This is a Beautiful Resort

The resort has a lot going on with two pools by the water slides for families and a huge pool by the buffet where the swim up bar is located. The food was good and plentiful, the staff was amazing and so friendly. One important note: if you have mobility issues, consider very carefully that the steps into the pool, the a la carte, etc are not like ours with the first step down a good 12" high. Also, the resort requires a lot of walking and needs consideration if that is an issue for you. The lag [... read more]oon pool access was much easier but bring a sandwich frim the buffet if you stay there all day as there is bar access but you may or may not be able to buy food there. They were set up for a tour when we were there so it was not possible to buy anything.

Very disappointed

Upon arrival we did not get balcony room. The first room was dirty, shower was not clean, safe was not operational, The next day at finally 3pm we got our new room with balcony. Found the water temperature in the room Luke warm, after alerting staff a day later we had hot water. Remote control for air condition did not work. Next day it was replaced.. Resort states on web site there is 9 restaurants, actually only 3. Food at the the buffet breakfast and lunch were fairly good but nothing was [... read more] hot. Feral dogs wandered in and out of restaurants and the buffet area. Restaurant food other than fish was tough and generally barely warm. This was a all inclusive trip however at the three on site restaurants wine had to be paid for.. Beach area was quite good, however a lack of beachchairs and over head cabanas were lacking. On site washrooms often did not have running water or sporadically . This resort is listed as 4 star.. it was barely a one star and I think I am being generous

Would only rate this resort as average or even less than average

Resort is very poorly operated they basically have no rules. Drinking in pool with open glasses and empty glasses floating around the pool. They also allow people to eat in pool with garbage everywhere. Kids are allowed in pool bar area . Kids diving jumping in pool . This resort allows day passes and billiards. Of people come in creating very long lineups for food or food service and these people leave and create quite a mess.A/C in our room did not work very well. Would never consider going ba [... read more]ck to this resort. Also this resort allowed stray dogs in the restaurants-very dirty

Disappointing resort

We were quite disappointed with the resort. My two brothers and their wives had to ask for another room as their rooms were dirty! A lot of things did not work well..air conditioning, patio doors, tv. Our shower just dribbled and it took two days to get it fixed. Towels, etc not there when you needed them. The restaurants were not as advertised..basically only two a la carte restaurants and they were open only every other day. Wine was not included at the a la carte restaurant..we would take  [... read more]it along with us from the bar in our plastic cups. The grounds and buildings were run down and unkept. The entertainment was incredibly loud and disturbed us till 2:00 am. We would definitely not go back and would not recommend!!

Honest Review from Canadian Family

Travelled March 2025 with my husband, two kids ages 8 & 10 (one has autism) and my parents. Overall we had a great vacation. The resort is literally 5 minutes away from the airport, which was really good for the kids!! The big two negatives: Friday to Sunday the resort is overcrowded with locals. Pool is packed, buffet is packed and the staff cater to the locals, not the tourists. The other big thing is the lack of English speaking staff at this resort. I know we are in their country, but genera [... read more]lly resorts know basic English. This resort had a handful of staff that understood us. Majority didn’t even understand basic stuff like requesting water. Kids evening show was only Spanish as well. My autistic child only eats fries, and they were only served here at breakfast. After finding someone who spoke English they were very helpful and made him fries at every meal. The beach and sand is beautiful! The water is dark, but very sandy when you walk out. We had ocean view in building 700. It is in a perfect location. Steps to the pool and beach. Finally a shout out to Jose at the sports bar - he is fantastic!

Terrible experience

Grounds well kept, pools dirty, air conditioning not good, food very poor selection and cold, very dated resort, very hard working people, same music everyday buy the pool, entertainment bad, to many locals who are very rude, worst resort I have ever visited

Terrible experience

Grounds well kept, pools dirty, air conditioning not good, food very poor selection and cold, very dated resort, very hard working people, same music everyday buy the pool, entertainment bad, to many locals who are very rude, worst resort I have ever visited

Family oriented family

Overall am very satisfied with the sevice food , rooms, grounds, staff and entertainment. No complaints will recommend to family and friends. May return at a future date with family, for winter as spring is too hot for me. Would appreciate a gift voucher for future use.

Needs upkeep

Lack of beach chairs Spanish only entertainment Watered down alcohol Too many kids Cloudy pools Rooms clean with no insects. Staff very helpful but speak little to no English Dirty sand beach with limited walking

Playa blanca resort

Second time visiting Panama. First time in Rio Hato. Resort was made up of 4 story buildings spread out nicely. Beautiful beach that runs approx. 5 miles each way. Hotel itself seems to be in the process of being updated. Our friends got a fully updated room that was pretty and spacious. We were in an older room. Still functional buy not as appealing to the eye. This is where the good ends. If you're looking for a beach and just a place to sleep you'll be fine. Otherwise go next door to Rui, [... read more] Decameron or anywhere else. It seems to be a local spot. So it was rammed with Panaminians celebrating a holiday and columbians. When I say rammed, I'm talking 30 minute buffet waits, stockouts of food, no chairs or beds to lay it by pool or entertainment area/beach. Upon check in we learned very English is spoken here. Paid for a room with a parent balcony. Got a room with no balcony. No blankets. Given 1 towel in the room. Asked for someone to come fix safe but never happened. Not what I expect from a resort on TripAdvisor at that rating. Spent most of our holiday paying to be at the other resort.

