Grand Palladium has unveiled a new “select” tier of hotels. Grand Palladium Select resorts are existing resorts that are a step above their typical Grand Palladium resorts, with some benefits noted in the press release and video release. The first resort will be Grand Palladium Select Costa Mujeres, opening this month.
It appears to bring the resorts closer to TRS & Family Selection levels, but it’s unclear how much Palladium will differentiate between them going forward.
In this post
What is the difference between Grand Palladium and Grand Palladium Select?
There is a long list of included benefits, but some of them like a la carte restaurants and room service from 11am-10:30pm are already included benefits at standard Grand Palladium resorts. The additional benefits that seem unique to Grand Palladium Select resorts are below:
- All rooms are junior suite or larger: Expect the rooms to be 500+ sq ft and have a large couch as well as a table and chairs rather than just a smaller hotel room with a chair or love seat.
- Grand Gelateria: Ice cream shop with a dozen flavors as well as an assortment of toppings to choose from
- One piece of laundry per guest per stay: Seems a little light, but can be good if you stain one of your favorite pieces of clothing.
- Access to all Grand Palladium resorts: Not fully sure if they consider TRS and Family Selection as different brands from Grand Palladium resorts. If they do consider them separate, there is no additional benefit here, but if they do not, this is a game changer as it would be the first time that all guests at a Grand Palladium have TRS and Family Selection amenities includes.
- Premium drinks offered at all hotel bars: Grand Palladium already offers fairly decent liquor brands, but this could mean they are upgrading all bars to have what TRS and Family Select bars have, such as Grey Goose, Don Julio Reposado, and Havana Club 7 year.
Which resorts are becoming Grand Palldium Select?
Grand Palladium has announced 4 resorts will receive Grand Palladium Select branding:
- Grand Palladium Select Palace Ibiza, beginning March 2025
- Grand Palladium Select Costa Mujeres, beginning January 2025
- Grand Palladium Select Bavaro, beginning December 2025
- Grand Palladium Select Riviera Maya, date unannounced
The Grand Palladium Riviera Maya resort, in addition to not having a date of switching over, may only apply to the Grand Palladium White Sand resort, as the other two (Grand Palladium Colonial and Grand Palladium Kantenah) do not have junior suites as the base room type. They could technically change that, as they kept the Family Selection rooms the same size as the Kantenah “deluxe” base room when that section opened, but the Family Selection base rooms are labeled as Junior Suites.
If the upgrade only applies to White Sand, it could mean fewer benefits at the other two resorts.
How is Grand Palladium Select different from Grand Palladium Family Selection?
If these amenities (and name) sound similar, it’s probably because it is along the lines of what their Family Selection product includes. While there are some additional upgrades to Family Selection (butler, kids goodie bag, 24 hour room service, etc.), the premium drinks at all hotel bars and access to all Grand Palladium resorts seem to negate much of the Family Selection benefits outside of the room amenities and room locations.
Once you are out of the room, it sounds like the benefits are fairly equal across both tiers. If that is the case, the value of the Family Selection rooms are not much more than the regular Select rooms. Additionally, there is only one a la carte breakfast restaurant at Grand Palladium Family Selection Costa Mujeres, The Nest, that is fairly small and could become overcrowded if Grand Palladium Select guests can access it. Today, Grand Palladium Select guests only have access to the buffet for breakfast, so an a la carte option could appeal to them.
Does Grand Palladium Select diminish TRS Coral benefits?
Specifically for the first resort, Grand Palladium Select Costa Mujeres, the TRS Coral was considered the upgraded area. While it sounds like TRS guests will gain the additional benefit of premium drinks at non-TRS bars, it could be negated with adults at Grand Palladium able to access the TRS pool area, which can already be very crowded during peak afternoons.
I look forward to seeing what TRS Coral guests see during their stays this year.
The takeaway
Grand Palladium has introduced a new Select tier that is a bit confusing with their Family Selection areas. User reports over the next several months will show if this is a true upgrade to the resort, or if it is mostly marketing fluff with some minor benefits to let them raise prices. As more information comes to light about Grand Palladium Select, I will update this post with the details.
