Beautiful resort!

Good things about the resort: staff are hard workers, like their uniforms for their position of their jobs and friendly. Good food, love the airport is close by but when people goes through customs not able to step out side for a cigarette. Liked when they had a movie night ( outside) it was awesome for young at heart and youngsters, The Look Club to entertain the kids! Things that need improvement are as followed: 2 keys per room, stock fridge with water and pop no extra fee, safety deposit box [... read more] no extra fees, check all room for hairdryers to be in top running orders, check toilet so water is not continuing running, box of kleenex and radio in the rooms so we can do our on wake up calls. Shuttle bus on the resort should be running at a 15 min time from for people who can't manage the stairs or the heat! Hard Rock Cafe should not be on the brochure since it is no longer there ( faults advertising) More noticed area for smoking area to make these clients happy too. More people to run the al la carte for clients to take a number, for the clients to get through the line quicker, more than 6 items for the al la carte. Have notice if not able to book for the al la carte for clients to have 2 buffet restaurants for walk in during dinner time! More people (staff people) to understand English! More cloth lounge chair around the beach and around the pool. If you like the weather being extremely hot than this is the place to be. More help at the bars! Would I recommend this hotel I would say maybe not a definite yes or no. There was no welcome gift in the rooms, it would welcome the guest!

Awesome Hotel

The grounds where always clean and groomed every day. The food was okay we where not use to central american food.The beach was AWESOME we were able to walk a very long way which it something we love to do I'm going to guess it was about 4 miles round trip just loved it.There is a bar on the beach named WOODS'Y AWESOME place owned by three Canadians was Gr8t to stop in on the return walk on the beach.The pools looked Gr8t as well did not go it to the pools as we are beach people.Look forward to  [... read more]going back soon.

An average resort

1) Dinner bookings: It is a quite large resort, over 800 rooms. Booking dinner meals is quite involved. We had to book for only 3 days ahead. Waiting in line for well over 1 hour. If unable to book for a special restaurant, we still had to book for one of the two big restaurants, where when we were at this resort two years ago we did not had to do it. Taking an hour from our tiny vacation time because of inefficiencies of the resort are unacceptable! 2) Cleanliness: Level of cleanliness in many  [... read more]common areas like washrooms is unacceptable. Also, rooms were not that spank clean. Local roads for a pedestrian movement were in many places kept in substandard or poor condition (damaged cement surfaces). At the swimming pool for adults only is frequented by large Iguanas climbing on palm trees and defecating down on area where people walk or rest on chairs. When talking with personnel they have indicated that this issue is known to management for at least 3 years but nothing has been done to prevent this from happening. It is quite disgusting to see Iguana defecating from a tree top down where people are walking or relaxing by the pool side. There it is a quick an easy solution to this problem. Just place a metal collars round tree trunks which will prevent Iguanas from climbing up. 3) Safety issues: Coconuts of large size were hanging above on palm trees and ground crews did not remove them despite the fact that on Feb 7 to 8 there were quite strong westward winds. 4) Swimming pool located by the Japanese restaurant is regularly closed down at 4:45 pm despite the fact that on the information placard it seas that is closes at 5:00 pm. Also, why do they close this pool before 5:00 on days when the restaurant is closed? The pool should be kept open to at least 6:00 pm every day! 5) The internet time we have bought worth of 10 hours went out within lesser than 5 hours. It seems to be a case of an obvious cheating here... 6) In many cases the staff seemed to be not much attentive or unmoved to issues and complaints raised by customers.

Beautiful long beach!

There is a mini-fridge' in your room but they don't put anything in it. It's extemely hot so when you walk from the beach up the hill or stairs to your room you get hot and thirsty and need a cold drink.....we put some of their bottled water in and bought soft drinks at a store which worked well for us. We did not like they way they handled their meal reservations (3 days at a time) and all their restaurants (including buffets) need a reservation for dinner. When we were able to make a res the t [... read more]imes availble were generally 9 and later. We have travelled to a few different areas in the caribbean and costa rica so we don't expect service to be fast.....but at the Decameron, Panama the people seem to be learning everywhere and some restaurants seemed to be short staffed. It took quite a while to get our tea/coffe/water some days. This is the first resort we have been too which has enough beach chairs for everyone.....we did not have to save them....wonderful! Some of the staff were friendly but most were not. We don't speak spanish, but we try to use some spanish words....but a smile is free. Many of the staff we don't think wanted to be there. We wanted to see the Panama Canal and so the tours they had available were wonderful. It is so close to the new airport is was fantastic re: location.

