Grand Palladium Kantenah Resort & Spa

Great hotel with everything you could ask for, superb service from all staff. Only had issues with the wifi but this didnt ruin our holiday . We missed the release of the baby turtles but it was very hit and miss .. again it didnt ruin our holiday. Thank you everyone for a memorable 50th birthday.

This is the second time I have been to the Grand Palladium in Mexico and I would come back for a third! The staff are very friendly, the resort is full of wild life and beautiful greenery and the food is absolutely wonderful! There are many a la carts throughout the resort and there is no limit to how many times you go to. You can eat at a different restaurant every evening and save the buffet for breakfast/lunch. It is a big resort and there is a lot of walking but you have access to all 3 areas of the resort which is great. The shows are awesome and the entertainment team does a wonderful job at putting on detailed shows for guests of all ages! We were here the second time for a wedding, and the staff did an excellent job from flowers down to the beach bash! I 100% recommend to stay here and experience this wonderful resort!

After visiting this resort twice before we were really looking forward to a lovely relaxing holiday knowing what to expect and this time brought my 40 year old brother who has Downs Syndrome. We had shown him the pictures of the train that carries passengers around the hotel lobbies as he loves any sort of train. We also requested a ground floor room as he struggles with stairs. On arrival we were given our bands and although the receptionist looked at our passports she gave my brother a green band. I asked why his was a different colour to ours and she said "Bambino no alcohol" - he is 40 and drinks Shandy - I asked for her to change this but she had to consult with a colleague before she reluctantly did this. We were then allocated Villa 41 ground floor room Kantenah - perfect. On opening the door it was clear that this room does not sleep up to 4 people as booking suggested as it had 2 x 3/4 beds 2 sets of towels, 2 of everything in the minibar and 2 chairs on the balcony, 2 glasses 2 cups etc etc. Because it was late we decided to leave until the morning to sort out but had great difficulty sleeping with 2 adults in one of these beds. Next day I went to speak with reception who said we could upgrade for $50 per night to a garden suite - I did not think this was acceptable as the room had ample space at the side of the bed for a put up which we had in Playa Del Carmen last year. I was not asking for 5 star luxury just a bed big enough for 2 adults to sleep not 1 and a half adults. I asked to speak with the manager who came out and she said exactly the same thing however the price of an upgrade went down from $50 to $30 to $20 per night. I re-iterated I did not want to move as the room was ground floor and very near the lobby for my brother and I did not think it was fair that after paying for 3 adults we could not have room for 3 adults to sleep. She told me to see the Tui rep "Juan" as it is Tui who advertises this as sleeping up to 4 adults and these are the Mexican "matrimonial beds". I went to see the rep who told me he would speak to management and a couple of hours later he texted me to come and see him. His solution was exactly the same as the manager for us to upgrade at a cost of £200 just so we could sleep comfortably - NOT ACCEPTABLE!! Did not take up the offer and have not had anywhere near a relaxing holiday because of this. They did bring more towels and another chair for the terrace however for the 14 days we still only had 2 cups and 2 glasses and the minibar had 2 bottles of beer etc when it WAS refilled. Funnily enough when I was in the room the day before we left a man came and asked to fill the minibar and put 6 bottles of beer as I told him there were 3 adults in the room - bit late - I did ring once to have it refilled and they said he would be round by 6pm (the time we go out for dinner) One day we came back from the beach and although the room had been cleaned there were no towels at all. I rang laundry then nearly an hour later rang reception as they had not arrived - ps 6 hand towels do not make 3 bath towels!! Restaurants were good but buffets not replenished quick enough - the Thai salads were so depleted we did without starters - no spring rolls at all and still not refilled when we were leaving. Ribs and More - I ordered 1/2 grilled chicken as a main - waited an hour for food and when it came he brought BBQ chicken pieces for me - when I told him it was grilled chicken he said no no will be another 30 mins for that so I just declined and did without the main. On a good note El Dorado Steaks were cooked to perfection and we visited this restaurant twice. We prefer the beach and although the first week it was a bit rocky this did not spoil it- I also loved the bands who played at the beach bar or near the volley ball on a lunch time - I did object to the POP (on the Paella Day where a great band were playing) setting up a massive speaker on the beach next to my sunbed and near the band playing so they could do Aqua Gym in the sea - the noise was so loud that my sunbed was shuddering. He did turn this down when I asked him but to have 2 lots of music going on this loud it was like 18-30! A couple of days before departure I went to reception to ask for a late checkout and paid 575 mex pesos for 3 hours ($30) which allowed us until 3pm on departure day. When I checked out at 3pm the reception clerk said our check out was 2pm - I argued that I had paid this money to "Patricia" and after talking to his colleague he said OK but I then found out when we went to leave in our taxi that he had not given me a Check out card so I had to wait again in the reception queue to have this done -all of these small things (Bed is a big thing!) leave a nasty taste and would put me off returning to this resort again. One saving grace was Marlin the train driver - he was so good with my Down Syndrome brother on the train, so friendly and welcoming and made my brothers holiday as did Luis at the beach bar and Luis in Hemmingways Bar- thank you to them. The final thing would be a warning to the hotel being in danger of becoming an 18-30 location as there were so many big wedding parties that the pool bar became too much and restaurants heaving so that couples and smaller parties were having to wait much longer - we did see some people being refused entry (all young people) as they were still in beach shorts, tshirts with a towel under their arms.