Waldorf Astoria Panama — Hotel in Bella Vista

I have never stayed at a Waldorf Astoria. After this experience I never will.

The room was advertised as having a King bed. Ours had a queen bed. When I notified the front desk, they replied "that's interesting." I even gave them the grace that there might be a cross cultural difference, so I asked if she knew if bed sizes in Panama ran different than in the US. She replied with certainty that they did not.

That bed was also in pretty bad shape. It sagged significantly more than beds in far lesser hotels. I have chronic back problems, so this caused me to be woken up by a stabbing back pain. When I reported this to the front desk, and then management, I asked if there might be another room availabl with a newer bed. I followed it up by saying, due to my chronic back problems, the 2nd best thing for me would be to carefully lay 3-4 comforters on the floor and sleep on those. Despite emphasizing this might even be the best thing for my back, both people in management with whom I spoke acted like this was the most abhorrent thing they have ever heard. They insisted on finding another solution. The first manager said she would have it "switched out." I assumed this meant the mattress. At that time, I mentioned that it is our strong preference to minimize people coming into our room and disturbing our stuff (we always request rooms not to be cleaned during our stay). I also mentioned it is important to us to be there while people are in the room, and asked if they were likely to address the problem within the next 30 minutes, otherwise, we would prefer to wait until we return from enjoying the city.

When the manager said they would have it "switched out," I assumed this meant the mattress. Never in our wildest dreams did we think she meant they would switch out the sheets, and think that solved the problem. I returned to see where the misunderstanding occurred. She said she would send a team to try to fix the bed. I replied that I would strongly prefer for them to simply send 3-4 comforters and a couple sheets. She doubled down and insisted she has seen them fix the bed for problems like this. I reiterated that my preference would be for them to deliver comforters, especially since it was getting late and we wanted to start enjoying our vacation.

An hour later, two men arrive with hammers & drills wanting to fix our bed. I cannot comprehend how any hotel, much less the Waldorf Astoria thinks it is acceptable to do construction on a room while guests are occupying it, especially after expressing strong preferences for other options.

In the end, the two men reluctantly left, after moving some of our stuff around against our protests. As we left the hotel 2.5 hours later, we asked the manager to provide us with the comforters after we return. She said she would leave a detailed note for when we return.

When we returned, it took them 4 different attempts to get us 3 comforters and 1 sheet. I had to bring the comforter to the front desk to show the manager what a comforter is. She even took a picture to send to housekeeping. Even then, they brought 3 smaller comforters of a different style. At that point, I gave up.

When I brought the comforter down, I told the manager that I feel I have been very patient with them through all these mistakes, but that this had exceeded the worst miscommunication I have ever had a long time ago. I told her I was about to get a massage in the spa, and asked if the hotel could take care of the cost of the massage. She immediately said, "of course, we would be happy to."

When we checked out the next morning, they handed me the bill for the massage. When they brought the manager over, she denied saying that, and that there was nothing they could do. I had to fight to get them to take 25% off. When I asked to speak to her superior, and explained the situation, she said she was aware of the situation with the bed, and said she could take a little more off, but could not comp the entire massage. She took an additional 2% off.

Oh, and the key card reader on the elevator is...

I was excited to stay at the Waldorf Astoria. Unfortunately the hotel fell short in may areas. Individually these could be minor lapses but collectively not what I expect for a luxury hotel.

Upon arrival, a bellman brought us a luggage cart for our bags. We checked in, but once we were ready to head to the room there wasn't anyone around so we had to take the cart up ourselves. We were able to get in the room really early which was great, and the room appeared very nice. The bathroom was huge with a large tub and a great shower.

The lobby looks great, with high ceilings and a dramatic bar at the end. On closer inspection though the walls are "panelled" in plastic. Seemed kind of cheap.

Heading up to our room on one occasion a bellman was at the elevator with a cart of bags. Any time this has every happened to me in any hotel the bellman insists the guests enter the elevator first. Not in this case.

We ate several meals in the restaurant, and the food was good. I don't think the morning breakfast was anything special. It looked extensive but really there were not that many options. The service in the restaurant though was really lacking, especially when we had dinner there. We were almost the only ones and yet got very little attention. The space also is a nice breakfast space, but doesn't really have any ambience for dinner. Maybe if they lowered the lights and found some other way to soften up the space. It felt like dining in a nice cafeteria space. Also, I noticed one of the mirror by the morning buffet was dirty. Several days later it was still dirty.

