Great vacation!!

Hotel was great! 10 min from airport. People were nice, beach was awesome, lots of good food and choices, hotel super clean. I focused too much on the bad reviews and glad I got to see it for myself. Would definately go back!

Amazing Resort

I would like to start off by saying when we got in to Riu Playa Blanca resort we received a warm welcome at the very beginning we were offered a glass of rum punch and a sandwich to eat as soon as we got there. My group and I was blown away by the welcome treatment we received there. Also check in process was very smooth no problems. the resort was very clean and all the staff was willing to help in one way or another Mr. Domingo at the front desk was extremely helpful to me and also he went  [... read more]out of his way to help me in terms of a little issue I had with my room also Felix at the front desk was very helpful to me by arranging for us to get a rental car. They both was amazing and I am happy to say good word about both of them. The food was amazing and we had nightly entertainment which was assume also the disco was pounding well to have lots of fun at nights the only thing all the music was in Spanish we would of love to have a bit of mix music as there were lots of us from Canada. The hotel was keep clean every day and room service was good at all time in terms of getting my room tidy on a daily basis I have no regrets going to this resort and I will certainly go back again with my family we were there from November 7th to November 15th,2019 Thanks Khamrajiee Singh

Overcrowded with locals on weekends and quality plummets

My wife and I just returned from our first time in Panama. We arrived on a Thursday and first impressions were great; close to airport, friendly greeting, nice room & view, overall clean and well maintained. Then Friday afternoon happened and the hotel was flooded with hundreds of locals and children looking to party hard for the weekend with low priced local rate for all you can drink and eat. There was no indication that the hotel always fills to capacity with local weekenders and it was a ver [... read more]y unpleasant experience. We love to engage with locals when travelling but this was nothing like anything we've ever seen. It was like someone merged a Disney resort with a frat party... hundreds of loud, rude, obnoxious people who took over all areas of the resort except the beach area where you could find most of the travelers had retreated to. Couldn't get near bars, buffet was packed, pools were overcrowded, personal portable speakers blaring everywhere, and hundreds of unsupervised children running everywhere. Food quality went down, the place was filthy (excrement in elevators & urinals, vomit in sinks and corners, pools closed twice for excrement and actually looked 'yellow'). There even appeared to be extra security brought in for the weekend. By mid-day Monday, the crowds had disappeared and cleaning staff worked extra duty to return the resort to presentable again. The whole weekend was like a really bad dream but put a severe damper on the week and left us with a very bad impression of Panama and the RIU resort. Hard to rate the resort because it was like two different vacations... it was a 1 star on the weekends but a 4 star the rest of the time!

Beautiful resort

The hotel is placed less than 10 from the airport and fast track check in so you can really starting enjoy your stay since you touchdown in Panama. Very clean place. Pools are very clean too. You can relax around the pools or near to the shore or you can enjoy family time as well. Food was more than enough, the only issue they got 80% the same menu for the entire week. Very friendly and helpful personal working over there

Nice hotel

In general it is a good place for vacation but there is something that must be review: -First time in to the room you are going to smell chemical. -Pools are good but beach is not really a good one -Main concern,bar pool open too late(10:30) while people are waiting and using pool early. -There is not snack-bar open until 2:30 pm

Clean hotel, food good not exceptional

although our room was clean there was a lot of noise in the hallway! All of the entertainment was in Spanish therefore we had no idea what was going on. Given this is a destination for Canadians wished they had some English content.

Amezing resort

Clean hotel, courteous staff, large and clean rooms, buffet divercifier, clean pool, clean and large beach. The tours offered are a bit expensive. The reception is listening. The only small problem, the staff do not speak French at the reception and the representatives of Sunwing either. Otherwise everything was ok..

Great resort!

Hotel was amazing. Food was good, was expecting better. Staff was very friendly, they were always there to help and assist us and the activities were great. The beach is not amazing but it's really nice. Overall a great experience and definitely worth the price 8/10

Not my standard Rui

Let me start from the beginning, checking in was easy, rooms were very nice, clean, bright, bathroom very nice and big, resort is on a hill so the lobby floor is on the second floor, buffet restaurant was amazing you won't go hungry, beach sand very long, bars were great, many pools 1 swim up bar pool adults only 2 kids pools and 1 general pool . We went in Aug 2019 so you will find some bugs, rain, clouds, and ALOT of Columbians coming for 3/4 day vacations since it's their summer. The cons [... read more], very remote resort no sidewalks no where to go the city is 21/2 hour cab ride one way. They say it's 5 years old it looks older then that and there's no Rui sign when you drive up.

