TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

I stayed here for ten days with friends and work associates. The service was wonderful - by the pool, in the buffets and restaurants, as well as the excursion staff, the travel club staff, and the room service people. My room was spotless and everything functioned perfectly. The bed was very comfortable. The resort is kept exceptionally clean. The sidewalks are swept, the foliate is trimmed, the buildings are impeccably maintained. The resort is located essentially halfway between Playa Del Carmen and Tulum, which made is easy to visit both Fifth Avenue to do some shopping, and Tulum to visit the Ruins. I look forward to returning for another visit.

Flew on Transat from Toronto last Sunday. Tomorrow is our last day. First thing that is a must, download the Grand Palladium App!! We use it to look at menus, times to eat, where things are, where we are, and to book a la carte restaurants. Super easy to reserve and not waiting in line to do so. The buffets are fine. If you can’t find something to eat, stay home. We found bacon at all 3 buffets. Servers are friendly and top up your water and coffee. The sports bar has amazing Caesar Salad and chicken wings. It’s open 24 hours but only serves menu items for a few hours. The pool at The White Sands is beautiful. Massive, saltwater and only 3’11” deep. Tons of loungers. Towels are available at every pool bar. Return them when you’re done. Don’t leave them on your lounger. And take your empty cups back to the bar. Do you leave dirty dishes laying around at home?? No straws. If you want one bring some from home. We are in building 45. Room is beautiful. Second and third floors have balconies. First floor has a patio. Ice machines under the stairs in every building, villa. Instant hot water and amazing water pressure in the shower. Coffee machine, iron, hair dryer and mini fridge with 2 Coors Light, 2 Dos Equis, 2 Pepsi, 2 Diet Pepsi, 2 7up, 1 orange pop and 3 bottles of water. Lots of hangers. Bring a power bar to plug all your electronics in one spot. For maid service or do not disturb, there are black buttons just inside the door. A corresponding light in the hall lets them know if they are cleaning that room or not. Wristbands have a disc inside them that opens your room door. No cards or keys to deal with. Super convenient. Trains and trolleys constantly available. Don’t walk if you don’t have to. We walked 9.4 kms our first day before we figured out the trolleys. The resort consists of The White Sands, The Colonial, The Kantenah and TRS. Very big and spread out. Bring comfortable shoes. If you don’t want to waste your precious vacation time, don’t make eye contact with the Turquoise Shirts. Selling memberships and time shares. No gracias. We didn’t use the Spa or jog or play tennis or go mini golfing. We came to get away from the snow and cold. We have yet to encounter a rude staff member. Smiles and greetings from all of them so far. We just walked to the beach to see it, but didn’t stay so I can’t comment on it. We discovered the Secret Pool. Quiet, adults only. Small. Bar and towel hut as well. We both smoke and have had no issues. We bring our own travel ashtrays. We don’t blow our smoke at non smokers or sit near non smokers. It’s called respecting others. Loads of wildlife at the resort. Coatis, Agouti, Iguana, Geckos, Flamingos and many tropical birds. Koi ponds around the buffets. We have not seen any mosquitoes. Not one. All in all, a lovely resort and holiday.

For a first trip with friends it was amazing! The staff was nice and helpful. Great food variety and the rooms were spacious. Tho the activities and shows were a bit hard to find because the dates/times weren’t displayed for a quick and easy access.. Overall it was a fantastic experience and hopefully going back there!

We went there with our two kids. I had been to the hotel by myself about 10 years ago, so I had some fond memories. Overall, the Hotel is in good condition the staff is very friendly. The Hotel is in Nature so we saw plenty of Iguanas, Falmingos and other creatures every day when going to the pool / buffet / beach. We made tons of great memories with the kids, they have a kid section where kids can play videogames for free (and other thigns) - There is a Family Section that's exclusive though to those who take that option. Overall, there's always a time place to go eat, the beat was nice, the pools are big and nice, but be sure to "reserve" a chair as they ca go away fast when the sun is out. Food quality is good, water is filtered, no one got sick on our trip. That beeing said, if you've been there in the past, the food quality has dropped a little bit. They have a small water park for kids which is great with 4 water slides, but be careful as other kids, bigger, might not pay attention and hurt your child (which hapened to us - it's somewhat unsupervised, so you have to do the supervision). The A La Carte reservations are very frustrating. We went to the concierge EVERY morning at 8am when they open reservations and was only able to get 1 of the 4 restaurants we really wanted - but only by splitting our group into 2 - which was unfortunate. We still made lots of great memories with the kids and the kids really had fun, so it's not a bad hotel, but there are better options out there.

The hibachi was.absolutely amazing and our chef was incredible. Highly recommend! You will not regret going at all. Bring your friends it's so much fun. My favourite was the shrimp but the sushi was also absolutely fantastic and I loved the fried rice as well!