MARINN Tropical Vibes Hotel — Hotel in Ancón

If you are a pretentious, "everyone must speak English wherever I am" and want Intercontenental at Best Western prices, this is not the place for you. If you want a great experience in a country that is more hospitable that I've ever seen, come to Ocean View! Yes, if you do not speak a lick of Spanish, you are going to have some issues. However, EVERYONE has some form of Spanish in them! (ever watched Sesame Street? That was the extent of my Spanish and I got along just fine!) For those that expect everyone to speak English, yes some do, but many do not in this area, or speak a little or tell you that they only speak a little English. Either way, if you TRY to communicate with them and not demand they speak English, they will do their absolute best to communicate with you! For example, almost everyone in this hotel does not speak English, including when we went to order breakfast. Brush up on some Spanish and you can communicate just fine. Every morning we had fried eggs, toast and bacon. yep that's all we had to say in Spanish and that worked. 7 days of awesome breakfast. Those ladies worked hard and were swamped at times, but respected us Americanos! and treated us with the respect we treated them with! (shocker folks who have complained about lack of customer service!). Those same ladies clean your room! So perhaps when you treated them like crap at breakfast your room wasn't cleaned so hot....who knows, but all I know is, these ladies went above and beyond EVERY DAY! I have never had a more clean room in the U.S. The rooms were spacious and had a great view of the harbor. We got to see everyday huge container ships entering or leaving the canal. It was hot, so we did not spend much time outside on our patio but what a great view. My inlaws had a great view on the opposite side of the building of Panama City. Beautiful AND they go the breeze off the water. Going back to the room cleaning! The ladies did an awesome job with our room every day! In fact, one day we had gone to the beach, so EVERYTHING was covered with sand. Not only did she clean our floors, but also cleaned out our shoes! Who does that in the U.S? Another day you could tell they deep cleaned the room and they lighted a small votive candle....it was super romantic when we opened the door. ||||Now I will say this.....beware the restaurants in the strip mall area are closed on Monday. You will either need to go downtown or to Bennigans just up the way. Most places have at least one individual that speaks English if that freaks you out, but they always seem to have a menu in English. Point, they understand. The pizza place is awesome with thin crust pizza. ||||The pool at the hotel, is small. But then again in December, (and I am a sun goddess) couldn't make it more than 90 minutes outside. So why complain. ||||The government is expanding the causeway....don't complain... because if you have tried to drive in traffic, you understand why they are doing it. But....yes, it causes problems with your view...to a certain extent. I walked the causeway every morning and the shade the boards provided were a good send. Note.....you are in latin America....don't expect everyone to be up at 6 a.m.....more like 10 am. things start rolling. ||||Taxis...are plentiful. Just make sure to negotiate your price. Yes we had a few issues where we were clearly Americans, but know before had were you want to go and how long it will take to get there. From our hotel to Allbrook mall, $5. Don't let them talk you into a higher price... You can always tip more if they are great. ||||Duty free shop.....don't bother...no deals there.||||Hop on hop off canal tour....do IT! Best thing EVER!||||In the same strip mall area.....eat at all the restaurants...they are fantastic! Service was great and we didn't speak the language very often or at used my 16 yoa step daughter who had limited high school Spanish!||||If you are staying at Ocean View....stop by Sea Las Perles. This is the BEST place to get a ferry to Contador Island. If you ONLY speak English....ask for Jessica. She is ONE of a kind! we love her and she goes above and beyond customer service. We had a great trip to Contador, but also, she helped us with contacting drivers we needed to get around and also for a NYE 2015 boat cruise. This is hands down one of the best places to go to get a trip to paradise. In fact, I cannot tell you how impressed we were on customer service. The night before our trip to Contador, we arranged two taxis to take us to Balboa Yacht Club where the ferries leave from. Guess what....taxis work on Panamian time. ....so when they were 15 minutes late (btw...the desk clerk at Ocean View was pretty much calling EVERY taxi person she knew to get us to our boat...how's that for customer service!), we saw the Sea Las Perles vehicle drive by to the main office. So my husband runs down and asks the nice man to call the crew and tell them we are waiting for our taxis but we will be there because the hotel is calling more taxis for us. Guess what??? This man says, "I can take 3 people right now, it's 5 minutes away and come back and get the rest of you if you haven't gotten a taxi by then because I don't want you to miss my boat". Yes, that was the OWNER of the company! We all made it on time and had a lovely day....I cannot thank Jessica and the owner of Sea Las Perles for continuing to show why their company is the best around! ||||On another note, if you want phenomenal food.....go to Al Dente right on the causeway. Fantastic food. I had risotto and seafood pasta....great time great wine and great customer service. We went there twice. the last night there, we could only find one taxi, so the manager took us back to the hotel! Again, customer service ROCKS! ||||so there you go folks.......I guess this is a situation of you get what you put into it. If you treat people like humans and not demand they speak your language and understand you are in their country, they appear to do everything necessary to make your stay enjoyable. For those of you who don't.... I guess you will continue to have crap experiences and write bad reviews because of your behavior. ||||I would wholeheartedly recommend the following places: Amador Ocean View Hotel, Sea Las Pearles; Al Dente; Barko. Shoppette Hop on Hop off bus. ||||Good luck everyone and have a great stay in...

