As you’ve probably noticed lately, we’ve been visiting the same resort in Mexico. (Actually, we go to different ones, but the hotel chain is the same). I was answering the same questions (What kind of resort it was? How did you like it there? Can you recommend going there?, etc..) I realized that it was time to write it all down.
We have been traveling to many different inclusive resorts for many years, both in Mexico and in the Dominican Republic. Of course we haven’t been in all of them, but we saw enough for the opportunity to compare. Recently, we have indeed been visiting the same hotel chain. A not very well-known chain called the Palace Resorts (www.palaceresorts.com).
A few years ago we were intercepted by someone at the Cancun airport, and in an exchange for free tickets to some water park, they sent us to what we thought was another timeshare presentation. The presentation turned out to have nothing in common with traditional timeshares. The hotel simply offered us to pre-pay for future trips at the very serious discount and give us all sorts of additional bonuses (more on that later). We liked the resort and the price so we bought three future trips and became members of their “Palace Elite Club”.
We used our pre-paid trips and realized that if we compare it to other all inclusive resorts where we have been before, we liked our time at Palace Resorts much more.
On the last trip, we went to another presentation and the resort offered to switch us to a slightly different format of club membership. Instead of fully prepaying future travel at a fixed price, we will simply get a 20%-60% discount off the lowest price listed on expedia.com, booking.com or any other travel site for the same dates.
- What are Palace Resorts
- Resorts
- Beach Palace
- Playacar Palace
- Cozumel Palace
- Moon Palace
- Sunrise
- Nizuc
- The Grand
- What is the difference?
- Prices and membership perks
- Can I go there too?
What are Palace Resorts.
Palace resorts is a small chain of 11 hotels. Ten of them are located in Mexico, one in Jamaica and another one is under construction in the Dominican Republic. Of the nine Mexican hotels, three are adults-only and six are family-friendly. We haven’t been in “adults only” resorts yet, so for now we can only tell about family friendly ones.
If you look at the map, you can see that in the Cancun area, hotels are located in two places:
1. Cancun Area
Beach Palace (family), Sun Palace (Adults Only) and LeBlanc (Ultra Luxury Adults only) are located in the Hotel Zone
Moon Palace (Sunrise, Nuzuc and The Grand) (all family) is located at the lagoon below the Cancun.
2. Rivera Maya Area
Playacar Palace (family) is located at Playa del Carmen
Cozumel Palace (family) is located at the island of Cozumel.
3. Other Locations
LeBlanc Los Cabos (Ultra Luxury Adults only) located in Los Cabos
Moon Palace Jamaica (family) – located in Ocho Rios, Jamaica
Moon Palace Punta Cana (family) – Punta Cana, Dominican Republic (will be open in 2023)
Located in the Cancun’s Hotel Zone (Zona Hotelera)
Beach Palace
- 285 rooms
- 4 restaurants (Buffet, Asian, Italian, Steak/Grill), 1 snack bar – pizzeria, 1 coffee shop, 3 Bars (one of them is on the roof with a breathtaking view of the entire Hotel Zone)
Advantages:
The main attraction of the Beach Palace is undoubtedly its beach. Due to its location in the Hotel Zone, the resort has white sand and crystal clear turquoise water.
The location in the Hotel Zone also allows you to leave the hotel and go for a walk in the surrounding area, where there are many shopping and entertainment centers.
There’s also a very nice rooftop bar overlooking the sea and the Hotel Zone.
Disadvantages:
Smaller size (compared to Moon Palace), only one pool, some cramped and outdated infrastructure.
The hotel is more focused on parties than on children.
Quite often the sea has waves.
Playacar Palace
- 200 rooms
- 4 restaurants (Buffet, Asian, Italian, Mexican), 1 snack bar – pizzeria, 3 Bars
Advantages:
Beach. Nice sand and clear water. (Although, not as good as Beach Palace)
The hotel is located right next to the ferry to Cozumel Island and at the very beginning of Quinta Avenida (5th Avenue). Quinta Avenida is a 5 miles long pedestrian street along the sea filled with shops, restaurants, shopping and entertainment centers.
