MaY 4th- May 11, 2008

My Husband and I had a 8 night stay at the palladium for our honeymoon. Our Plane was late getting into Peurto Vallarta and the bus ride out to the palladium was an hour, I didnt realise that the resort is in a different state but still considered a P.V resort! On checking in we brought our marriage certificate and we booked off of itravel2000.com it had said that if we had booked a junior suite that we would have an no questions upgrade to a Royal Suite within our time of travel not only this but being honeymooners you are to get an upgrade upon availibility also a honeymooners fruit basket bottle of champaigne is supposed to be in the room waiting, well after the front desk didnt care to see our Marriage certificate we went into our room only to see two double beds instead of a king size and no gift basket we went back down to the front desk only to find very exhausted ppl that hadnt been checked in yet the man said No upgrades $30 a night extra per person anyways my husband and I have never been anywhere exotic and it being 11pm already i said we will just keep our room for the night not ruin our first night here. we ended up getting transfered to the next room which had a king size but the upgrade to the Royal suite was not honored by upgrading to a junior suite so we payed 300 extra per person for nothing Im not picky enough to care of the size of room I only ask for what i pay for, it took two days to get our honeymooners gift basket and fruit anyways room was nice altho not the Royal suites we were comfortable the bed was comfy we tipped the maid 1-2$ a day and always had the bed made clean towels and stocked fridge we even left her a note asking for extra water and recieved two extra bottles, we werent aware of how secluded our resort was and knowing this for next time we wouldnt stay at this resort again we did venture out one night to Margaritas for dinner one night the Cab cost us $10 each way but the seafood platter for two was absolutly worth the trip it was AMAZING, for those who want to experience just going out into the water and swimming this isnt the beach for you you only get a blocked off area in which you can go swimming the rest of the area is rocky we boogie boarded everyday which was fun they didnt seem to be to strict on the hour a day thing, the bars were all great the staff with acception to the night front desk guy were all very pleasent and nice the mexican al la carte was by far the best and the sports bar burgers and paninis are awesome especially after a few drinks before bed! the adult pool was nice the beach was nice the public pool was even fine to be around to see all the ppl enjoying themselves overall I really dont feel like I got my moneys worth only because of the extra 600 we had payed to recieve an upgrade we had heard that there was 30 available rooms but they werent willing to upgrade us or the couple we met that were on there honeymoon would I stay at this resort again yes maybe if I knew what i was getting into but if you want to get out and explore the streets of Peurto Vallarta freely Swim Freely this isnt the resort for you, we made the best of this and in the end did enjoy ourselves only because we were happy to be together but was a little dissapointed about a few things.

Palladium Vallarta is NOT a 5 star hotel. It’s a 3 star hotel with potential. Poorly managed - the A/C is minimal, drinks watered down, food is fair. Beautifully landscaped grounds are sullied by a constant sewage stench from the “zoo” – a cluster of small, over-crowded cages. Rooms never adequately cooled smell musty. Beaches covered with thick piles of sea weed need cleaned more than weekly. Dirty pool decks need hosed off at least weekly (daily?) and dirty pool chairs need wiped off as well. Hello, Apple, are you listening?!

The good news? A spectacular view! The cliff top resort overlooks a surfer’s paradise with giant, crashing Pacific waves. Dusk to dawn, surfers are always present, and surfing lessons are free – as well as boogie boards and kayaks. The regular staff is very helpful and friendly – bartenders, maids, waiters, and entertainers. A better manager and a little elbow grease could easily elevate Palladium to the status it deserves.

Excursions are misleading too. Vallarta Adventures’ zip line canopy tour forbids cameras in order to charge $17 per digital photo (not even printed!) and $79 for a CD of all the photos. Vallarta Adventures’ La Caletas Island tour is a ridiculous $90 “day in paradise” to a dingy, jelly fish-filled lagoon that also has a nasty stench.

Lastly, Travel Agents and Apple should warn guests about the excessive stairways before booking the trip. Numerous stairs were a hardship for elderly and less athletic guests. We met a couple who left early because the husband was on crutches, and some members of our group experienced sore muscles from doing stairs.

In summary, our group decided that Palladium is a perfect example of “you get what you pay for” since we only paid $1043 for the all-inclusive. We laughed off the problems and enjoyed the gorgeous landscape for an overall nice vacation.

Would we go back? No.

