Panama is AMAZING!!

The people that work at this resort are fantastic and did their best to fix any problems that we had. The weather has always been HOT and sunny and we couldn't ask for more. The food at the buffet is good, but like any other resort it is repetitive. Riu Playa Blanca also has 3 a la carte restaurants and the food there is great. There are 3 pools plus a kids pool/area. My only complaint is the small kids that were always screaming and splashing in the ADULT ONLY swim up bar pool, management needs [... read more] to post a sign that states that pool is for anyone over 16. Booking with Tripcentral is the only way to go!!! We will more than likely go to this resort again!!

Really good for the money

Hotel was very modern and clean! Staff was very friendly !!!! Night shows were very good and the food was amazing! The steak house was legit!!!! The sushi was really tastey and the Italian pasta was on point! The disco was small but good! Quiet a lot of children at this resort! And the only this we didn’t like was that yes there was a 24hrs snack bar but it was all cold pre cooked stuff and was Limited to fruit, hamburgers and nacho chips with hot cheese!!! However we WOULD go back for sure!!!

The name Riu spells quality for me. Great management with an amazing staff.

The Riu Playa Blanca is a well run resort. The grounds are well kept. The hotel is kept spotlessly clean beginning with the rooms, halls, washrooms and restaurants. This was my second stay at this resort. I have also stayed with this chain in Costa Rica and Jamaica.. This resort is about 10 minutes from the airport at Rio Hato. More vacation time at the resort and less time on the bus and at the airport. Customs processing here goes rather quickly as compared to some other destinations. [... read more] The restaurants and buffet here are very good. The chefs here put out some very delicious meals. Lots of fresh fruit, vegetables and baked goods. I especially enjoyed their lamb and fish. It is a real treat to be clapped in by staff when entering the buffet. Service was also good at the various bars. The view from the lobby bar is amazing. Booked this trip with Trip Central and flew Sunwing. Jackson and the Sunwing team are very helpful towards helping with problems and trip arrangements. Last year I went to Panama City and to the Canal. This year I did a day trip to the provincial capital to sightsee and shop. Very good service from Trip Central as well.

Great Resort

Very clean hotel, minutes from the airport. The rooms were very nice. The food in the buffet was good with a great selection. We liked that we did not have to make reservations to dine in the 3 restaurants on site.

Nice Resort - Disappointing Beach and Weekend population

Resort was very nice, rooms were spacious, grounds kept nice, food was good. Pool turns bathing suits green. Beach was not as picture shows, black and too hot to even be on most of the time. Most disappointing was that it seemed they opened the doors to additional locals just for the weekend, everything on Sat & Sun was too busy and crowded, a very different crowd. Shows were very loud, if you want a quiet night - request a room away from the theater and Ocean View rooms are not typical, you ca [... read more]n see the ocean but you are not facing it or even near it in most cases. Good time, but more disappointments than positives. I would probably stay at another Riu but if they're open for the weekend to anyone, perhaps not.

Great trip but not what we expected

Although we had a great time with our friends that came with us on our vacay the riu did not stand up to it’s five star rating to us. We have been quiet a few all inclusives now and this was bi far the smallest. There wasn’t much to do and I found we didn’t get much service out of anyone we don’t expect much but when u go for dinner it would be nice for someone to re fill our Water or even ask if we needed anything else to drink this I’d the first time I have gone away not willing to [... read more] tip as much . Also on day three they opened up the resort to locals for night stays and day passes so we couldn’t get a drink at the bar or even sit In the pool as there was just so many people.this was our first trip that on day 6 we were ready to come home this isn’t really the place to go if you want to keep busy and have a good time although the food was great everyday it never changed . I won’t be going back if this is what they consider a five star I would hate to see what a 4 star looks like

Lovely hotel

The rooms are spacious and the decor appears to be new. The hotel is well maintained and there was never any shortage of towels and the fridge was well stocked with refreshments. There are plenty of loungers available at the beach but you need to get up early to grab one in the shade poolside. The buffet is your best option for meals and provides the most options. The entertainment could use some improvement. Otherwise an excellent hotel.

