We’ll return - an honest review

Dreams Playa Bonita Panama was a great choice for our first visit to Panama. Its location close to Panama City allowed for quick and easy access to the local attractions. The resort staff are friendly and do everything possible to make your stay enjoyable. Rooms are tired and in need of renovation but were kept clean. Beds are very comfortable. Food was excellent. Pools look to be new and kept at a perfect temperature. We would suggest that more shade is needed around the pool and ocean.  [... read more] Music is played quite loud around the pool and would likely book “preferred” next time to access the quieter pool area. We saw sloths on the property and tiny monkeys at the end of the beach in the trees - so great! Note … Just be aware that you will have to travel almost 2 hours from the airport to this resort. The bus does stop for a short break and we were able to get cold drinks for the drive to the resort. We would return but hope that they are able to do some room updates.

Great Vacation

I was really concerned with all the negative reviews and even contemplated changing locations. I am glad I decided to give it a try. The resort is over an hour from the airport. The ride was okay and the driver even stopped for us to get some beers and go to the washroom. The check-in was easy. We had preferred club, and stayed at the adult only pool. It was easy getting a spot by the pool. Walked the beach and swam in the ocean. It was amazing seeing the tide going in and out. The fo [... read more]od was good. You will not starve. We had room service 3 times and ate at each of the specialty restaurants. The omelet station is only there on certain days, so make sure you get one while you can. The staff are friendly, the resort is dated but well cared for. My husband had trouble sleeping on the bed, but I found it okay. A vacation is what you make it. I am glad I didn't listen to all the negative reviews. One truth that must be stressed is the "Can't see ums". They have mosquito like bugs that are almost invisible and bite. I didn't get my first bite until days three. The bites are really itchy. Bring an after-bite cream or Benadryl for the itching. The resort does fumigate and provide little repellant wipes. I brought bug spray and spayed the sun beds. Overall, 7/10. Happy vacationing.

Lovely spot with great food and drink!

We spent a week here and we really enjoyed it. The staff were helpful, even climbing a tree to help take close-up photos of the sloths for us! The food was delicious and the drinks were good quality. There are lots of activities for those who like to keep active. Things move a bit slowly in the restaurants but that didn't bother us. The resort organized a fantastic outdoor dinner with live entertainment for Valentine's Day, even having Cupid go around for photos with everyone! A drawback was the [... read more] lack of shady areas to sit near the pools or beach in the extreme heat but the grounds are meticulously maintained and beautiful. I would highly recommend NOT flying into the Rio Hato airport if staying here as the drive when we arrived took three hours due to traffic that seems to always be flowing into Panama City!

This was an amazing resort

We thoroughly enjoyed this resort & can’t say enough great things about it. The large rooms were very clean & comfortable. The restaurants were great. Wonderful staff served great food and the buffet also had a nice variety. We spent a lot of time in the pool & beach. There is not enough shade & guests tend to save the chairs in the shade even with the signs saying not to do that. We noticed some chairs had not been used for hours so the staff should remove the towels more often. The hotel is  [... read more]2 1/2 hrs from the airport which means all the attractions were close so very worth the bus drive. The Panamazing staff that recommended & did the tours made them fun & very informative. We’ve already recommended this hotel to friends.

Happy Times

THIS PLACE HAS AN EXCELLENT LOCATION. WITH GREAT SERVICES, WITH GOOD GRUB. HAS FANTASTIC OUTTINGS AND WITH SOCIAL PERSONEL. GREAT PLACE TO STAY. THAT IS VERY SOCIAL AND A TON TO DO. HIGH CLENLINESS. WITH EXCELLENT DAILY CLEANING. FRIDGE IS ALWAYS FULL!

Nice Resort But...