If you are a pretentious, "everyone must speak English wherever I am" and want Intercontenental at Best Western prices, this is not the place for you. If you want a great experience in a country that is more hospitable that I've ever seen, come to Ocean View! Yes, if you do not speak a lick of Spanish, you are going to have some issues. However, EVERYONE has some form of Spanish in them! (ever watched Sesame Street? That was the extent of my Spanish and I got along just fine!) For those that expect everyone to speak English, yes some do, but many do not in this area, or speak a little or tell you that they only speak a little English. Either way, if you TRY to communicate with them and not demand they speak English, they will do their absolute best to communicate with you! For example, almost everyone in this hotel does not speak English, including when we went to order breakfast. Brush up on some Spanish and you can communicate just fine. Every morning we had fried eggs, toast and bacon. yep that's all we had to say in Spanish and that worked. 7 days of awesome breakfast. Those ladies worked hard and were swamped at times, but respected us Americanos! and treated us with the respect we treated them with! (shocker folks who have complained about lack of customer service!). Those same ladies clean your room! So perhaps when you treated them like crap at breakfast your room wasn't cleaned so hot....who knows, but all I know is, these ladies went above and beyond EVERY DAY! I have never had a more clean room in the U.S. The rooms were spacious and had a great view of the harbor. We got to see everyday huge container ships entering or leaving the canal. It was hot, so we did not spend much time outside on our patio but what a great view. My inlaws had a great view on the opposite side of the building of Panama City. Beautiful AND they go the breeze off the water. Going back to the room cleaning! The ladies did an awesome job with our room every day! In fact, one day we had gone to the beach, so EVERYTHING was covered with sand. Not only did she clean our floors, but also cleaned out our shoes! Who does that in the U.S? Another day you could tell they deep cleaned the room and they lighted a small votive candle....it was super romantic when we opened the door. ||||Now I will say this.....beware the restaurants in the strip mall area are closed on Monday. You will either need to go downtown or to Bennigans just up the way. Most places have at least one individual that speaks English if that freaks you out, but they always seem to have a menu in English. Point, they understand. The pizza place is awesome with thin crust pizza. ||||The pool at the hotel, is small. But then again in December, (and I am a sun goddess) couldn't make it more than 90 minutes outside. So why complain. ||||The government is expanding the causeway....don't complain... because if you have tried to drive in traffic, you understand why they are doing it. But....yes, it causes problems with your view...to a certain extent. I walked the causeway every morning and the shade the boards provided were a good send. Note.....you are in latin America....don't expect everyone to be up at 6 a.m.....more like 10 am. things start rolling. ||||Taxis...are plentiful. Just make sure to negotiate your price. Yes we had a few issues where we were clearly Americans, but know before had were you want to go and how long it will take to get there. From our hotel to Allbrook mall, $5. Don't let them talk you into a higher price... You can always tip more if they are great. ||||Duty free shop.....don't bother...no deals there.||||Hop on hop off canal tour....do IT! Best thing EVER!||||In the same strip mall area.....eat at all the restaurants...they are fantastic! Service was great and we didn't speak the language very often or at used my 16 yoa step daughter who had limited high school Spanish!||||If you are staying at Ocean View....stop by Sea Las Perles. This is the BEST place to get a ferry to Contador Island. If you ONLY speak English....ask for Jessica. She is ONE of a kind! we love her and she goes above and beyond customer service. We had a great trip to Contador, but also, she helped us with contacting drivers we needed to get around and also for a NYE 2015 boat cruise. This is hands down one of the best places to go to get a trip to paradise. In fact, I cannot tell you how impressed we were on customer service. The night before our trip to Contador, we arranged two taxis to take us to Balboa Yacht Club where the ferries leave from. Guess what....taxis work on Panamian time. ....so when they were 15 minutes late (btw...the desk clerk at Ocean View was pretty much calling EVERY taxi person she knew to get us to our boat...how's that for customer service!), we saw the Sea Las Perles vehicle drive by to the main office. So my husband runs down and asks the nice man to call the crew and tell them we are waiting for our taxis but we will be there because the hotel is calling more taxis for us. Guess what??? This man says, "I can take 3 people right now, it's 5 minutes away and come back and get the rest of you if you haven't gotten a taxi by then because I don't want you to miss my boat". Yes, that was the OWNER of the company! We all made it on time and had a lovely day....I cannot thank Jessica and the owner of Sea Las Perles for continuing to show why their company is the best around! ||||On another note, if you want phenomenal food.....go to Al Dente right on the causeway. Fantastic food. I had risotto and seafood pasta....great time great wine and great customer service. We went there twice. the last night there, we could only find one taxi, so the manager took us back to the hotel! Again, customer service ROCKS! ||||so there you go folks.......I guess this is a situation of you get what you put into it. If you treat people like humans and not demand they speak your language and understand you are in their country, they appear to do everything necessary to make your stay enjoyable. For those of you who don't.... I guess you will continue to have crap experiences and write bad reviews because of your behavior. ||||I would wholeheartedly recommend the following places: Amador Ocean View Hotel, Sea Las Pearles; Al Dente; Barko. Shoppette Hop on Hop off bus. ||||Good luck everyone and have a great stay in...

This is an excellent little hotel not too far from the “city centre”. All stays include buffet breakfast (630-930am). Rooms were clean, spacious and had a great view of the ocean / marina. A/C, cable tv and WiFi were all standard (WiFi password & QR code are at the front desk). There is also no resort fee or “incidental hold” on my card. I simply walked in with my passport, signed the booking form and collected my keys.

There are small snacks and drinks available for purchase at the front desk. Credit card is widely accepted here (and across Panama in general). You’ll rarely find a “cash only” place. That being said, ATMs are abundant and they all spit out USD. Foreign cards are limited to $250usd per withdrawal but there’s nothing stopping you from doing more than 1 transaction.

The location is great for a simple stay. You have a great view of the ocean, the entire causeway has a walkway littered with a vast array of foods, snacks and adult dining. Transport to/from the area is a breeze. I’ve gotten Ubers in seconds because they’re always in the area. Cheap transport to places like Biomuseo, Bridge of Americas, Multiplaza Mall, Casco Viejo (