Pacific Dreams — Hotel in Bethania

I was not sure what to expect when I decided to book at Pacific Dreams but the price was right. ||||The hotel/hostel/B&B is a converted house in the middle of a middle class neighborhood in the El Dorado area of Panama City. To gain entrance into the facility you had to be let in by electronic gate which through up an immediate concern for safety. The concern was quickly silenced when I entered the lobby and was met with the warm smile of Genesis, one of two ladies that more or less ran the place. ||||With my very limited Spanish but excellent google translate and Genesis' limited English I was able to confirm I was at the right place and indeed my 30 day online reservation was confirmed. I was then taken down the hall to my room across from the kitchen which appeared to be a converted bedroom of a house with an added large shower. ||||The room itself was very spacious and above all clean, but with the bare minimum of necessities; a bed, a small wall shelf, TV and AC. There was no closet, no drawers or work desk. None of this was a big deal to me as I was going to primarily be there to sleep and nothing else. ||||I went to the front desk to ask if they had something I could lay my suitcase on as it was going to be my closet. This is when I met the second member of the staff Andrea, who speaks fluent English and had gone to college to be a journalist. She immediately found a luggage rack for my suitcase and all was good. She could not have been more helpful or more pleasant.||||The bed was surprisingly comfortable for a regular size bed and the pillows were great!! The AC was more than adequate for the whole trip. The bathroom was very large and shower was huge. You did have to wait for the hot water to get to the room but after it arrived it was great. There was no storage as the sink was a pedestal type sink but just put my shaving bag on the top of the back of the toilet. ||||After a good night sleep I went to the dinning area for a fresh hot breakfast of a large pancake,(the size of the plate) fresh fruit and juice. The ladies serve the breakfast to you and this is where I met the third member of the staff Yasmary. Yasmary is the cook and takes care of most of the cleaning but the ladies work well together and everyone pitches in to help the other. Each day was a different breakfast several of them local dishes all with fresh fruit, all in all very good.||||Location, location, location and Pacific Dreams has just that. It is located half a block from the El Dorado mall, in my opinion the most reasonably priced mall in Panama City and a very short distance to the main part of Panama City. It was a $4 Uber ride down to the Hilton on Balboa Street where I went to a conference.||||You can get virtually anything you want in the mall and on both ends of the mall are the two of the largest chain grocery stores in Panama, Super 99 and El Rey. Also within a block of the mall is virtually any kind of fast food you would want, Don Lee (Chinese), McDonalds, Burger King, Taco Bell, Kentucky Fried and of course the food court at the Mall which had some of the best Pizza I've had in a long time.||||I walked to all of the above locations within 10 minutes of the B&B and did it both during the day and night and never felt unsafe at any time. ||||So if you want a clean very reasonably priced place to stay but don't need the frills a big name hotel, Pacific Dreams fits the bill. But, the biggest thing going for the B&B is its amazing staff, Genesis, Andrea and Yasmary which takes the place from just OK to great, they make you feel like family and have the best personalities I have run across in a long time. When you go tell them Don say's hi and will be back to see them in the...

I spent a total of 3 nights here - 2 nights before my trip to Guna Yala (San Blas Islands) and 1 more night when I returned. I stayed in the toronja room (the rooms are named after fruits). It's the standard double room located in the back by the garden & next to the dining/breakfast room. The room had a TV (which I didn't use) and a good, functioning A/C. The room was ok as it wasn't cleaned very well - the floors were a bit dirty & the walls could use a repainting. The bathroom also looked like it wasn't cleaned well. The hot water was also very temperamental - the hot water took awhile to come out & when it did, it was so hot & didn't last long... you had to adjust the shower every time but the hot water would run out quickly. But overall, the room was big & spacious for a solo traveler like me and it did its job. I guess I just expected a bit more, esp. in terms of cleanliness in the rooms, for the price and after having stayed at their sister B&B/hotel in another neighborhood (more on that below).||||The breakfast was simple & good overall - eggs, bread, butter/jam, fruit, coffee/tea, juice. The wifi worked very well in the room and all over the property. The staff was also very friendly & helpful. As rainy season is starting, it was pouring rain 1 night that I was there. The lady at reception let me borrow her umbrella so I could walk to a restaurant nearby & the market to grab food. Also, when I had my trip to Guna Yala (San Blas), she was up early to make sure she opened the door & gates for me to leave. Since the tour picked me up 30min late, she helped me & called the guide to make sure they were coming. ||||The location is in the El Dorado neighborhood, in a residential area, 1 block behind the main, busy street. I used Uber to get around, but you can catch taxis at the main road. The main road also has restaurants & shops, all walking distance from the property. El Dorado is an ok area, but at least it's safe where the B&B is located. ||||Per the website, Pacific Dreams is part of the Mediterranean Dreams Group of B&Bs in Panama City. I initially stayed at the Mediterranean Dreams San Francisco location when I first arrived in Panama City & liked it. I ended up extending my stay, so I had to find another room with availability. I chose Pacific Dreams because it's part of the same group of hotels so I expected similar quality. All the rooms at these B&Bs are named...

I traveled in a group of 10 people and one of my group members made all of the reservations and arrangements for the vacation, so I didn't fully know what to expect. I did know Pacific Dreams wouldn't be "luxurious" and that was fine with me, but I at least require the place I stay to be clean. I was disappointed with cleanliness, wifi access, and accommodations.

The rooms were a lot smaller than shown in the pictures. There were no tables, shelves, closets, anything of that kind. The walls were dirty and had nothing on them. You couldn't walk on the floors without your feet or socks turning black. The showers were another whole story. There were bugs, dirt, and open wires. Only one bath towel was provided for your whole stay, and there were no face or hand towels. The bed sheets and towels were never washed throughout our stay. The bed sheets also were not fitted sheets so they easily pulled off the mattress, leaving you to sleep on a mattress used by many other people.

Breakfast was sub par. We arranged one of the workers to give us a van ride a couple times, and he was at least 20 minutes late both times. Lastly, wifi went out completely the last day. They kept reassuring us it would come back on, but it never did. Indeed it was a vacation so there is not a need to be on your phone the whole time, but I had homework to get done while others had to still finish work and be able to contact colleagues. Pacific Dreams did not go out of its way to make guests...