Riu Playa Blanca: Beautiful resort

Grounds were well maintained and beautiful Hotel room was well appointed. Unfortunately towels were not replaced each day as requested. Food left a lot to be desired. It was served cold. Lots of duplicates and leftovers served. If meal was served for dinner at night it was also served at lunch the next day. I had asked for gluten free food and unfortunately there was very little in gluten free. Although I was told that sauces on all food was ok for me, it was not. Grilled meats were over c [... read more]ooked, tough and inedible. Pool was well maintained. Specialty restaurants - Steakhouse was delicious. Entertainment was geared to kids. There was virtually no entertainment geared to adults. Excursions were fabulous especially Panama City and Panama Canal. A must see.

Riu Playa Blanca: Terrible resort

The beach was not pleasant to walk All pools were very dirty There was no green space to walk around the hotel they would not leave shampoo in the room and we had to call three time to get a small shampoo

Grand Decameron Panama: More like a cuba 4*

Room was outdated and barely functional. No lock sliding door, poorly working air conditioner, cold water, no drinks in fridge, lamp didn’t work properly the one that was there, and wifi didn’t work in rooms as stated. I’ve been to a lot of resorts and this one was lacking in staff and customer service. They had a lot of rules not stated anywhere that felt like they were making things up and manipulating guests…not only my crew that experienced. I feel the staff are disgruntled and lack  [... read more]personality except for a handful here and there and may be affected by bad management as a run in w management would make me feel this way. I think the resort is too big for the amenities they have including far too few chairs around the pools. Communication was difficult as w many resorts but this one was worse still. On the bright side, the food was mostly good, at least, good food wasn’t hard to find. Also, the beach and pool were nice if you could find a chair getting up at 6am (as long as management didn’t take your towels away). And the weather was great. When you get down to it, that’s the reason I’m there and to learn a little about the area which I was able to do with excursions off resort.

Riu Playa Blanca: Great Resort

This was a very nice and clean resort. Food and drinks were excellent. Unfortunately, it felt like the resort was over capacity during the time of our stay. All pools were very congested. Large lines in Buffett restaurant as well as bars and a La carts. The resort workers worked extremely hard and tried to keep up and should be commended for their efforts. An amazing resort but way too crowded.

Riu Playa Blanca: Amazing resort

This trip was fabulous! The resort is beautiful, the staff are so friendly and the entertainment was lovely. Our room had a couple of issues (a broken handle on the dresser, a spout broke on the bar) but the staff fixed it immediately. The food is pretty good - hard to keep buffet food hot, but there was a great variety. The a la carte restaurants do not use a reservation system which made for a couple of disappointing nights. The beach is beautiful - but gets super hot during the day - wate [... read more]r shoes or sandals are a must. I would definitely go again and recommend it to family and friends.

Grand Decameron Panama: Equivalent to low budget Cuba resort

We booked at Royal Decameron Playa Blanca 4-star location, for a 10-night stay, at $1850 per person double occupancy. I will admit that I was really looking forward to this trip…!!!! We arrived to the hotel (only 7 minutes from airport) in the area of 4:15pm. Check-in was quick and easy. They give you an actual “key” tied to a shoestring, and only have 1 per room available …. CLERK: For your first night, go to the buffet dinner at 6:30 with the Canada group. Your room is here (a [... read more]s he circles on the map) and the restaurant is here (circles again). Call extension 8000 and we will send a transport to take you. ME: Can we not walk?? CLERK: Today you walk, tomorrow you will call me. We quickly found out why …. The complete resort is on a 30-ish degree slope, with very few stairs; the rest of the walkways are incline paths, with 8-10-inch culverts on both sides (for the rain to run down), some with exposed electrical wires sticking out of them as well as extremely loose insert covers where the culverts intersect the paths. The room refrigerator is empty, with a sign on it indicating that they DO NOT fill refrigerators, that it is available for whatever we decide to purchase and bring back to our rooms. Considering that Panama is “between 7 and 10 degrees north of the equator”, one would think that they would supply AT LEAST water in an “all-inclusive”! Walking to dinner and pool was all downhill, but coming back to the room almost killed this girl ( but I did it!! TWICE!! ) Note that we arrived for dinner as soon as buffet opened as neither one of us had eaten all day, and ALL dishes were cold …. Not warm, but COLD!! 😳 … same for breakfast the next morning. For both meals, we had to chase down waiters for water/drinks, which we received when we were finished eating. The room has 2 double beds and is extremely dated and could use major renos … no big deal at first sight…. The patio door and window next to door do not lock.. however, they have it plastered litterally everywhere that they are not responsible for lost/stolen items. Common practice, however, we noticed hard emphasis on this point.. much more than anywhere we've ever been, and we've both been to a "few" places. When the putrid odor of urine in the washroom was mentioned to the employee who asked how everything was so far, we were answered that often animals will urinate on the outside of the building and it will make its way inside…. There was no urine smell outside however, and we were on the 2nd floor. 🤷🏻‍♀️ We kept saying we would make the best of it…. We then noticed that the shower leaked from everywhere except from the shower HEAD, the shower door did not close properly, therefore leaving LOTS of water on the floor, no matter how hard you tried to avoid it. Only the low setting on the blow dryer worked … electrical short?? The air conditioning after running all night, managed to bring the temperature down to 26 degrees in the room. After 20 hours, I had my son get online booking us in at the RIU Playa Blanca just up the street, paying out of pocket for the stay, in the amount of $2720 for 9 nights. We were at their check-in counter 22 hours after arriving in Panama. Once unpacked and installed at the RIU ( where I must add, everything exceeded expectations), I went online and looked at photos of the Royal Decameron that prompted me to book there in the first place …. In my son’s words, it only cost $2700 for me to know how Photoshop works 😢😢

