It has 42 rooms arranged on three levels. On average it is 50 m long by 30 m wide and 30 m high. It has a wide staircase on its eastern façade, but it also has complementary accesses on its western side and, in addition, two interior stairways that facilitate circulation between the rooms. These elements of internal communication are unusual in Mayan architecture and the technical solution of its vaulted arches, which rotate in oblique planes, has received the attention of several specialists. The amplitude of the chambers, their interior fittings and distribution have led to suggest that most of them were used for living purposes by the rulers and associated courtiers. The smaller chambers, located on levels 1 and 3, could have been used to store the various accessories used by the elite (large headdresses, ceremonial costumes, censers, staffs, parasols, etc.).

Because of its dimensions and complexity, the Palace of Santa Rosa Xtampak is unique, although comparable to other monumental constructions of elite residential character, such as the palaces of Sayil, Xkipché and Labná, or the west side of the Building of the Five Floors in Edzná.