Hotel Bella Vista — Hotel in Calidonia

It is average, not terrible, nor grand. The side of town may be questionable but if you are travelling to the city of Panama and want to see the heartbeat of Panama, than this might be it for you. (The heartbeat as in the poor, working hard, trying to survive atmosphere, not trying to beautify it.)||The Wifi worked well for me on the iPad, and Android phone, so no complaints there. There is no breakfast, but a bar that connects to the motel, so they do serve food, although I did not try. ||The elevator is in good working order, both small and tight, however if are carrying more than six pieces of luggage, I don't know what to tell you.||The shuttle will take you to the airport at various times, so we made it to the airport in plenty of time, even though he arrived 15 minutes late to pick us up, and it is $10 per person.||There is a language barrier so knowing some Spanish would be extremely helpful, we was blessed to have a translator nearby visiting.||Okay now the negatives, down falls, something not so pleasant, etc.||The air conditioning does not have knobs to switch to change the temperatures, but it was a plus for me, because it was set on eskimo degree.||No fridge, the furniture is peeling from the laminate, and the bathroom door handle is barely attached. The bed had two very small stains, and lastly if you was in need to charge anything, plug something in you will have to pull out the bed, because that is where the outlet is at.||Other than that it is decent, cheap ($42), and something I would stay for a day or two, not a honeymoon type of room, unless you are adventurous like me,...

My first impression was that the two women working the front desk were not very nice. Cold and very unhelpful. The checked us in without any conversation and took a long time for the process. They never spoke to us until they handed us the key. The lobby was air conditioned but as soon as we checked in with our visa card and then walked through the door to the elevator the room was horribly hot, as was the elevator. I got a creepy unsafe feeling. Upstairs on the 5th floor, I believe, entering the hallway I continued to get a creepy unsafe feeling. The room was dark and hot and there were creases in the bedspread as if someone had been sitting on it. I pulled back the sheets immediately to check for bugs. No bugs but the sheets were creased as the bedspread. We had to go back down to the lobby to get them to turn the AC on and it was really loud. I felt very unsafe and asked my husband if we could please find something better. Cheap prices are not always the best choice. When we hailed a taxi the driver told us this was a bad section of town. We would not have been able to walk anywhere for meals. We were told by our booking company we couldn't be credited for our first night but our second night would be credited and it wasn't. We are now trying to settle that. We were to be in Panama for two weeks and booked this hotel for 3 different stays and ended up cancelling all of them. I do not recommend this hotel, in fact I...

So like always I have an issue with people that pay little for a room but expect luxury.|This is not a luxurious hotel and this is also reflected in the price.|That is why I have this place a 5 star rating because of its price and location it is good value.|It is in the less luxurious part of Panama City but within walking distance to the fancier part of it.|Close by are plenty of shops and eateries and although at first glance it looks a little seedy especially if you arrive at night the area is actually fine.|A two dollar taxi ride will take you to the luxurious part of town near the Hilton hotel area but you can also walk there. |From the airport somehow I found a local bus station nearby and with help from one of the locals I managed to get on that bus and it actually dropped me off right outside my hotel. The bus ride was only 50 cents. That way I didn't have to wait for their shuttle.|Getting on that bus may be a bit of a challenge but since Iberia did not put my luggage on the correct flight I only had the hand luggage bag with me.|Check in was very smooth although no one at the hotel spoke English. |The WiFi was free and worked well for me in my room.|Also the elevator looked new and I had no issues staying at this place.|Please consider the price you pay when you take into account whether or not this hotel will accommodate your needs.|Hotel is also within a short drive of ALBROOK airport and Casco Viejo or...