This is a purposefully designed, nice size, but rather an old resort. The staff was very friendly and helpful, however we got an impression that there was not enough personnel (i.e. the room's mini bar was refilled sporadically, constant line-ups to the only bar by the pool area). The other problem was a bad quality audio system playing loud and squeaky music in crowded pool area. Our major disappointment was food; both the quality and the restaurants. Breakfast menu was very limited and offere [... read more]d food of poor quality. Although there are four restaurants there, the best one was opened only sporadically. This resort is advertised for its beach but the water is murky and the low tide renders it practically un-swimmable and unsafe with plenty of sharp rocks exposed. Another serious issue was the package misleading advertising. The description did not mentioned an almost three hours transfer from the remote Rio Hato airport. A good thing is that the resort is located only a few kilometers from Panama City. This allows for visiting the city and the Panama Canal.

Gorgeous Grounds

Great Location, close to Panama City. Great Pool and Beach Area. Staff were friendly and really accommodating. The Hotel was clean but aged slightly. Food was really good, only thing was not all the restaurants were open every day but that might have been due to the resort being empty. On our departure due to the airport not having any facilities, the staff made us a packed lunch to take on the bus, which was amazing of them.

Dreams Playa Bonita

The grounds were lovely the rooms were spacious. Cleaning staff was not consistent with giving out fresh towels and toiletries. This resort is very far from the airport especially during rush hour. The traffic during rush hr is like Toronto traffic. The restaurants were great but breakfast could have had more variety. Love the fact that you Don't need reservations for restaurants. The beach is rocky so water shoes are recommended. Pools were great. If you don't mind 2 or more hours to and from [... read more] the airport this is for you. Close to Panama City and Canel

Good resort

Nice grounds well keeped Rooms clean Food good but plain Drinks good Pools clean and well keeped Beach has strong tides and rocky Entertainment lacking People were amazing Need umbrellas not enough shade Airport drive took us 3 hours not happy

Beautiful resort

The staff really made our trip enjoyable. They were upmost respectable, kind and cirtious. From Elvis in the Coco Cafe to Elsal at the front desk and everyone in between. They were a hard working bunch. We thank you very much for making our stay at Dreams Playa Bonita a holiday to remember.

Great location!

Location was close enough to the city and canal for easy day trips, but felt like you were away from it all. Nice to hear the birds and see a sloth or two hanging out just outside of our room. Our room was very clean and hotel staff were very friendly. The food was good, no complaints! No reservations needed but as a result you may have to wait 10-15 minutes for a table if you go during peak times. On the bright side there is a bar a few steps away to get a drink while you wait.

Dreams Panama

This is a nice small resort for those who don't care for large sprawling properties. The grounds are well kept and common areas are clean. There is plenty of pool space and loungers for guests to enjoy. This beach is not a swimming beach. If you are a beach person, try the Caribbean side instead. Rooms are nice, all with balconies facing the water. The bathroom has 2 sinks, plenty of shelf space and a great rain shower. Food is ok. We liked the Italian restaurant best. Mario and Ismael a [... read more]re wonderful servers at the pool. The cappuccinos at the Coco Cafe were delicious. Not much nightly entertainment if you are looking for that. There is a disco but it isn't busy and doesn't open until 11pm.

Not a Dreams Calibre Resort

This resort has a lot of work to do to make it a Dreams calibre resort. Although the property is lovely and outside very well maintained the inside is not so great. Examples; rooms are kept clean on the surface but there is mold, dirt in the corners and under sinks, behind toilets and the clothe furnishing are rather stained and old. This is also true of the furnishing in the restaurants. I felt I had to place a towel down on the seat at times because of the dirt and stains. I am not a germapho [... read more]be but cleanliness is important. The staff are on the most part very friendly and helpful but there is clearly not enough of them to meet the demands of this very busy resort. We are very seasoned travellers and not too hard to please but these are basic things that need to be addressed. The thing lacking most is in the area of food. We are not overly picky but the food here was a huge problem!! Although the staff try hard they have not been taught proper food preparation.Examples; foods cooked in front of you like the omelet and pasta bar and burger grills were not always cooked thoroughly and due to the language barrier when you tried to explain to cook, things needed to cook a littler longer they did not understand and just went ahead and plated your under cooked food. The food at the buffets was always luke warm or cold and they were always running out of the basics and not replenishing these items unless asked to by multiple guests. The ala cart restaurants were better. Overall we had a fair stay here and glad we did not pay more than we did. The folks that paid more were far more unhappy; as this resort is advertised as a Dreams 4 star resort and I would struggle to give it a 3 star.

