Dreams delight panama

the resort was good probably a 3 and half star pros: grounds were nice and clean, the staff very good, very relaxing you dont get bothered by merchants on the beach, 15 minutes from panama city and the canal cons: under staff some bars only have one waiter and u had to wait for for food because they would run out. the buffet and breakfast were always the same.the beach was not the best

Quality Resort

Pleasant atmosphere, good service and a relaxing location. Staff are hard working. Location is private but not too far from excursions. Overall not too commercialized and noticeably no pressure sales.

Very nice resort

The resort is very clean. Lots of pretty garden space and very compact ( in a good way). Food is very good and the staff are very helpful and friendly. The beach is not the best, tide goes out a long way, it is clean though. My only problem was getting clean towels for our room, the housekeeping was a little haphazard, the guy at the desk was on it right away once I went there. We would go back and would recommend this resort

Disappointing Resort

The resort is beautiful with impeccably manicured grounds. The staff are very accommodating and helpful although many of them speak no English. Those are the only positive things that I can say about this resort. Although they advertise 5 restaurants, only 1 is open for each of breakfast and lunch and only 2 are open for dinner. Have a great deal of difficulty truly understanding what benefits we received as Preferred Guests and we were charged an obscene amount of money for this privilege. T [... read more]he food was so-so and the nightly entertainment non-existent. This was a very disappointing vacation.

Nice and clean

Everything was great the grounds looked beautiful and the dining rooms were good food. We wish the resort staff told us about the Mosquitos upon arrival after 5:30pm it would of been nice.the wine and cocktails were great. We loved Elvis the pool waiter

Beautiful resort but terrible bugs!!!

The grounds are beautifully maintained and the pictures on line do not do it justice. The pools are very nice with plenty of room and no chair issues. The beach is definitely not Punta Cana and the ocean is not safe unless you want to swim with sting rays and jelly fish. It would be nice if this hotel offered nightly entertainment. Having live music in the hotel lobby does not cut it for 6 days. The 1 Panamian show held on Saturday along with a themed buffet was good but not enough for the w [... read more]eek. I wish there was more information provided about the nasty bugs. The hotel did provide bug wipes on the first day to repel the bugs but we needed to continuously make requests for more as well as restocking of the fridge, robes and fresh towels. Needless to say for this resort being rated 4.5 to 5 I would not rate it more than a 4

Mid size resort with very friendly staff

The resort is well planned out with beautiful gardens that are well maintained. The buildings are 5 stories high and have working elevators for those who have difficulty with the stairs. The rooms are large with a sitting area and a king size bed and all rooms have a balcony looking out to the Pacific Ocean. The three pools are cleaned daily and kept at a reasonable temperature (no heart attacks on entry). There is an adult only pool that is sufficiently far from the infinity pool that one ca [... read more]nnot hear the joyous revelling's of the younger set. The French restaurant was the only eatery requiring formal wear (long pants for men), and the food was most definitely worth dressing for. There was no booking or limitations on the number of times each restaurant was visited. The seafood restaurant was closed, but seafood was always on the menu at the other two buffet restaurants where a choice of good quality pork, chicken and beef were also available daily. Desert selection was limited, but fresh fruit was always available. Beverages were all International quality, and the selection of wine included in the cost of the package was excellent, including a choice of two white wines, two red, a blush and sparkling wine. All were good quality and enjoyable. The beach was not very usable and swimming in the sea generally not safe. Nightlife was limited at the resort, being mostly a piano player and singer. Some people were disappointed that an advertised 'jazz' night did not materialize. The resort is advertised as 2 hours from the airport, but with road works took us over 3 hours, (hence the lower rating for location.) However, the driver will make a stop for refreshments if requested to do so. The best part though, was the staff. So friendly and helpful. Most staff did not have a great level of English knowledge which meant that I had to try harder at my Spanish, and that I found motivating and fun. Hand signals caused much laughter with the staff. My husband and I enjoyed a most relaxing and rejuvenating 7 night vacation and would certainly recommend this hotel to those looking for a relaxing time.

