Riu Playa Blanca: Great resort as are all of the Rui

Starting off with the weather ...wow...exactly what we wanted...very hot but not muggy...the rooms were very well maintained, up to date, the fridge regularly stocked, what more can you ask for. The staff was very helpful and there were very few language problems...the meals were great, wide variety and if you are a picky eater like me there was always enough to satisfy your taste buds. We only went to the steak house which was very good but you had to line up the morning of that specific day to [... read more] book , so maybe some changes could come on dealing with that....but we got in. The beach was quite long and pleasurable for a long walk...but I enjoyed the pool...well maintained and of course very warm.

Grand Decameron Panama: Great Resort

We found the staff in this resort extremely friendly and pleasant. The grounds were very clean as were the rooms. Lots of activities during the day to keep you busy. Beautiful scenery. Would go back in a heartbeat!!!.

Grand Decameron Panama: 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!

Grand Decameron Panama: 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.

Bijao Beach Resort: Nice Resort

The Resort is in a beautiful location and the rooms were very nice with comfortable beds. The music in the main area was so loud we could not stay to listen and we needed ear plugs to block the noise in our room that lasted until 2:00 am. The piano in the lounge was so loud you had to shout to your friends, or leave. There were 2 styles of deck chairs....bad and even worse. By the end of the week, my back was very sore. The hotel service was generally very friendly, but their inability to unders [... read more]tand any English was a barrier at times.

Grand Decameron Panama: 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.

Riu Playa Blanca: Great Resort!

Overall, the hotel was great! The food, rooms, beach and pool areas were very good, clean and well kept. The only problem we had was that there weren't any washrooms close to beach. This year the temperature was very hot and there wasn't much shade. We are aware that it is a new hotel and the trees have not yet matured but beach huts would have been beneficial.

Grand Decameron Panama: 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.

Grand Decameron Panama: 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!

Bijao Beach Resort: Beautiful Resort. Great Location

Room and staff are great. Good service. Excellent meals, great variety. Pool and beach very well kept. Good entertainment. Bartenders are good at ensuring they serve guests in order and not just those guests who try to push their order first.

Grand Decameron Panama: 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.

Grand Decameron Panama: 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.

Dreams Playa Bonita Panama: 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.

Riu Playa Blanca: Good Stay

The resort is beautiful, clean and very organized. The rooms are exactly like the pictures, new and modern. The pools are fun and organized ... ie .. the pool bar serves the purpose for drinking and a few kids do come around with their parents who want to drink but not very often, the quiet pool is mostly older people who just get their chill on, the slide pool is for the kids obviously, and the infinity pool "activity pool" is for anyone who wants to play sports adults and kids. Very organized! [... read more]! The food is delicious, something different every day. We didn't get a chance to do an a la cart but the buffet was more than good. The beach was just okay, the water is kind of murky and the tide is crazy. I like clear blue water and you wont get that here. The nightly entertainment is okay, they had a beach party one night and that was the best night. The disco is open every night which is also fun but to do it every single night gets a little boring. The resort employees are super friendly and nice. There is nothing to do off the resort that's close by. There are things being built right now so maybe in the future it will be better. Excursions through the resort are extremely expensive for what you actually get. Rent a cab yourself and go to the places without the resort, its a lot cheaper that way, ALOT! You can even take the bus to Panama City for 6 dollars and go see the Canal for 15 dollars entrance fee, or pay the 150 to go with the resort. There are ways around everything, don't be afraid to explore! All in All ... Great vacation but would I go again?? meeehhhhhh

Dreams Playa Bonita Panama: 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.

Riu Playa Blanca: Great Holiday!

Check in very easy and smooth. The food was excellent in the buffets - lots of fresh vegetables, salads, fruit and meat options. Great a-la-carte restaurants (went to Asian twice) however you had to line up to book at 7am on the days you wanted to go. The grounds were very nice and clean. Only problem were the pools. Lack of available washrooms close to pools made for a joke around resort of how nasty the pool was. Beach clean and very wide. Wonderful walking.

Grand Decameron Panama: 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.

Riu Playa Blanca: Super clean resort!

Nice clean and modern resort. Needs more restrooms closer to the pool and a la carte especially steak needs to be upgraded a bit. It would be great to book all the a la carte booked in one trip to booking. Staff are very friendly overall, great time and beautiful weather. And it is within 10 mins. from the airport!

Riu Playa Blanca: Pools Needed Attention

The people were great! We had difficulties upgrading our room, even having tried when we booked originally. We were finally able to upgrade, and were very happy with our room. The food was what you would expect, overall there was usually always something for everyone. (Have one picky child.) The pools were not kept clean, and for a newer resort, it's already showing signs of poor repair. My unwillingness to reccomend this resort comes mostly from the condition of the pools, as let's face it...th [... read more]at's where you spend most of your time. There were tiles missing all over the place, and there was this scum floating around all week in the main pool as a result of the swim up bar. It just kept getting bigger and bigger! One is a kids pool, another a sport pool, then one adult loungeing pool... this was even foggy by the end of the week. Oh...and there are no servers poolside. If you're a smoker...you have to go down to the beach. It's a $500US fine anywhere else on the property.

Riu Playa Blanca: Very nice resort,worth the money

We had no complains during our stay,except was no hot water in the shower for last 2 days,it took too long to fix it.Otherwise hotel is clean,food is good. Entertainment is very poor..overall we enjoyed our vacation.