Disadvantages:
Smaller size (compared to Moon Palace) size, only one pool, some cramped and outdated infrastructure.
No Coffee shop.
Quite often the sea has waves and seaweed.
Located in Playa Del Carmen, right next to the ferry to the island of Cozumel.
Located on the island of Cozumel.
Cozumel Palace
- 170 rooms
- 5 restaurants – (Buffet, Italian, Mexican, Asian, Indian), 2 Bars
Advantages:
Snorkeling. The hotel does not have a sandy beach, but going down the stairs to the sea you will immediately find yourself in the fabulous kingdom of fish and corals.
Location is on the island of Cozumel with all its advantages and disadvantages. Cozumel is a cruise ship island, filled with one-day entertainments for cruisers.
Disadvantages:
Smaller size (compared to Moon Palace), only one pool, some cramped and outdated infrastructure.
Lack of sandy beach.
Lack of coffee shop and extra eateries
All cruise entertainment on the island has sky-high prices
Moon palace
The other three hotels (Nizuc, Sunrise and The Grand) are located next to each other in the lagoon near Cancun. All three hotels have the common name Moon Palace. Despite the fact that each of these three hotels is technically independent and has its own lobby, restaurants, swimming pools, beaches, evening shows, children’s rooms and other entertainment, the hotels are located next to each other and share a common area.
Nizuc and Sunrise are completely equal. Guests of Nizuc and Sunrise have 100% free access to each other and can use restaurants, swimming pools and all other infrastructure without any restrictions. Guests of Nizuc and Sunrise can go for a walk around The Grand, but the restaurants, water park and all other infrastructure located there are not available to them.
Guests of The Grand At Moon Palace have completely free access to all three resorts and can use everything that is on the territory of any of them without restrictions.
Sunrise
1100 rooms
8 restaurants – (Buffet, Asian, Italian, Steakhouse, Indian, Seafood, Upscale Italian, Upscale Mexican), 3 eateries (grill and two pizzerias), 1 coffee shop, 6 Bars
Nizuc
1000 rooms
6 restaurants (Buffet, Asian, Italian, Brazilian steakhouse, Seafood), 3 eateries (grill, pizzeria and burger shop), 1 coffee shop, 4 Bars
Nizuc and Sunrise guests have free access to each other, which gives a total of 14 restaurants, 10 bars, 6 snack bars/eateries and 2 coffee shops
The Grand at Moon Palace
- 1300 rooms
- 10 restaurants – Buffet, Mexican, Peruvian, Japanese, Seafood, Lebanese, Casual Italian, Upscale Italian, Upscale Steakhouse, Upscale French (adults only (no, it doesn’t have cabaret dancers, just Michelin Star meals kids will not understand and/or appreciate)).
- 5 eateries – grill, pizzeria, burger, tacos, ceviche.
- 1 coffee shop
- 11 Bars (including the speakeasy bar hidden in the wall)
- A full-fledged water park with a bunch of slides and water attractions, plus an arcade and indoor playground..
Guests of The Grand At Moon Palace have free access to Nizuc and Sunrise, which gives a total of 24 restaurants, 21 bars, 11 snack bars/eateries and 3 coffee shops.
Advantages and Disadvantages:
The main and only drawback of the entire Moon Palace complex is the beach and the sea. The hotel is located in a lagoon where seaweed drifts. The hotel constantly cleans the sand on the beach, but the algae floats in the water and the bottom is covered with silt. You can swim in the sea, but this is not the crystal clear blue water that everyone is used to seeing in the Caribbean resorts.
Realizing the unfortunate situation with the beach and water, the hotel is trying to compensate for this with everything else. There are many pools and they are just huge. There are enough sun beds. The staff will bring anything you ask for directly to your lounge
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Nizuc and Sunrise are very similar. Both have several dozen 3-story buildings located around huge areas with swimming pools, bars, restaurants and the main building. The differences are minimal. The rooms at Nizuc are slightly larger than at Sunrise. Sunrise rooms have hammocks on balconies. Sunrise has a baby/children’s pool with shallow slides. Nizuc has one large slide that you can ride (suitable for kids 6 years and older).