My stay in Riu playa blanks

I have gone to many all inclusive in the past I was very disappointed Our room plugs was not working There were molds, drawers smelled so bad, spiders and Roaches were in our room and bathroom, no conditioners Ohhhh towels very very old and smelly, we were told to take our luggage’s to our rooms, only once our room was cleaned in other resorts our room was done at night, rooms were not swept only with a dirty mop was mopped and hair was everywhere I am so disappointed at the beach there [... read more] were horse dripping everywhere, stray dogs and dogs dripping, pools were extremely dirty and smelly, we paid extra for ocean view we hardly could see ocean our room was facing garden and entertainment stage it was very loud and disturbing there were 8 out us and we were all so disappointed,

Blissful Week in Paradise

Riu Playa Blanca was absolutely perfect. From how smooth the check in process was to the cleanliness of our room and the entire resort itself.. I have nothing negative to say! The food was delicious, so much variety to choose from. My fiancé and I especially liked the steak house, it was mouthwateringly delicious. The staff was very nice and helpful. They were constantly entertaining the guest and making sure everyone had a good time. All in all, I would highly recommend this resort. It was our [... read more] first time in Panama but it won't be our last! Thank you for a memorable and pleasant week.

Great vacation!

We just got home from a week at the Riu and loved it! The pools were clean and offered variety. The rooms were clean and beds were comfortable. The resort is right on the ocean which was lovely. The sand is black with a golden layer on top - very beautiful. The ocean was nice to swim in. The weather was perfect and provided a nice breeze from the ocean. The food was good, staff were friendly. We didn’t want to come home! We would definitely recommend this resort to everyone we know!!

Great resort

I wouldnt call it a 5 star but I would still recommend a week there if youve never been to panama... as well as a week in Panama city. I added this sentence to get to 200 words. It still wasn't enough.

Nice resort

Hotel is okay. Staff need to know more English for proper communication as this is a tourist location. Not a 5 star as indicated. Facility is clean. Food is good only for those who eats everything and does not have restrictions.

Great resort!

I was at the Riu Playa blanca for a week with family members. In a nutshell, we had a great time. Note that the hotel is almost 2 hours away from Panama city. The beach, the pool and service was fantastic.

Incredible resorts

This hotel was really great , 24 hours they are cleaning , room was great , entertaining for kid and adult during day and night was really good ,stuff was really friendly and helpful, food was good ,definitely I recommend it.

Incredible

The hotel was really great and nice ,2r hours the where cleaning , entertaining was for kids and adult during night and day , stuff was really nice ,food was great.we did really enjoy our vacation. .

Very hospitable resort

The staff was very friendly and attentive, especially in the dining area. Delicious food and great salad bar and desserts. I really enjoyed the fresh juices in mornings. The rooms are big and airy. The beds were comfortable. Everywhere was quite clean. I appreciated the drying rack on the balcony and the hooks in the bathroom. If the bath/shower combination was a little easier to get into, it would've been perfect for me.

Great overall trip, Beware of Sunwing though

The hotel was probably the cleanest I've been to "down south". Beach sand coarse and water was a little rocky. Not the same smoothness as Dominican or Mexico beach. Food was slightly above average, and some great variety. Staff was pleasant and the resort wasn't super packed. 2hrs from Downtown Panama which was too far for us to do the excursions, as we didn't want to spend 4 hours in a car. There is no smoking (other than a small area) which I don't mind, but the bars are far from the beac [... read more]h. They are chincy with bottled water so make sure you stock up! Two bottles every 2 days unless you go to reception and ask. The only real downside was Sunwing. Beware that the Rio Hato airport has no food. It is only 10 min to the resort, but Sunwing was just awful. Delay after delay after flight cancellation. Maybe we just has bad luck, but the communication from Sunwing was just as bad as the delay itself. Having to wait at an airport with no shops, food, or really anything was not good.

Nice Resort

Such a nice and very clean resort. The staff was very friendly!! The room was very very nice and the cleaning ladies washed our floors when they’d make up our room during the week. There was always staff cleaning throughout the whole resort. Everything was easy to find! The food was good the only thing was that some things we would have liked to eat we didn’t as some things seemed to be harder to keep fresh as it is very very hot in Panama! The Italian was our favourite!!! We did a couple ex [... read more]cursions which were great, tour guides spoke English well and were very knowledgeable and seemed to enjoy telling us about their country! The only things that I would have to say that was not so great were that on the weekends the resort filled up with locals and areas were very very busy and our room was on the 5th floor with a wonderful view but the disco was very loud and woke me up a couple times a night! (We’re not big party people)