Amazing resort

The grounds , hotel lobby and rooms were very clean. The food selections in the buffet and a la carte restaurants were amazing. There was never a day where we didn't enjoy our meals. The staff were very friendly especially Nemo. The only hiccups would be the water in shower was not always hot but they were quick to try and fix it. When trying to get customers to participate in activities especially during the evening entertainment, english speaking interpretation would have been greatly apprecia [... read more]ted. Most nights we did not understand. Overall enjoyed the trip and would go back

Amazing in its day.

I must say that the people who work this resort are truly amazing! Friendly, helpful, will do anything for you! The food at the Restaurants was Very good. The Buffet was so so it was, it was edible and it was OK. The room had a great bed very very comfortable. But it wasn’t until the fifth day that we actually had a very very clean room. I think if the owner would put a small amount of money back into the hotel, to bring it back to its glory days, it would be a beautiful place to spend your [... read more] holiday. I think at this point, I would definitely go back, but just for the people who work there.

Family Friendly Resort

The rooms in this hotel is very big! But the cleaners did not do a good job with cleaning the bathrooms and in the corners of the room. Even the staircase needed to be swept. But the staff is very friendly and attend to your needs

Beautiful Country

This resort was just ok, the majority of people staying there were locals and they were catered to by the staff. The nightly entertainment was only done in Spanish. The food at the a la carte restaurants was very good but the variety at the buffet could have been better and there was always a lineup to get in. The rooms were clean but the pool was littered with plastic drinking glasses and debris from nearby trees. Love Panama but don’t plan on going back to this resort.

Huge Disappointment

This place needs to be closed. The whole property is crumbling and falling apart. Had many complaints from the moment we arrived. No one speaks English. Lock broken on patio door. Shower was dirty and moldy. No hot water in the shower. No honeymoon upgrade. No fruitbasket. Food sucked. No one ever cleaning. Tables sat full up empty cups for hours. No fellow travelers. Only locals. Very disappointing. Not as shown as pictures. The only good thing I can say is that Jorge the Sunwing rep there did [... read more] try his best to help. The poor man was bombarded with unhappy people. Thankfully we moved next door to the Riu and got to salvage our honeymoon. Definitely would not recommend this resort to anyone.

Very Good!

I will start by saying that I was not impressed with having my flight changed from Montreal to Rio Hato with a stopover in Toronto; it was supposed to be a direct flight both ways. Ottawa was closer for me than Montreal but decided to leave from Montreal because of the direct flight which Sunwing later changed. I stayed two weeks at the Playa Blanca Resort. The ocean was a little rough and more rocky than sandy; the black sandy beach is very hot on the feet. So instead of hanging around at the b [... read more]each, they had the lagoon which was excellent and only a ten minute walk away. It included a restaurant, bar and bathrooms. The resort itself was very clean with large rooms, food was very good and the service was excellent; I would give them a five star for their service and the Panamanians were extremely nice. The nightly entertainment wasn't great; it seemed to be the same theme with dancing three nights in a row so I didn't go back. I would say that everyone enjoyed themselves; met a lot of nice people and the lagoon was fantastic. The resort is only about 10-15 minutes from the airport.

Beautiful

The resort was beautiful, especially the lagoon. Absolutely breath taking. The rooms were big, bright and very clean. Staff was friendly and efficient. We had a wonderful vacation. The airport was air conditioned which was a nice change compared to other locations.

Some what disappointing actually!

The staff did an excellent job of trying to look after the guests but there was a major language barrier happening. They had very few English speaking staff members. The front desk did an excellent job upon our arrival but after that we were hard pressed to find anyone who spoke English. All the tours / excursions offered were GREAT. Tour Guides did speak limited English but they tried very hard to help. The Hotel was a bit run down and major roof repaires were going on when we arrived. Not a p [... read more]romising sight to see on our arrival. This repair work also made a mess of the swimming pool too! For an all inclusive package it had very limited menu options and breakfast was exactly the same stuff, seven days a week. Fish and chicken were the main items offered. There were other onsite restaurants but their menus offered the same food, just prepared differently. We received better food from restaurants that were not in the resort. The beach was beautiful and clean all the time we were there. The scenery thru out the country was spectacular too!

Playa Blanca Resort, Rio Hato, Panama

Check-in was quick, all of the employees friendly. The hotel itself has beautiful well kept grounds, but the hotel needs to be updated , like painting. We had no water one day in the shower, and when it was on, the shower was cold and no pressure. House keeping was very inconsistent! Somedays not enough towels, no Kleenex, no toilet paper. The hallways were not cleaned! Food was okay. Again no consistency in type of food. Weekends were so busy, the buffet had line up to get in. Service at the  [... read more]buffet was also not up to par as other hotels. The Italian restaurant was our favourite. Beach is on the Pacific side, so water is rough. Entertainment was ok. Overall we would not go back.

Nice resort for a price

People were nice to us and many Panamanian people on vacation. Culture of this Latino people are a bit different then North Americans! The best for us was Lagoon the big pool of Central Americas. Nice service and not as many people like in the hotel.