Grand Palladium Lady Hamilton: You get what you pay for
by rnew06
I visited the Grand Palladium Lady Hamilton at the end of March 2011 and all I can say is you get what you pay for!
If you are looking for a cheap no extra’s vacation in a beautiful location then Grand Palladium might be what you are looking for but if you want anything extra, don’t waste your money or time. Let me start off by saying I have traveled to many All-inclusive clubs all over the Caribbean so I know what to expect and what not to expect from an all-inclusive vacation.
Let’s start with the good;
The location is beautiful, the food and drink are as good as you can expect from an all-inclusive, and some of the employees such as Marlin from the bell staff, Dave from the adult pool, Holness from the breakfast buffet, and Judine from the front desk really went out of their way to make my stay pleasurable.
As for the bad, that would be everything else!
Let’s start with the management….”No, I’m sorry sir we can’t do that” should be printed on a banner at the entrance to the resort because whatever you asked for, that was the answer you would receive. I wanted to break a ten dollar bill to tip the staff and I was told, ”No, I’m sorry sir we can’t do that”. I asked if they could put extra water in my mini bar instead of soda and I was told, ”No, I’m sorry sir we can’t do that”.
Every restaurant requires long pants so if you want to eat dinner in shorts it must be at the buffet. If you are on your way to the beach and you want to stop at the buffet for breakfast don’t even think of wearing a tank top because you will not be allowed in the doors. Speaking of restaurants if you are not a VIP guest or belong to their travel club then you cannot make dinner reservations, it works on a first come, first serve basis. On an average night you could be waiting 1 to 2 hours for a table unless you eat at 5pm. If you are not feeling well or got too much sun and don’t want to go to dinner it’s too bad. There is no room service and you cannot take food out of the buffet or restaurants no matter what you tell them.
As for the property it as beautiful as I previous stated but it is large and spread out. Be ready to walk to everything and not a short walk either, however they do have golf cart shuttles but you will wait 10 to 30 minutes for it to arrive to pick you up. The location of the property could be a bit of a problem if you want to go on excursions. It takes at least 45 minutes to get anywhere and that’s if there is no traffic. The property is around 5 years old but in need of serious maintenance from minor light bulbs not being replaced to uneven walkways that are unlit and possibly dangerous. As for the rooms, the beds are hard as a rock and the pillows are flat. Our air conditioner kept the room just barely comfortable at night but the room was hot during the day. I asked other guests about their air conditioning and most of them had the same complaint.
To sum up this review the Grand Palladium is defiantly not a 5 star resort as they claim. I would give it 2 ½ to 3 stars at best. I have read some reviews where people claim that this is a 5 star resort but it is obvious that these people have not been to a 5 star resort before. In short if you want a cheap vacations and have no expectations then the Grand Palladium maybe for you. However if you want a bit more out of your vacation than pick another resort even if it means paying a bit more, you will be happy you did.
