My friend and I travelled via First Choice to this All Inclusive resort. We went in November 2013 and liked it so much we went back again. The resort is actually 2 hotels, the Grand Palladium Lady Hamilton (GPLH) and the Grand Palladium Jamaica (GPJ). Each hotel has numerous buildings/blocks of rooms each with 3 floors and no lifts. Both hotels share the same facilities but as most of these are on the GPLH side I would recommend staying in that hotel if possible. Having said that the GPJ is often cheaper so if you don't mind a bit of extra walking you could save money. In the central area you have reception, the buffet restaurants and most of the A La Carte restaurants. Also an enormous swimming pool with a swim-up bar. The pools are surrounded by sunbeds and palapos and there was plenty of places to sit (although we were there in the low season). This is also where most of the daytime activities take place. The pool is split into 3 areas and two of these are about 4ft 6" deep so not so good if you aren't confident in the water or are short. The water is cool but lovely and clean. The pool is right next to the main beach which is sandy but there are also some hidden rocks in the water so you do need to wear water shoes. There are also 2 other beaches (coves) that are sandy and OK for snorkelling but again you need water shoes as there are sea urchins, some rocks and coral. The beaches are not the best I have come across in the Caribbean. Note – some days the sea was calm and flat and other days quite rough so make the most of any calm days for snorkelling. The resort is large but not huge. The resort is relatively flat unless you are going to the coves in which case there are steps involved. There are also 2 other smaller swimming pools, one was adults only with its own bar. They are about 5ft deep, up to my neck. But they were quieter and more relaxing. The rooms are large and were more than adequate for our needs. We had a huge jacuzzi bath and a separate shower. A flat screen TV showing a broad range of US and European stations. Every thing was kept clean and tidy for us. The entertainment was good overall. The entertainment team work very hard. There is an evening show in the theatre every night, mainly dancing but also other shows as well. We liked the fact that before the show there was always entertainment on in the large main bar that overlooks the pool and sea (usually a band or singer). This meant that you had something to entertain you between eating and the show. There is also Mary Lou's bar which is quieter, air conditioned and had a pianist most evenings playing relaxing music. This bar did great coffees. The bar staff make great cocktails although everyone had their own recipes it seemed and some would be stronger than others. We thought the food was great in the buffets. We tried the various a la cartes and thought they were OK but realised that the buffets gave us greater choice. The jerk chicken at the Poseidon restaurant and at the jerk hut on Sunset beach was great. There is a spa that you used to be able to use for free but now they charge $10 per day just for the jacuzzi and pool area so we didn't go there this trip. Massages and other treatments were expensive although the massage tables near the beach were offering massages for $30 for 30 minutes. The resort is not near any other resorts and so you need transport to get out and about or to book onto trips. We didn't do any this time as we have been to Jamaica several times before. We enjoyed ourselves and would consider returning.
