We stayed at the Palladium from May 19 to 26, 2008. We had been told that this was a great resort and would be very happy with the accommadations etc. We had no problems with transfers or check in.

We were in suite 2003 and after the first night had to move because of black mold under one of the beds. My husband couldn't breath in the room and at first we couldn't figure out what the problem was and then after a bit of investigating we found black mold under one of the beds. We called the front desk and they moved us to another room on the 3rd. floor. Needless to say we were not too impressed with this as my husband is still sick after being home for almost a week. We tried to talk to the Sunwing representative and he said that of corse there's mold and mildew, your'e in Mexico! He was not helpful at all and we basically told him that he might want to get his priorities straight. Customer service??

We were disappointed with the beach as well. Very small swimming area. As well, there were tons of kids there and the main pool was overrun. Food in the buffet was the same everyday and most days the food at the main pool buffet was cold.

The stairs are something else as well. We didn't realize that this was a stairmaster replacement resort. I have bad knees and found it quite difficult with all the stairs.

Overall this was not the greatest holiday we've ever taken and would not recommend this property to anyone wanting to swim in the ocean and relax. I'm sure that if you are looking for a place to go with kids and/or teens and like all the hustle and bustle that goes along with that you would probably have a great time but we won't be going back.

We went with first choice and love staying there. There was 7 of us
five of us are surfers I my self and my wife have been 5 times we loved to go back, the staff were so friendly the hotel was good allround. I hope i can get back there. lets hope a english hoilday firm goes there.
John

Me and my girlfriend decided to have a quick get away after our first year of university. So we went to Itravel2000.com and saw this Palladium Hotel 14 nights for $1300 on the last minute deal section. We looked at reviews and we decided to ignore the bad reviews.
This being our first time at a resort... I felt it was just.. amazing. the resort is huge, took a whole day of walking and wondering around to get familiar with it. They have a small zoo with monkeys peacocks and parrots which is nice, they have 2 places you can eat all day with different kind of food, The Main Buffet is lots of variety with decent food.. It's a buffet guys. Dont expect New York Steaks. The buffet's were very similar day after day, had the usual rice chicken pork chops, fish filets, salad, fruit, pizza, pasta. The snack Bar is the other one open all day and it had burgers Toquitos salad etc. The service in these 2 places is sub par.. but .. who really cares.. grab your own drink.. you DONT need service. The beach was beautiful on the first week of our trip but on the 2nd week, low tide came and left a hill of seaweed everywhere so you couldn't really swim in the ocean. But the beach is nice a big but the area they allow you to swim in is not that big, so if you plan on swimming a lot in the ocean, you'll be disappointed. Also on the beach, they have surfing lessons, kayaking, and boogey boarding which is really fun. Also, there is a jewelry person that comes by wanting to sell you something, but just tell him no thanks, and he'll leave you alone,
Okay. about the rooms.. .. I have heard from alot of reviews "Oh get in the royal suites! I never leave there" blah blah blah. But I have a quite different view.. it might be that Im younger? .. Anyways, me and my girlfriend stayed in the basic room for the first week and our maid was SO friendly, had 1 queen bed( which wasn't uncomfortable, but.. wouldn't say comfy) we could sometimes hear little noise when people were walking in the hallways but couldn't heard noise from other rooms. The room was kinda small and very basic, but if you are not in your room much.. then its fine. In our last week we were given a complementary upgrade to the royal suites which was very unexpected, but nice. The room was beautiful, had a nice ocean view (not all do) with a King size bed, Jacuzzi, nice big shower. I did have problems with noise in the royal suites, I could heard people in the hallways and people thumping around in their rooms, which was unpleasant. Being in the Royal Suites, you get your own private pool and restaurant, and bar, Which is nice.. but.. not for us really. We enjoyed hanging out with people on the other side so we didn't stay around the royal suites much, (all the nightly entertainment, which is awseome!, is on the other side, same with all the games the staff set up, such as volley ball, ping pong, darts, etc) 1 nice concept about the royal suites was the 24 hour room service which you don't get in the normal rooms, but the 1 time we used it, we ordered a panini, pizza, and a desert and were quoted 30 minutes.after an hour and 10 minutes I called to find out what was going on and the lady couldn't understand me when i said I allready ordered food so I gave her my order again, and it came 20 minutes later.. So I don't know what happened.. but it took an hour and a half, but to be honest, that was my worst experience at the resort.. and thats a pretty minor thing, Everyday the maids would do something nice wit the towels, whether a swan, or something, which was cute.
This is a hotel that does have a lot of hills you have to climb and stairs, so if you have troubles walking or your lazy, this might not be the best resort for you :) Also, a little bit about location, Its 40 minutes from puerto Vallarta and about 25 from Bucerias. Cab to P.V is $30 US and $22 US to Bucerias but in order to live the true Mexico experience, you MUST visit both these places. I would suggest taking the bus, it comes every 15 minutes just at the top of the hill that meets the resort and the highway, its $1.50 and the majority of the buses that pass by there are nice big buses with comfortable seats. Another place that is a must go is Sayulita which is a $28 cab ride or again $1.50 bus ride but you have to catch a different bus, just ask "Chance" at Guest Services to get a good description on how to get there, he is very helpful.
The Nightly entertainment is really good, They start off with a singer or band that is different every day of the week for about 45 minutes, then move to a kids show for about 20 minutes, then the adult show which usual last about 45 to 60 minutes, then back to the band to end the night. The shows are always different every day and 6 out of the 7 nights, they were amazing. Once you have been there for a few days, you see that these guys never stop working to please us, everyone who performs at the nightly entertainment, starts work around 9am to practice their show, then provides us with stuff during the day.. its just non-stop and you should be really thankful.
If you stay there 3-7 days you are allowed 3 al a carte dinners and if you stay 7-14, you are allowed 4. They have 4 different restaurants: Viva Mexico, Portfinio, Beach BBQ and Bambu. The Mexican one was my favorite, the Mexican Plate was delicious, also the spanish coffee is amazing(a must order). Beach BBQ would be my 2nd favorite, you see some things that are in the buffet.. cuz the beach bbq is kind of like a buffet, but they also have some different things like ribs. The Portfinio (Italian) was really nice too, its hard to pick favorites . All restaurants come with excellent service and a romantic atmosphere.

