course the lovely pink flamingoes. We watched them feed the crocodiles (every Tuesday at 1 PM), but failed to spot any monkeys, wild boars or turtles. There is also a family of feral jungle kitties. Well, maybe not so wild. They hang out in the grass by one of the wooden bridges near the dining rooms mainly every evening, waiting for scraps. We saw five total, and heard a black one was spotted in the woods. A big orange tabby seems to be the patriarch (Big Daddy O), and we named the others Mama Kitty, Bologna, Salami and Scrappy (seem to be around 7 months old), since they love cold cuts. Scrappy had some nasty injuries around its neck. I'm not sure what it got in a scrap with, but we were worried. The cats are friendly and can be petted. If you don't like cats, don't bother them and they won't bother you. They stick to one area, and if it's apparent you don't have food, they'll walk away after a bit. We saw people putting out stuff like bananas and potatoes. Cats don’t eat that! They like the cold cuts (but no ham, it's bad for them), salmon and other leftover fish, and yogurt. It would be nice to hear reports from future reviewers on how they're doing. The cats are part of the eco system, and capable of hunting. However, it's dangerous out there, and the young ones' survival rate would increase if they didn't have to compete with the other critters like the weasels.

Overall, this was our best vacation yet. One last thought, I was surprised how I didn't get a single bug bite. How is that possible? It's truly a charmed place.

Well here goes..hope some info here helps etc.

( by the way we have over 60 pics at our msn site http://groups.msn.com/olafromtsa just click where it says pictures... )

The trip was booked last minute , 10 days prior..as we needed a getaway after death in family etc. We were booked to Colonial in a jr suite. until we discovered that we could put in a special request by email to their guest services ( Lulu). We took the suggestion to email Lulu ,mention the anniversary and the 50th bday etc and when we arrived we had been upgraded to a mayan suite ( thank you again Lulu if you read this !!! )

Flight out from Calgary was good,we prebooked seats for extra legroom (I am 6ft 5 in) well worth the extra dollars..the first class was already fully booked.

Arrival at airport fine except we were "red lighted' and went thru search , no biggie.We decided to NOT take the shuttle bus to the resort..instead we prebooked with AGI to pick us up at the airport.
Javier's (AGI manager/owner) man was waiting for us and in a little over an hour we were at the resort,even after stopping at the 7/11 for cervessa ..driver wanted to pay but we insisted. Great outfit Javier runs !!

Checkin was about 5 mins , and w good news of mayan suite. Unpacked , swam,drank, ate ,etc. Resort is very big , similiar to the Punta Cana one so we similarly used the "train" for some discovery.

from here , I think i will report by category, probably more helpful this way .....

Rooms: initially in 3104 .loved the location (close to beach,pool,trainstop,paths etc) Disliked the close proximity to path as less private, had to close drapes etc.
we ran into 2 problems. 1- a constant odor in the room ( I am sure there is mold in the wall near a/c due to condensation leak) tried everything but it was still a bother.
2- inconsiderate upstair’s guest who walked in high heels ( on marble floors past midnight etc, banged things around etc) I don't get why people cannot think of the lower level guest!!!
we were changed to 3008...FANTASTIC.. upper mayan suite , no odor , nice location, private, vaulted ceilings so room felt bigger , more private shower.

I am glad i followed comments from other reports to bring things such as an extension cord ( our mp3 player, speaker,laptop etc..) as the outlets are all single ,and being used by lamps etc.
..make sure your extension has multiple head on it.
Bar is kept well stocked ,(with the room-switch , minibar in 3008 was empty but they refilled same day for us..nice).
Sue wished they had "body lotion" like other resorts but will bring her own next time.
Beds are great!! I am difficult sleeper ,have history of major back surgery etc ,slept terrible in Dominican...but like a baby here !
The decks are nice for a short sit/read after a day at beach/pool while you are changing for dinner etc but WOWEE does it go dark fast when sun goes down .
.not like Alberta where we have very light skies until 11 pm in the summer.

Restaurants : we booked into the Japanese (show table is suggested ) , the Mediteranean and the Mexican. We enjoyed all 3, found they were a change from the buffets , not that we needed the change as the buffets were great. I get soooooo tired of folks complaining about things like resort food..would love to see what they eat the rest of the year . On a similiar topic , whoever complains about the booze is also being picky..we had an ok champagne most of the time, drambuie ,gran marinier, bicardi rums (4 types) , J&B or Ballentine Scotch , Jimmy Bean bourbon.......give me a break , the booze does suffice , we did not book a cruise on the Queen Mary at $150,000 . (sorry for my rant here but i find the resorts take a bum rapp on the food and booze issue many times)

