We read many of the negative reviews before we left, but this resort was unbelievable. The food was great, the service was excellent, and we even had perfect weather. This resort is 30 minutes away from Puerta Vallarta but this was ok with us as it is in a secluded area and you do not feel like you are vacationing in the middle of a tourist trap.

Make sure you make reservations at the Bambu and Portafino restaurants. They even had a BBQ on the beach on Sunday and Tuesday nights.

The environment of the hotel is great. The beach is beautiful, the pools are nice..they had fun shows, the rooms were comfortable. However, the food was just terrible. The buffet food was often cold. The quality of the meats, cheeses, salads...even the a la carte restaurants. If they could get the food issue in line, it would be a really nice spot because it's right in front of a nice surf break. Either improve the food or give guests the options of eating out at least for dinner.

the hotel was really nice and super convenient to the surf break. the a la carte restaurants were really hard to get in to have dinner. we got turned away four nights in a row and the restaurant was not even half full. so, by the end of the trip i was tired of the buffet. the live music was great! the kids program everynight was really repetitive. they played the same game EVERY night. however, the ideal couple show was AWESOME!!! do not miss it! otherwise, had an amazing time. will be coming back for sure!! the staff is sooo friendly and fun.

Traveler's tip:

My friends and I had an awesome trip (we're 28). It has a great beach and a very very friendly staff which make you feel at home. All the alcohol and food was free and they even have high quality restaurants...yes they are free too. This is a great place to stay for Mexico. You will not get the same service as in the states but it is the closest you can find for the price you're paying (Mexico is just different just enjoy yourself). This was probably one of the funnest vacations I've been on. We didn't even need to go into PV to party since there's a club and a few bars.

Traveler's tip:

Really injoyed myself, the location bueatiful, the food ok, the Bars and disco great. To many kids sometimes, more for familys. Staff was fun and delightful.

Family vacation. Grandparents (us) stayed in the adults-only (Royal Suites) while parents & children stayed in the family oriented rooms. All had great time. Facilities, service, beach, food, activities were very good.

Traveler's tip:

We were at this location for two weeks. We got exactly what we went to get. Sunshine and very comfortable heat! The staff were very friendly and tried their best to help at all times. It was pretty busy but we experienced very tolerable lines at the buffet and the selection was always easy to fill up on. Fresh fruit was an item we were craving before we arrived, we were not dissappointed! Every meal had a nice selection of summer fare and was such a pleasant treat. We were not too keen on the other restaurants on site, personal choice, as far as we were concerned the best thing food wise was the beach barbecue. Don't miss that and we would spend all of our meals at this spot if we could!! The drinks were always good and there were many places to sit and enjoy the views and the sun!! We would say that the room we had wasn't the best by far, but we didn't go to stay in the room, so it really didn't make much difference to us. Watching the waves, surfers, whales, dolphins, sunsets and listening to the ocean, that is what we went for. Score a perfect ten on those! If you want action you probably won't like this place, but the daily shows seemed to please most that were there. The younger crowd liked the disco and beach. There was room for all and didn't seem to present any problems. We got more than we paid for!!

Traveler's tip:

This place might be ok if you can upgrade to the Royal Suites. But since we had a child we couldn't. And thus it was a disaster. Basically the hotel was understaffed and had outdated processes. We waited in line (I kid you not) an HOUR to make a restaurant reservation - which were fully booked by the time we got to the guest services desk. We waited in line for the meals - especially dinner - and again by the time we got to the food, a lot of it was gone. We waited for the games in the sports bar. We waited to use the internet. Waiting in line was a big theme for this trip. When I complained to the manager, he asked me, "What makes you think you're so special? Everybody here waits in line." I could not believe this was the attitude of someone in the guest services industry. The main pool is not heated - its awful. You can go to the adult pool which is heated but we could not because we had a child. Really a disappointing trip. I tried to switch hotels but the manager would never answer his phone to make the arrangements.

The Palladium Vallarta was exactly how we hoped it would be. We stayed on the Royal Suites side, and were completely satisfied with our stay there. The beach is slightly rocky, but we were still able to find an area to swim that was sandy. The pools were very nice and you can walk the beach for miles. The food overall was good, and the servers were attentive. It is about a 40 minute drive from the airport, but we liked getting away from the city. If we go to Puerto Vallarta area again, we would definitely stay at Palladium Vallarta Resort.