So it depends what your lifestyle is, if you have kids, I would totally recommend this resort, they have a kids pool, lots of games, a zoo, kid entertainment at night, its great. I would also recommend it for people getting married or on their honey moon, as long as your get the royal suites.. with the Jacuzzi ;) I guess the only people I would not recommend this resort too is the ones that want to spend a lot of time in P.V because it is one of the farthest resorts, but like for us, we only did 1 day in P.V, 1 day in Bucerias because we did 6 excursions in the 2 weeks so we wanted time to just relax at the beach.

A quick mention about the excursions, Do the Signature Swim with the dolphins, its quick, expenisive, but an experience you wont forget, also if you can, book the Canopy tour with "La Vista Canopy Adventures" it has 15 zip lines.. and the crew is just.. amazing, they make the trip. 1 thing I have to say, I did Las Caletas, Rythum of the nights, City Tour, Sierra Madre, and with EVERY trip, the crew made the night, you can really tell they love their jobs and really want us to have a good time.. and they want our money :).. seriously hah.. make sure to tip them.. its the least you can do.

By the way, make sure to goto the "Hemingway Bar" which is a nice relaxed bar and talk to the bartender Victor, he's an amazing guy that has a lot to say... and just remember. your on vacation :) Relax

Stayed at the palladium from april 21-may 4. Very glad we booked the royal suites because the regular side of this resort was full of kids at the pool and full of drunks at the adult pool! The suites has a private lobby, pool, bars, and ala cart restaurant with other great extras like free Internet and safety deposit box. All rooms have a jacuzzi tub and a fridge with beer, water and soft drinks stocked daily. There where no kids allowed on the suites side until May 1st and fourtunatly not many showed up and the ones that did were well behaved. No need for Beach towel cards, the towels were waiting for you on the lounge chairs every morning. The only down fall of the royal suites side of the resort is the beach and ocean is rocky and full of seaweed. Would recommend this resort only if you book the royal suites and are a pool person because the beach is rocky and the ocean is rough.