On my holidays I stayed at the Kanetah Pallium Resort, I would not recommend this resort. I have never stayed at a AI before, maybe I was expecting to much. I do realize that they just had a hurricane there about two weeks before we came, but this should not affect the service received.
Rooms: I stayed in a ground floor, (had asked for a third floor) junior suite, nothing special here. There were four lamps in the room, but still very dark, had to hold your paper under the light to read. Two of the lamps were attached to the headboard, the beds were larger then the headboard so one bed had to be pulled out every night so we wouldn’t hit our head on the lamp. The chairs were low to the floor very hard on the back, so we took the chairs from the patio in to sit on. The Mini fridge was not cold at all. The best thing in the room was the safe, very nice to be able to lock your valuables up. The A/C was great, the ceiling fan was useful for drying out the swimsuits. Be prepared for spiders in your room.
Housekeeping: Was not up to standard at all. If you used glasses they did not clean or replace them. The sheets were too small for the beds; the end of the bed was never covered. They never cleaned the tub; I would have liked to use the Jacuzzi tub. The towels felt like sandpaper, they could have used a good bleaching. I have received better service in a cheap motel then at this five star resort.
Bellboys: When we first arrived at the resort the bellboys were very disorganized. If you asked for a ride to your room at the end of the day they seemed reluctant to do so. The day we were leaving they gave us a time they would pick up our luggage, so we waited in the room for them to come, they never did. We called to have them come, they said they would be there in five minutes, twenty minutes later we called again, they said they would be right there. (From our window we could see bellboys with their carts driving by empty.) Fifteen minutes later, they still had not come. Our ride to the airport was due to arrive soon. So we decided to start walking with our luggage, after awhile a bellboy came by and picked us up, by this time we had waited for about an hour and a half.
Restaurants: In my opinion; the food was not up to standard, in the buffet it was usually cold or not completely cooked. The best items in the buffet were the crepes and fry chef areas. Of the other restaurants the best would have to be the Japanese. The waiters and waitresses were excellent in all restaurants and bars.
Snack Bar: Wish it could have been simple snacks like peanuts or chips, but they served hamburgers and tacos.
Pools: Were to deep, should have a shallow area for non swimmers. Also should be open later, 8 pm is a little early considering how hot it is in Mexico. Should have a towel hut at all pools not just the main one. It is a long walk for a towel.
Beach: Was beautiful, but need to clean up the seaweed. Also should have been told by staff that more umbrellas were available, just had to give your room key to get one. Didn’t figure this out until the day before we left.
Shows: Nightly shows were very entertaining. They tried very hard in this area.
Overall, I was not impressed and am very sorry I wasted so much money on an average resort. I will never return.

This was are first all inclusive resort experience and we were not sure what to expect.
We stayed at the Kantenah Grand Palladium from June 24-July 1, 2005.
We are 2 adults traveling with 2 kids aged 6 and 8.
All we can say is WOW!
This hotel was amazing. It was luxurious, secluded and great value!
Here are the details:

Hotel Room:
We had a standard room in Villa #46. The hotel rooms are divided up into villas each containing about 30 rooms so it was quite private. Our villa was close to the lobby (about a 5 minute walk through the covered jungle paths).
Our room was very spacious with 2 double beds, large closet, beautiful bathroom with tub and shower. Desk and chair and a balcony.
Beds were very comfortable and the entire room had marble floors.
No radio in the room so bring one if needed.
Programmable safe for valuables is in the closet. Mini fridge stocked (3 times a week) with bottled water, soft drinks and beer. Air conditioning worked well and there is a ceiling fan.

Public Areas:
The Lobby area at both the Kantenah and Colonial sides were beautiful. Very high palapa ceilings and fountains. They are open air and therefore un-air-conditioned but the huge palapa roof keeps everything pretty cool. This integration of the outdoors and indoors was spectacular.

The Kantenah lobby has shops and an internet facility.The Colonial lobby has the theatre and discotheque.

Both lobbies have rent-a-car and excursion booking facilities.

The buffet and a la carte restaurants were beautiful and air-conditioned. The pool side Grand Azul buffet offered outdoor dining under a huge palapa roof.

We were pleasantly surprised by the nice décor of the buffets since we were expecting a cafeteria type atmosphere. Actually although we were allowed to dine at 3 a la carte restaurants, we only made it to one.
The buffets were so good, we preferred going to them rather than being tied down to a reservation time at an a la carte.
The buffets are also great if you are traveling with kids since the meal is interactive and a shorter affair.