Riu Playa Blanca: Great resort

Hotel was very nice..clean and friendly staff. Never line ups except @A la carts because you didn't need reservations. Food was fabulous in the buffet dinning.. Always something different and lots for the kiddies.. Would have been nice to have servers at the beach & pools but very few line ups at the bars. Drinks were made to perfection.. So not a huge minus.. Our room was great with ocean views and green belt.Always clean ,no complaints..Grounds were beautiful, all flowers were starting [... read more] to bloom..Palm trees matured more then what pics show.. Over all I would recommend this resort .Won't be disappointed..

Riu Playa Blanca: Disappointed with our view

We paid for garden view and essentially got a swamp view. We couldn’t see the garden at all. Our room was facing the swamp outside the resort grounds. We asked to change our room but were told to wait until Monday for availability and we weren’t offered any other options to switch our room. We were very disappointed.

Riu Playa Blanca: Needs Improvement

The hotel room was not very clean. We had to ask for towels on more than one occasion. Telephone did not work. Shower handle to turn water on and off came off in my hand. Shower water was either freezing cold or scalding hot. In terms of a la carte, avoid the steakhouse, waited 1.5 hours for food and it was inedible. Asian and Italian restaurants were excellent. Buffet was very good.

Grand Decameron Panama: Excellent resort

Customer service was amazing. The cleaning of the resort never stopped. The place was so clean from the beaches to the pools to the grounds and everything in between. The food was amazing. I do not have one complaint about this beautiful piece of paradise

Grand Decameron Panama: We love this resort!

We truely enjoy this resort! It is one of our favorite places. We have been here several times. The resort is beautiful and thecfood is great. We have never had an issue with the service either. There is a bit of an issue with it being an upper and lower area but we just booked an oceanview this time so we were on the level mostly where there is all the amenities and the pools and beach. I really love this resort and the weather is very hot. Lovely time every time. Also, the airpirt is 4 mins  [... read more]on the bus!!

Grand Decameron Panama: Enjoyable resort

This was our first time in Panama and we thoroughly enjoyed it. The hotel was great. We loved the buffet food variety at breakfast lunch and dinner. The grounds were very well kept. The staff were attentive and worked hard. We had just a couple issues which we brought to their attention and they dealt with it professionally and promptly. I cannot give this hotel a bad review at all. We were both very pleased and would return again.

Riu Playa Blanca: Great resort

This resort is beautiful. The grounds are well kept, staff are constantly cleaning the public areas and rooms. There it’s plenty of food with choices for every palate. Staff are happy to help if required and to fill special requests, such as birthday cakes or other celebrations.

Riu Playa Blanca: Great hotel.

The hotel is a bit out of the way. If you're looking for a laid back place with good food, this is it. All the tours from this place include 2 to 2 1/2 hour bus ride each way. Pools are well kept and the whole property was extremely clean and well cared for.

Gamboa Rainforest Resort: An Unexpected Gem of a Place

Gamboa Rainforest Resort is a spacious old place with a beautiful entry lounge. The views that greet you are spectacular, looking over Gatun Lake & forested hills. Rooms are spacious with daily maid service. All staff wear masks, even drivers of the two small transport vehicles that shuttle guests to trip-heads. Meals were buffet style, varied, & interesting. Masks were provided for guests at buffet table but few guests used them. Tour desk & Guest Help desk readily provided information. Sta [... read more]ff were polite and efforts made to maintain area cleanliness. Resort is undergoing restoration following the years of covid slowdown. This was my third trip. I recommend this resort for anyone who enjoys the wealth of birdlife and animal life that surrounds it in a beautiful location.

Riu Playa Blanca: Great Resort Second Time in 3 years

The hotel was well maintained and staff are friendly and helpful. Rooms are large and well appointed. Shower is excellent. Grounds are looked after daily and beautiful foliage everywhere. 4 Pools available and directly on the beach Ample choices at buffet and there are 3 specialty restaurants. Entertainment needs to be upgraded as same shows as three years ago, but some are more entertaining than others. All in all great weather and good time was had by all!

Riu Playa Blanca: Way below our expectations

the food and service were awful. We have been to so many Riu resorts around and this one was very bad in food quality and options. the service was bad too. i say the rating for this resort should be 3.5 to 4 Max. This is not a 5 star resort.

Riu Playa Blanca: RIU PLAYA BLANCA - PANAMA

Nice resort, clean rooms, very good buffet, and we had a great week. The only problem is that we had to use Sunwing from Canada. We didn't have to pay for any of our carry-on or checked luggage because I booked back in July. However they now charge for everything, including food on the flight.

Riu Playa Blanca: Very Busy Resort, good for young people or family with small kids

We were there in mid Nov, the resort was at its capacity. 90% of clients were local guests. The services, like towel, bar or beach chairs, were all good. Staff had done a great job to keep the place clean. Foods were good but the specialty restaurants were from the same central kitchen, I think, so nothing special there. Don't take it as a 5 star resort, just a 4 star. No swimming in the sea for me, the water was muddy and almost red flag every day anyways. Be prepared for the noise, lo [... read more]ud music on the pools all day long. Parties and drunken people could be heard all night some times. No guests wearing masks. Over all those, we did have some good time there.

Playa Blanca Resort: 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.