September 2019 Mexico Trip: Part 1
Yes, I know it’s already November, and I’m just now writing this. When you take a week off in September and another in October, all while having your clients go on vacations during this time, you get busy as a travel agent and don’t have time for anything else! But here’s my review (finally) on the Grand Palladium Costa Mujeres!
My mother and I stayed here for three nights, after I won a voucher in December to stay here. Oh the perks of being a travel agent. But because it was only a three night, I decided to add on to it with a FAM (familiarization) trip in Cozumel. You can find more on my Cozumel trip, next week!
We first arrived at the airport and got into our transfer we arranged with Lomas Travel. It took about 30 to 45 minutes to get to our destination from the airport. It was just us in the transfer vehicle, so we didn’t have to stop anywhere else!
When we got to the resort, our bags were taken for us and we were taken to check in. After checking in and being given our wristbands (which by the way, are your room key), our drink orders were taken: one mojito and one white wine. After our bags were put in a golf cart with us and we were taken to our room. We were shown where all the lights were and how to turn on the air conditioner and all of the other cool gadgets in our room.
Because it was late afternoon, lunch was closed and dinner wasn’t open yet. So we stayed in our room and sat on the balcony, right over the lagoon/river on property. There you could see the electric speedboats taking people places as an alternative to the golf carts. Once dinner time came around, we were off to the Indian place for a 5 course meal. Some of the best Indian food we had ever had. Mom couldn’t stop raving about the Chicken Soup. It was lightly flavored with yellow curry to make it even better.
After, we had wanted to go to the Sports Bar and watch the US Open, but we were so tired from our travels, we decided to just head to bed, but not before seeing a wonderful sunset!!!
When we got to the room, I tried connecting my phone to the smart TV to put on ESPN for the US Open match. It worked for the first ten minutes, and then ESPN kicked me off. Why? Can’t always use your TV subscriptions in other countries. Oh well. It was nice while it lasted!
The next morning we went to the buffet for breakfast and were unfortunately greeted by a mariachi band… at 8 in the morning… no thanks. There wasn’t really that much to eat for me. I’m pescatarian (vegetarian that eats fish) and basically I was able to eat the bread. So needless to say, I was really disappointed.
Next, I went to the lobby to meet the people who were supposed to take me to a site inspection of the property and of the other property on site: TRS Coral, an adults only property. Unfortunately, I had to wait a really long time and even though I went to meet the person at the Grand Palladium lobby like instructed, apparently I was supposed to meet at the TRS Coral first, and they had been wondering where I was. I didn’t like that no one was helping me after waiting a whole 30 minutes and then communication breaking down causing me to meet at the wrong place!
So, they called me a golf cart to take me to the TRS side and the golf driver was pretty nice and we had an interesting conversation. When I arrived, I had to wait another five minutes for the person to appear to give me a site inspection. Usually when there is a site inspection, I’m greeted by a sales manager of the property. Nope! I got greeted by one of the butlers. There are tons of butlers on the TRS side to help with any guest requests of the people staying there. SO, even though he was able to show me around, I didn’t really get any sales help at all or suggestions on how to present the property to my clients.
After, came the Grand Palladium site inspection. This time i was greeted by sales manager and he was so enthusiastic! By far one of the best site inspections I’ve ever had. He was even super excited to show me their Mexican cuisine restaurant. Because this is such a new property (opened in November 2018), they specifically sought out the two creators that worked with Pixar on the movie, Coco! Yes, this restaurant was designed by them!!! It was completely amazing!!! We went and ate there that night and it was really good.
After my site inspections, we went back to the room and had some lunch with room service. It wasn’t that great because it’s really just sandwiches, wraps, and salads on the menu. All American food, but if you’ve ever had American food while abroad anywhere, it’s terrible. It’s not like I search for American food while I travel, but I have had it before and it’s never the same or even close. Basically, don’t do it, not matter how much you miss your burger and fries.
Once we got some food in us, we decided to head over to the Rafa Nadal Centre! So beautiful! The red clay courts, the museum, the store, all just so beautiful! Though I didn’t have time to play on them, the President of our company, Dale, had been there the week before and decided to take a lesson from one of the pros as well. He said that is was really awesome and that the pros really knew their stuff!
After getting in our Nadal excitement, we went to the beach. It was absolutely beautiful! The beach was lines with some plants that hadn’t been demolished for the beach, but as you got closer to the ocean, the beach was completely clean and smooth. There also wasn’t any seaweed in the ocean in this area, so it was completely clear. I even decided to do some stand up paddle boarding (SUP) and was greeted by so many fish!
Later that night, we went to the Mexican restaurant there, and it was pretty good. We were a little disappointed just because the salsas and things that needed to be spicy, were most definitely not. They said they did this because not everyone can handle it. Oh well. It was still really great Mexican food. One thing that you need to understand about going to a restaurant in Mexico is that it’s more of the gourmet Mexican cuisine. it doesn’t mean that it isn’t authentic, but there is a difference between having gourmet Mexican food and the food you have at your home in Mexico. They had a little bit of the authentic home Mexican food, but it’s still mostly gourmet. One of the cool things about this restaurant, though, was that listed by each of the items on the menu, it told which state the dish is traditionally from in Mexico.
After, we went to bed, and the next day was a day of relaxing at the beach and by the pool! The drinks were strong and so good. They definitely created some interesting cocktails that were really good. The swim-up bar was really great and we did see some activities going on by the pool. One was dancing lessons. One of the POP! (or people of Palladium activities worker) made me dance with them… in front of everyone! At least there are no photos of this, so here’s an awesome photo of the drinks we had!
Overall, it was a great resort that is still very new and has some kinks to work out. Overall, I think that this place is really great for families and couples, but if you’re super picky like me, you might be disappointed. I’m sure with time, this resort will be even better, but for now, I’m glad I went to check it out, and I can’t wait to sell it to the clients that it’s right for, but it’s just not my personal travel style. And that’s okay because I know several people whom have been have thought it was just wonderful! ❤
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Adventuresome Nicole 