Verified traveler
January 9, 2024
We spent a few days at Palmaia in late December with our two young kids. Palmaia is part of the Sandos resort and has its own exclusive portion of the property. Palmaia is clearly more serene and calming than Sandos, even with plenty of families at the pool and restaurants. Palmaia’s rooms seem to be new and housekeeping was very good at keeping things clean for a tropic beach resort. We also liked how green the property was on the main road and the easy access to the beaches and pools. The kids pool was a highlight for our family, giving our kids plenty of space to splash and go down the water slides. Palmaia’s provided airport transportation and the front desk kept things smooth for us, although we noticed a few other rooms struggling to get back to the airport on time.
We chose Palmaia mainly because we thought it was a food destination, but we didn’t enjoy it as much as anticipated. Certainly the vegan options provide variety that other resorts lack, but overall we were underwhelmed. Drinks and food preparation are inconsistent, including salt and spiciness levels. Items on the menu were also mislabeled, especially at the Asian restaurant where terms like shoyu and omakase did not reflect what was served. Occasionally they will have fresh coconuts to drink from, but they do not have a way to fully open them. Our favorite place ended up being the taco truck, but that place consistently ran out of beers. A few execution details could make a big difference.