Love the heat and sunshine- Love Decameron Panama

Things to love: Predictable hot, sunny weather, good food, good drinks, lots of restaurants, bars, pools, and lounge chairs. Things to like: pretty beach, pretty and well maintained resort, ok service in buffet restaurants, good service in a la cart restaurants, great bartenders in most bars. Things that could be better: There are not enough umbrellas or palapas so if your not up REALLY early in the morning it's hard to find shade. You need to make dinner reservations even for the buffet and you [... read more] will be turned away if you don't have one. The snack bars all close at 4:30 and there is no food available anywhere until 11pm, so be sure you have a dinner reservation!

3 star Hotel

Reservation & Transat Desk: very little English was spoken, very short with their answers.Should I decide to go back to Panama -- I will have learnt Spanish. Grounds: there was a lot of stairs,no elevator,(noticed a lot of people had to stop to catch their breathe in going from the lobby down to the pools... the cart that was mentioned to take you around the resort was not around. the grounds were not lit up well at night, there were a lot of spots where you had to stop your walk to see if you  [... read more]were going to trip on cabal stone. Disappointed you could not see the ocean at night, other resorts I have stayed you were able to see the silhouette, and stroll along the beach for an evening stroll. Food: I was quite surprised that you had to book for the Buffet, normally the Buffet was open to the guests with no reservations needed. The Dessert selection was very minimal. No cheesecake,pies,chocolate fudge,ice cream...the usual cravings...lol Drinks: the Bartenders English was not pare - had a hard time understanding the drinks (not from the menu). Bookings for the Alacarts was a tad ridiculous, some people had to wait till 8:30 - 9:00 for dinner because they said they were booked, but when we walked by the restaurant there were plenty of empty seats. Bars: for the New year celebration week - they were short people. Entertainment: was shown at the same time as dinner, there were 2 theater stages one was for Spanish the other for the French. There little to none evening social entertainment. Swimming Pools : good amount to choose, It was nice to see enough pools for the resort, but there were a few pools that you could feel the scum around the pool sides. We just avoided those pools. Lawn chairs were also adequate for the pool size. The towel bar -one lady dropped off her towel, the girl behind the counter grabbed her towel and walked away, so the lady walked away also...it turned out the lady had to pay $25.00 for not having a card to hand in at check out. Even though this lady (senior) told the front desk the story - they insisted she pay - she won't be back. Ocean area - the sand was very rough and in some places (to go to the Bar)you needed sandals. Lots of shells in the sand. Off Shore Excursions: Snorkeling - was not complete gear - just mask & snorkel. was cancelled because of someone urinating in water. So pretty much payed for a boat ride. But what I heard from other travelers that the Decameron in Ecuador is a 5 star and completely different then this one.

Very Nice place.

Friendly staff. Grounds well kept and lovely. Room service was very good and helpful. I would recommend a little more variety in the food department, with more restaurants serving food all day. Thanks.

Very Well Established Resort

The overall Vacation Experience has been very memorable. The staff at the resort very helpful, the pools very clean and well managed. The rooms could be cleaner, pulling out furniture to clean behind, but for the most part very comfortable. The food was good, not excellent but good. I thoroughly enjoyed my stay.

Great resort

grounds beautiful; lots of bars and restaurants; bathrooms plenty and convenient; great new years party. Major issue was with saving beach chairs on the beach every morning. Saw people at 5 am taking towels to beach chairs every day. If you were not out by 7 am there would be no shade. The problem being that if you looked up and down the beach area there would not be a person at these saved spots for hours. No security to check and stop this. People would not be sitting at these spots all day li [... read more]ke some of us...a big disappointment from my last visit. Also now there is "premium spots" that I guess you need to purchase from the lobby. The resort seems to cater to the French Canadians now, since there are no longer direct flights from Alberta....also disappointing. Overall love Panama and the resort is awesome but felt that as English speaking over looked or not important. Also lots of small children from babies to toddlers and up. Travelled with my children ages 18-32