Mediocre resort

This resort is about 150 Kilometers from the airport and based on the time of year it could take a while to get there. This is based on Air Transat flying into Rio Hato airport. It took us approximately 3.5 hours to get to the resort as the Panama Carnival was on and the traffic was backed up for about 100 Kilometers going towards Panama city. The resort grounds were really nice. The beach is not that good as the tide goes out 12 to 16 feet leaving a lot of rock. The beach has sand fleas which a [... read more]re very evident when the tide was out.If you are prone to these bites make sure you have some sort of spray. I found out the hard way. The grounds of the resort are really nice. The rooms are okay. We did have an issue with getting towels replaced and the air conditioner was noisy. There was only 2 Ala-cart restaurants open at one time. You did not have to book time but the one night we went we had a 45 minute wait for a table. The evening buffet at night we found to be cold and not a lot of selection. The breakfast and lunch buffets were the best meals of the day. There is a language barrier as not many people speak English. We have stayed a lot of 4.5 to 5 star resorts and this resort did not compare to them. I would have to say that this was most probably a 3.5 star resort at best. I would not go back or recommend it to any of my friends.

Amazing fun on the sun

Beautiful grounds, and nice view of ships waiting to enter canal and lots of blue sky !! Staff very attentive and ready to help in any way. Lots of excursions to select from plus close to Panama City for easy access but far away to enjoy the relaxation of this resort

Great Resort

The hotel is a great place if you want peacefulness and relaxation. This resort doesn't have a nightlife. Food is good however, you are limited to 3 restaurants open at the same time. The only downfall to this area to which the resort is located are the chitras (sand fleas). They are bad at dusk and dawn. With not being able to see them, you don't realize that they are biting you until you start scratching. The bites are a hit and miss with different people. Another downfall is the 2 hr trip fro [... read more]m the airport. Look forward to more or less a full day of travelling on both arrival and departure day. Don't expect to be able to swim at the beach all the time with the high and low tides every 5 1/2 - 6 hrs. Rooms were beautiful and the resort was very clean. Hats off to Roger the bartender, Ricardo and Tifany from Portafino. It definitely "was a pleasure".

Great Resort BUT

Grounds: The grounds are amazing! Pools: The infinite pool is beautiful and the adult pool is very relaxing. The floats are a great perk! Food: The a la cartes restaurant are very good with the exception of the Italian restaurant. Bordeaux restaurant was our favourite. The room service didn't work very well at first as they never answered the phone. It worked very well once we called the front desk and they provided us with an extension number to call for room servic [... read more]e. Room Service staff are very nice and they try real hard to make you happy. The fridge was always replenished and there was no issue in obtaining bottles of water. The coffee cafe was really nice. Good capuchinos and lattes! Rooms: Rooms are very nice and the beds were very comfortable. We had problems getting towels on the 1st and last day of our holiday. Service: The staff go out of their way. The bartender is amazing! He is very attentive and brings you drinks constantly. I have never received such great service! The service at a la carte restaurants is also very good! Beach: Beach is very nice for walks but since it's on the pacific side, it can't compare to the beaches in Jamaica, Mexico and Cuba. Entertainment: If you are looking for night life, this resort is not for you. There was a karaoke night which was fun and entertainment during the evening but for a short period. The jungle walk that the resort offers is nice and worth doing. Now for the bad. We were eaten alive by sand flies. It was awful. We all swelled up with sores. We've have been back for two days now and we are still itchy. We met amazing people which made our vacation very enjoyable. I would not recommend this resort because of the bug bites. Our bodies are covered from head to toe. Staff were very nice and offered us extra repellent wipes but nothing seemed to help. We met a couple who vacationed at this resort in April and said that there were no bugs back in April ]. They were quite surprised to see the bites on everyone. I would have rated this resort a 4 star if it wasn't for the bug bites.

Amazing resort

The grounds were beautiful. Excellent oceanfront views. Super clean pools. Food very good staff excellent. Top notch drinks. Excellent filet mignon. Great value. Would definitely stay here again. Close to canal. Lovely additions in rooms. Champagne on arrival. Lovely bathroom products and robes

Great Destination great resort

Conveniently located on the Pacific Ocean with great pools. Recently taken over by Secret with lots of work to do to improve the facility. A bit dated and restaurants have work to do on service and menu variety even though many items were very good. People are very friendly and appear very happy to serve but at times service is slow but you are on vacation enjoy.

Defiantly not a five star

This resort is changing owners and have many places to improve. Breakfast is the only buffet, small. Four resturants but only two open each night. Staff very disorganized, need training, very few speak any English so do not understand if you want something different. The grounds are beautiful and pool. It is one hour forty five min. from airport not 75 min. People are very friendly they try.

Stay in town instead!