The Grand is positioned as the most luxurious hotel. It is the largest both in terms of territory and the number of infrastructure facilities. It does not have a central square and its main building is located away from the sea. Pools, bars, snack bars and some restaurants are distributed throughout the territory. In addition, The Grand has (accessible only to guests of the hotel): a water park, an arcade, a bowling alley, a spa and a special area for adults only. All of this affects the price. The price of a trip to Nizuc or Sunrise is the same; it will be over 30% more expensive to stay at The Grand.
So what is the difference from other all Inclusive resorts?
What distinguishes Palace Resorts from other chains like Riu, ClubMed, Iberostar, Barcelo, Melia/Paradisus, Dreams, Royalton and others. The most important thing is the service and the lack of any complications. Everything has been thought out and done for the maximum convenience of the guests.
They have a very friendly and helpful staff. If you are sitting on a lounge by the pool suddenly itching to drink cappuccino, then tell this to the girl who delivers drinks from the bar. She will nod and somehow arrange for it to be delivered from a coffee shop across the resort. If the bartender runs out of watermelon juice for a rare cocktail you ordered, he will send someone to run to a nearby restaurant for a watermelon, after which you will receive a cocktail with freshly squeezed juice. Sun loungers and umbrellas are always available. (No need to get up at 6 am and reserve lounges (Hi Riu and Royalton)). The staff instantly tidies up empty sunbeds. Towels can be taken and thrown anywhere without restriction. (No cards to exchange for towels and then return them to return cards (Hi Club Med)). You can eat at any time that is convenient for you. All restaurants are closed for 30 minutes between breakfast and lunch and between lunch and dinner. Those 30 minute breaks are specifically set at different times. That is, even between breakfast and lunch at any given time, only one of the restaurants will be closed. This allows you to relax at your own schedule, as it is convenient for you and not to adjust to the schedule of the resort. (Hi Club Med, where they feed you at strictly defined hours and if you are late for breakfast, then sit hungry for 2 hours before lunch). The resorts have a very handy phone application. You can check the schedule of everything they have – evening shows and daytime entertainment (like feeding iguanas). There is a map of the resort and a menu of all restaurants and their opening hours. You can also order food and all other services directly from the application.
About prices and what the membership in the Palace Elite Club gives.
As I said before, the main club bonus is a 20% discount from the expedia price.
Example:Spring Break. Week from 3 to 10 April 2021. Two adults and two children.
Nizuc / Sunrise. The cheapest option is Deluxe Room, Garden View.
Expedia: $3125
Price for the same room on the same dates for the Palace Elite Club. – $2524
It turns out ~ $650 savings.
Prices in Sunrise/Nizuc/Beach Palace/Playcar Palace are approximately the same.
The Grand:
Expedia: $5710
Elite Member’s Price: $3374
It turns out you will save $2330
In addition, membership in the Palace Elite Club gives:
Club members are brought from and to the airport free of charge.
Possibility to travel to other hotels for free. Buses run daily between Moon Palace & Beach/Sun Palace and between Moon Palace and Playacar Palace. Thus, living in Moon Palace, you can take a bus and go for a day to swim in blue water at Beach Palace. Or go to Playacar Palace and take a walk along Fifth Avenue and, again, swim in the clear sea. All these trips are free for club members. If you live at The Grand, then members have unlimited access to the spa, which includes several saunas, relaxation rooms, pools and more. All sorts of additional pleasant things like more conveniently located rooms, slightly better alcohol in the bar in the room, a little better shampoos in the bathroom, and so on.
Cool! I want there too!
And the last thing, for those who have read right up to here. We can share our discount weeks with friends and family. At the same time, friends and relatives who use our week receive all the same benefits that club members receive, including free trip to/from the airport and to other hotels.
So if you want to go to Palace Resorts and save a few hundred dollars at the same time, then write/call us.