It started with yes being caught by condo reps. Ignore them as you walk through the airport-unless you want to spend your next morning listening to them. The ride out to the resort is long-about an hour drive by taxi. Palladium is a nice family resort as it has lots of activities to do all day. Snorkeling was not good as the waters were rough- the last two days we were able to snorkel and saw stingrays- and lots of little fish. When the tide was out we were able to walk for miles along the beach- (felt safe). There was no vendors on the beach except for hotel ones and they were good. Had my hair done there and it was great. We were on the third floor and had to do stairs as there were no elevators. Didn't gain any weight :). The food was awesome- always lots on the buffet. The night shows were not family orientated - and very loud. The place was clean and the people were very friendly. It was good except for being far from the tours and shopping. Long bus rides. We combined a tour in the morning(awesome canopy tour) and had them drop us off at the market place , did shopping, and we took a taxi back to the hotel. Taxi prices $30- $40 back to hotel.
Overall- nice secluded area for relaxing.

May 31-June 7 2008 - I'm 19, my boyfriend is 22 & the Palladium was our first vacation together and we felt pampered. I must say that the negative reviews I checked out kind of scared me, but once we arrived I knew those people must have had some reallly really high standards because the place was amazing! Nothing bad to say.

Once you arrive to the airport, collect your luggage, head to the exit where there'll be agency rep's all lined up, just pass them all. Say Palladium resort & they'll head you outside to one of the busses that will take you to the resort.

The landscaping provides such an exotic and luxurious feel to the Palladium. There are main walkways to use but if you like to walk the unbeaten path they also have ways that take you around the resort through the lighted botanical garden. The little zoo is neat to check out. However the Peacocks wander throughout the resort. Very pleased with the Resort grounds and layout.

We upgraded to the Royal suites which offer an adult only & much quiter surrounding. If your planning a relaxing, laid back vaca without kids splashing & screaming than I suggest you upgrade. It was well worth it. 24/7 room service, your own jacuzzi in the room, a private pool, bar, and restaraunt (Punta Mita). The rooms were large & the bathrooms were exquisite. Our air conditioning, fans all worked properly, & the bed's arn't as bad as some say. Just don't expect a sleep-numbers and you'll be fine. Leave a small tip for your maid & you'll see a few extra beer in your fridge. Very pleased with the room.

There are different bands every night then the Entertainment Team puts on a show at 9 pm. These performers really love what they're doing & they do they best to give you a great show. You have to give them kudo's for putting up with the heavy costumes & stage lights when it's already 30 something degree's outside. We were sweating just sitting in the theatre area watching them! Very pleased with the nightly entertainment.

Bars. Oh the bars. The Sports Bar has several TV's (which my boyfriend was thankful for as the Stanely Cup final was on & he was able to watch Detroit take the Cup), pool tables & it offers nachos, popcorm,& hotdogs at certain hours of the day. Check out Hemmingways bar too! If you see a bigger bartender named Victor, do me a favor and tell him Darbie sends his love to Victoria! The waiters at all restaurant, bars, & by the pool go above and beyond there. If they see your cup is getting low they're on it! And they will remember what drink you ordered the night before off by heart- we were impressed. VERY pleased with the bars and service.

The beach wasn't our favorite place to be anyways so the fact that it's not a beautiful white sand beach with bright blue water wasn't a huge damper. Down at the beach on our side there were chairs to layout on & the salt water pool (which was not very nice) but it was fun to walk along the walls and watch crabs scamper around. Not pleased with the beach, but we knew ahead of time what to expect. If you are longing to spend your days swimming in the ocean and tanning on beautiful beaches, I suggest you go to Cabos or Cancun.

Excursions are offered by the Resort & the travel agency rep you're with. They can range anywhere from 500 to 3000 pesos, so 60-300 USD. They have many outtings for all types of guests. As a younger couple we did the Zip-lining & quading tours which I highly recomend. The Zip-lining also includes a Tequila Tour which was pretty neat. Also we check out the Rythm of the Nights where you go into PV, I wont give out too much info but I will say it was very romantic. TIP: Compare prices between what your rep offers & what the Resort offers. Very pleased with the Excursions the resort offered.

Overall it was a perfect vacation minus my boyfriend losing his wallet in the airport, my newly died blonde hair turned green from the pool, we got sunburned and I got a nasty heat rash. My boyfriend also got sick mid vaca but we agreed it was a result of the non-stop corona and limes he downed. As long and you keep mixing up your meals you won't get sick of the food, try and avoid large helpings of fried foods too. Hope you have a great time there like we did, it really was above our expectations.