TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

We had the best time at Grand Palladium Vallarta Resort. The view from our room was one of the best we have ever had, I don't know if we will ever have a better one. The staff is so friendly and helpful. They willing to help with whatever they can. Little Fernando at the Mexican restaurant is absolutely amazing! He served us twice and was the best waiter we had all week. He is a ROCK STAR! Just an FYI there are no elevators and a ton of stairs to get from place to place, but hey I needed the steps! Our goal was to relax and be with our spouse and we accomplished just that. Thanks

I'll start with the pros: - The place has a very authentic feel to it with the decor and it's architecture. - El Bosque has decent food. Most of the food we tried were delicious but there aren't a lot of options. - The beach has really fine sand. - The restaurant/bar staff were friendly. - The kids really loved the kids pool. - I'm rating this 2.5/5 because we got a discounted rate. Any more expensive and this review would be a zero if that's possible. The cons: - We were off on a really bad start at this resort because after we finished checking in, one of their salespeople forced us to sit down with her so she could "give us more information about the resort." I initially thought oh, this resort is probably massive she needs a quick couple minutes to tell us where's what and what activities we can do. But no, she was there to promise us "free credits" for us to meet with her at breakfast so she can sell us on the resorts membership. We came from a loooong flight with two kids and were all incredibly hungry. We ended up walking away from her because she wouldn't listen when we said no thank you to her offers and that we needed to tend to our kids' needs. - They have so many restrictions on restaurant reservations ie., you can't make a same day reservation past 3pm. But when you see the restaurants there are barely any people there. - Bamboo is the worst Japanese restaurant we've ever eaten at. - There aren't a lot of options with food. - The tiles around the kids pool are really slippery! - This resort has no elevators so be prepared for a lot of stairs. - It's packed with locals and can feel crowded. - The AC in our room didn't feel strong enough to actually cool our room. - The bed and pillows were so uncomfortable.

Too isolated. Not enough family pools. Sometimes restaurants were great other times, just mediocre. Food needs to be hotter temps

Having had experiences with other all-inclusive resorts, this was one of the nicer and smaller properties with beautiful surroundings, very friendly and supportive staff and quite the variety of options when it came to places to eat, relax, etc. However, although there were more adult oriented activities and spaces for grown folks it always felt more family oriented and just not for me. No issues with kids whatsoever as I am also a parent. But my group never really escaped into a more adult experience during our stay, Near fights and food issues specific to me and my group's experience also dulled the experience. All that said, while objectively above average, this was not the resort and spa for me.

On the first night we came back to the room and realized that someone else had gained access and left their wet clothes in our room. Upon reporting to the security staff, they initially made us feel like we were making it up. Eventually we were able to get a resolution. The travel club staff were really nice and welcoming and did all they could to make us feel appreciated. The daily night shows were generally entertaining especially for kids. There wasn't much to do for a group of older male friends as many activities were advertised but not held. The food was ok though I enjoyed Bamboo restaurant the most. To me the hotel was geared towards catering to families rather than adults with no children. Restaurant and bar staff were all friendly and accommodating. The Sports bar was really nice, the finger foods there were perfect. WiFi was spotty on some days going in and out. Overall though we ended up having a good time despite the first night.