We arrived on a friday and were leaving following friday so this posed a problem for the Friday evening BBQ on the Beach ( Colonial). We went anyways. Head waiter said to see him 15 minutes after start of BBQ.
I returned then and also slipped him some cash to "find a spot for us" ..he said most likely but just sent us to wait again to the side ??? a server saw this , motioned to follow him ..he found us a spot so i gave him some cash too as he got the job done . as it turned out..there were LOTS of empty tables due to the very cool weather. (lesson learned: tip for job DONE..not until)


Entertainment: FANTASTIC! we loved the Palladium Dominican crew but they pale in comparison to these folks ! We loved nearly every show we went to see.The choreography was intense..I suggest any heckler just try to do ONE of their routines.. these dancers are constantly in costume changes and routines...then if that is not enough, they get carted to the Riviera for the aletr show (10:30) but not to do the same show again...but to do a different show on same night !!!! Hello..that is a loty of work on their part..hats off to them ! Sound system and lighting was good too ,compared to some resorts.
I must say i enjoyed the nightly "bingo" in Punta Cana..wish they would add it here at GP at least for the early show.

An ABSOLUTE must see for any "rockers" is the band " Quarzo" check them out at (---)
I have played music for 35 years , 10 years pro on clubs....I was blown away by these local guys from PDC....setlist from Stones to Eagles to AC/DC to Wallflowers to Steppenwolf..they even played "Vehicle" by the Ides of March for you old foggies! They were a highlight of our stay ...best resort band I have ever seen. they play Thurs,Sat.Sun alternating at Whitesands and Colonial (the huge open bar areas near main pools).

Animation: possibly they are good but we did not interact. Last year in Dominican Palladium we were amazed at how good their staff were , we had our 17 yr old and they litterally adopted her into their group for 2 weeks . I really did not see the same enthusiasm at GP , but again we were just two old farts chillin' out.

Pools : all beautiful ,really liked the Colonial adult pool except why the "walk thru traffic" kinda defeats the purpose of privacy..people w kids walked thru many times ??? Should rethink those pathways..
compared to Dominican or Palladium Vallarta , I found the GP pools dead as far as music. i am sure many like that ,that's fine ,as for me i have my mp3 anyways but I mention this as i have read reports of the 'constant music" ..we heard none or very little and never more than 1/3 the volume at other resorts we have been to. Some nice "ambient chill lounge" music would be nice at the adult pools but again maybe not for everyone so that's why I bring my own and headphones..everyone wins.

Excursions: did not ( grrrrr !) as we found one week too short ,we usually do 2 weeks and so have time for excursions ,will do next year.
we went to Playa del Carmen...by the way ..after waiting 20 minutes with 30 others for the collectivos that flew by full each time ,we approached another cpl to split a taxi ,
hailed one at the lobby and were on our way in 10 minutes.Took collectivo back however as that was no problem to find in PDC.
Nice town ,neat bars ,great Daquaris ,good shopping...will go again.

Staff very nice , friendly but many were 'shy"..carribean island people are more outgoing and smile,laugh,engage in converstion. we found at GP many staff (not bartenders but servers etc) were just soooo shy.
Still better than having rude loud-mouths. Desk staff and client service all very very nice , lots of english speaking staff.


that about covers it... the trip rated high for us..we will be back and bring kids and grandkids and inlaws ( maybe our mailman or paperboy too ..kidding)

DOWNERS we have 3 downers I can think of :
1- we thought we had planned enough but did NOT as far as connecting w other guests so we only met a few, and based on them we sure wished we had engaged into conversation with more...(thanks K&T colorado)
Another solution would be if GP management put up a message board in a lobby area to leave "post-its" etc of ongoing/last minute events planned. Just a thought.

2- lack of sufficent internet access. That silly cafe in Colonial closes at the weirdest times (8pm to 8:45 for example) and then opens late/closes early. Not all comps working etc. you have to "pay as you go' and must be "pesos" ??? why ? in other resorts you pay US $ and can buy a code for say 30 minutes or 2 hrs..whatever. in this day and age with internet sovital (we still need to check emails personal and business if even only 15 minutes a day) I don't see why they don't offer "wireless " resorts ..not just at the Riviera but whole complex...oh well

3- Disco- I fully understand and expect latin/caribbean/spanish music etc but EVERY SONG?? the evening starts with spanish line dances catering to the europeans and a few gringos who giggle it up and enjoy but it becomes soon tiresome... even the HUGE discos in Europe and Canary Islands and Ibiza etc all know to play some of that other dance/rave/american music.we love to dance and would do so every night there but we found it lame and after sitting for 40 minutes we left on 2 occasions..by contrast when that rock band QUARZO played..the bar dance floor was humming and we were having a blast... just a comment...