Dreams Playa Bonita Panama: 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.

Riu Playa Blanca: 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.

Riu Playa Blanca: 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: 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'

Grand Decameron Panama: Disappointed!

I returned to the Royal Decameron for the 3rd time based on previous experience and was really disappointed. The Air Transat rep reinforced the need to be aware of and pay attention to personal security. Fine, but what about the responsibility of the resort to it's visitors? The patio door didn't lock, the bottom screws were missing both inside and out. The first maintenance man used a spray can to lubricate it, managed to lock it, gave us a rather patronizing look, but did not replace the miss [... read more]ing screws, so go figure, once unlocked, it would not lock again. Housekeepers tried, couldn't lock it and another call to maintenance, finally after 4-5 days the whole mechanism was replaced. Problem solved, then for 3 consecutive days housekeeping forgot to lock it after cleaning! There was a consistent shortage of towels, and the pool closest to lobby 3 was closed for most of the 2 weeks. Restaurants alternated being open and closed without notice so went to one only to be sent to another, quality & variety of food was great but lukewarm. Service for first week was mediocre but improved by the second week. Although there seemed to be fewer staff who spoke English than on previous visits. There also seemed to be more police presence than on previous visits which in itself suggests there have been security issues. Then there was someone's choice of "music", one of very few English songs played at one of the bars at 11 am was a vulgar, violent, graphic, rap song describing killing, rape, crime, all within range of families with young children. The A/C systematically went off in the middle of the night making the room air stifling enough to wake us up from a deep sleep. Based on the dramatic differences between the first 2 visits and this one, I'd demote it from a 4 to 3 star rating. It is a beautiful resort and I love Panama but will look at alternatives next time. One more issue. While accessible for those with physical limitations, there was a girl in a wheelchair who fortunately had people with her who literally carried her in her w/c to/from the beach, so having at least one boardwalk ramp to the beach might have made her visit more enjoyable! Would I recommend it, I'm going to go out on a limb and say yes based solely on the first 2 visits, if I were to base it on this visit I would have to say no.

Playa Blanca Resort: Nothing went wrong perfect vacation

At first I looked around and said ok this is fine but as the first day started I was very happy to be there, the people working there and and some tourists from Columbia Panama Brazil had so much fun. I went to LACart for three meals and realized that the buffet was just as good or better.From the front desk to all the staff that works there you were treated amazing. Made friends with the bartenders the Animation kids lifeguards and the people working for the administration they all made sure yo [... read more]u were having a good time. If you have kids they do so much with them very happy to see that from !yr olds to the teens. They have a Sports Bar with TVs and sports around the world, a snack bar with great food to carry you on till dinner.I would like to thank Tripcentral and Fred Pongracic for telling me about this resort, I will return there for another visit. John Mario Colamartini thankyou

Grand Decameron Panama: Wonderful vacation location

Very well maintained resort. Built on a hillside, so some stairs and hills to climb however there is a pickup service if needed. Rooms are average. Lovely and friendly staff. Good variety of entertainment and a la carte restaurants.

Riu Playa Blanca: 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!

Riu Playa Blanca: 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!

Grand Decameron Panama: Royal Decameron Beach Resort in Panama

Hotel rooms need an update and renovation!! perhaps new furniture!. People working there were very friendly and helpful even though their English wasn’t the best. Dining was great, but were not able to try all the restaurants unfortunately. All guests should be able to attend all possible restaurants in the results and not being turned down due to lack of space – this should be reorganized and be fair to all guests. Entertainment (night shows) were great!! especially the dancing group and th [... read more]e host (very funny). Didn’t like the fact of local people allowed in the Resort.

Westin Playa Bonita: Great facility and staff

Staff and facilities were great. Good food with themes each night. More relaxed feel... no nightly shows (not something we ever went to anyway). Some activities available (like aqua-fit and bingo - nice that the entertainment staff did not push for participation). There was always music in the bar in the evenings. Rooms were large and clean, would have been nice to have some drawers for clothes (even more shelving in the closets to put clothes on would have helped). Multiple pools  [... read more]available with lots of seating and sun or shaded areas. Nice to be served at the pool rather than having to go to the bar. Beach: Lots of shells on the beach but limited swimming time - needed to be close to high tide to be able to swim and when low tide the view was rocky/muddy. Other: Lots of shoreline birds and saw 3 toed sloths. Resort is close to Panama city but rather isolated (no public transportation available). Good in that beach was private and no one trying to sell anything. Depending on which airport used, drive to resort would be either less than an hour (Panama City airport) or 2 hours (other airport).

Grand Decameron Panama: Panama Vacation

We were at this resort about 5 years ago. It truly is a wonderful resort although we felt it was not as good as it was on our previous visit. We felt it was in need of a little face lift. Our room was good, service was good, food was good, several good choices of restaurants. The difficulty we had was the 66 steps up to Lobby 1. We will probably not go back again because at our age it was a little too much.

