Grand Palladium Kantenah Resort and Spa - All Inclusive

Customer ratings & reviews

TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

10256 reviews

• 

  Disappointing Easter break

  We booked a week at the Grand Palladium Kantenah Resort & Spa the week leading up to Easter with our 7 year old son. Unfortunately initial impressions were not great . We arrived late at 8pm after a long flight and were given a room in the Colonial. At first when we were allocated this room i just assumed ‘Colonial’ was a name for a part of the hotel and not a sister hotel within the resort. Upon opening our door we were met with sheer disappointment. Dated, dark, and in need of a major refurb. The toilet brush was rusty, bath didn't look clean and latch didnt even reach the door for extra security. We immediately went to reception to be told all rooms at Colonial and Kantaneh were identical . We didn't unpack and the next morning demanded to be put in the hotel we booked . Instead of being immediately moved rooms we had to check out of the Colonial by midday and wait till 4pm to move to our new room . In the mean time i spoke to the TUI rep to be told the rooms are exactly the same and no difference. Fast forward to the new room in the hotel we booked !! Modern & New decor, brand new television, digi aircon , spa bubble bath !! Levels above the previous room !!! Shocked to say the least. The other negatives were all the sun loungers by the colonial/Kantenah pool near beach were taken by 8am with towels with not a soul about . We mainly used the Hacienda buffet as we have a young child and this was very frustrating as every meal time we had to queue for 15/20 mins to get in, drinks never came to the table and food ran out quickly . Towels were taken and not replaced in rooms . We had to ring numerous times for mini bar to be filled. Room service is an additional charge which we didnt use for that reason. Night entertainment cant comment as we were ill a large proportion of the holiday. We arrived late monday night and thursday morning our son was very ill with a painful stomach bug and within 24 hours both me and his father were the same. We had only eaten at one restaurant within the hotel. This had a huge impact on our holiday . We didnt leave the room on 2 nights , we missed meals, activities ect. We have been home 2 days and are all still not fully recovered. We tried to make the most of the holiday when we could for the last day or two. We went up to the white sands resort where the pools and scenery are lovely. We used the buffet there where there is no queue and it seems of a higher standard, great live band and inflatable obstacle course( its costs extra mind ). The grounds are amazing the wildlife really makes for a jungle like feel. The beach area is picturesque although rocky and alot of seaweed weather dependant . The kids club was great and my son would of loved to of gone more if he had not been unwell. I think you could go to this hotel numerous times and its pot luck what type of holiday you have . Unfortunately we did not have good pot luck and the holiday did not go the way we thought.

  Apr 24, 2025
• 

  Lack of communication and care

  A relaxing holiday in a beautiful location sadly overshadowed by myriad issues throughout our stay. Firstly, we were placed in Colonial despite our booking being for Kantenah. I have noted from other reviews that we are not the only guests this has happened to, I suspect this happens frequently in the hopes that people either won’t notice or won’t want to complain. Our room in Colonial was dark and damp, with an odour that clung to the bedsheets and our clothes. After complaining to reception we were able to transfer to Kantenah after a couple of days, which are much lighter and more modern rooms. Unfortunately no compensation was offered for the days we missed out on. Another issue was with housekeeping. Towels were taken and never replaced, leaving us with no bath mat or hand towels for several days. Food wise, the buffets were the same every day. The option of unlimited a la carte restaurants was good however these book up very quickly. We were able to sample the Thai, Italian & Sushi restaurants, all of which were great experiences. TIP - always make sure you get confirmation when booking a restaurant. We booked with the concierge for the Thai restaurant but when we arrived they said they did not have a booking for us, which was frustrating. I am vegan and found the buffet okay to navigate, lots of fried veg and rice/chips/bread - not really any protein options such as beans or tofu. You are asked when you arrive at the restaurant if you have any allergies, however this information will not be passed on to your server so I’m unsure the purpose of asking this. Seemed performative. Servers seemed unaware of the vegan diet, despite me presenting allergen cards for dairy and egg and explaining I don’t eat meat/fish, I was served food with cheese and found myself unable to trust the food I was being served. Our server at the Thai restaurant was knowledgeable about vegan diets although unfortunately I did not get his name, he was great. A negative experience was with the Bravo dinner - we were told there was a vegetarian/vegan menu available, however when we arrived this was not the case. I’m unsure what the benefit of lying to us about this was. I again informed the server of my dietary restrictions and this time was offered salmon. At this point I decided to leave as I had zero confidence or trust in the food I would be served. Pool wise - we enjoyed days at Kantenah, White Sands and the adult only pool. Plenty of beds available but Kantenah does fill up quickly. Make sure to leave a personal item out or your towels will be taken. Personally I enjoyed the adult only pool the best, and Jesus at the bar served up the nicest mango daiquiris, always with a smile and friendly attitude. Only qualm I have is that the music around the pool was too loud and often an incoherent mix of calming music to party tunes. Bizarre. Entertainment- underwhelming to say the least. Definitely caters to the younger children throughout the day and the evenings are lacklustre. Perhaps I have been spoilt for choice at previous AI resorts, but I found myself bored in the evenings which is a shame. Overall, a nice hotel with good amenities - food is good if you don’t have any dietary restrictions. Best for families with young children. Communication seems extremely lacking between different departments of the hotel - in particular reception and concierge. I’ve noted from multiple reviews that the towel issue we had is reoccurring- this definitely needs to be addressed. Sadly the aforementioned negative experiences have cast a shadow over what should have been a pleasant holiday.