Food:
The food was fantastic! As stated earlier, this was our first all-inclusive experience and we were not sure how good the food would be. We were very surprised by the quality and variety available at the buffet restaurants.
There was pre-prepared food in covered hot plates as well as fish and meat cooked to order on the spot and a pasta bar.

Breakfast: Freshly prepared omelets, international dishes, bread, fruit, cheese etc.

Lunch: Lots of choice in the covered hotplates as well as fish cooked to order (the mahi-mahi and salmon were great). Due to health reasons I have to limit my salt intake so the chefs who cooked to order at the buffets respected my requests for no added salt.

I would simply say “sin sal” and they would clean the utensils and scrape the grill to accommodate me! My wife is a vegetarian and will eat fish and she had a lot of choice (salads, hot vegetable dishes, the best gazpacho soup, pico di gallo, bread, pasta etc..)

Dinner: The same range of choices and quality as lunchtime.
Our kids enjoyed walking around the buffet and choosing their favorites. They especially loved the ice cream bar.

We only ate at the Japanese a la carte restaurant. We sat at the show table because our kids had never seen a tepanyaki show. It was fun and our chef was a very accomplished tepanyaki cook. I even mentioned my salt restriction to the chef and he made sure that none of my food had soya sauce on it!
Our only complaint is that the meal took too long. But as I already said we preferred the buffets because meals were as long as you wanted, leaving more time to do other things.

Beach:
The beach at this resort is gorgeous. We have been to beaches in Hawaii and other Caribbean islands and this one wins hands down.
White sand and turquoise water. The surf is moderate to calm which gives you variety.

There have been previous complaints about rocky spots. The area where we swam had a few rocky spots but you just had to walk over a few feet and it was as smooth as pudding.

Go to the Kantenah side of the beach if you want a more secluded and quiet beach experience. The beach near the Colonial side is busier because it fronts the main pool and the beach snack bar. Bring bread to the beach to hand feed the many small tropical fish that swim in the area. It was really fun and my kids loved it.

Entertainment:
Although we pretty much kept to ourselves there are various activities by the pool during the day. There is a kids club near the main pool that offered activities for kids during the day. We did not leave our kids there but we did visit to use the ping-pong table, trampoline and do some painting.
At night they have a mini-show for the kids at 8pm. It is basically audience participation games (karaoke, trivia games etc) geared to kids up to the age of 12. Our kids loved it. One night our son aged 6 won a t-shirt at the trivia game. Our kids looked forward to the mini show every night.
The mini-show is followed by adult participation games and ends with a floor show.
We only stayed for the floor show one night when they did a kid themed show therefore I cannot comment on the other floor shows.

Merchant Nights
Three times a week merchants from outside the resort set up shop in the courtyard area on the Colonial side of the hotel. They sell a variety of goods. Most are overpriced. However, if you show genuine interest in an item, hold out until you can get the price down as close to what you feel the item is worth. For example, my son fell in love with a beautiful chess set made of bone and some other minerals and the first price was $280.00 USD!
We waited 5 days and eventually bought it for $100.00 USD.

Drinks:
We are not big drinkers but the bar provided excellent drinks on demand and wine was available at all the restaurants at lunch and dinner.

Service:
The service at the hotel was outstanding. Although the resort states that tips are included, don’t neglect to recognize good service. We tipped the chamber maid $3.00 USD per day as she did an amazing job cleaning up after us and our 2 kids. She provided us with towel art animals on 2 occasions. We also had a great waitress at the buffet restaurant who always refilled our water and wine glasses before we even asked! As well, we tipped the a la carte waiter and the tepanyaki chef.
We were very impressed with the front desk staff especially the way they handled a lost piece of luggage on arrival and an incoming parcel delivery.

Walking:
The hotel grounds are extensive and quite a few people have complained about the amount of walking required at this resort. Well, it is a large resort but unless you have a severe disability you will not have a problem.

It is also important to remember that when you do need to walk more then 10 minutes , it is through covered jungle paths, wood bridges, along marble floored halls lined with fountains and koi fish ponds, and flamingoes. You are not walking along the side of a road in a city or through a hot parking lot! The grounds and public areas that you will walk through are a feast for the eyes!

Final Observations:

Put on a lot of sun block! Especially when you are at the beach because the cool water and constant breeze masks the true intensity of the hot sun!
If you are sensitive to flies or mosquitoes, put some repellent on for your walks through the jungle paths.
If the temperature in your room is not cold enough keep complaining until it is at a temperature that is comfortable for you.