Challenging vacation

The best feature of Decameron is the proximity to the airport. It is literally about five minutes away. Check-in was great. We received our room assignment and keys at the airport and our bags were taken to our rooms right away. It was done fast and efficiently. In general Decameron is run very efficiently. Even the weather was great! Our room was spacious and spartan. There was no coffee maker, no clock, the fridge was working but empty. We had to pay for the safety deposit key as well as for a [... read more]n extra key. The keys were the old fashioned kind with the room number engraved in the key, so do not lose it!!!! The faucets from the shower were probably "from the last century". But the place was kept clean and we had fresh towels and water bottles for drinking daily. The main problem was with the staff is their general lack of knowing English. It is probably the result that most guests came from Columbia and other Spanish speaking countries. Often we felt ignored. The layout of the resort can be a challenge for guests with mobility problems. There are about 100 steps up and down from the beach up to the lobby. One can avoid the stairs but still must navigate the incline. There may be a shuttle service but it is hard to figure out how it works. The food was less than mediocre. I lost 3lbs!!!! Thanks God for the grill on the beach as they had awesome hamburgers. Salads and fruit were good but avoid the evening buffet; it was terrible. Some of the specialty restaurants were not so bad. Would I go back probably not but it was a pleasant break from winter and our trip to Panama city and the Canal was pleasant

Good value

Beautiful spot, beach good, but can be rough although no stones so enjoyable. One of the better beaches I've been too. Only annoying that they pull you out at 530pm, but probably wise because the current is stronger and tide comes in. Accommodations and food good. Golf was great. We received a sell off price and for this I was totally satisfied. Yes It could be better but then expect to pay twice the price. Warning the young adults from Columbia and Panama like to party at this resort. But this  [... read more]only bothered me at 3 am! Go enjoy, I'd go back and I don't say that about many of the resorts I've been too!! So close to airport this was a bonus.

Great family resort

The pools and bars were great lots to do for kids of all ages especially 20 somethings. Rooms were clean but needed some repairs. Sliding door didn't work transat rep was very helpful to have on sight all staff were very nice

Excellent Value

This is my second visit to Panama's Royal Decameron and I have enjoyed myself both times. Staff always friendly and helpful and the rooms are always clean and tidy. There is good variety at the buffets and the al a carts have choices for everyone. A very hilly resort though so not recommended for those with restricted mobility, but because of its size it provides space for both families and singles to enjoy themselves. The beach is well maintained with very few vendors and in one of the pools th [... read more]ey are building a huge slide/water park. And the opening of the new airport, just minutes away, enables travellers to make the most of their holiday. (Note: this airport does not yet have any cafes or duty free)

Great Resort

The rooms were very clean and a nice size. The resort was very clean and well kept. With all the restaurants it was great being able to choose a different restaurant every night. The beach was very large and spacious so you never feel crowded in. The shows were the only disappointment.

Acceptable & Reasonably priced

Our bed was broken and it took 3 days for them to come and fix it. Also half of the resort was closed while we were there and we were only able to use some of the pools and the restaurants. Resort was very clean.

Great Resort

Very clean resort. Comfy beds and pillows. Food was great. Lots of variety. Excellent friendly service. Beautiful grounds. Only complaint was the 2 hour bus ride from airport. There is an airport 5 min from the resort but not all airlines can go there. Despite that it was worth the drive.