  Apr 24, 2025
• 

  Amazing resort with exceptional staff and fab rooms! We miss Abraham our butler and Leo and Lisbeth!

  This resort is beautiful! We stayed in family selection for 2 weeks and had 3 rooms for our family of 9. The staff were absolutely amazing! Especially our butler Abraham who went out of his way to get anything we needed. My mother turnt 60 and he threw a wonderful party in our swim up pool area. Honestly he was the one who really made our holiday special! However all staff were amazing too! One of our children has a number of allergies and the staff around the family selection pool went above and beyond ensuring his needs were catered for. Another amazing staff member was Astrid in the family selection restaurant as well as Leo and Lizbeth at the family selection pool! Honestly the staff at this resort are a credit to the company they work for. The grounds are stunning. No one got sick. The downside is that there wasn’t enough golf buggy’s for the resorts size but if you are happy to walk this wouldn’t be a problem. It was a holiday to remember for a lifetime and we will certainly be returning!

  Apr 23, 2025
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  Would go back in a heartbeat! ❤️

  I literally cannot understand the bad reviews! My family of 4 had an incredible time at this resort. The food was amazing, lovely beach, fantastic pools and the staff/service was great. We went to the open air buffet for breakfast every morning and all found a lovely choice of food to set us up for the day. Randi our waiter was so friendly and had all our drinks waiting by the time we got back with our food! Lots of wildlife everywhere you looked (we were lucky to see the monkeys twice!) and luscious green backdrop as you walk through the resort. Our room was spotless and large with the minibar restocked daily. The lobby and all of the grounds were stunning - as were those of the other 2 sister hotels. All the a la cartes (apart from the Thai, not to our taste) were absolutely yummy and we ate at them most nights all with excellent service. I booked these sometimes through the app and other times at concierge after waiting with a nice coffee from the bar in the morning. Cocktails were all nice (especially those got from Churchills bar) and although the entertainment wasn't the best we have ever seen it was still great and they team worked hard. We loved the Mexican theme night especially 😁 We really couldn't find fault and had a fantastic time and as the heading suggests - we would go back tomorrow if we could! 🥰

  Apr 22, 2025
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  Great property but the execution for a wanna be 4-5 star hotel needs a lot of work!

  Let me start with: The grounds and building are lovely. The staff is generally very friendly. The à la carte restaurants are terrific. The shuttle service is great. They try hard to keep the beach free of sea grass. Marco at the Portofino restaurant was great! Alex at the buffet, who recognized us in Playa del Carmen, was a personality. The poor guy my wife finally tracked down at nine at night to get towels that worked his butt off to help us out (didn't get his name). The sports fields are really nice. With that said, I had two rooms for my family of 5 (including three teenagers) for six days. We picked the hotel because it offered unlimited à la carte dinners. What they don't tell you is that they are generally booked up 2-3 days out and you can't book more than 2 days in advance. So we get there and are told me can't go to a special restaurant for the first two days. We're looking at the buffets for breakfast, lunch, and dinner exclusively. They're not great, and the choices never materially change. We then made a mistake by not trying to book Thursday and Friday dinner until Wednesday morning to be told... they're all booked up. I was finally able to get the concierge to get us into a dinner on Friday. Please keep in mind that most restaurants are only half-filled, but they are supposedly at capacity. We got into dinner on Thursday by visiting 7 different restaurants before we found a manager who was able to fit us in his half-empty restaurant. Housekeeping was terrible. For one room, they cleaned it on the second day. We had to escalate the issue three times, wait six hours to receive new towels, cups, and for the room to be cleaned on the 5th day. We then had to complain again on the last full day to get the room cleaned! We got comfortable going into the service corridors to get our own towels. We also grew tired of being told that certain features, pools, or drinks were "extra" for "Family Select" or "Preferred" members. I spent $5K for the hotel alone to be told that the basics and amenities were extra. Get used to waiting in lines... for the buffets, the bars, the concierge, etc. We waited an hour and a half at the sports bar (the only restaurant available between lunch and dinner) for terrible food. For example, the garlic bread was half a toasted hot dog bun. The potato skins were half a mid-sized potato. The two jalapeno poppers were roughly 2 inches long. You get the idea. At times, I waited 20-30 minutes to talk to the concierges. There would often be one on duty in each lobby for a hotel with many hundreds of rooms. Overzealous staff kept telling us what we could not do. I couldn't take drinks from the bar (soda) into the sports bar where we were waiting. My son couldn't carry an alcoholic drink for his mother (with me by his side). The entertainment was mediocre at best. Most resorts bring in travelling entertainers with good shows. Not here. The same group of hardworking dancers work all of their shows. Don't expect much variety. My teenagers got plenty of sleep. They had nothing to do at night and complained they were bored. For a family-friendly resort, it caters to young families and little kids. There's no teen club or teen parties. Activities scheduled through the resort (dive shop, excursions, massages) are ludicrously expensive. We got better options from the guys walking the beach. There were other issues, but to top it off, after complaining to the concierge *(especially about the lack of housekeeping, towels, and dinner reservations). They offered us two free hydro-therapy sessions (normally extra cost) at the spa as compensation. So... basically they offered us access to the only hot tubs we found for one-time use. That's not quite cutting it. Finally, we were never given the chance to talk to a manager or supervisor to try to make things right. THAT'S UNACCEPTABLE. Now that I've written the review, let's see if we hear anything.

  Apr 21, 2025