Grand Palladium Kantenah Resort & Spa All Inclusive

Great holiday for a family of 5 I was a bit unsure after reading some of the reviews of what to expect. We are a family of 5 ; 2 adults and 3 ch, 15, 13 & 8yo. We had 2 rooms, one king size bed and one one with 2 doubles and a sofa bed. It was one of our most enjoyable All Inclusive holidays. The pool at Kantenah is very deep throughout, me at 5ft 3in couldn't touch the floor which made it a little difficult at times when the smaller ones wanted to swim out, but this wasn't an issue as we soon found where the shallower areas were. The Kantenah pool also has the sperate child pool with slider which the 2 younger ones really enjoyed. The entertainment team were good with pool volleyball and water polo which me and my 16yo enjoyed as well as my husband. The bar here was busy but not everyone was served quickly, there were plenty of sunbeds although people were reserving them early to get the ones in the shade, as it was incredibly hot. The pool bar was great, this did get busier towards the end of the day from 4pm when groups tended to congregate around here. The pool at Whitesands was where we ended up spending most our time, didn't matter what time we got the golf buggy over we were always able to get sunbeds that were in the shade. a lot quieter here and the pool depth was better at about 4 1/2 ft with an incline for younger ones. There was sunbed service for drinks which was amazing and the entertainment team on Jesus and Kevin were fantastic. Really tried to get all ages involved, and also tried to remember everyone's names!! Whitesands pool has the big inflatable, this is NOT included within the AI and is payable at $15 for an hour or $25 for the whole day. We paid for 2 days for the 13yo and 8yo which they really enjoyed. The beach was great, plenty of sun loungers and easy access to the bar. Kayaks and paddle boarding as also really good. Entertainment team also did beach Olympics which was lots of fun! The Hacienda restaurant where we had breakfast was lovely, lots of variety, staff were helpful and quality of food was really good. Only negative was how long it took to get a cup of tea in the morning! We ate Portofino (Italian) which my 13yo loved, several times, the Brazilian which my 16yo loved and the Argentinian which my husband really enjoyed. You can only make reservations for the a la carte restaurants 2 days in advance do i would recommend you do this on the way to breakfast with concierge. There is also Bavaro Cabaret restaurant which is $35 pp (children under 12 free) which we ate in for my eldest's 16th Birthday. They really made the effort, balloons, sprinkles on the table and announced his birthday with cake and a bubble machine. this was an experience with the singing and dancing of scantily clad women and men which we all thought was a lot of fun and we all sang the night away! Recommend this definitely. We only did 1 excursion to swim with the dolphins, TUI wanted £109pp for this to include lunch, however we paid $262 for the 4 (I didn't go) direct with the tour guides at the hotel. this was a private transfer (rather than picking people up on the way as TUI would) and half the price, they didn't have lunch but that wasn't forth paying the extra amount for. Pictures though were $45 each which was steep, but that is how much they were for everyone. Overall a fantastic holiday, definitely recommend Premium on the flights, this helped with sleep for us all. Be mindful of the animals, there are iguanas everywhere as well as capibara and other monkey type animals, as well as flamingo's, all harmless and the kids loved looking at them. There are though snakes around, we saw 2 whilst we were there, which slithered away quickly into the jungle areas. You will though definitely need your mosquito repellent, it is humid and you will get eaten if you don't!! Great holiday, everyone had the best time!