Riu Playa Blanca: 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.

Grand Decameron Panama: Very Nice resort!

Great Hotel!!would definately recommend it. Great value for the money. Panama city and canal tour were amazing. Really close to airport, checkin was very fast. Weather was great, just becareful to wear sunscreen.

Riu Playa Blanca: 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

Dreams Playa Bonita Panama: 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.

Grand Decameron Panama: Objective Review

This will be an extensive review so I will break it down into a few headings. 1. Hotel Grounds - The resort is huge!!! I say that because if you have any mobility issues or health issues which hinder walking or climbing stairs, avoid this resort at all costs. There are approximately 65 - 75 stairs to climb to get from beach level to the lobby and some rooms. After a few drinks or in the heat it is almost dangerous and at the very least exhausting. From one end of the resort to the other is ab [... read more]out a 7 - 10 minute walk. The hotel is kept clean and the gardens are well maintained. There are numerous pools and bars to satisfy all. Once again, BEWARE OF ALL THE STAIRS!!! 2. Rooms - The rooms are the typical resort room, we had 2 double beds plus a single futon in the room. We had no problems with hot water at any time. There is a fridge in the room to keep water which is provided but any other drinks have to be purchased. The air conditioning worked which is a godsend after all the stairs and walking in the heat. 3. Food - The best way to describe the food is that it's a step above Cuba but by no means Mexico or what Canadians are accustomed to. The buffets are typical all inclusive resort buffets, you won't go hungry, but don't expect 5 star food. The a la cartes are worth it, we sampled the grill, Mexican and seafood restaurants and they were good except for the Mexican one. The biggest drawback to the food is the reservation system at the hotel. You must reserve 3 days of meals (including buffet) at a time. This means you have to get up early twice during your stay to go to one of the lobbies and get a number. When they call your number you go and reserve your dinners for the next 3 days. I understand reserving the a la cartes, but the buffet??? 4. Weather - The weather in late February was fantastic!! Sunny and hot!!! In the 7 days we were there, not a drop of rain. 30+ degrees each day. 5. Service - I will start by saying this isn't Cuba so don't expect everyone to be fluent in English. Most of the staff speaks Spanish and it is not uncommon to find difficulty communicating with staff. They understand the usual... beer, rum, bathrooms and please and thank you, but don't expect much more. Unlike Cuba where they seem to charge after you looking for tips, you are more likely to have to call them over for assistance. The staff don't smile very much either which I am told is a way of life there, not a rude attitude. 6. Beach - The beach is huge, excellent for those who like to walk along the beach. It is almost a 10 minute walk from one end to the other. The sand is very hot so wear water shoes or sandals when not in the water. There is a very strong undertow and can be extremely dangerous. We went with excellent swimmers and only went out about 20 feet from shore. Every day was a yellow or red flag day (warning or danger). Two people in our group were stung by jellyfish, close to shore. Because of the undertow and no coral or such, snorkeling is a waste of time (Travel rep's words) 7. Check In / Out - Rio Hato airport is just a 5 minute drive away from the Resort and the check in is done at the airport. You are given a package that includes: your room key (yes an actual key!!!), a voucher for the dinner buffet, your towel cards and a map of the hotel. Once the bus arrives at the hotel you can go straight to your room and start your vacation. Extra room key requires a $15 deposit and a safe key costs $22 dollars for the week. When leaving, check which bus you are on to the airport and hand in your key and off you go. The airport has no food except for vending machines (pop and chips etc.) and no duty free. If you want to bring some rum or such back it will have to go into your checked luggage. 8. Other - The drinks are fabulous, never had a bad drink anywhere on site. We took the Aerial Tram and Canal Excursion and had a real good time. Bring water with you, they supplied water but didn't tell us and one man came down with heat stroke. The washrooms leave something to be desired and it is not uncommon to have no running water in them. There is a small store and some vendors off site about 5 minute walk from the resort. Leave lobby 3 and turn left and it is a nice walk to a grocery store and many souvenirs (much less expensive that the gift shop at the resort). There is a restaurant called "La Fogata" on the way to the stores, I never ate there but was told the food was excellent and reasonably priced. 9. Conclusion - I was glad I went there and had a really good time but, and I mean but!!! If walking long distances or climbing stairs is an issue, avoid this place!

Riu Playa Blanca: 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.

Riu Playa Blanca: 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.

Grand Decameron Panama: Its a well geographical positioned resort!

we had a 5 days of amazing weather, plus a very cordial people who made us feel great. Overall management was very we'll organized and willing to help us in anyway we needed. Would help to have at hand drinks facilities so it would be no struggle to a drink when you arrive, specially when its very warm.