Hotel Riu Plaza Panama — Hotel in Bella Vista

My husband and I stayed at the Riu Plaza Panama for 2 glorious weeks in April. We had one of the senior suites and it was honestly as big as a 1-bedroom condo! There was both an ensuite bathroom and a powder room (so convenient!). There was also a dining room with a dining table and 4 chairs and a living room with a couch and chair. Our view wasn't spectacular, but it was fine. We could see the pool and from the bedroom we could see a little bit of the beach (from very much afar). Our room was very clean when we arrived and the housekeeping ladies did an amazing job of keeping it clean the whole time we were there. The lobby is absolutely stunning! There is a bar on the ground floor, a 24-hour convenience store and 2 restaurants. We visited the bar for cocktails one evening and they were delicious. We ate at the buffet restaurant every morning and were blown away by the selection of food. There was always lots of lovely, fresh fruit (the passionfruit was to die for), a huge salad bar, a cold meat and cheese bar, a dessert table, soooo many varieties of bread and buns, an omelette station, several different kinds of eggs, bacon, sausage, Panamanian delicacies, etc... The choices were endless. The staff were sometimes a bit slow to get our tea/coffee/water, but that was the only real complaint. The pool was our favourite place to be other than our suite. The water was always a tiny bit cool in the morning, which was wonderful as the temperature outside was 34C-35C every single day we were there. By later in the afternoon the pool felt like a warm bath. The pool attendants were really great and very attentive. The pool bar was always pretty busy. We tried the 2-for-1 mojitos one day but they were FAR too sweet for us. We ate in the other restaurant one evening and the food was pretty good, but nothing really outstanding. If there hadn't been plenty of restaurants in the vicinity, we probably would have eaten there again. We spent the odd hour or so in the Crown level lounge. It's available to those in Crown level rooms and (I think) Riu members. They always had a few snacks/pastries and a fridge with wine, beer and cold non-alcoholic beverages. The hotel is within walking distance to lots of restaurants (highly recommend La Vespa and Chivita). There's a Starbucks directly next door, which was really handy for a cool drink in the middle of the day. If you're planning to travel by taxi/Uber, I'd highly recommend Uber. Taxis in Panama don't have meters, so they can basically charge you whatever they like. Oh, and one funny thing we found out is that it's illegal to sell alcohol on good Friday in Panama. This means you can't order it at a restaurant (most licensed restaurants were closed that day) and you can't buy it in any stores. However, the Crown level lounge did have it because it's a free perk and not for sale. We would 100% go back to the Riu Plaza Panama in...

I booked a visit of two weeks for a work trip, first time visit to Panama. There's incredible and unbelievable amount of inappropriate and terrifying behavior from middle aged european men who think anything is theirs to have. They are openly racist making faces and laughing about Chinese people. They openly take videos and photos of women and children at the pool without any fear. Aside from the breakfast buffet, the rest of the food is store bought, frozen and reheated badly and up charged. The sink in the bathroom smells like sewage. There is an open sewage river flowing immediately next to the pool, which wafts through the courtyard where the pool is located and there are several dining areas. The shower in the room does not drain while in use and it's impossible to feel clean. I had the misfortune of using booking dot com and couldn't reduce the number of days of stay and I had to use the room for work for several hours as using the common spaces meant fearing being attacked or followed by neckless, fat, middle aged men who think they can use their phone with no consequences to record anyone. During this time, the fan had to be on in the room as there is no other method of ventilation. The hallways are full of clorox fumes to hide the covid outbreak in the hotel amongst staff who were not wearing masks or taking any measure to ensure they were not transmitting this deadly viral infection to patrons or coworkers. The recycled air was pumping mold air into the room, but there is no fan in the bathroom for ventilating the shower that doesn't drain. This causes mold and I ended up having to leave the room to brave the disgusting predator patron to use the common areas. Some of the staff see their role as power play to ensure they take advantage of a traveler's vulnerability and refuse to offer assistance or support. Do not use the taxi service located at the entrance with a podium. They charge 10x what uber does. After about six days of my 14 day stay, my access to the internet, which I need for work, that is advertised as complementary to each room, was cut off. There were several large group conventions at the same time and the entire hotel lacked relaxation in any part of the establishment. If you can afford this just stay at the Marriott at Pacific Center, which is where the rest of my cohort was staying. There are glorious and affordable dining opportunities and it's accessible for rides for pick up to any tourist destinations. Overall, solo women travelers, avoid. People with families, avoid. Not worth the money at all. The video is from 7:30AM on a Saturday in the elevator lobby of a floor with rooms. This is a typical experience daily and in every part of the hotel. Thank you for this educational experience RIU...

My husband and I celebrated our honeymoon in Bocas del Toro, and we had to stay in Panama City 1 night during both arrival and departure. We stayed at Hotel RIU Plaza Panama on our way home for 1 night. We had an early flight, so we had to be up at 5AM and out of the hotel at 6AM. This was a Thursday night. We were ready for a restful night prior to our international flight, but around 7PM, loud music began playing, shaking the curtainwall of our room. We were on the 32nd floor and we could feel the bass through the floors and walls of the hotel room. We had to call the reception desk and go down in person multiple times to speak to reception. The hotel staff initially told us the music would stop at 11PM, but the bar menu lists that it's open until 1am.. We asked to be moved to the other side of the hotel, as the terrace playing the music was on Level 6, which we could see from our window, directly below us. The staff told us "it wouldn't matter where you are in the hotel - the sound will be the same everywhere." Staff also told us the hotel was fully booked and there were no extra rooms to move us to. We were not the only guests complaining about the noise - so the reception staff told us that the manager was working with the bar to turn the music off at 10PM. We waiting until 10PM. The music continued to play. We confirmed that the decibels coming from the terrace were over 50db, which is ILLEGAL after 10PM in Panama City. After we shared these findings with Reception staff, they magically found another room for us on the other side of the hotel, which I can single handedly tell you it DOES MAKE A DIFFERENCE. and the sound baffling was noticeable better. Also, the bellboy had the AUDACITY to say "what, you don't like music" to my husband after he learned why we were switching rooms. There was never an email notice prior to the reservation to expect loud music due to a special event, nor a notice at the reception desk during check-in. I even noted that this was the tail end of our honeymoon during check-in. The women checking us in could not have cared less, nor did she make an effort to move us for a restful night. Nothing about this experience felt like a 5-star hotel. If the staff is frustrated with us for being foreigners, they need to understand that this is literally the business they're in and they're making money off of tourism. We felt ignored and disrespected, and they 100% lied to our face numerous times throughout the night. The only reason I am not giving a 1 star, but rather a 2 star is because they did actually manage to move us to a quieter room, after hours of uncomfortable confrontation. Book a room somewhere else. Save yourself...