TRYP by Wyndham Panama Centro — Hotel in Bella Vista

This is a four-star hotel with a 3.5 star rating. It really is wonderful. The breakfast here is excellent, the people are excellent, and although it is not super fancy 5-star, it is a very solid 4 for an excellent price. Here is a detailed review of the room and the pool and the breakfast.

I have to say that it was a rocky start. Check in: When we arrived around 2:45 our room was not ready. And I thought it was a problem, until I realized that we arrived early. The front desk person (there are only 2) said that we could go to the pool and leave our luggage right there in the lobby. That made me feel a little bit uncomfortable, as I’m accustomed to other hotels putting little tags on your bags and having a special luggage room while you wait, but this was just a different situation and we needed to trust it. The front desk person was very nice. We asked for an upgraded room floor, and he started to research that and then he said the type of room we required (which featured bunkbeds) was only available on a certain floor. Fortunately it was high up enough to have a little bit of a view. Since the room was not ready and we were going to go to the pool, we also grabbed a drink at the bar.

The room itself was also a bit of a disappointment at first, because although we had a view, I knew there were better views from other parts of the hotel, but it was functional. It had bunkbeds, one of them squeaked a little, and there were marks on the wall; unfortunately they picked a creamy white wall color, which was probably pretty conducive to having marks on it, especially with the type of room that would have a bunkbed and young kids. Perhaps they should consider repainting in a neutral color with a scrubbable finish instead of a matte finish. I was really happy with the toiletries and the bath was clean (there is no tub, just a shower). And the bathroom was modern. In giving the room a second look, it was totally fine, I was just viewing it from a five -star lens. it really was just aesthetically a few marks on the walls here and there and although the bunkbed squeaked, that was mostly because I had a restless 18-year-old boy sleeping in it. We stay in lot of 5-star hotels, so I expect a 5-star room, but I kept having to remind myself that this was not a 5-star hotel and not expect perfection.

The real star of the show is the rooftop pool. Keep in mind that the hot tub is not hot. I don’t know if it is supposed to be hot. I don’t know if I would even want it to be hot. I think perhaps maybe it is not supposed to be hot, but it is wonderful and the bubbles are really soothing and it is the same temperature as the pool. We stayed in the pool for hours admiring the view, and then we ordered drinks from the pool bar. They were so friendly, and the happy hour lasted for 5 hours!

Vibe of the clientele: Very international. We saw some couples and a lot of families traveling with older children. Families with teenagers, not a lot of little kids running around. We saw a guest being really rude to a person at the front desk. The attendant handled him with dignity and did not raise his voice.

Check out was easy. Neighborhood felt a little sketchy at night but not unsafe. Just be aware you are in a city. Use your city attitude and have city awareness. We walked a few blocks to dinner. A few stores were also open.

Although they normally charged for breakfast, the concierge was able to comp it for us. It was a buffet. The juices were really great and everything seemed hot and fresh, not warmed over like it had been sitting there for days. In addition to breads and cereals and yogurt, there were sautéed potatoes, and stewed meat and other offerings. Lots of great fresh fruit options as well. A nice surprise!

Would stay here again. Price was excellent and it felt like a mini-vacation. For the price, this hotel was really really quite comfortable and the pool and pool bar service...

TOO MANY SHORTFALLS IN ONE STAY

I wish to Share how terrible a much anticipated family vacation turned out due to the insensitivity of this hotel and the incompetence of the staff.

My family and I travelled to Panama to celebrate the 60th birthday of the family Matriarch (Cheryl Annette). What we did not anticipate was the series of unfortunate events that ruined our stay at TRYP OF Wyndham from the day we arrived in Panama to the time of our departure.

On the night of our arrival, we were told that a room was booked for part of the family but there was no booking for Steve and Cheryl Annette (the Matriarch and Patriarch of the family and main persons for taking this vacation). In spite of having a booking reference number and other relevant documents for our travel and stay the hotel staff acted indifferent to offering any help..

In the first instance the person at the front desk informed us that there is no booking and besides there is no space available at the hotel (I will come back to this later).

The insensitivity of the hotel staff and indifference to lend any form of assistance is disturbing for persons in the hospitality industry. No concern was shown to the fact that we had two family members who are being told they have no place to stay.

A room suddenly was available when we suspected the hotel staff was not being truthful about having space and only when we offered to pay on the spot, rooms magically became available, not just for the night but for three nights at once. (At this point having travelled all day to get there we were paying for a stay that was paid in advance through the travel agent.) Advice, do not lie to customers.

On another issue, a confirmed reservation for four persons.Three adults and one child. Lyndon Annette and the others were able to check in smoothy. However, when they got to the room there was only one bed for the four persons. Lyndon as tired as he was had to sleep on a sofa. (This is unacceptable and disgraceful to Tryp because they knew in advance that the booking was for 3 adults and I child). We should be refunded for that night Lyndon slept on a sofa having been billed for a hotel bed and stay. While this issue was addressed the next day it led to yet another failure by the hotel.

Due to the inconvenience caused our travel agent called and told us arrangements were made for a complementary dinner for Steve and Cheryl Annette. We later learned that the dinner was delivered but to the wrong room. The complementary dinner went to Lyndon and others instead of Steve and Cheryl. What else could have gone wrong remains limited to the short stay. They just did not seem to have the capacity to get it right with us.

For now, we do have plans to travel to Panama again in the future but TRYP of Wyndham is on our BLACKLIST of places not to stay at. We definitely will not be staying at this hotel in the future and will do the needful to ensure others in our network avoid staying at Tryp of Whydham whenever visiting Panama.

Not a single star earned from us...

I was a bit disappointed in the rooms of the hotel - the photos online are very flattering and the real rooms are more dated. My room had an overwhelming smell of pool and damp which I had to blast air-conditioning to try get right of.

In my first room, I turned the air conditioner on and quickly found a small flood. A small waterfall was coming out, which was really dangerous as it quickly took over the slippery floor.

It was the first night I had arrived after an 16 hour journey and I was so exhausted. Instead of offering me another room or apologizing (which they never did actually), they had me wait in the room while the engineer came and looked at it for around 40 minutes. In Spanish I heard that someone propose covering the flood with a couple of towels and trying to fix it the following day while I stayed in the room. Thankfully they did not do this and eventually offered me another room.

The next room was better, still an overwhelming smell of pool and with a very tired couch and bathroom.

The pool, when I went up, was cramped and full of smokers. Not their fault but in a small protected area, I would suggest they don't allow smoking as it does really stagnate. It's smaller than it looks on the photos so I didn't use it. A very nice view though. To use the sauna you have to ask someone who unlocks it and sets it up. The steam room was out of service. The gym was fine, a limited selection of machines but would have been fine.

The staff at the reception really do go out of the way to help and make the stay as great as possible. From tips to directions, help printing and advice, they were the best thing for me.

I found the breakfast very average. The location is good, in Bellavista but not in the centre of where things are happening.

Overall the best thing for me was the staff at reception, but I felt that the photos, rooms and facilities just do not live up to the photos online. Unfortunately I would...