Grand Palladium Sicilia Resort & Spa

My husband and I stayed here at the end of June 2024 in a deluxe Bungalow which was cleaned and serviced to the highest standard every day. The food in the buffet restaurant was excellent every breakfast lunch and dinner. Plenty of choice for everyone. You can also book a meal in one of the 3 other restaurants but would advise booking these when you arrive as we found out as most of them were fully booked. You can do this at reception or download the app if you have a smart phone which gives you all the information that you need during your stay. The staff are so helpful and nothing too much trouble . There are excursions you can go on through the hotel or book direct with your travel operator. The swimming pools were all very well looked after and free towels which you can exchange when needed. And of course you have the beach on your doorstep but would advise some wet shoes to go into the water as it is a bit pebbly at first. If you are in one of the deluxe bungalows please take care as behind the entrance door there is your wardrobe and safe. Once the door is shut it is easy to stub your toe on the door stop which is difficult to see and nearly end up with a broken toe to my husbands misfortune. On another note when you check out at 12 noon the hotel take your all inclusive band from you. If your flight is not until evening you will have to pay for your drinks etc. I’ve never known this before in all inclusive. We didn’t arrive till midnight on Saturday evening and checked out at noon on Saturday. Overall an excellent stay and had a great holiday.

The hotel is very good. We stayed in the Signature area, which is really good. The room (3004) was very good, with a large comfortable bed. The room wasn't the largest we have stayed in, but was just enough, with very good storage. The room was very clean, and the staff were excellent in cleaning the room, and ensuring the mini-bar was replenished. The pool area was very good, with lots of unbeds available. The main issue we had was making bookings for the A La Carte restaurants - it's rather difficult. We were unable to make a reservation ourselves for the El Dorado restaurant (though did manage to get a booking through Customer Service). We did manage a couple of bookings in the Chang Thai, and two in the Portofino, but it was not easy. We were told when we checked in that reservations were not required in the Portofino, but that wasn't the case. It would probably be better if Signature guests were booked in to the restaurants, either at check-in or maybe the day after. Other than that, the hotel was very good, especially the staff serving drinks in the bars, and the waiters in the restaurants

The service we received during our one week stay at Grand Palladium was first class throughout the entire hotel from the restaurant’s and bars to client service's, where Silvio looked after us exceptionally well. We liked our ground floor deluxe double room located in the quieter signature level area, which was superbly comfortable and promptly made up each day, whilst we were having breakfast in the Sicania buffet restaurant where there was a plethora of choice. The location of this hotel is 👍 since it’s in close proximity to Cefalù which is a beautiful seaside town that is a short bus ride away. Our favourite a la carte restaurant was the El Dorado with excellent quality cuisine where Roberto gave us exceptional above and beyond service. It was so nice to have a much more relaxed dinner here away from the hustle and bustle of the buffet restaurant. Likewise, we had really nice lunches at the Portofino restaurant located near to the beach where Kristina looked after us really well. On the down side, we found the long wait checking in at the signature level reception less than convivial, which was mainly due to poor communication from the main reception area and the time taken by having to download the hotel app so we could access menus etc. For an elderly couple celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary, we found this stressful after a long 2.5 hr transfer from Catania airport.

This holiday had been boooed for 18 months, expecting a 5 star hotel. However, some 4 star hotels far exceeded this place. Food was basic and repetitive, gave several meals a miss because of this. There wasn’t any Sicilian delicious specialities available. Soft drinks was limited to water or Coke Zero. Forget getting a dumbed around the pool, guests are offered new towels at the end of each day, hence towels on sun beds from early morning yet all remained vacant. Some procedure needs to be put in place to stop this. The only good point was the staff in the dining area, all were professional, polite, helpful & efficient.