Absolutely Wonderful Resort & Experience

We went with a group of 8 and we were all very happy with our experience. Our check in and check out was seamless. The hotel was extremely clean. The staff was very kind, the food was delicious, the pools were clean, the ocean was clean with no seaweed and the entertainers work very hard at their routines - great shows every night - even for children. We travel often and I would definitely go back to this resort and recommend this location.

Amazing resort

This is our first time to Panama and we will definitely be going back. The Riu Playa Blanca is an absolutely beautiful resort. No matter what room you have, you can see the Pacific. The whole facility was immaculate. The staff were very friendly and always polite. The rooms are new and spacious. We love the beach and never had a problem finding chairs and a shady palm when necessary. Enjoyed the food, the drinks and entertainment. They make amazing Caesars - very important for us Canad [... read more]ians you know. The Nexus Reps were extremely helpful and always available. Like I said, we definitely will be back.

Perfect Resort

RIU Playa Blanca is located just 10 minutes from the Rio Hato airport. The food was excellent both in the buffet area and A la Carte restaurants. The entertainment staff kept the kids busy with various games as well as entertaining the adults (volleyball, bocce, darts, Aquafitness, etc) The night shows were good. Beware that the Tour operators mainly cater to the hotels in Panama City (2 hours away). Book your excursion either at the hotel or on your flight.

Disappointed

We chose a Riu resort because we have stayed at many and you always know what you are getting, I would rank this one a 3 1/2 to 4 star max. Food OK, service poor, rooms OK, grounds are nice, beach not nice....bathrooms are always an issue at the Riu chain, never close enough to the pools and beach...the entertainment staff tried hard but came up short. Lack of premium drinks, food was the same all the time....disappointed in this resort. Should not be graded a 5 star.

Nice trip

Really loved the weather, food and hotel. My only issue is this hotel needs a bathroom near the swim up bar. This hotel had 4 pools, and the swim up bar was the farthest pool from the nearest washroom. I would guess it was probably about 100 meters away. I will not return until then. Beach is not that great, but I'm more of a pool person anyways.

Riu Playa Blanca Panama

The hotel is immaculate 5 * the ground is well taken care ,the food was great, good selection with changes every day and choices of 3 restaurant a la carte ,at the steak restaurant the beef is not the best I had a but tough but still tasty ,the Italian restaurant is the greatest ,but the main buffet is balso very good'

Awesome Resort for the Price!

The hotel and all amenities are perfectly laid out. The rooms are very clean and comfortable. Every room is ocean view. Pools, service and food are fantastic. The Pool Bar could use a closer set of washrooms though. The beach is great for walking on but, not so great for swimming. The tides and ocean are pretty rough. Canadians get to fly into Rio Hato airport (5 minutes from the resort) while US people have to fly into Panama City (2 1/2hrs from the resort). We landed, shuttled, checked in, dro [... read more]pped off our stuff in our room and were at dinner all within 30 minutes of arrival - AMAZING!

Great Girls Trip !

Things went very fast and smooth at the airport. The bus ride is a short 15 minutes and check-in was supper fast with a separate table set up waiting for our bus. Just a note for departure there is very little at the airport as it is still quite new. Be sure to eat before leaving your resort as there is only vending machines with snacks at airport. Resort is an average size with elevators so no long walks unless you decide to venture up the beach. The rooms were clean and well kept with prompt  [... read more]maid service every day. The resort has well kept grounds and is always very clean. One of the complaints that our groups did have was that there are no washrooms at the pool or beach area, so you have to walk back to resort area for washrooms. Beach is huge with plenty of trees for shade. The water is quite rough and there is an undertow so if you are an avid fan of spending a lot of time in the ocean this may not be your vacation spot. The sand was so hot you had to wear your flip flops everywhere. Pools are large and clean with plenty of seating and tables in them. Also multiple pools including an area with slides for children. Plenty of shade and chairs around the pools. Food was average. There is no longer a reservation process for the alacartes so that makes things simple. First come first serve. There is a fridge in the back of the Sports Bar with snacks that you can grab and go. Just a note for smokers....there is an area for smoking on the beach and that is the only smoking area. There are strict fines for those caught smoking outside of delegated areas or in their rooms!

Beautiful Riu Resort

The hotel was lovely, modern, clean and only 15 minutes from the airport . The staff were wonderful, we weren't happy with the location of the room we were assigned on arrival. I went to he Lobby prepared or a hassle or request for extra $ to upgrade. No problem, our room was changed to a better location for us, closer to the stairs on a lower floor. The only negative is the beach and ocean, the sand is dark and coarse, and the ocean isn't the beautiful blue of the Caribbean. They current [... read more]ly have a problem with jellyfish, there was a red flag up all week, that was disappointing. There are 3 specialty restaurants and 2 buffets, all serving typical resort meals. The pools were great, 4 in total, one for the children with slides, the children were really enjoying themselves.

