Grand Palladium Colonial Resort and Spa

We have just returned from a 10-night stay at the Grand Palladium White Sand, travelling as a family of three.

The resort itself is beautiful. It is huge, immaculately maintained and feels more like a tropical nature reserve than a hotel. We loved walking through the mangroves, spotting iguanas, coatis, birds and other wildlife. The pools are enormous, never felt overcrowded and there were always plenty of places to relax.

The staff were excellent in most areas of the resort. Everyone worked incredibly hard, and we found the vast majority to be friendly, welcoming and helpful.

The à la carte restaurants were very good, with the teppanyaki being one of the highlights of our stay.

The biggest issue for us was the sargassum. We had originally booked a beachfront suite, but the smell from the seaweed on our balcony was extremely unpleasant. We appreciate that this is a natural issue and not something the hotel can control, and the staff worked tirelessly to clear the beaches. However, for anyone sensitive to smells, I would strongly recommend booking a room away from the beachfront. We moved to an inland suite, and it completely transformed our holiday. The food was good quality, but after several days we felt there wasn't enough variation in the lunch buffet menus, with many of the same dishes appearing each day. Unfortunately, all three of us suffered upset stomachs at different points during the holiday. Whether this was simply a change in diet or something else, we can't say, but it's worth packing medication with you. We were surprised to find that Imodium in the hotel shop was around $38, so it's much cheaper to bring some from home just in case.

Every evening we managed to book a restaurant on the complex. The Argentinian, Japanese and we did the weekly Bravo Show were the best nights. There is no evening buffet at white sands, you have to go to Colonial or book a restaurant.

One disappointment that wasn't the hotel's fault was our transfer home. TUI failed to organise our airport transfer, leaving us having to arrange and pay for a taxi ourselves at the last minute when they failed to collect us. This was frustrating at the end of an otherwise enjoyable holiday. The concierge in the White Sands was absolutely great, helping us with setting bills during checkout and the last minute Taxi that we needed.

Despite these issues, we made some wonderful memories here. The wildlife, beautiful grounds, fantastic pools and relaxing atmosphere made it a holiday we'll remember fondly.

We had a great server, Carlos Maciel at the beach. I will miss him!! Such a great, polite, hard worker. He our vacation experience such much more! Great time my feiend