Great Resort

The resort and room was very clean.Was impressed with the buffet an poolside offerings.Service was excellent at the lobby bar.Deep sea fishing trip booked at resort was awsome. I would definitely recommend this resort to a friend.

Love this resort!

Second time at this resort. Four of us went last year. We were very impressed so took a group of 14 this year! Rooms are adequate, service is very good, food is amazing as there is something for everyone. Beach not the greatest so we stay and enjoy one of the 4 pools. Staff we found is very friendly. The grounds are very well kept! Looking to return again next year!

Beautiful Resort

This resort is beautiful. The grounds are well maintained. Staff are constantly cutting grass and trimming trees and bushes. The dining room is beautiful. It’s very clean and staff are constantly setting up for new diners. The staff are very helpful and very friendly. Food is very good too with lots of selection. Great pools and sports bar. The shows are fine if you’ve seen them the first time, but they are the same shows for a number of years and if you’ve been there more than once, you wil [... read more]l have seen them before.

Wonderful Resort

Great value for money with excellent staff, immaculate facility and beautiful setting. Beach access is easy and beach is clean. Food choices are far ranging and there is something for even the most picky eater. We will book again

Great time at Riu Playa Blanca

This was our 3rd time at Riu Playa Blanca in Rio Hato The room was lovely with a king size bed and large bathroom with shower The entertainment was the same for the last 3 years, except they now added a lip sync and dancing show including Bruno Mars, Marc Anthony, Lady Gaga and Rihanna, as well as an Abba show. Both of these were a welcome addition and very well received.

Great value for Money

I'm not sure of the full facilities of this hotel, but notwithstanding the hotel rates five star. I do have one complaint and I'll get to that, but first let me tell you why I think this is a five star hotel. The hotel management is first class and this shows everywhere. The hotel is super clean. Public spaces, gardens and beach are immaculate. Everything works. We did have a problem with our room safe but maintenance was in the room and the problem fixed within minutes of the issue b [... read more]eing reported to the hotel switchboard. Without exception staff were well turned out, polite, friendly and helpful. Our room was large, bright and airy, with no sign of mildew, so common in the tropics. The air-conditioning worked well and was quiet, as was the ceiling fan. The hotel is located only about 7 minutes from the airport, and travel between the airport and hotel was well organized, as was our reception at the hotel. There is no portering service but this isn't an issue as there are four small elevators in the main building and room signage and directions are good. During our visit the elevators were in service all the time, to the best of my knowledge. We did not use any of the pools, so I'm not going to comment on them. We swam in the blue sea which was very warm and completely safe, but not really suitable for snorkeling as the ocean is murky. The hotel is located on a beach about 4 kms long. The beach is deep and shallow, and while we were at the hotel there was no surf and only wavelet. The sand is very hard below high water and great for walking, but grey in colour and not particularly attractive. We had all but three meals in the main dining area. This large space is divided into a core air-conditioned area, where the food is self service, and an outer area which is covered but open to the gardens. We preferred to eat in this latter area, but there a couple of cats around, and various mynah birds, intent on stealing food, particularly fruit and packets of sugar. The quality and variety of the food was excellent at all times, and there were several different items each day. My only regret was that it wasn't mango season, but the pineapple was the best I have ever had. Salads, mains, veggies were all great. Desserts were sometimes quite gaudy [some had gold leaf] but all were very tasty. The four house wines were all very pleasant. Bar drinks were very nice, and the staff were very smart in keeping the amount of alcohol in the drinks low, unless you wished for more, in which case it was freely given. My only complaint relates to the three specialty restaurants, my partner didn’t really have any issues with her food but I did. At the Italian Restaurant the minestrone soup was so salty it was inedible. There was a major problem with noise on the evening we attended the Italian Restaurant, two large groups of a certain ethnicity were shouting and screaming at one another across the room – we got up and left it was so bad. At the Asian Restaurant the soggy heavy “tempura” bore no resemblance to light super crispy tempura batter. At the steak house, the Caesar salad was very poor and so were the pork ribs, which was surprising as the pork was excellent in the main dining room. I suggest that Hotel management take a close look at these restaurants as, in my opinion, the food is not up to the standards of the main dining room, and the staff in the Italian restaurant made no attempt to control the rowdy diners . We traveled on a Sunwing holiday, and the local staff were very friendly and helpful. We only had one 5 hour excursion to the local town of Penonome, which at USD $ 20 per person was great value for money and led by a very informative helpful guide. This was an excellent vacation, good flights, transportation and a five star hotel, what more could you ask for.

Great Hotel

Had a great time. Close to airport after a 5 1/2 hour flight. ✈️ Four pools so none of them were over crowded. No air conditioning in restaurants. The resort grounds are very well kept. The sand on the beach is black so bring water shoes as very hot.

Superb Resort - Clean and Abundantly Entertaining

The RIU staff are fantastic. Always cleaning and servicing you with a smile and respect. The food was great at the buffet and especially the restaurants. Fruit, breads, salads, desserts are always in abundance and fresh. The variety of food is insane and there's something for everyone. The beach was great but water is not blue or aqua but still very clean. The Wellness Center (SPA) is great however it's located at the far end of the pool and you can hear the booming pool music rather than the ze [... read more]n sounds of the spa. Nonetheless, fantastic hidden gem of a resort.

