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Cancun & Cozumel Hotel, Resort & Villa Reviews
Palladium Kantenah/Colonial Resort - Excellent Value 5 ***** 07/01/2003
Reviewers Rating:  Excellent
Stayed on the Kantenah side from June 8th-15th ,2003 and was afraid of the rainy season but got 7 days of sunny hot 36 degrees weather!!! This is an amazing place THE GOOD: 1. Food in general is top notch or course some stuff look strange and you don't touch but a resort that serves Gigantic prawns and smoke salmon in the buffets is good in my books. Desserts are very good: moist cakes, somewhat sweet but not overpowering. 2. Excellent cappuccinos and expressos (house wine is fair) 3. Genuinely friendly workers (this is sometimes hard to come by) 4. Huge pool with 4 "columned off" jacuzzis and a swim up bar. Smaller private pools in the spa or adult pool area- great if you want the feeling privacy. 5. The beach is nice with turquoise water 6. Plenty of lounges and papulas (pool and beach) 7. Snorkeling off the beach is ok but not the greatest 8. Steakhouse and Italian a la cartes were very good 9. Proximity to Tulum/Akumal/PDC/ Xel ha THE NOT SO GOOD (MINOR): 1. The Japanese a la carte was pretty bad despite a good show by the teppanyaki chef. Worst tempura I've tasted. The sashimi was so thinly slices - paper thin and the tuna looked BROWN. The negiri was 4 diff pieces to be shared by 8 people. The teppanyaki was not very authentic but they did give you enough to eat. 2. There is only one towel place which made it a pain to get if you use the beach or smaller pools 3. The main pool's water a little salty 4. Mini bar is stocked only every other day. 5. Beach is a bit rocky and corally in parts HINTS: 1. Email the resort ahead and request what you want. (eg King bed (very few rooms with it), Tub, 3rd floor, and an ocean view). I did and got everything I asked for!!!! 2. Grab international drinks from Hemingway and bring it to the cigar bar or the lobby instead of drinking the inferior booze. 3. If you want the best beach go to the Kantenah side as the sand is better and there are no rocks upon entering the water, just fine sand. Bonus is nobody is over there as everyone hovers in clusters around the beach near the bar/pool i.e. the Colonial side. 4. Snorkel early in the morning (approx. 8-10am) if the tides / wave are high as the water is calmer and visibility is better. 5. Book the a la cartes right away. Arrange your a la cartes based on the buffet themes you'd like to skip. Go for the later sittings as you get more pool time! 6. Do yourself a favor and use 45 SPF sunblock. The sun is brutal. Fifteen minutes and you are toast. 80% of the people had 4th degree burns. I used 45 SPF and still got slightly burnt - and I sat in the shade all the time!!! EXCURSIONS Off the Resort: You can do virtually any excursions on your Take the Collectivo white mini vans (red/orange striped) to almost anywhere as its cheap, convenient, efficient, safe and most, important air conditioned. SCUBA COZUMEL (full day) (15 Peso to PDC then 146 Peso (return) for Hydrofoil. It'll cost you about $60 for 2 dives. Dove at Santa Rosa Wall but current was too strong and we lost a few members as they got swept away. It was next to impossible to swim against the current as I swam to shelter in a cave your air disappears quickly. Really scary. Everyone had to surface and we realized that we had one missing party member. Search of the missing person took 20 mins. Everyone was freaked!!! They finally got spotted very far away. Used remaining air to do a quick 20 min dive on Chancanab Reef. Clear visibility, shallow dive 40-50 ft with baraccudas, lobster, moray eels and lots of other marine life. There is also a sunken vessel nearby. Second dive was Paraiso Reef. Extensive reef with lots of marine life. Very colourful and relaxing drift dive in a slow current. Nicer than Chancanab. TULUM (1/2 day)(15 Pesos * 15-20 min) 10 min walk from highway (no need to take the tram for 15 peso Entrance free 37 Peso/person and video camera is 30 Peso Bring bathing suit as there's a nice beach - you'll need it after the heat Lots of water is essential as it's stifling hot . You can listen in to all the other guides and take your time. There are signs with explanations of the major buildings. PLAYA Del CARMEN (1/2 day) (15 Pesos - 20-25 min) No brainer ride from the resort Collective drops you off near Main street - 5th Ave The beach is there and so are all the souvenir shops selling much of the same stuff. Most places have fixed prices so its good as you won't get ripped off as much as if you bought from a market or unmarked item. T-shirt stores abound at $8 US for most designs. A 980 litre of Kaluaha is $8.50 US but is only $8.00 at a COSTCO like superstore which is 10-15 walk from centro by the highway called Chauradu (big orange building). Good place to buy stuff at good prices (reg clothing/beach stuff/Tequila/groceries etc). YAL KU LAGOON (AKUMAL) (1/2 day) (10 Pesos - 5 min) Take Collectivo and say you want to get off at Akumal Caribe or the Playa in Akumal and walk 5 min into town then from town you must continue towards the lagoon via a road passing by lots of villa/condos (approx 15 min) Try to hitch a ride if any car passes by Entrance fee is 60 Peso into the park (8:30am -5:30pm) Go early in the morning no one is there plus visibility is better in the water Buy biodegradable sunblock at home - much cheaper and bring a T shirt to snorkel in otherwise you will burn. (can't use regular sunblock as it kills the fish) Bring a towel and water no need to rent lockers as it's pretty safe and low key there. If you choose, lockers are avail and showers 10 Pesos You can rent snorkel equip there or in Akumal town at the dive shop for 50 Peso (snorkel & mask) 40 more pesos for Fin for all day. Hint: bring some banana to feed the Sergaent Major (black stripe with yellow) fish. They go crazy (hundreds will eat off your hand) Lots of boulder and caverns under the lagoon. Very calm water. Its like you are snorkeling in a canyon/cave. Really cool and strange as it's fresh water. You will see huge parrot fish/angelfish/yellow or blue tangs/surgeon fish/gunts/sea bass and even a barracuda or turtle if you are lucky. You can venture further out toward the bay where the water meets the sea and gets saltier and there are normal reefs. The water is a little rougher there. Bonus same as Xel Ha but without all the tourist and Disneyland atmosphere. Great if you just want to do snorkeling without all the other stuff without the hoards of crowds of Xel ha (which cost $25 US to get in or $53 for all inclusive) Yal Ku Lagoon is still undiscovered so it was great!!!! To summarize this is an amazing resort and given the price it's even better. Excellent value for money and I would pay even more but I got a great deal last minute. Go away at the end of May or beginning of June or beginning of Dec as less people and better prices. If you have any question you can contact me at namabeer@hotmail.com
David
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