Large But Has Issues

The hotel is amazingly huge, full of greenery and Palm trees which really does give the sense your are in an oasis. The beach itself is large and not congested with many vacationers other than the ones staying at the resort. Poor Customer Service: I found the resort lost its sense of customer service and friendly approach perhaps because of its size but most definitely because of the poor service industry approach by its staff. Now although not all staff fell in this category but I'd say a good [... read more] 80% of the staff did where they were not at all friendly, their approach was often cold and refused to even attempt to speak English and when they did they were rude and would often times glare at you and walk away or ignore you even though you are speaking to them less than 3 feet away. I found I was inconveniencing them with any requests I had. Rooms: The rooms were fine upon checking in however room service (cleaning room, towels, bedding, floors etc) were not performed until 5-630pm of the next day. When it was done, the rooms were not cleaned (bathroom, showering areas) and floors were not washed. Garbage was often not collected or removed from the garbage bins. The air conditioner would not work a number of times and when I enquired, I felt I was again inconveniencing them and no resolution would be made. Restaurants: Although there were many snack locations available and a number of a-la-carte options... Reservations process was not accommodating as often times there were long waits or only late times available to eat (ie: 9pm) which is concerning when the snack options closed at 6pm at times. One particular time, all restaurants required reservations including the only one buffet restaurant that was available for supporter (Pacifico) when the other main buffet restaurant (Atlantis) was closed with no announcement. When I found this out I walked to the end of the resort at 7pm only to be told there was only reservations available for entry and there were no more spaces available. No snack options were open and the one buffet restaurant that was open was booked based on reservations. There was no other option to eat supper. Through many discussions with many staff I was finally permitted to enter but this should never have gotten to the point where I had to finally raise my voice and indicate that I was a diabetic and to not eat at this point was not an option or there would have been an emergency issue to deal with. The snack options during the day were your typical food options (buffs, fries etc) but when Yiu do not eat these types of foods for nutritionally purposes, what other option does one have? One restaurant called the Sushi restaurant did not have sushi at all in fact they had the same recycled fried chicken pieces in a somewhat sweet sauce made of ketchup that was served 5out of the 7 days. There were no options just the same food choices which was upsetting. Overall experience was an expectation that this resort was a 4.5 star but really it was a 3 star at best. The resort is fine but what I was also most concerned about was the fact that the "French" patrons received superior customer service which included priority seating for A-La-Carte restaurants, prompt services all around, specialized programming and vip staff services for trouble shooting resort issues and closed services exclusively for French patrons only (eg. Pool programming, excursion services, food seating and others) As a English speaking patron, I felt I was treated most definitely different and poorly than the French patrons which really is bias and even racist. One of the staff for example staffing the excursion counter clearly stated, "I only speak to the French staff and service them. I can't help you!" This is found very offensive and ended up walking away.

Large, Busy and Hot!

The hotel was large, but easy enough to explore although they left us to our own to find our room. I give it's cleanliness a good grade, no complaints. Our air conditioner in our room was a little noisy, but did not ruin our trip. It was very much needed and welcomed after spending the day in 35 degrees! The resort held many, many different activies and games. There was no shortage of something to do, if you wanted to do it. Food was excellent for the most part, buffets included. The beach was a [... read more]s excected, darker course sand, warm water. Bartenders were very generous, thankfully as the line up's sometimes took over. Bring your bubba cup! Two downfalls: all the nightly entertainment was 98% Spanish and the 2 hour bus ride from the airport to the resort. Overall, it was a beautiful resort and an excellent vacation. I would definately return.

Great Resort apart from the room/serv.

Apart from the actual resort, which is very beautifully landscape, the rest of the resort is certainly not consider a 4 star. The rooms is very old, need re-facing, there is no fan, U have to open the window for air, but not for too long due to bugs entertaining the room, not enough towels and no face towels (if U visit the resort, make sure U take face towels & a box of tissue). The buffet was a joke, not much choices, most of the time U see the same dishes. We had dinner twice at the buffet, t [... read more]here was around 6 trays of food, 3 trays was empty & was not replaced, I had to eat so much bread just TB filled. We eat at the other restaurant which U are limited to reservations, the food is very good but I find going back too often didn't give U much choices since there was limited choices. Not sure if the resort is short of staff but we observe at the buffet for breakfast, lunch & dinner the tables was not cleaned after people finishes their meal, U might be lucky to get service once at your table if U are lucky. The resort was highly recommend by people who went there a few years ago, but from what I have heard from others who was there a few years ago, is that the resort has gone down in the last few years.

Will be back for sure!

We recently returned from the Royal Decameron in Panama and really only have good things to say about our experience. The food was good, the people were friendly, the resort itself was absolutely beautiful (but very, very large with tons of stairs and huge ramps to scale). If you do not have mobility issues and are up for the challenge of walking 10,000 + steps a day then this is the place for you! The only downside is the commute from the airport in Panama city (2 1/2 almost 3 hours on a bus) b [... read more]ut there is a airport 10 minutes away from the resort that is set to open shortly.