Grand Palladium Kantenah Resort and Spa - All Inclusive

Customer Ratings & Reviews

TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

10264 reviews

• 

  Poor poor poor

  Stay was terrible overall. Resort was boring stuff was not very helpful. Reservations was all messed up.

  Apr 28, 2025
• 

  Fantastic resort! No fault.

  This is our honest opinion about the whole resort, please note that we stayed in Family Section but we paid extra for the swim up Junior Suite. We arrived just after 8pm and were immediately made welcome by someone who took our bags ( I don't recall his name I am sorry) he then got us over to Family Selection to check in. Lenny checked us in and explained the map system and gave us our bands. It was a swift process which was nice after a long flight from the UK. We were driven in the golf buggy with our bags straight to our room and the gentleman explained how everything works in the room. We ate most mornings at the Nest and found that the buffet has everything you could possibly think of that you would want to eat, the Danish Pastry selection is fantastic. You can also order from the menu and they have a great selection. It is worth pointing out the queue system that a lot of travellers seem to have a problem with, they like to sit people and they like to get your water, tea/coffee to you and your menu choice (if you choose from it) as soon as possible. We found that this avoided the whole 'Gorrilas in the mist' issue that a lot of All inclusive restaurants have, it's nice to stand and choose your food without loads of people dive bombing in front of you to grab a piece of bread, there is plenty of food people, calm down. Juan and Maria were lovely. I think a lot of people do not realise that a lot of the workers travel for sometimes 2 or even 3 hours to come to work and do an 8 hour shift to then have to travel all that way back home. We would not do that at home so please remember and bear that in mind. The grounds are stunning and the wildlife is amazing, we loved the Pink Flamingos, Iguanas and the mischevious Coatis. Yes there is Seaweed on the beach but the Tractors do their best to clear it every day, Seaweed is a sea problem not a hotel problem and they do their best to keep it at a minimum. We thought the Entertainment was fine, we liked the UV night, the White Party and the Mexican Theme night. Bars. we liked the Food at the Sports Bar, we were never given cold food in the 2 weeks we were there but you can sometimes wait 30 to 40 minutes for it to arrive, mainly because it is a busy bar. The air con is fantastic, so fantastic I put a jacket on. Churchills is a brilliant bar, excellent Whiskey drinks. Lobby bar in Kantenah is really lovely to look at and has a secret staff door in the middle, Gloria here was very good at keeping the drinks flowing. Leo at the Es Niu bar has great Customer Service skills and was always checking that we had our glasses full. White Sands pool bar has a girl named Gloria, she doesn't smile a lot but when she does it changes her entire face as she has a fantastic smile and is nice to talk to. Marcellino at the Secret Pool, wow..he is literally the nicest person we met there, we found ourselves going there after lunch every single day and we would stand and chat to him for a few hours. He taught us some Spanish and advised us on what Tequila we should pick up at the Airport going home, he has a badge of excellence and for good reason. He is a lovely man. Our Butlers were Diego, Gerardo and Aaron. Lovey men and could not do enough for you. I wasn't well a couple days into the holiday and they brough me Electrolytes to help my system. They booked our A La Cartes and even got our laundry from the room when I didn't know where to leave it. They check in each morning with you and they work hard to make your stay hassle free and enjoyable. They have great sense of humours too. Alfredo was our cleaner and he changed our towels whenever needed and also restocked our mini bar without even having to be asked. We only did the Thai restaurant, El Caucho and Portofino. The Thai was particularly good and El Gauncho have fantastic Steaks, we had the Lobster at Portofino (extra charge) and they remove the meat from it and present it next to the Lobster, very tasty. If you want the Spa, the guys who come around the pool are the best to book it with as they have promotion deals. The onsite resort shops are expensive for things like medicine so please take it all out with you as it cost 40 dollars for tummy tablets. They have promotional deals on Sovenirs though. All in all we had a fantastic holiday, it was actually our Honeymoon and we honestly could not find fault. If anything we are upset that we have holidays elsewhere for the next 5 years so we can't get back as quickly as we would like to but we will get back as soon as possible.

  Apr 28, 2025
• 

  Photo Pro- Edgar

  We just got back from a weeks vacation to celebrate our engagement. Stayed at TRS Yucatan which we highly recommend..but we used the photography company located at Grand Palladium white Sands and Kantenah called PHOTO PRO. We dealt with EDGAR and he was incredibly rude. Gave us one price for our engagement photos and once they were ready for purchase the price changed. He said he was the "manager" on site and laughed at us when we expressed our frustration about the price inconsistency. He made it clear that he didn't care and it made no difference to him if we purchased the pictures or not. Edgar clearly needs to get into a different profession, as his customer service skills are non-existent. I wouldn't recommend anyone to use their services. It's easy to be charming when you are trying to sell people to take pictures with your company.. but to then scam people out of hundreds of dollars when it's time to purchase is ridiculous.