Great Resort

We were at the Riu Playa Blanca resort the last week of March 2019. The bar, restaurant and pool staff were excellent. Very friendly and attentive. The food was good and we enjoyed the nightly entertainment . Where the resort fell a little short was the mini fridge in the room was only re filled once the week that we were there and only when I went to the front desk and requested the refresh. When we arrived in the Airport in Panama we were finger printed and photographed. We didn’t like  [... read more]that. Made us feel like criminals. We would like to request that our fingerprint file be destroyed now that we are back home.

Beautiful resort

We arrive to this beautiful resort,. Our room was very spacious and clean, overlooking the beach. The view was spectacular. Our mini bar was always full. The A la Carte restaurants all (3) were awful, OMG the worst ever. The steak house had the worst service ever, they took 2 hours to bring your meal every time. They turn people away from a perfectly empty restaurant and told to come back tomorrow because they are fully booked. When we were all told no reservations needed to any of the restauran [... read more]ts. The pools are great. The problem is they close the best pool with the only bar at 5:30pm and then their is absolutely nothing else left to do in the entire hotel. Entertainment is 9:30-10:30 of really bad performances each night. I really hated having to listen to French. Spanish and English Introduction each night, I thought I was at another boring work meeting. The disco opens at 11pm, so much smoke is being blown out onto the dance floor, the music is so loud and the DJ is only playing for himself. Our group could only stay for 10 mins, it was so bad. Their is a small sports bar with no recent sports on the TV, but they make the best Spanish coffee ever. The worst was the buffet breakfast at the restaurant, what the heck was that each day. I wonder if the people who own the resort actually eats at any of these restaurants. The restaurants should be rated 2 star. The Sunwing staff were all excellent, but it would be nice if they would inform people what type of shoe to wear for certain excursions and a 20 minute and 10 minute stop is not considered shopping. This is a very beautiful hotel, but their is absolutely nothing and I mean nothing to do at the hotel. We did 2 excursions and then nothing. Their is no piano bar, no game rooms, no nothing. I would never go back nor recommend it. Every person we talk to said they would not come back.

Perfect resort for our needs

2 seniors needed badly a winter getaway that was relaxing, fun, including a few new experiences. Panama was a great choice and the Riu Playa Blanca did not disappoint! From the balcony we enjoyed views of sunrise, the beach, the pool activities and the entertainment area. Service and variety/quality of menu in the Balboa buffet and Italian specialty restaurant were impressive. We wouldn't recommend the Asian (especially poor authentic cuisine) and Steak House specialty restaurants. in areas lik [... read more]e restaurants, housekeeping and front desk, there was always a sense of rapport and respect between management and workers and it showed in service! Hats off to the entertainment troupe performing in the theatre. Appreciated the cultural evenings! Also appreciated the inter-generational guests (families from babies to grandparents). Something for everyone! If there was a challenge, no matter how small, the response was always timely and efficient. Don't expect on this Pacific side to swim in beautiful, crystal-clear waters as in the Caribbean. That was our only regret, but the swimming pools and activities around them made up for that! Access to tours of Panama also added to our new experiences. We really enjoyed every moment of a two week vacation!

No hot water or towels

While I enjoyed my vacation to Panama and the resort seemed nice overall I wouldn't recommend it to anyone as the service was terrible in trying to get issues resolved. Even though we had to contact the staff every day regarding the fact that the cleaning staff would not leave bath towels or face cloths in our room and every day we had to call the front desk and get them to bring us some it wasn't until the last day that they said they would get the general manager and the head of house keeping  [... read more]involved, by then our vacation was almost over. To top it off we didn't have hot water in our room and though I had repeated informed them of that while asking for face cloths or towels it was only on the last day that the front desk said there was lots of hot water they just had to show you how to "jiggle" the knobs to get it to work....... very disappointed with the customer service.

Very decent resort

The hotel was what we expected from a Riu chain of hotels. Device was amazing. The rooms were modern and quite big, all with decent size balconies. entertainment was ok but repetitive. A la carte restaurants were average but the buffet was better. The beach was not very welcoming due to the colour of the sand and the murkiness of the water. The 4 pools were good but do not expect to do laps because all of them were shallow, just great to lounge around for with your drinks at hand. Overall, de [... read more]pending on what you expect from an all inclusive vacation, was great. The best part was that the airport was 10 minutes away from the resort.