Worth Visiting

Hotel as a whole is very clean. There is always someone around cleaning every area, as an example around the pool area, there is always someone ensuring the floor is free of water thus avoiding someone from slipping. Staff in general are very friendly & polite & are always willing to help. Management are also present at all times to ensure that everything is running smoothly. Two things that could be improved to my opinion are: location of the massage center. It would be better to locate in a mo [... read more]re quiet area to maximize relaxation ambiance. The other one is, having some hut/shade in the beach areas. They will provide coverage from the sweltering heat & will entice people to stay around that area much longer.

Great Resort!

The Hotel area is amazing with its spotless walkways and gardens. The staff were just courteous and friendly. There were a lot of choices when it came to dining and they were all fantastic. It was a great overall experience for us and my family and if I were to name a few to improve on, I'd say the entertainment and the beach area could be a bit more pleasant as there were no huts nor shades near the beach. But I would still recommend this resort to anyone.

Amazing resort

We were at Riu Playa Blanca Aug 5-12 and have only good things to say. Beautiful resort, super clean, there is always a cleaning crew everywhere it seems at all times, even the outdoor grounds and pool areas. Food is amazing. Staff is friendly and hard working. The beaches are not like Cuba but resort is top notch.

Exemplary Resort

Cleanliness is A1, fantastic and friendliness of staff, and an abundance choices of food. Pool setup is also great. Visibility and hands on care of hotel management is quite impressive. I would definitely recommend Riu Playa Blanca to many others. We’ll definitely go back.

Would go again

Immaculate property. Hard working staff. Food was excellent, bar staff could make anything. Plenty of lounge chairs at the pools, lots of pools.****************************************************************************************

Good family resort

Nice kids pool. Decent food. Language can be a challenge at times. We had an issue with the lock on our room for 3 days which we feel wasn't handled properly, should have been upgraded to better room as resort was not full and we had to go to front desk at least 10 times trying to resolve lock issue. Gets very busy on weekend with locals.

Good for the Price !

The hotel was clean and maintained well - cleanliness of the rooms and other common areas as well as the grounds/gardens. Food: The buffet was good and had many options and well replenished. Staff worked very hard to ensure that the tables were cleaned and guests were served in time. In comparison, the a la carte restaurants were not that great. Staff were good at their job but did not understand very much English and catered more to Spanish speaking. The but food was not that good i [... read more]n taste and presentation - presentation was outdated, the menu choices need to be changed. The food at the Steakhouse was decent. The Asian and Italian restaurants were a disaster. Entertainment: Was not up to standard. The announcer was very difficult to understand and most of the announcements were made in Spanish and even the little English announcement were made in a hurry and difficult to understand. The wait time between dinner and the shows was very long and most evenings we were bored and went to the room. The entertainment staff during the day also conducted all activities in Spanish as a result we who did not understand Spanish could not participate. It was very frustrating that we could not enjoy the activities due to the language barrier. Pools - very well maintained, the bartenders worked very hard and there was never a very long wait to be served. In all, it was a pleasant stay but not a place I would likely visit again and there was nothing spectacular that would make me want to go back.

Amazing resort

The report is very big but it’s lay out is awesome everything is very close The restaurants are amazing great food and great service The walk’s on the beach beautiful clean and smooth the ocean is alittle rough but it’s still swim able Lots of activities at the pools for the kids and adults

Not a 5 star hotel

The resort was OK definitely not a 5 star resort though. The food was OK, not much variety. Beach was nice. Overall customer service was not the best. Weird rule with botted water for a place as warm/hot as Panama- you get only 6 bottles of water per day ONLY. (Reminder this is an ALL INCLUSIVE resort). Far from the city - limited activities, unless you want to pay for excursions.

Good but not great

The Hotel is 10 years old and needs some cosmetic work to bring it back to the RIU standard that I was expecting. The staff do keep the rooms and grounds immaculately clean. The food was good and there was something for everyone but nothing to write home about. I would not say it is 5 stars but certainly 3.5 to 4. The beach is a bit of a letdown, but you have to go with an open mind and remember you are on the Pacific coast. Many people were stung by jellyfish during our stay and the flag w [... read more]as red all week. Horses are on the beach and there is dung and horse urine smell everywhere in front of the resort which made going down to the water's edge a rather unpleasant walk. Wild dogs roam around the beach and onto the resort and they can be aggressive. Some cowboys offer rides and sell certain unnamed substances - strongly recommend everyone stay away from them. There was a strong police presence on the beach and at the hotel during our week, so we did feel safe but would not recommend being on the beach after dark or before dawn. The weather was fantastic, hot and no rain whatsoever. Probably won't go back due to the beach situation (I prefer the Caribbean). It was a once in a lifetime bucket list place to visit. The Service provided by Trip Central was fantastic.

Enjoyed our stay.

Lovely grounds and pools. Rooms were large and comfortable and very good cleaning service Food was fantastic so much selection and very tasty. Beach was nice just had to watch under tow. Overall a very good experience and would return again.

3 ?? Resort

Hotel was old, Rooms were outdated and room we were in broken doors and handles, upgraded to sea view was worth it, rooms and pacha-night club smelt bad probably due to a sewage blockage, Food was OK pretty much the same variety daily, Italian restaurant was good, Pools were not very clean, lots of glasses found in pools. Could not be in the sea shore for long due to the high tides and deep waters lots of stones need water shoes. Overall would give it a 3 ??.