Sortis Hotel, Spa & Casino — Hotel in Bella Vista

We came and stayed for 2 weeks. Let me first start with the positives: The accommodations were excellent. We had a king room with a great city view. The staff (Franklin and Jeremy) were very personable and helpful with anything we needed. Housekeeping was extremely prompt. Food was very good in all the on-property and adjacent venues. Here is really the ONLY negative: Here in the states, Marriott in a lot of places migrating away from the "pets allowed" policy. Prior to going to Panama we stayed at several Marriott properties in the metro Atlanta area and they no longer allowed pets, citing the costs and expense of cleaning and repairing after them and customer feedback. That being said, we are not anti-pet. What struck me most was as soon as we stepped off the elevator on our floor at Sortis, the "pet smell" was overwhelming. I can compare it to you not being a smoker, but then you step foot into a cigar bar. We did not notice any pet stains or damage in our room, but here is the most disturbing experience. We were dining on several occasions in the La Braisserie onsite for breakfast, and unleashed dogs were allowed to roam freely in the dining area. We also observed a dog on a couple of occasions brushing against, sniffing on and around the plates where they were stationed for the breakfast buffet, roaming through the dining room out to the patio and back, jumping around when his owner approached (allowing hair and pet dander be expelled and float through the air), and if you know anything about pets you understand this characterization. We also observed the owner of that dog handling the dog, then walk over and pick up the juice carafe and pour himself a glass of juice, walk around in the buffet area drinking it, place the glass on the counter next to the bread station, attempt to pick up some bread with tongs only to abandon them and pick up the bread with his bare hands, and walk around the dining area eating the bread. We brought this to the hotel's attention and the next day that owner had the dog on a somewhat tight leash BUT, there was another random pet-loving patron in the dining room that went up to the dog, squatted and proceeded to rub on and pet and kiss on the dog, THEN she got up and grabbed a plate at the breakfast area and proceeded to help herself to the amenities. This is very unsanitary and whereas once we realized the property was pet friendly, we were shocked to see pets being allowed to roam unfettered throughout the dining space. There were not even hand sanitizer stations posted in association with this "policy" to perhaps mitigate. So this was the most disappointing part about our stay and what is the determining factor in us not being willing to stay at this property on during our next and subsequent visits to Panama. It is definitely a NO for us. You may ask well why such a high review rating. The reason is, when it comes to service, hospitality, accommodations, responsiveness, comfort...if those are your determining factors then this is an excellent establishment. The pet thing may not be a deal breaker for you, so that is why I did not allow that to detract from the overall experience, like it did for us. But at least you know. So I came back to edit my review information. Regarding the pets. IF you go to the Sortis Marriot website it states "pets not allowed"...so go figure. What is really going on here? Anyway it is what it was. Pets were definitely on and inside the premises. We wer there from February 9th thru the 23rd of...

I am a Marriott Gold Member and have stayed at the JM Marriott Panama City twice last year for my bday and my husband's bday. we were treated like royals and enjoyed our stay very much but the hotel lacks F&B outlets therefore decided this year to stay at the Sorts Hotel. got in touch with the General Manager Lizzy Palma but she never replied to any of my emails. Informed the Marriott Bonvoy Gold CS. Finally thanks to Bonvoy I got a reply. I wanted to make arrangements for my bday cake and the party before my arrival.

Stayed from 9th - 13th March in a 1 Bedroom Suite with 2 Baths.

The GM lacks communication with guests and she passed me on to someone at the Front Office she was OK professional and sent her my bday cake design. Took them few days to come back to said they are charging for the cake although I have booked the PRIME STEAKHOUSE for 10 pax for my bday dinner.

In the end they charged me for my bday cake USD 100 and USD 7 for bday candles!!! I wasn't expecting anything FOC but this is the first time I have been charged for a bday cake in a 5 star hotel.

One my bday I received no flowers or any wishes from the GM or any of the staff which I thought was vry rude and unprofessional. specially being a hotel guest staying in a suite and a Gold Bonvoy member no recognition. No Welcome Letter either from the hotel.

We stayed from 9th - 13th March and the hotel are are quite rude specifically the Panamanians the Colombians and the Venezuelans are the ones actually doing all the work and very professional.

During our stay when I was speaking to the staff they did not hide their feeling about the GM - Lizzy Palma they used colourful language to describe her. I am sure this woman is a real piece of work. Nasty and never ever came to say hello once during my stay.

On my bday night the Restaurant Manager Manuel was taking take of my party personally and what a beautiful , kind and professional person he is. Manuel made sure everything was perfect from Champagne , wine and all the cocktails and my bday cake etc etc. He probably THE BEST Manager of that hotel. He will also be the only reason I will go back to the Sortis during my next visit.

Housekeeping is pretty bad. I saw the way the HK washing my coffee cups just tap water and cleaning spray.!!! Shocking.

Wifi for the hotels guests didn't work for 2 days. Luckily we had Panamanian SIMs we used mobile data . I don't use Public wifi due to safety reasons.

Hotel public areas are not very clean either.

Overall the hotel is nice and modern with good F&B outlets. Prime Steakhouse - Tomahawk Steaks highly recommended.

We were offered as a 'Sorry" a complimentary airport drop. Our Our Harry was great and very professional. He is not the official hotel driver but he is the only one who spoke English so the hotel had asked him to take us to the airport.

AVOID THE RUDE & NASTY...

I stayed five days at Sortis Hotel for my birthday in Panama. Check-in was fast and easy. Front desk associates were friendly and accommodating. Franklin at the front desk was amazing and very helpful. Hotel is in a great location and very nice and clean.The breakfast buffet was good but didn't dine at the other restaurants. I like the hotel alot. This is the part where i had issues. On Sunday, my friend and I left for an excursion earlier in the day. When we returned housekeeping had cleaned our room. This time the housekeeper had moved and rearranged our personal belongings and we didn't like that at all. We had to look for things because they had been moved and put up. My things were mixed in with my friend's things and hers with mine. She even put things in the cabinets and drawers and had we not looked we would have ended up leaving our items because we didn't know the housekeeper had put things in there. She also moved and mixed up our things that were in the bathroom on counter. She took our toothbrushes and put them together in a glass which was absolutely disgusting having our toothbrushes touch. She threw away my toothbrush packaging that i stored my toothbrush in. We had to purchase more. The final straw was when i noticed she threw away my unbreakable wine glass that i travel with everywhere i travel to. It was gone and i called the front desk to report this. They reached out to housekeeping manager. She visited my room several times about my wine glass. It literally took two full days to locate my unbreakable glass. I questioned them about where it was. I refused to use a glass that was somewhere that i had no clue. It could have been in the trash with garbage. They couldn't give me an answer as to where it was found. I was grossed out and threw it away. Housekeeping had no business touching, or removing, or throwing away my personal items. The next day after returning to the room late at night we saw that a bottle of wine was delivered. I reqested that this situation be made right with adding points to my account. We were leaving the next morning and had to give the bottle of wine to a stranger at the hotel. I also sent an email to rsandoval@sortishotel.com about the situation in which I have not gotten a response. Housekeeping should never touch the guest personal belongings and especially not thow away anything personal. I would like a response and to have this situation made right with atleast points added to my account for...