Great Resort

Good food , good variety. Clean well kept resort. Friendly , helpful staff. We never felt as though we were pressured into tipping the staff. The service at the restaurants was timely. The waiters were there when needed but not all over you . It is setup well for families. Large well equipped pool for children, Pool with swim up bar, a smaller pool also which was quiet and great for relaxing in . The entertainment was probably average for resorts. The beach was large with lots of lounges avai [... read more]lable. There was a nice breeze most of the time which was welcomed. The water was slightly rough most of the time and not real good for snorkeling. Overall a real nice retreat and an enjoyable stay.

Nice resort

Very clean. Food was fantastic. The only downfall is that the locals come and stay at the resort on the weekends and they take over all areas. They have no respect for the tourists. They come to the pool with the bar with their kids. Huge blowup floaters and their own radio to drown out the music playing in the bar.

FANTASTIC PLACE

The first impression was great the lobby was clean spacious and airy filled with welcoming staff who worked hard and fast at getting us checked and our vacation started. We arrived in our room to find it clean and bright the only issue was that the a/c was not working but one short call to the reception desk and that was fixed in no time. Our cleaning lady was super pleasant and always did a fantastic job with every aspect of our room. The food was amazing in the buffet and the a la carte re [... read more]staurants with the steak house being my favorite we went there twice and I would have gone every night but the rest of my group wanted to try all the other places which in the end were just as good. The buffet breakfast had a lot of variety but my go to was always a freshly made cheese omelet with different sides every morning. Pizza in the pool buffet restaurant was our go to for a quick lunch, they also carried a number of other items at this buffet for lunch and we tried very hard to have a little bit of every thing. Our preferred location for our time on the resort was in the very clean pool, a table off to the corner since we were a large group of people it was the perfect spot for us. It was also the perfect spot just steps away from the swim up bar where Carlos the bartender knew us and always had our drinks ready as we approached the bar.. This guy always had a smile on his face and was attentive to all the guests just amazing, Thanks Carlos :) . After dinner we would walk over to the theatre to have drinks prepared by José. Our first night there he treated us as friends and even prepared a drink for us that we then called the "José special" and he loved that. He too got know us and when he would see us coming would start to prepare our "José specials" He was amazing because he could remember this stuff and actually had fun doing his job. Now for the one thing that was a little disappointing, on our last full day at the resort the locals were allowed to come use the facility and unfortunately they kind of invaded. Our pool became over crowded, they brought portable stereos and played them extremely loud over the existing music that was playing at the bar, they had no respect for the cleanliness of the pool by jumping in with sandy feet and spilling drinks in the pool. Having them join us would have been great if they would have respected the grounds and us as the guests to their country but there seemed to be a great lack of that and almost a sense of entitlement from them to the resort. All in All I would 100% refer anyone to this resort it has space to party and space to relax. Exceptional referral Carole Williams from Trip Central Sudbury as always you granted us the perfect vacation :)

Great staff! Good food! Well kept resort.

We enjoyed the resort. It is just the right size to not be overwhelmed and they have friendly staff always greeting you with a smile. The food and buffers are great. The rooms kept clean and always comfortable.

Great place to enjoy the sun

Food was very good and weather was great. Swim up bar staff were awesome.. you can take long walks on the beach at low tide . Beach vendors very friendly and no pressure to buy. You can rent Seg-Ways on the beach for $20 per hr......

Riu Playa Blanca Panama

Riu Playa Blanca was a wonderful stay and we would definitely return. The staff were courteous, prompt and helpful. The room was kept immaculate. The grounds were well manicured. The beach was awesome....long stretch to walk.

Panama

Our trip was awesome. Wonderful food, fantastic weather and clean resort. Although, I did not find the staff very friendly. I do consider myself a respectful smoker but I was not happy to find out that there was smoking only on beach. This resort did not have service on beach or at pool area.

Riu player blanca

Ice machine was not working for 4 out of the 7 days we were there. The dress drawer had a mouldy smell. The food and drinks were great the grounds were great. The beach had a lot of pooh because of the horse back riding. Over all we had a good vacation