The resort has its own water purification system so it is safe to drink the water.
None of us suffered from stomach ailments and from what we could see, food preparation was very sanitary.

There is always a chance that one can get a stomach ailment but that is the risk we all take when we travel anywhere!

However, prevention goes a long way. So although there is so much food available try to stop yourself from overindulging at least for the first few days. Allow yourself time to get used to the water and foreign produce. As well, even though alcoholic drinks are available at 10am, try to hold off at least until lunchtime. Of course drink a lot of water to avoid dehydration because that can send you on a downward spiral to illness.

We can’t wait to go back next year!

On January 22, 2006, my wife and I, along with several other couples will be vacationing at Palladium. This will be the 4th time there for my wife and I. I saw photos after Emily went through, and it looks like our resort suffered quite a bit of damage. A few years ago however, we were at Palladium just a short time after Hurrican Isadore went through, and you'd never know a storm had hit there within the past month. So we're confident the staff at Palladium will have the place in tip-top shape by January.

If any of you are thinking about going there for the first time, feel free to write me and I'd be more than happy to answer any questions you may have regarding the resort. Contrary to other reviews, none of us have ever became ill while staying there. Some complain about the food. Is it "Top notch"? Probably not. We're not fussy eaters either. But on a scale of 1 -10, I'd rate it at least an 8. The specialty eaterys are great. The staff is friendly, the grounds are spotless, the and jungle setting is beautiful.

If you enjoy snorkeling, I'd suggest buying your own gear and taking it with you. Some of the equiptment I've seen there is "well used". You want a snug fitting mask to keep water out. We purchased our's online and are very happy with it. You can snorkel right at the resort's beach, or take day trips to other dive sites. All have been enjoyable and worth the money we've spent. We've also gone to see the ruins at Chichen Itza. If you're that close, you're foolish not to book a bus trip there. All of these trips can be booked right at the resort lobby.

Some people write that there's a lot of walking you have to do at Palladium. I will agree totally. If you have trouble walking, that could be a problem. Some walkways are cement, some are wooden boardwalk type. Depending on where you room is located, it can be a long walk to eat, or going to pools, and (or) the beach.

I could go on and on. So if you have any particular questions, feel free to contact me. I'd be more than happy to help you out in any way. One more tip. If you don't have them already, save yourself possible hassles by getting passports. I have a personal story to tell when I only used my birth certificate and driver's license.

Hope to hear from you soon. See you in Mexico!

My wife, 15 year old son and my 11 year old daughter just got back from one of the best vacations we have ever had until? Thanks to trip advisor helped us prepair for our trip. When I read to take bug spray and isulated cups with us, I was so glad I did. Take some sort of water shoes, but be careful because everything is marble and it is like walking on ice. The entertainment was great and the performers are so friendly. The food was good and plenty of it. The beach is nice down behind the main pool and the snorkling was ok there also. We must had a good day because we saw all kind of fish in the free hour they give you. The only draw back I had was the pool, but I was warned on trip advisor that the pool was deep and it was. The pool was 5'3" and when you are only 5'6" it is kinda tuff to enjoy yourself.
Everyone was so nice and they work hard for there money.
Now the until part
Hurricane Emily hit us. We were so lucky, we were able to stay in our room. The resort made bagged lunches and gave everyone flashlights. They made everyone go into there rooms hours before the huuricane hit. They were very helpful and they did what they had to do. We got there on 07/12/05 and the hurricane hit on 07/18/2005 so we realy had a day in a half that was meesed up.
Now the hurricane. It did major damage to both lobby's they both fell in. The pool needs drained cleaned it was totaly black from dirt. Most of the palm trees were snapped off or knocked down. The resort was beat pretty bad. What I understand the resorts all the way down to Tulam was in the same condition. All I have to say I heard some horror story's from the people I was with. Anyways they shut down the resort because they ran out of food with no way to get it in the theater was destoyed a long with the two lobby's and the pool A lot of people were put to the street with no where to go because the hotel was not safe. I don't blame the resort because I talked to one couple who showed up Sunday morning for there honeymoon and were told Tuesday morning they had to leave because the resort was shutting down. They said they called there travel agent before they left and was told by AV and AT if they didn't go they would loose there money even though there was a hurricane coming. As long as the hotel was open they had to go.
So in closing this was a great resort I would go back but it will take a long time to get the beauty back as far as palm trees coconuts ect. I could be wrong but since I don't trust certain vacation company's anymore I would make that $9.00 call straight to the resort and ask them yourself if the theater is ready, if the pool is ready, are all the food places open. Just don't take the word of your travel agencey or the vacation company's