Hotel Casa Panamá — Hotel in San Felipe

DO NOT BOOK THIS HOTEL UNLESS YOU DON’T NEED RUNNING WATER. I would have liked to post a glowing review of this hotel because it is aesthetically very cute! The location is pretty good. Right on the edge of Casco Viejo in walking distance to everything. Shops, restaurants, etc.

However, when I checked in with a group I was leading (we had 5 rooms in all) we were told the hot water wouldn’t be working for a couple of hours. Actually, at that time, the water was not working at all. My group left for a short tour and came back a few hours later. Sadly, at this time we needed to get showered and ready to go to a dinner reservation, the water was still not working! No running water, not even flushing toilets. We had to forego showers and just head upstairs to the rooftop restaurant. The restaurant bathroom also had no working water while we were up there which made us concerned about the cleanliness of the Kitchen staff.

The hotel employee basically ignored us and never gave us any information, not even his name. I had the contact of another employee who I texted with some. She was very nice and tried to help, but she was at home and there was really nothing she could do.

To make matters worse, two people in our group were sharing a room with a queen bed, but that room had such a bad leak in the ceiling that it was sagging and had visible mold. The staff switched them to another room, but that room had a very small bed for two people to share and also had a leak that dripped down right onto the bed so they woke up with a wet blanket. Upon check out the employee on staff said she spoke to the manager who told her that if we contacted Expedia she would approve a refund. But, when we contacted Expedia we were told that due to having paid the hotel directly there was nothing they could do for us, and when we then went back to the manager they refused a refund. The hotel manager then texted me claiming that they had immediately fixed all the problems. This manager was very rude, refused to give their name and just flat out lied to me.

There are so many other cute places to stay in the area. Please heed my advice and go elsewhere. This place is not worth it.

Photos are of the...

DO NOT BOOK THIS HOTEL UNLESS YOU DON’T NEED RUNNING WATER. I would have liked to post a glowing review of this hotel because it is aesthetically very cute! The location is pretty good. Right on the edge of Casco Viejo in walking distance to everything. Shops, restaurants, etc.|However, when I checked in with a group I was leading (we had 5 rooms in all) we were told the hot water wouldn’t be working for a couple of hours. Actually, at that time, the water was not working at all. My group left for a short tour and came back a few hours later. Sadly, at this time we needed to get showered and ready to go to a dinner reservation, the water was still not working! No running water, not even flushing toilets. We had to forego showers and just head upstairs to the rooftop restaurant. The restaurant bathroom also had no working water while we were up there which made us concerned about the cleanliness of the Kitchen staff.|The hotel employee basically ignored us and never gave us any information, not even his name. I had the contact of another employee who I texted with some. She was very nice and tried to help, but she was at home and there was really nothing she could do.|To make matters worse, two people in our group were sharing a room with a queen bed, but that room had such a bad leak in the ceiling that it was sagging and had visible mold. The staff switched them to another room, but that room had a very small bed for two people to share and also had a leak that dripped down right onto the bed so they woke up with a wet blanket.|Upon check out the employee on staff said she spoke to the manager who told her that if we contacted Expedia she would approve a refund. But, when we contacted Expedia we were told that due to having paid the hotel directly there was nothing they could do for us, and when we then went back to the manager they refused a refund. The hotel manager then texted me claiming that they had immediately fixed all the problems. This manager was very rude, refused to give their name and just flat out lied to me.|There are so many other cute places to stay in the area. Please heed my advice and go elsewhere. This place is not worth it.|Photos are of the...

Pros:

Friendly staff! Natalie and Oscar and the lady who checked me in were at least warm and helpful! Natalie helped to catch an elusive cockroach that was in my blanket and pillow, after reappearing. Oscar went to get insecticide at 11pm! The guy who came to fix my TV too!

Location on the fringe of Casco Viejo means easier to get a Uber instead of waiting for a long time in the traffic-clogged streets deeper in the Casco Viejo.

Bedsheets were clean.

Cons:

Cockroaches. Found at least 3 adult ones. This is probably no fault of the staff but more preventions could’ve been done.

Mosquitoes. Lots, but once the aircon is turned on and temperature lowered to 20, the mosquitoes seemed to less of a problem. In the courtyard there’s quite a few of them.

Bar on third floor was really noisy even from the ground floor and could feel the thumping. Music played till well after midnight on Saturday but stopped before midnight on Sunday night thankfully. Can’t imagine what it would be like staying on the second floor.

Room wasn’t very clean, floor was full of pebbly stones, gravel etc. Bring room slippers. The curtains were stained, cockroaches hiding in curtains… the open and uneven rock walls made it difficult to maintain cleanliness as well…

Full glass windows that open to the inner courtyard with curtains that don’t cover fully and so one needs to close the curtains at all times yet be a little paranoid that someone can still look in through the little gap not covered by the curtain.

No hot water! Even “warm” had me shivering and jumping in the shower. Not acceptable!

The water pipe in the room meant if someone showers or flushes or uses the sink, the sound of the water gushing will startle as if amplified… it’s really annoying.

Leaking water spot next to central metal pillar.

Weirdly placed metal “pillars”.

Very dark rooms, not enough lighting.

Such a shame… you do pay for what you get though and it is one of the cheaper options in...