The first night we were there some fire alarm warning went off around 2 AM at least four times, and then two more times around 7AM. The next day it again went off around 8AM. I did talk to the front desk about it and they gave some weird explanations. Luckily it didn't occur again.

We decided to take baths for some relaxation. There was no stopper in the tub, so we just plugged the drain with some plastic. This worked fine. I alerted the cleaning staff of the issue, and they got maintenance up there right away. Unfortunately they were not able to fix it. What we didn't know was that they had actually disconnected some piece, so when we went to take another bath when the tub drained it flooded the room (and the room below). Granted we should have been smarter, but they didn't say "don't use the tub" and we had used it the day before. Also, there are more than one other reviews her that note tubs not working. And as for the tub, while it was large it did feel to be very inexpensively made.

When we had first gotten to the hotel I thought about booking a spa appointment. I checked their website and it had a link for emailing any questions, etc. I sent them a question, but never heard back. Similarly I went into the spa one afternoon and there didn't appear to be anybody there - nobody at the desk, and i stuck my head in the hallway and didn't see anyone.

I did spend some time down at the pool. I did find it odd that nobody every came around to ask if I needed anything. The pool/bar staff would walk by and never stop. This happened the first two days. On the third day someone did bring me a menu and I did order a drink. Also, in the men's locker room one of the two showers had an out of order sign on it. (The ice maker on our floor also didn't work.)

After the tub incident they moved us to a nice suite in what I believe to be the owner's section. While the room was great I would caution that it would be odd for anyone that was having any guests to their room. Behind the bed was a huge window looking into the shower. I've had this before where the glass turns opaque, but that was not the case here. Also, the toilet is in such a spot that anyone in the room could see through the bedroom into where someone could be using the toilet - there's only a glass door).

Individually these all seem minor. Collectively they suggest the hotel needs to invest in some basic maintenance and staff training if they want to live up to...

The photos are highly deceiving. This place is old, low vibration, and outdated. The staff in general is equally as low vibration. I haven't stayed at Waldorf Astoria in likely 20 years, and my experience back then was incredible so I expected way too much for this trip to Panama. I booked reservations at two different places in Panama and thought I would save the best hotel for last. I am so glad that my first 6 days were elsewhere and that I only had 3 at the Waldorf. Also, I wasn't feeling well and the bed was very comfortable so that was perfect.

I received an email from the concierge a week prior asking if there was anything needed to make my upcoming stay more comfortable. I asked for two things: A car service and a spa brochure. I had to send a couple of emails to get confirmation on the car service. Regarding the spa appointments, I never received a response so I assumed they didn't have a spa and said that in my last message to the concierge. I did address it with her when I saw her in person. She said, "Oh I forwarded your message to the spa, they never responded?" I told her, "I understand, but what you could have also done after my third email is respond to me to let me know you forwarded the email along, or copy me on the forward, which is what most concierges do." She was like, "Oh thanks for the advice." sigh

I was greeted by Oliver, who was extremely jovial, helpful, and proactive. He referred me to two fabulous restaurants in the area. One was a little tricky to find so he offered to walk me there (a two-minute walk). He asked the Owner/Mgr if he could escort me, and they took one look at me and said "NO". To be clear, I was impeccably dressed, and it wasn't too busy for him to walk away for 4 minutes.

The Hotel buffet restaurant was old, and the furniture was beaten up. The only bright spot was the two servers. The hostess looked on the outdoor patio, saw all of the empty tables, and decided to sit me at the one table right next to a puddle of water and a "slippery when wet" sign. blinking Yes, some tables needed to be cleaned, but I guess that was too much work. Not only was the table next to a puddle of water (photos attached), but the (clearly 20-year-old) placemat had a permanent stain. Just ridiculous for a Waldorf Astoria hotel. Also, the area where you order eggs should have some type of spit barrier since guests are talking. But again, the place is old.

My hotel room looked somewhat updated, and the cookie delivery was a nice touch. My shower was backing up. I don't feel comfortable standing in water that backs up from other people's sewage, so I called the front desk and asked if maintenance could "bring a snake to snake the drain." 10 minutes later, a guy comes upstairs with... ...a TOILET PLUNGER??? gross and ineffective. When I came back to take a shower later, it was still stopped.

The pool was closed for construction. When it opened on my last day there, I was shocked because it looked just as old and tired as it did when the place was taped off. sigh

I won't trust the name Waldorf Astoria again. If this is Hilton's best luxury brand, I'll build my Diamond level stays at the Marriott...