To those that do not want a secluded resort, this is not for you. Palladium is about a 45 minute drive from the airport and the closest shops are at the Buceria which sell a little of everything.
We booked the vacation for the superior room but decided we would upgrade to the Royal Suites as this would ensure 18+ and a much quieter atmosphere. It took several efforts to have the front desk at the main lobby to understand we wanted to upgrade rooms, and all the front reception seemed to be in cranky moods Once the proper paperwork was completed we had to bring that over to the Royal Receptionist who took a very long time to provide us with the room key and any information we needed. I felt sorry for the bellboy as going to the 4th floor with no elevator was quite a task with the baggage and you could see him out of breath.
Once there I must say that the beach is barely a beach, it is completely filled with rock, very short and a lot of sea weed laying around. We knew that the water would not be pristine (if you want a better beach go to cancun for sure). Of all the days there only one had the flags showing the water to be swimable, that it was not too rough.
The food near the pool had its assortment of finger foods and the nachos were quite good as well as the cheeseburgers. We had tried all the restaurants as well as the buffet numerous times. The buffet has mainly the same food over and over, waiting for custom eggs or omelet would be about a 30 min wait so this was never an option for me. The service in all the restaurants was amazing, very friendly and fast. The waiters were the ones that made the food seem so much better.
Of the 3 restaurants and the Beach bbq, the beach bbq was great and the Mango Vallarta drink was awesome! We kept ordering them later on :)
Bamboo was an oriental themed restaurant with great atmosphere and food. The Mexican restaurant which I believe was Viva Mexico was great too, but the Italian one fell completely short. The food although presented beautifully tasted horrible and I would recommend going to all the other restaurants then this one.
The Royal rooms are nice, maid service is great, the main complaints are that the walls are very thin so hopefully you do not get anyone extremely loud next door. The jacuzzi tub took forever to fill and drain, as well it is recommended to check it as it probably has not been run or cleaned in some time and will have dirty jets.
Overall the trip was a success with nothing but sunshine and great drinks. In all honesty I probably would not go back to the hotel nor Puerto Vallarta as Cancun has a lot more to offer in terms of everything. I would say that the people were nicer in Puerto Vallarta, and the Sierra Madre tour with Tom was brilliant.
If the price is right and you just want to soak up some sun, this is the place for you, otherwise I would suggest going to one on the strip or better yet Cancun.