Family Selection at Grand Palladium Vallarta Resort & Spa — Hotel in Nayarit

This was our first time staying at an all-inclusive, and the Family Selection at Grand Palladium Puerto Vallarta was a fantastic introduction.||The Resort & Food|The staff across the board were incredibly friendly and helpful. The food won’t blow your mind, but it’s consistently very good and there’s plenty of variety. The buffet usually had something for everyone—grilled meats, sushi, tacos—and there were nice touches like a churro/crepe bar and an ice cream station to finish things off.||The food can feel slightly repetitive after a few days, but in our 6-day stay, there was something new and enjoyable each time. We never got tired of it. Waiters were attentive and brought drinks (coffee, soda, beer, wine) right to your table, and the a la carte restaurants offered cocktails and some upgraded menu items for an extra charge—but we were happy with the included options.||Location & Activities|This was our first time staying north of Puerto Vallarta, and yes, it's more isolated—but if you're there for 5–6 days, there's plenty to do without leaving the resort. That said, a 20–30 min Uber ride to Sayulita is a great day trip.||The beach was excellent, with soft sand and clean water—much nicer than some areas closer to town. We especially loved the little manmade sea pool—perfect for kids. The resort grounds are beautifully maintained, with only minor signs of age (a few chipped tiles, older outlets, etc.), but nothing that affected the quality of our stay.||Family Perks|Our kids (8 and 10) were obsessed with the splash pad—it was their favorite part. We didn’t use the private pool or the family section pool much, but both looked nice.||The Family Selection concierge was great when we needed medicine—they helped get it delivered from a pharmacy. That extra support really mattered.||Room Drawbacks|We did have two complaints about the room:||Noise at Night – The Family Selection rooms are near the entertainment zone, and the nightly music was extremely loud, especially during the 10pm live shows. It went on until around midnight and thumped right into the room—not ideal for families with small kids. Thankfully we had a Bluetooth speaker we used as a white noise machine, but even that wasn’t enough at times.||Bathroom Layout – The glass sliding door between the bathroom and living area doesn’t fully close, and the door to the toilet area only goes about 80% to the floor. So… yeah. If someone’s in the living room or on the bed, you’re hearing everything. Not sure why hotels don’t prioritize privacy in bathrooms, but this setup wasn’t ideal.||Tips on Tipping & Shopping|This was our first all-inclusive, so we weren’t sure what tipping etiquette was. We left a few bucks at the buffet and around 100–200 pesos at dinners. Bartenders were super appreciative of even small tips and definitely gave quicker, stronger pours when they saw us coming.||Pro tip: Bring a bunch of $1s and $5s for tips. It goes a long way.||Also, bring whatever you think you’ll need. The on-site store is very expensive, and the nearest OXXO or Kiosko is about 10 minutes away. That includes snacks, medicine, or a forgotten charging cable—plan ahead.||Transportation Tip|Definitely use Uber to and from the airport. It was half the price of a taxi and about a quarter of the cost of a pre-arranged car service. Easy and reliable.||Final Thoughts|Overall, we had a wonderful stay. The beach, food, splash pad, and service all exceeded expectations. A few minor issues with noise and bathroom privacy aside, this was a perfect family vacation and a great intro to the all-inclusive experience.||We’d absolutely come back—with more earplugs and...

This resort is not too far from the airport and paying for a cab to get out of town is reasonable. The scenery surrounding the resort is stunning and they have a really scenic jungle area. The views from the adults pool are also fantastic! ||During our stay, the spa held a really nice deal from our group and we were assisted by Nadia and she was so sweet and checked in with us for the entire trip. The staff working in the Family Selection were some of the best customer service people around. ||The rooms, even with the upgrades were sub-par. Everyone in our group complained about the smell of the rooms. During our stay, multiple items in the room were broken or not functioning. The snack selection in the rooms was minimal. Grand Palladium also does not have free-standing bottles in the room like most other resort chains, so a heads up on that. I did love that Coors was offered in the mini-fridge. Overall, the rooms need some serious updating. ||The food is the saving grace of this resort! I've stayed at much more expensive resorts and this one by far had the best buffet food! The Mexican restaurant they offered was amazing! The sports bar was always dependable to grab a good late-night snack as well. The beer was good here, the house wine was alright. The liquor selection is pretty good, but you had to pay extra at a specific stand at a specific time if you like things like Coco Locos. There are no specialty drink menus at the bars. For tipping, I'd make sure you break your money down before you depart. I've never had an issue getting change for pesos or dollars before, but it was impossible to break down change for tipping at this resort. ||Every resort has upchargeses, but I was surprised at how often upcharges appeared. It seems like around every corner, there was some excuse to nickel and dime you. For example, a member of our group (we had a large group of friends stayng that were doing different things at different times) was told she had to pay the staff at the gate $5/person to leave. Nobody else experienced this on their excursions and it didn't leave me with a great feeling about this resort! ||Overall, I would rate this as an average experience. (The food and the staff saved it from being a 2 star). There are better resort chains out there that but this is a good,...

I recently had the opportunity to stay at Family Selection at Grand Palladium, and while the overall experience was in the best case decent, there were several aspects that left much to be desired.

Firstly, the cocktails offered at the hotel's bar were subpar at best. It was disappointing to find that they lacked genuine fruit ingredients, resulting in a less-than-satisfactory drinking experience.

The kids club, unfortunately, did not live up to expectations. Instead of engaging activities, the children were often found glued to the television, which defeated the purpose of having a dedicated space for them to play and interact. Also, if there are no kids at the time you arrive, they encourage you not to leave them.

In the Family Select package, the limited dining options proved to be a significant drawback. With only one restaurant available, the monotony of the menu quickly became apparent as the same dishes were offered every day. To access a variety of dining choices, guests were required to make the trek to another hotel, which could be inconvenient and time-consuming.

Lets talk about entertainment nights. Some nights was just a poor and boring bingo and some other the show was good.

Activities. Nobody let you know what are the activities or things you can do in the hotel....in our last day, we learnt that we can take boogie boards for the kids to play in the water.

Moreover, the service at the restaurants was consistently slow and inefficient. Dining sessions often stretched to 1.5 hours or more, and it was not uncommon for the appetizer to arrive after the main course. This lack of promptness significantly impacted the overall dining experience, leaving guests frustrated.

In conclusion, Family Selection at Grand Palladium: there are undeniable areas that call for improvement. From lackluster cocktails to uninspiring kids club activities and the inconvenience of accessing varied dining options, the overall value for the money spent falls short of expectations. With a bit of attention to these areas, the hotel could undoubtedly elevate its guest experience and garner a more...