nic3456

Anyone stayed at one of the new partnership Grand Palladiums? I have a rewards stay coming up but haven’t found any info on if they recognize anything for Diamond.

sch_flyer

Curious as to what your experience was - also have a stay coming up.

sch_flyer

Since the OP never posted an update, figured I would share my experience at GP Costa Mujeres on an award stay. Diamond status was recognized, and we received a free upgrade to "Family Selection" (and a "VIP" bracelet). This may vary between properties, but multiple people mentioned the status during check-in.

iahphx

Glad to see this thread, as I just "discovered" on the Wyndham site the Grand Palladium on the Mayan Riviera. I have a Wyndham Earner card so I'm also a Diamond member. Seems like a pretty decent deal at 30,000 points (less the 10% Diamond discount). Not really sure what to expect, especially since my all-inclusive experience is limited to a couple of the new Hyatt brands. With Hyatt now making their all-inclusives relatively expensive on points, this would seem like a reasonable alternative. Would this be a somewhat comparable experience to Hyatt's "Dreams" properties? If you pay your 30,000 points, is it truly all-inclusive for 2 people? And is is decent?

sch_flyer

Grand Palladium resorts are reasonably similar to Dreams (and their sister TRS Hotels are similar to Secrets - adults only). The Costa Mujeres property has both attached, as well as another "hotel within a hotel", Family Selection, where we ended up staying as a Diamond upgrade (normally $100/day upcharge). The resort is new, modern, and gorgeous, with very well designed rooms, public spaces and restaurants. Service is generally really nice, albeit not very polished. Family Selection gets you butler service who were actually very useful for reservations and other requests. I would say those aspects are comparable to newer Hyatt Ziva/Zilara properties like Cap Cana.

It is 30k points for 2 adults truly all inclusive (-10% Earner Card discount). Note that if booking online, you need to have the full pre-discount amount or it throws an error. The only extra charge was some taxes (under $50 for the week). Of course, there are upcharges for the spa (ridiculously priced), and premium wines and liquor.

What falls short is food and beverage - like most all inclusives, it's just very mediocre, and is worse than what we've had at Dreams/Secrets/Ziva/Zilara. Liquor selection is severely limited even at the "premium bars." The specialty coffee shop was the only standout. TRS and Family Selection guests get access to more restaurants, bars, and pools, and we tried most offerings.

Personally, I wouldn't hesitate to return or try other GP properties, even with some of the cons I mentioned.

iahphx

Thanks for the report, sch_flyer. We were a little disappointed with the food/beverage at the Dreams Tulum. We're not food snobs, but we like good food, and are familiar with world cuisines. So we could go to the Mexican restaurant at the Dreams and really appreciate it, but then go to the French restaurant and laugh at their fairly feeble efforts. Same with the beverages. I'm not a cocktail aficianado, but the margarita I was served at the Dreams' pool bar was basically undrinkable. Fortunately, as a Hyatt Globalist, we had free access to their premium bar, and the drinks there were good (although the margarita was not as good as what was made for me at the Cancun Intercontinental executive lounge).

So we're familiar with the imperfections of all inclusive "cusine." I would say that, at the Hyatt Zoetry level, the food can be very good, and would highly recommend their Villa Rolandi property on Isla Mujeres (which is now, sadly, not as good a deal)

That said, at 27000 points, the Grand Palladium still sounds like an excellent deal for a nice winter vacation.