  Apr 27, 2025
• 

  Disappointing Easter break

  We booked a week at the Grand Palladium Kantenah Resort & Spa the week leading up to Easter with our 7 year old son. Unfortunately initial impressions were not great . We arrived late at 8pm after a long flight and were given a room in the Colonial. At first when we were allocated this room i just assumed ‘Colonial’ was a name for a part of the hotel and not a sister hotel within the resort. Upon opening our door we were met with sheer disappointment. Dated, dark, and in need of a major refurb. The toilet brush was rusty, bath didn't look clean and latch didnt even reach the door for extra security. We immediately went to reception to be told all rooms at Colonial and Kantaneh were identical . We didn't unpack and the next morning demanded to be put in the hotel we booked . Instead of being immediately moved rooms we had to check out of the Colonial by midday and wait till 4pm to move to our new room . In the mean time i spoke to the TUI rep to be told the rooms are exactly the same and no difference. Fast forward to the new room in the hotel we booked !! Modern & New decor, brand new television, digi aircon , spa bubble bath !! Levels above the previous room !!! Shocked to say the least. The other negatives were all the sun loungers by the colonial/Kantenah pool near beach were taken by 8am with towels with not a soul about . We mainly used the Hacienda buffet as we have a young child and this was very frustrating as every meal time we had to queue for 15/20 mins to get in, drinks never came to the table and food ran out quickly . Towels were taken and not replaced in rooms . We had to ring numerous times for mini bar to be filled. Room service is an additional charge which we didnt use for that reason. Night entertainment cant comment as we were ill a large proportion of the holiday. We arrived late monday night and thursday morning our son was very ill with a painful stomach bug and within 24 hours both me and his father were the same. We had only eaten at one restaurant within the hotel. This had a huge impact on our holiday . We didnt leave the room on 2 nights , we missed meals, activities ect. We have been home 2 days and are all still not fully recovered. We tried to make the most of the holiday when we could for the last day or two. We went up to the white sands resort where the pools and scenery are lovely. We used the buffet there where there is no queue and it seems of a higher standard, great live band and inflatable obstacle course( its costs extra mind ). The grounds are amazing the wildlife really makes for a jungle like feel. The beach area is picturesque although rocky and alot of seaweed weather dependant . The kids club was great and my son would of loved to of gone more if he had not been unwell. I think you could go to this hotel numerous times and its pot luck what type of holiday you have . Unfortunately we did not have good pot luck and the holiday did not go the way we thought.

  Apr 24, 2025
• 

  Lack of communication and care

  A relaxing holiday in a beautiful location sadly overshadowed by myriad issues throughout our stay. Firstly, we were placed in Colonial despite our booking being for Kantenah. I have noted from other reviews that we are not the only guests this has happened to, I suspect this happens frequently in the hopes that people either won’t notice or won’t want to complain. Our room in Colonial was dark and damp, with an odour that clung to the bedsheets and our clothes. After complaining to reception we were able to transfer to Kantenah after a couple of days, which are much lighter and more modern rooms. Unfortunately no compensation was offered for the days we missed out on. Another issue was with housekeeping. Towels were taken and never replaced, leaving us with no bath mat or hand towels for several days. Food wise, the buffets were the same every day. The option of unlimited a la carte restaurants was good however these book up very quickly. We were able to sample the Thai, Italian & Sushi restaurants, all of which were great experiences. TIP - always make sure you get confirmation when booking a restaurant. We booked with the concierge for the Thai restaurant but when we arrived they said they did not have a booking for us, which was frustrating. I am vegan and found the buffet okay to navigate, lots of fried veg and rice/chips/bread - not really any protein options such as beans or tofu. You are asked when you arrive at the restaurant if you have any allergies, however this information will not be passed on to your server so I’m unsure the purpose of asking this. Seemed performative. Servers seemed unaware of the vegan diet, despite me presenting allergen cards for dairy and egg and explaining I don’t eat meat/fish, I was served food with cheese and found myself unable to trust the food I was being served. Our server at the Thai restaurant was knowledgeable about vegan diets although unfortunately I did not get his name, he was great. A negative experience was with the Bravo dinner - we were told there was a vegetarian/vegan menu available, however when we arrived this was not the case. I’m unsure what the benefit of lying to us about this was. I again informed the server of my dietary restrictions and this time was offered salmon. At this point I decided to leave as I had zero confidence or trust in the food I would be served. Pool wise - we enjoyed days at Kantenah, White Sands and the adult only pool. Plenty of beds available but Kantenah does fill up quickly. Make sure to leave a personal item out or your towels will be taken. Personally I enjoyed the adult only pool the best, and Jesus at the bar served up the nicest mango daiquiris, always with a smile and friendly attitude. Only qualm I have is that the music around the pool was too loud and often an incoherent mix of calming music to party tunes. Bizarre. Entertainment- underwhelming to say the least. Definitely caters to the younger children throughout the day and the evenings are lacklustre. Perhaps I have been spoilt for choice at previous AI resorts, but I found myself bored in the evenings which is a shame. Overall, a nice hotel with good amenities - food is good if you don’t have any dietary restrictions. Best for families with young children. Communication seems extremely lacking between different departments of the hotel - in particular reception and concierge. I’ve noted from multiple reviews that the towel issue we had is reoccurring- this definitely needs to be addressed. Sadly the aforementioned negative experiences have cast a shadow over what should have been a pleasant holiday.

  Apr 24, 2025