Hyatt Place Panama City/Downtown — Hotel in Bella Vista

I visited Panama City, Panama from June 17th – 24th and stayed at Marinn Place Financial District. As a budget traveler, I look for a clean and comfortable room, safe area, with breakfast included---all at an affordable price. As a spoiled citizen of the U. S., I also need good air conditioning! A bonus is that the hotel is centrally located and it was easy to get to places to eat, shop, and go on excursions. Marinn Place is the perfect lodging to accommodate all those needs. I was pleased with the size of the room and the bathroom as well as my view from the 15th floor. The room has a good-sized closet with hangers, an iron and ironing board as well as drawers for clothes storage under the television. There is also a small refrigerator in the entertainment unit as well. The room I stayed in had a king size bed which was very comfortable! A desk and chair are also provided in the room. ||The front desk staff were friendly and helpful. The restaurant staff serving breakfast were also nice. I was most impressed with the housekeeping staff on my floor. The lovely lady who cleaned my room was friendly and always kept my room and bathroom spotless. ||The breakfast was decent. The hotel provides breads, pound cakes, a protein (sausage or chicken), eggs, pancakes, cereals, cold cuts and cheeses, fresh fruit, along with coffee, juices and water. If you’re looking to cut corners, the breakfast is adequate but there are certainly better breakfast/brunch options to explore in the city nearby. I ate the hotel breakfast for three mornings and it saved me buying breakfast on those days. But you’ll want to check out a couple of places like Michael’s Restaurant or Casi Cielo Brunch and Coffee. I'll provide reviews of those places as well.||I did not try the hotel restaurant, though I did hear mixed reviews from people that were also staying there. Most opted for eating out in Panama City. With so many wonderful places to eat, I recommend going out to eat and trying all that the city has to offer. There are lots of budget friendly places to eat, especially compared to the States. If you need a snack, however, the hotel does have two cases near the front desk to purchase items such as sub sandwiches, chips, desserts, candy bars, donuts, and coffee/cappuccinos/lattes, etc. Be sure and have cash on hand for the snacks. The snack/coffee bar only accepts cash. || Other amenities the hotel offers is a gym, a small pool, a spa and a laundry area, all at the top of the hotel. The laundry is cheap ($2 for both washing and drying) and if you forget laundry detergent, no worries! They have a vending machine for laundry detergent and fabric softener sheets. The dispenser did not give me the detergent, so I had to go and ask for that at the front desk. You may want to do that before taking your clothes up to launder. They do offer change at the front desk for the laundry room but don’t always count on it. The day I went to get the coins I needed, the front desk was out but luckily the people at the snack bar were able to give me the change I needed. || Uber is great advantage in Panama City and the hotel is also helpful in setting you up with transportation to and from the airport if needed. I recommend using Uber as they are cheap and easily accessible from the hotel. || The only cons for me were the room keys and the lack of communal space to sit and chat with my friends at any time. The room key (a card) only gave me access to my floor and the common areas. I realize this is for security but when travelling with friends who are staying on a different floor, it was a bit of a hassle. It was difficult to meet up with them without heading to the lobby first and then back to whichever room we wanted to sit and chat in. Also, I wish they had a dedicated area that was open 24/7 for their customers to use to sit and chat, use laptops, etc. We were politely asked to leave one night around 10 or 10:30. Another benefit would to be able to purchase snacks with a debit or credit card instead of cash. These were only minor complaints, though, and didn’t really impact my enjoyment of the stay. || Overall, I enjoyed my stay at Marinn Place and I would definitely stay there again. Highly recommended from this...

I must admit the first impression of this hotel was a positive one, a nice atmosphere, the people were pleasant and also very helpful. Perhaps this is the kind of service you pay for and come to expect from a Hyatt hotel. Everything was going relatively well during during my visit, until I decided to take a brief break from my many daily activities. I decided to stay in a bit later than usual to decompress, and also enjoy the little amenities in my room. What a rude awakening that was, when I realized the coffee machine was there but NOT the coffee. Then I noticed the cup I was trying to use was really filthy at the bottom. Then when I tried calling the front desk for assistance, the telephone in my room was NOT working! I went out and asked the maid for help, and even though he was willing and eager to assist, there were NO cups available.

So, I went downstairs to the front desk, and after explaining what was happening, the gentleman there was rather indifferent, if not oblivious, to the shortcomings. He told me to go downstairs and get the coffee at the cafeteria. When I went there, they had ran OUT of coffee, I also noticed there was NO cream either. Not a good day! However, I thought I could still be tolerant and understanding, because the unexpected can happen sometimes.

I went back upstairs to the front desk and explained the situation to the same person I'd spoken to before. Needles to say, by this time I am already running out of patience and my civil tone of voice altered. He apologized, but his mere actions revealed he could not care less, and told me the café shop at the front only had espressos and he would have to charge me, or the money would come out of his pocket. Really? Despite all the aggravating circumstances, he was still hesitant to serve me. I went ahead and told him I would pay for the coffee, while asking to see the manager. The manager was not there, they told me he would not arrive until 10:00 am that day. Ten AM came and no show.

I finally saw the manger later, on m way out, when I had called for a taxi to pick me up at the front of the hotel. The manager did apologize for the negative experience and provided me with a refund for the coffee. Unfortunately, this basic transaction took quite a while. I ended paying extra money to the taxi driver, since he had wait for me outside.

So, my expectations were unfulfilled when the very basic service(s) failed, and my coffee ritual sacrificed, not mention the inconvenience and my time. Precious time I could have used more positively and...

I stayed in a Deluxe King room that was spacious with a beautiful view. But if light bothers your sleep, the practically see-though blind does not block the lights from the logos of the surrounding banks.

I could not figure out how the TV worked. Hint: only use the smaller of the two remotes (has a Tivo button on it). Turn it on, hit the INPUT button and choose HDMI 1. If you don't do this, the TV will not work. When I went to the Front Desk, they sent a flippant young man up to my room to show me how to use it. Also, my room was frigid, and I asked the young man how I could turn the AC warmer, and he said I should turn it off and, when I got too warm, turn it back on again. Seriously! They did offer me another room, but it had double beds, and I could hear the couple next door screaming at each other, so I declined. I had no warm clothes with me at all and thus suffered with the AC on full blast (no matter what) the entire time.

In addition, I was at the Front Desk when an older gentleman came down to tell them that his TV had not been working properly for four days -- all he could get on it was Netflix. Later, the nice woman at the front desk told me that the TVs in that entire area of the hotel had not been working, and that they needed to call the cable provider to get it fixed.

I personally thought the breakfast was wonderful. Yes, the juice leaves something to be desired, but I ate fresh pineapple that was to die for, plain yogurt with granola, yummy chicken nuggets with real white meat chicken, an empenada, ham slices, cheese, and a slice of strawberry bread. And the hot cocoa was great -- not sickening sweet.

This place nickels-and-dimes you with only one bottle of water when you get there. Any more, you have to pay for. And the older male bartender was quite brusque with me when I asked him for a glass of milk for which I was charged $3.21.

But the ladies at the Front Desk, Katiushka and Susana, were wonderful! Katiushka took special care of me when it turned out I could leave earlier than I'd planned and made sure I got a full refund for my unused days.

Overall, this was a nice enough place for a very good price. But be aware that, if you stay there, there may be problems with your room that cannot be fixed...