Grand Palladium Vallarta Resort & Spa

Apologies for the late review we stayed here in February 2020. There are many wonderful things about this hotel, the beach location, the food and drinks but the staff in the restaurants and bars make this hotel what it is. The lovely Hortencia in the main restaurant made the best omelette a great start to the day. There is always a wide and varied choice of food on offer, the chefs do a great job. Jessica at the main bar also provided a fantastic service, to all customers, the bar tenders also provided a great service making up lovely cocktails or a top notch gin and tonic. We had some lovely espresso martinis at Hemingways bar, the bar tenders here also gave a quality service. The grounds are immaculately maintained and spotted some wildlife as we walked through the grounds, the gardeners work tirelessly to keep it in good condition. The beach is fabulous and like many others have said you can see the whales in the sea, the only issue is the lack of sunbeds, there was not really a problem in getting beds however some people had no concept of personal space on would place chairs literally right on top of the sunbed in the shaded area that was for my bed, toe beds placed either side of the fixed parasol, it maybe because I’m from the UK but it was really intrusive and down right rude !! If you want a shaded spot on the beach get up earlier and get yourself a pitch ! The bar tenders on the beach bar again provided a wonderful service, lots of frozen pina coladas, tequila and so much more, the guy on the beach giving boogie boards and surf boards was really helpful and friendly. You can also have surf lessons. There are plenty of activities during the day if you want to take part, but you can also just sit back and relax. As we’d spent every day at the beach, we only used the adult only pool on the last day and were a bit disappointed we hadn’t spent more time there, it was very relaxed with comfortable beds, a great bar service and fantastic view. We were moved from one room overlooking the garden which was adequate to a room overlooking the church and the sea, which was much nicer. After returning from a boat trip with lots of stop offs to snorkel at some amazing locations and seeing the whales up close we ordered room service which was a great option as we were shattered after a full day’s trip. This was organised through one of the agents at the hotel, again a great service. There were a number of weddings taking place during our stay, which was lovely to see with wedding guests and bride and grooms making for some lively evenings which was always great fun. The evening entertainment we did manage to see was always good and fun, the mariachi band, and the fire dancers and the beach were our favourite. We missed some of the entertainment as we would eat late and also spent one evening in Sayulita, which was lively with lots of bars and places to eat, and definitely well worth a visit. We ordered a taxi from the hotel, the driver waited in Sayulita till we were ready to return to the hotel. We ate at all the a la carte restaurants, except for the Italian (Portofino) the queues were always ridiculous we didn’t feel like we missed out. The Mexican (La Adelita) was very nice, with a lovely location and magnificent views as well as great food and service. The Japanese (Bamboo) we visited twice during our visit, again great food and service really enjoyed. We would return in a heartbeat, amazing first visit to Mexico and so glad we chose the Pacific Coast and the Grand Palladium

This is an amazing resort, with amazing staff and with excellent food choices. Not once did myself or my partner feel sick, like we normally do on our holiday. The food was exquisite, the chefs are great! The beach is great, there’s lots of areas to go on walks, and plenty of excursions to book and go on. We loved Rhythms of the night and the adventure one mainly. Yes there’s a lot of walking involved in this resort but why the hell not? I don’t know why all these people are complaining! It’s good for you, especially if you’re all inclusive you need something to burn it all off. Don’t listen to the other negative reviews. They’ve also got plenty of activities to do during the day and entertainment was good too. I wish I could give more than 5 stars, we will definitely be returning in the future.