Disappointed

The grounds of this hotel are beautiful and well kept, there's not enough chairs outside and if you don't get up at 6am you're out of luck because all the chairs are reserved with towels, this is supposed to be monitored but its not. The preferred pool is not monitored either and anyone can just come in and use it which I witnessed being done. The room was beautiful the only complaint would be that out of the 7 days I was there 3 nights there was no turn down service. The entertainment is terrib [... read more]le for the money I spent at this resort there's usually really good shows everynight at a theatre, this resort had 4 shows out of the 7 nights which started at 8:30 and ended at 9 pm and then there was nothing to do until the disco opened at 11:30 . Now lets talk about the food , the buffets are half the size of any other resort that I've been to including other dreams ,very little selection, slow on filling empty containers, food was cold. Tried the a la carte's and it was hit and miss first night I had tuna that was dried out, 2 nd night I had spaghetti that was as if it was reheated, 3rd night ordered steak medium done got it very very rare. I booked this Dreams based on one that I had been to in Mexico and am very disappointed , hate to say this but I will not book at a dreams ever again. Every resort has a few quirks which I expect but this one was extremely disappointing and i'd be scared to spend that kind of money again and get a resort like this . This is the first time I ever felt I had to right a review come on guys this was totally unacceptable I only get to travel once a year and am sorry to say I wasted my money

Panama

We really enjoyed our stay at Dreams Playa Bonita Resort. The grounds are beautiful and the rooms are comfortable with ocean views. The resort is well laid out and never felt crowded, we were always able to get seats by the pool. LOVED the option of A La Carte dinners and the food was top notch!

Panama vacation

The hotel was in need of an update. The staff were friend and helpful. The gardens were very well kept. Much better than the hotel. The pools were not very clean. The food was very good but a bit tiring after 2 weeks.

Would not go back

Sadly this will be my first negative review. This resort is maybe a 2 star. We arrived to the longest check in line. Once I got to the front of the line they told me I had to go upstairs. When I got upstairs they told me to go down stairs again. Finally we got check in. We got to our room it was clean but no towels. That would become the norm of our stay. We asked for towels they gave us 3 for 4 people in the room. There were no towels by the pool we would go down at 8 am they would tell us towe [... read more]ls would arrive by 11am. This happened everyday. One day it was windy we were by the shingles blowing off the roof on to us and going in the pool. Services was slow but it was because there was enough staff. The staff that’s was there worked so hard but just couldn’t keep up. The beach is beautiful! There are lots of shell of the beach for the kids to pick up and look at. Sadly we won’t be going to any dreams resorts in the future.

Relaxing experience

The resort can be considered the lower end if Dreams Resorts. Althythe food was great, and staff service was great, some elements of the resort brings its overall rating down to 3.5 stars in my opinion. The beach was terrible unfortunately, polluted and infested with flees and mosquitoes. Room was spacious and everything was in working order, but cleanliness was questionable. Reception staff were not friendly, but concierge staff were excellent. I would defugo to another Dreams resort, bu [... read more]t definitely not this one again.

Small, nice but needs update.

Nice place but needs update. They should lower the price if they need more costumers; the hotel was almost empty therefore some services were affected. The two restaurants were nice & the food was well presented & good. Not much to do except eat, swim only in the pool; due to tides the ocean (Pacific) was not accessible for swimming. The staff were pleasant & willing to help.

Fantastic Week

We went here here because we knew the brand name and had stayed at the Dreams Tulum resort. Tho this does not match Dreams Tulum it is a very comfortable resort and i would rate it 3.5 stars. Staff are awesome, shout out to Juan of the restaurant staff and to all the staff around the pool area. Rooms very comfortable and clean, we had ground floor room. Beach is a nice walking beach when tide is out, not really a swimming beach but we knew that going. I would recommend the hotel to others.