Playa Blanca Hotel & Resort — Hotel in Coclé

We booked through Sunwing and spent a week at Playa Blanca at the end of March 2018. We would not go back. The whole resort needs some serious maintenance. Nothing ever seems to be fixed, but "temporarily bandaged "to make do. The exterior and interior of the buildings and structures need to be stripped of several previous paint jobs and repainted properly. All the pools and bars need an extreme cleaning. The Play structure in the children's pool was covered in visible bacteria which appeared to be growing, and the mold in the pools is very noticeable and uninviting. The resort is VERY unorganized. We were there for Easter, and asked if there were any events being put on for the children as we have a three year old. We were told there were none by the front desk, however, they in fact did have an egg hunt which we missed out on. This was one of many events that were not advertised at all. We were a large family (we had 4 rooms) and hardly any of the keycards or the safes worked. Our hairdryer didn't work, and the rooms (especially bathrooms) were filthy. You could see layers of soap scum on the shower glass, and the bathroom sink looked like someone had just brushed their teeth in it.Towels and drinks were restocked only a couple times when they were a promised immenity, and our drinking glasses were never replaced. BRING A INSULATED WATER BOTTLE! Like many all inclusive resorts, the disposable cups are tiny. The water stations at the bars are often very low on water, so between the tiny cups and the water stations, it's easy to become dehydrated. You are given 2 water bottles in your room a day, but sometimes they don't come until the late afternoon. The bars are dirty. I didn't have many drinks because the condition of the bars, and the smell. For the majority of our trip there was a strong vomit smell at the snack bar, which of course, got worse with the heat. The ocean is beautiful! The black sand is gorgeous, especially at sunset. There should be someone in charge of cleaning up after careless guests though! It bothered me how many plastic cups from the bars were scattered around the beach, being taken out with the tide. I believe if you're going to run an all inclusive resort, the ocean should not suffer because of your business. I can only imagine how much garbage is hurting the marine life because of resorts like these. Also, be sure to bring water shoes as the beach sand is HOT! To get to Laguna beach is about a 5 minute walk. Much of the beach is not to be used by resort guests as it belongs to the residents of the condos. There is absolutely no signage to help you understand where you can and cannot be if you're just a guest, and hardly anyone speaks enough english to help you. You can take a little train ride, or a pontoon boat to get to the resort side of the beach, which is your best option. Town Square, on your way to Laguna beach needs some love. There is an expensive little pizza shop, 2 gift shops, and a little burger joint. The rest of the stores are empty. It looks almost deserted. Pretty much all staff speak only Spanish. It's very hard to understand or be understood. However, they are amazing! Very sweet, hardworking people. Jose who works at the lobby bar is great, and he probably speaks the best english of anyone at the resort. After the second day, we were bored. There is nothing within walking distance of the resort and there's not much to do other than drink, swim, eat, repeat. The food at Playa Blanca is pretty good! The buffet offers quite a large selection and the à la carte restaurants provide good service and a well prepared meal. The gift shop is expensive, but comfortably air conditioned. Vendors set up in front of the stage and on the beach every morning which are much more affordable if you're looking for souvenirs. Watch out for lizards! We saw 4, or 5 lizards during our week stay which was a neat opportunity. They're quick so have your camera ready!

The jungle boat excursion is so much fun! Dont miss out on the chance to kayak to a waterfall and feed monkeys...