The Pallidium Vallarta hotel itself is old, out dated and gross. To stay at this resort, you must upgrade to "The Royal Suites" which is another hotel located on the grounds. The Royal Suites are beautiful but that's about all your going to get out of this trip. The food is horrific and extremely poor quality. You have no other places to eat in the area unless you would like to take a $70.00 cab ride in and out of the town that is a half hour away. I would never go back to this resort. The service was no help either. Very rude and difficult because very little of the staff speak English...Overall, it was a horrible experience!!!!

If you can, stay in the suite side of the resort. Its much better, you get free internet 24 hours, you have two bars, fans in the room, your own pool, room service, nice place to eat at. Plus, that side has NO KIDS allowed on it. The buffet was ok, the Italian dinner was the best. The last day our tv was a little snowy. Just Make sure expedia fazs over the info to the resort because for the first 3 days, they had no idea who we were!!!

Traveler's tip:

The employees at the front desk were rude but the spa crew was really friendly. The check in and check out were not smooth at all, long lomg lines, they wanted us to wait 1 hour in line to check out even though we had everything already paid. The food at the buffet is horrible, fast food: hamburgers, hot dogs...exactly what you don't expect to eat when in Mexico. The pool is noisy, not a place to relax. The hotel also has this horrible smell, maybe because of the animals they maintain. I definitely would not go back. If you have kids they may like the activities and animals. I went with my husband and we definetely were expecting a quiet and relaxing time. We were in the wrong hotel and ended up spending money with food...very hard to get a reservation at the restaurants even though I tried to call from the US and make them ahead of time, the guy who answered the phone could not help and asked me to call the following day!! JUST WEIRD!!

Overall this was a very nice hotel with a lush,tropical feel.There are several pool's with plenty of lounge chair's for everyone.There are also several restaurant's,from buffet's to reservation's only.The lounges and bar's are scattered around the property.They served a nice selection of top shelf liquor's as well as the domestic brand's.We stayed in the Royal Suites section of the resort.This area was accessible to only the people who booked in this area.It has nice large room's with 24 hour room service,mini-fridge with assorted beverages,jacuzzi tub's and a separate sitting area.The Royal Suites complex also has it's own restaurant,swimming pool and two bar's.It was very relaxing and laid-back here compared to the actual Palladium side of the resort.The main disadvantage of staying at this resort is that it is a good 30-45 minute drive from Puerto Vallarta and the airport with an average cost of $25.00 each way.If you want total seclusion then this is the place for you.

The Palladium was great, my boyfriend and I really loved it there, the only complait I have is the beach, its rocky under the water, but only enough to be annoying- not to deter us completely from going in! Great place, you'll love it.

Traveler's tip:

This was my first experience in an "all inclusive" hotel - and I found it an amazing experience. It could be a 5 star with a few upgrades - such as hand/body lotion, matches in the smoking rooms, faucet upgrade in the bathroom, for example. The food was just fine. I was there for 7 days, and didn't get bored, as there was a lot of variety. The beach is fantastic, but take some bug spray, for sand fleas. I was sorry I didn't. The hotel is well designed, and it looks like every room has an ocean view, and nice patio. Enjoy!

The Palladium Vallarta is definately a place I would go back to. If you're looking to get out of the city and "resort scene" this is the place to go. The resort is within trees and beautiful landscaping; it is a refreshing site from clearcutting and plopping a resort on a section of beach. Our room had an amazing view and they did a great job seperating the adults only and families. The beach was amazing outcropped in rocks, but yes, a bit rocky to swim in. The food and drinks were good, my only complaint would be that it wasn't hot enough and they need to have more than one person making omelets for breakfast. The service staff was great, however, I was not impressed with the front desk staff. I loved the live bands at night--not so much the shows. The rooms could only be improved by sprucing up the bathrooms with some better lighting and better showers. The resort is a distance from PV, but all the cities are very accessible and cheap to get to by bus. I just loved the setting of forest, cliffs, and an amazing view of the ocean.