TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

Me and my girlfriend visited ChangThai restraunt - food and service were great. Served by Antonio who was very accommodating. The hotel had a power cut earlier so was busier than usual but the service was still very good. Would definitely return ??

Look for Jovani at the sports bar and Churchill bar! He makes amazing drinks and doesn’t forget a face. So kind and sweet ?? Jovani took the time to explain the special drink he made us based on past service at a previous bar that he served us at. Not only did he remember us, but our drink preferences!

If you like lots of cold food then this hotel could be for you. Our group had a number of issues while here and I’m back home and still haven’t had a reply from guest services (as promised) we upgraded and still this place couldn’t deliver a meal we all enjoyed. Definitely not a 5 star. TRS side was nice but still not as good as other hotels we have visited.

Went to Grand Palladium Kantenah as a family of 4, stayed in the Family Selection villas (outstanding). Writing this review mainly to help other Celiacs or diet restricted travelers as it so hard to plan a vacation when limited on what you can eat. Overall the resort is gorgeous with excellent service. It was well staffed, and everyone was so nice. Truly. Our room was great, and we had wonderful villa butlers (more like concierges) who helped with so many things like booking a la carts, getting things for the room, giving info about amenities on the resort etc. We used the sports area several times during the week for the basketball courts and the mini golf. It was very nice. The resort is really big, you can walk a lot (fine, we are super active) or you can sort out cart rides from the staff. There are 30-ish carts transporting guests around the resort and its never more than a few minutes wait to catch a ride if its too hot. Family Selection had a reserved section on the beach which was big and beautiful with tons of lounges and cabana beds. While my wife and I swam in the ocean quite a bit. The kids didn't enjoy the coral / rocky bottom in the area which was hard to cross to get out to deeper water. We all had water shoes and would highly recommend if you want to swim in the surf. There are 2 main pools, one at Kantenah/Colonial and one at the White Sands. These were big and nice and had swim up bars. Lots of lounge chairs built into the pool. There is a kids lagoon / small waterslides at the Kantenah main pool. Best for kids in age 5-10 range I would say. Our kids were a bit big but still enjoyed. White Sands has an inflatable obstacle course that cost a bit extra ( $15/USD for an hour) which our kids absolutely loved. Deck shade / loungers were limited on the weekends - it was very busy. Family Selection has an exclusive pool which was never busy, and had lots of loungers. Pool is small, but we really liked it and spent a lot of time there. Gluten Free food perspective.... The Good: There is a special diet card you can receive on check in to show at all the dining places. We were asked about dietary restrictions EVERY time we got a table - a la carte or buffet. They always asked if I needed assistance, which I generally accepted and a chef would would come and give a quick tour of the buffet and cover safe items. I love Mexican food, tacos of many varieties and corn tortillas were available at lunch and dinner. Lots of meat variety, veggies, almost everything in this area was GF. Delicious hot salsas. You can request GF items be cooked for you at the buffet ( back in the kitchen) like pancakes. I had them a few times, they were good. Meat grill station and breakfast omelet station were both excellent and free of cross contamination. Buffet has a gluten free bread section. Plexi glass drawers to prevent CC. Usually it was a dry-ish white corn style bread and a dry-ish multi-grain bread. They were always there though. No worse than store bought at home. A Celiac I met from the UK didn't like the bread and said he ate a lot better back home. UK next trip maybe lol. A few times I found baked treats like apple cinnamon rolls or biscotti which were excellent. Would have been nice to have these all the time. The a la carte menus mark GF and veggie items. The Italian a la carte they had GF rotini ( cooked in separate water, I asked) to sub in most of the pasta dishes in addition to GF marked dishes. It was quite good. The Bad I don't eat at buffets normally, but this cross contamination was worse than expected. Serving spoons weren't assigned to specific dishes and several things I wanted to eat had clearly been dug into by the tongs for the grilled cheese sandwiches etc. Ex: There would be 6 dishes in an area, 3 containing gluten and only 4 spoons for that section. Other areas spoons were being shared between all GF dishes so I didn't care. The biggest surprise to me was the lacking in simple plain rice at the buffet. There were a few pilafs that contained gluten, and often no rice at all. I typically eat a lot of rice, and was only able to get some about half the time. I kind of expected that to be available all the time in Mexico being a cheap staple. There did not appear to be any GF fryers, so I did not have any fries, and sadly no nachos. I was told that the tortilla chips were fried in the same oil as everything else. GF Dessert selection was non existent. I had a decent flon one day, and a mediocre creme brulet at an a la carte. Ice cream was off the table, shared scoop situation. I'm not a sweets guy anyway, and prefer to have some fruit and cheese at the end of a meal. Apparently there was GF cheesecake you could request. Didn't try. We had a bad experience at the Brazilian a la cart. Undercooked chicken ruined the meal, and either the small amount of that I ate, or some sort of minor glutening happened there. Felt poor the next day but well enough to lounge about various places of the resort and not be in the washroom. The unexpected culinary highlight - The Nest. Another area exclusive to Family Selection. It was open for Breakfast and Dinner. A la carte with a small buffet / salad bar. Great menu (Huevos Rancheros!) and many other delicious items. Able to modify some items like the pancakes for GF eating. Really good. We went several times but would have liked to go even more. Travelling as a Celiac is hard, and we have a different set of expectations. Overall it was a really great week and I would go back. Family Selection is great, a wonderful group of exclusive areas. I didn't go hungry, and the tacos and omelets were excellent.

Our stay at the Grand Palladium was wonderful, we stayed at the Kantenah facility. The rooms were tastefully decorated and centrally located to the resort main facilities. The staff was so attentive, whether in the lobby area, the restaurants, pool, beach, it didn't matter. Lots of restaurants, live music throughout the day, I can't find fault with any of it.