We live in Boquete and drove to Rio Hato for our stay, which was from January 12 to 19, 2025. Overall it was fine however when we checked in at the main Hotel reception, 2 agents could not find our reservation even after I showed them a printout with confirmation number.  We were told to wait until 3 pm (about 45 minutes) for our number to be called.After a while, an employee, Cornelio, saw my husband and I just standing there so he came and enquired about us.  We explained the situation.  He went to check with the front desk and then told us that we had to check in at “the other reception desk at Towers Center”.  Why couldn’t the first employees confirm this?  Cornelio kindly took us there and we were able to check in then.We had paid for a “Luxury Suite” which was described as a “2 bedroom suite” with kitchenette, dining and living area.  Long story short, we did not get the type of accommodations described as they admitted it was a mistake on their website.  The next day there was a lot of back and forth between various employees and the manager, Jennifer. By the time we had moved our belongings to another room, it was late afternoon: we did not get to enjoy Day 1 all that much.Restaurants:The Italian restaurant Mamma Mia was very nice, the food was very good with a nice selection and large portions.  Aurelio, the host, was friendly and always smiling as he interacted with people.  He and his staff did a very good job!  We went there 4 times during the week.The seafood restaurant El Velero was a disappointment.  We were looking forward to a variety of seafood options to choose from however the menu was limited and did not include a lot of seafood choices.  We did not go back.The buffet restaurant Canal de Panama was the only choice for both breakfast and lunch and the food was good but the variety was not extensive. Merlin, one of the hostesses was very friendly and helpful.  It is located near the main pool which stays open until 8 pm.  Therefore, the noise from bathers and drinkers at the swim-up bar definitely did not allow for a quiet dinner.As for the dress codes at restaurants, well there are none!  Rather, they are not enforced. We find it totally unacceptable to be taking items from the buffet with women wearing only a skimpy bathing suit and men in sleeveless shirts.We actually saw a full grown man wearing only his underwear briefs and strolling along the walkway as if it was normal. Management accepts this. This is most unhygienic.  Considering that the hotel website states that evening dining requires a semi-formal dress code, the hotel should address this a.s.a.p.Unfortunately dogs are allowed on the property, this is great for the dog owners but not for people with allergies to dogs. Even if the dogs were considered “service” dogs they wouldn’t continually bark because real service dogs are trained. We witnessed a malamute at a table outside the buffet restaurant, who kept barking every time someone walked along. Helpful employees:Aldo at the Hotel reception area was very polite and helpful.  He kept going in the office to speak with the Manager, Jennifer who put us in the bigger room.Cornelio at the main Lobby was very helpful.In the end, we might go back some time in the future, and we hope that by then these issues will have been addressed.|Luisa and Jeffrey Adams|P.S.|That big beautiful laggon is not for swimming. It is reserved for the...

We live in Boquete and drove to Rio Hato for our stay, which was from January 12 to 19, 2025. Overall it was fine however when we checked in at the main Hotel reception, 2 agents could not find our reservation even after I showed them a printout with confirmation number.  We were told to wait until 3 pm (about 45 minutes) for our number to be called.After a while, an employee, Cornelio, saw my husband and I just standing there so he came and enquired about us.  We explained the situation.  He went to check with the front desk and then told us that we had to check in at “the other reception desk at Towers Center”.  Why couldn’t the first employees confirm this?  Cornelio kindly took us there and we were able to check in then.We had paid for a “Luxury Suite” which was described as a “2 bedroom suite” with kitchenette, dining and living area.  Long story short, we did not get the type of accommodations described as they admitted it was a mistake on their website.  The next day there was a lot of back and forth between various employees and the manager, Jennifer. By the time we had moved our belongings to another room, it was late afternoon: we did not get to enjoy Day 1 all that much.Restaurants:The Italian restaurant Mamma Mia was very nice, the food was very good with a nice selection and large portions.  Aurelio, the host, was friendly and always smiling as he interacted with people.  He and his staff did a very good job!  We went there 4 times during the week.The seafood restaurant El Velero was a disappointment.  We were looking forward to a variety of seafood options to choose from however the menu was limited and did not include a lot of seafood choices.  We did not go back.The buffet restaurant Canal de Panama was the only choice for both breakfast and lunch and the food was good but the variety was not extensive. Merlin, one of the hostesses was very friendly and helpful.  It is located near the main pool which stays open until 8 pm.  Therefore, the noise from bathers and drinkers at the swim-up bar definitely did not allow for a quiet dinner.As for the dress codes at restaurants, well there are none!  Rather, they are not enforced. We find it totally unacceptable to be taking items from the buffet with women wearing only a skimpy bathing suit and men in sleeveless shirts.We actually saw a full grown man wearing only his underwear briefs and strolling along the walkway as if it was normal. Management accepts this. This is most unhygienic.  Considering that the hotel website states that evening dining requires a semi-formal dress code, the hotel should address this a.s.a.p.Unfortunately dogs are allowed on the property, this is great for the dog owners but not for people with allergies to dogs. Even if the dogs were considered “service” dogs they wouldn’t continually bark because real service dogs are trained. We witnessed a malamute at a table outside the buffet restaurant, who kept barking every time someone walked along. Helpful employees:Aldo at the Hotel reception area was very polite and helpful.  He kept going in the office to speak with the Manager, Jennifer who put us in the bigger room.Cornelio at the main Lobby was very helpful.In the end, we might go back some time in the future, and we hope that by then these issues will have been addressed.|Luisa and Jeffrey Adams|P.S.|That big beautiful laggon is not for swimming. It is reserved for the...