Totally Outstanding Resort

EASY CHECK IN EVELOPES CONTAINING ACCESS CARDS, TOWEL CARDS. MAP OF RESORT ETC BEST RESORT WE HAVE BEEN TOO. FOOD WAS OUTSTANDING GREAT SELECTION AT BUFFET AND NEW ITEMS ADDED DAILY . A LA CARTE RESTAURANTS VERY GOOD FOOD. POOLS IMMACULATING CLEAN. , THE LANDSCAPING CONTINUALLY BEING MANICURED. BEACH VERY CLEAN . LARGE NUMBERS OF PALM TREES LOCATED ON BEACH GIVING IT A VERY TROPICAL FEELING. STAFF VERY HELPFUL, FRIENDLY AND SMILING ALL THE TIME. THE BEST PART WAS A LARGE PERCENTAGE OF  [... read more]STAFF ESPECIALLY IN RESTAURANTS AND RECEPTION AREA HAS A REASONABLE COMMAND OF ENGLISH AND MADE EVERY ATTEMPT TO LOOK AFTER YOU, NOT LIKE SOME SPANISH COUNTRIES AT RESORTS WHERE THEY COULD CARELESS IN ATTEMPTING TO LEARN ENGLISH OR BE HELPFUL. THIS RESORT IS TRULY A GEM. NIGHTLY ENTERTAINMENT IS VARIED AND PROFESSIONAL. A BIG PLUS IS THE RESORT IS LOCATED ONLY 15 MINUTES FROM A NEW AIRPORT. THE ONLY ISSUE IS THERE SHOULD BE ANOTHER WASHROOM FACILITY BY THE POOLS (4 IN TOTAL POOLS) IF YOU ARE THE FURTHEST POOL IT IS A BIT OF A WALK TO THE WASHROOM FACILITIES. ANOTHER WASHROOM FACILITY SHOULD BE NEAR THE BAR WHICH IS LOCATED BETWEEN ALL THE POOLS

Great new resort. Some small growing pains

3 year old resort, staff are very friendly and accommodating. Some growing pains with respect to washroom availability near all pools which is under review by management at this time. Would recommend resort, and would attend again if in Panama.

Awesome resort!!

The hotel was very clean. The staff was very friendly esp the bartenders. They were always ready to serve. The food was very good and they had a lot of selection each day. The a la cartes were pretty good. I would have to say the steakhouse was thr best. The Italian was good but the Asian was not an a la carte it was a buffett. I think it would be better if they took reservatioms for thr a la cartes instead of juet showing up.

Great Resort

Absolutely loved this resort. I would probably rate it less than 5 The entire hotel and grounds was kept very clean. The staff were all kind and helpful. We found the better bartender/ coffee makers Eduardo and Rosibel fast servers and fun to chat with. The buffets had a good variety of food to choose from and you could find something different every time. The Italian restaurant served great food a la carte and had buffet style also. Perfect for families. At the Steakhouse the orders in [... read more] our group got all mixed up. The steak was not the quality we hoped for. It was quite fatty. We felt a bit rushed with the entire dining experience. Our room was a bit strange as instead of a king bed we had 2 double beds pushed together. All said and done you can't beat the weather.

Rui Playa Blanca

hotel rooms we great. Sunwing reps at the hotel were very helpful. breakfast buffet was good, not enough fresh fruits. majority of dinner selection average but you could find enough to eat. Swim up bar pool - do not use. people go into it at 9. am. and do not leave until late afternoon. Yuk. entertainment was so so. not enough activities during the day. A NON SMOKING RESORT. that was not advertised. smokers were made to feel like criminals with no where to go except the public beach area and do [... read more]wn the lobby driveway. Beach area was good, plenty of chairs. swimming warning re the jelly fish and stingrays. rated as a 5 star would say 3.5. would not return but enjoyed the Panama canal tour.

Nice resort

Nice hotel, solid 4 stars, only about 7 minutes away from the airport. Check in was very fast and well organized. The resort is clean. Staff are constantly polishing floors, painting, etc., but the swimming pools were dirty, overcrowded and too far from the washrooms. The drinks were good and the staff was great. The food selection was OK and no line ups. There are no reservations at the specialty restaurants. Stayed February 2017.

Not a 5 Star

I was disappointed with the resort because I was looking forward to a 5 star. I have stayed at 4 stars that were better. The resort is clean. The buffet had quite a large variety of food. Brand name spirits available at bars. A la cartes were just okay. The rooms were clean as well as the bathrooms in the room. There were no extras. No hand cream, shampoo, conditioner etc. There was only one bathroom for the entire pool area. Very little service at buffets or pool side. Hallways and r [... read more]ooms very stark and institutional looking. Nothing to do close to the resort at all. Not a terrible place but certainly not 5 star.

Beautiful, hot relaxing

This resort is beautiful, staff very fun and friendly. The housekeeping staff are always cleaning, mopping and friendly. Bartenders are fast and friendly. Food was plenty and tasteful. Lots of excursions to take. I enjoyed my 1 week vacation there. Pools were very nice , beach front ,I did not like

Nice clean resort

Rooms were clean, good air conditioner. Fresh towels daily. Food was good but repeats a lot of the same everyday. Entertainment needs improving. Wished the disco would open earlier then 11pm. Some staff spoke good english but others had language barrier. All in all we had incredible weather and the price was right for our week vacation. thanks Marie Mourot

Panama Heat

We booked at this location for the weather. We were not disappointed. Weather was perfect, sunny everyday and very very hot. This is not a 5 star resort but you do not pay 5 star price. The price we paid was worth every penny. There are not really any a la carte restaurants at this resort they are all buffet style. There all plenty of families at this resort but with 4 pools its all good. The entertainment is not the greatest. The black beach is clean and the ocean water is like a warm bath. The [... read more]re are horses at the beach which are available for a cost. Plenty of water sports some at no charge. We went for a couples massage which was superb. Recommend ocean front room. Rooms are very plain but clean. Fridge not stocked every day. But the service from the staff in all areas was fabulous.

Fantastic Resort

Enjoyed our time immensely staying at this resort. A Goldilocks kind of resort in that it wasn't too large or too small; it was just right. Large selection of food during meals, no problems finding a seat. No issues with noise from the night life. Entertainment was fun to watch or educational (one night only).