Stayed here July 17-24th, flew Sunwing for an all-inclusive one week trip. FOOD: 2/10! Buffet: If you like bland hospital food then this is the place for you! They charge $17.50 American for the breakfast buffet and the selection is poor. You have very limited choices and get a cheap feeling about the food selection; they put out the bare minimum. We had our buffet included but ate very little due to the choices. Watch out for the bugs around the desserts and food. Saw one staff member sprayin [... read more]g bug spray right in front of the food and the manager trying to swipe them away, this was an indoor restaurant! Restaurant: The “gourmet” Lighthouse restaurant which according to their website is a “first class restaurant with fresh ingredients” was terrible. The sea bass I ordered was frozen fish microwaved to rubber texture served alongside instant mash. Service: 2/10 Where to start? Arrival: Our bags just dropped at front of hotel not taken to room, No welcome drinks or water. Check in: Given a sheet about what’s not included with your all-inclusive. We told the check in staff about what was included in our all-inclusive package and they stated “it doesn’t exist”. Had to waste time getting a hold of our travel rep in Canada to show them that yes it is included. Staff: Make minimal effort and only a few staff seemed happy to be working there. Only one staff member went above and beyond during our stay. Amenities: Didn’t use the spa so it might be nice. Wanted to use the kayaks since they were included with our package but saw the signs in the elevator stating prices to use them, very exhausted from dealing with the hotels customer service so just didn’t bother. Room: 3/10 The hotel room itself is dated and needs a makeover; there is nothing special or memorable about it. The mini bar fridge which they provide has no water or snacks, if you want water you have to go downstairs to the lobby. Another disappointment was the room service. The room service button on the phone didn’t work; neither did the instant service button - “anything you want anytime” Had to call the front desk 4 or 5 times before anyone would answer. Food overpriced and not worth ordering, tasted like it had been cooked and left under a heating lamp all day. If you do order they add the tip to bill for room service; it states in the menu that they don’t! We over tipped since the staff didn’t mention it was included. Property: 5/10 The pools were nice; I liked how they had a separate pool for adults only. The staff outside did a great job with maintaining the gardens and general landscaping. Overall: We would never stay here again. We did go into Panama City and stayed at the Grace, it was a beautiful and modern hotel. From the champagne check in to the manager coming up to the room with a complimentary dessert, everything was above and beyond. The food at the Grace was excellent and very reasonably priced for both the restaurant and room service. Why they give the Intercontinental hotel a 4 star rating or good reviews is beyond me. Stay in town! For people interesting in booking with Sunwing be aware that they change direct flights. We stopped in Cuba on both the departure and return flight. Sunwing flies into Rio Hato which is a tiny airstrip used by Sunwing and Air Panama, it is a bare bones airport with no food or duty free.

Relaxing Holiday

Hotel is very clean. Food is not the best. The gym is amazing looking over the ocean. The spa was good. Swimming Pool is good but if you like the beach don't go to that resort. No entertainment at night.

Very nice and relaxing resort

Intercontinental Playa Bonita is a beautiful resort located near the entrance to the Panama Canal. The panoramic view from the hotel is almost breathtaking. The beach is sandy but the water is not great for swimming.The pools make up for it. This resort is the most relaxing one that we have ever been to. We've been to a few. The food is fine and the desserts were the greatest we have ever had. If you are looking for a late night party atmosphere, this is not the place. Never had to worry about f [... read more]inding a comfortable place to sit or lay around the pool or beach. We went on the last week of February and thought it would be busy. We never had to wait in lines. Service in some areas are slow but there is no need to be in a hurry anyways. Definitely one of the top three places we've been. Behind Hawaii and Costa Rica.

Very Good Resort

Just returned from Panama it was a good experience beautiful grounds nice and friendly staff very good food, weather was excellent in February shopping is great . I would definitely return to Panama and bring my family.

We were disappointed

It took 3 hours to get to the resort due to traffic. It was stop and go half the way. There was a long line up to check in. The hotel was not aware of our arrivals from Sunwing. The room is nice with everything working. The balcony is nice too with ocean view, etc. The ground is immaculate. There is enough lounge chairs for everyone. The food is good but monotonous (we were there for 2 weeks). The lobby bar is excellent. There is almost no activities in the evening. This is really a business [... read more] hotel.

Awesome staff

We stayed at this resort nov 14 to 21 2014. We found all of the staff eager to help us all of the time. Location was good. Close to Panama City and the Canal.the beach and the infinity pool were good. We were on 4th floor and all rooms faced the ocean. The grounds were beautiful. Well looked after. Very clean.