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Our complete experience, from the Air Transat flight, the tour operator (NOLITOURS) to the resort and the all the people we met, was absolutely amazing.
Air Transat had roomy seats, good hot food and pleasant staff.
Activities on and off the Resort/Hotel
- did our own excursion - rented a car ($55) and went to El Palymar, a 20 min trip. Its a great place for surfing - a little village with a bar and restaurant too - very nice people - rent a board or take a lesson! (the resort offers a excursion
But all the excursions sounded worth the money - but most had long bus rides so we chose to pass this time
Beach/Pools/Grounds
pools - tested them a few times - clean and and warm (but can be busy)
ocean - red flag week - not sure if that is normal but we LOVED playing in the waves - if we had our kids we would have been more stressed perhaps if they wanted to go in
landscaping was literally perfect (and every morning, inconspiciously you can see staff working hard to keep it that way)
Other Comments
GO!
Restaurants and Bars
Restaurants -all awesome - beautiful settings (3 on the ocean side), great service
Buffet - awesome, never disappointed
Bars - lots of local drinks (Tasty too)but you can find international drinks too (margaritas, spanish coffees) - beer = good! smiling service
Rooms
Rooms - we had ocean front -- roomy, clean, well stocked. Yes, get ocean front if it's in the budget but if you don't mind stairs, and desire a discounted price, go for oceanview or garden.
Your Arrival
Nolitours have mastered the "tour operator" to a tee - no line ups at checkin, luggage delivered to our rooms, all the info you need to enjoy your stay (and nice knowledgeable staff)
Amazing Resort, Beautiful Grounds, Good Food and Hot Weather
Hotel Royal Decameron Costa Blanca
User Rating:
Mary Beth >
1 contribution(s) Canada
Apr, 2010 | Leisure | With Group
My daughter was getting married there on April 7th 2010. Julia the wedding co-ordinator was amazing. The day was spectacular and Julia did everything to make their day extra special. The grounds are immaculate. We stayed down at Lobby #1...we had ocean front. I would suggest that to anyone. Pay the little bit extra and get a great view and close to everything. The stairs are brutal for anyone with health issues, however my 88 year old mom did manage to make the buffet restaurant for breakfast each morning taking her time. The staff is very friendly. Check in was quick and easy and you were greeted with a welcome drink. The weather is hot, but I loved it. They say the best month to travel there is January....less humidity, but seriously it didn't bother me much at all.
Activities on and off the Resort/Hotel
For those that like to keep fit there is a gym that looks out to the ocean. Gorgeous view and always had people in it. There are lots of activities to do from renting jet-skis to parasailing. You can also walk down the beach to Woody's Beach Bar which is owned and run by Canadians. Amazing food and cheap beer. The owners do anything to accommodate their patrons. We actually had a 55th birthday party there on the Saturday. We had about 35 of us from the wedding group go there. The owner had a cake, put all the tables together and we pretty much filled the bar with our own crowd. Sure there were some others but they joined right in to the festivities. The bill was unbelievably cheap. I had fillet mingon, salad, and rice, my hubby had two lobsters, 3 jumbo shrimp, fries and salad along with many beers and price came to 69.00 I couldn't believe it. Other people from our group did tours from the resort...the Embera Indigenous Community which they said was excellent, we did the Culture & Crafts which was okay...the lunch was excellent and some parts of the tour was good but other parts I could of done without, other friends did the Panama Canal Expedition and totally loved it.
Beach/Pools/Grounds
The Beach was nice, with lots of cabanas for those requiring shaded areas. The sand does get hot so you would want to make sure you had sandals with you to wear. I personally didn't go in the ocean, but did walk it often and the pools were nice. Lots to chose from and were still refreshing even though in the middle of the afternoon they do warm up. The grounds were immuculate and you could see the workers working about early in the morning.....6am if you're an early riser.
Other Comments
I have done my share of travelling since 1995 and have done several Carribean destinations and usually by the end of the week I am ready to come home, tired of the food, tired of the beer but this resort...I could of easily stayed for a second week. I am actually considering going there again possibly next year. Loved everything about it and would definitely reccommend this resort and destination to anyone looking for something other than the same ol same ol.
Restaurants and Bars
Mega restaurants and bars to choose from. We always seemed to have something different to eat each night, and never got sick of the food. Good choices. There was always a variety of alacartes to choose from. We did 4 nights out of the 7 which was nice as some places you are only allowed 2 per week stay. The bars were plentiful and seemed to always be willing to make you something a little different. The Beer was great.
Rooms
Rooms were simple but adequate. I would reccommend renting a small fridge if you have anything you've brought down to keep cold. I personally take down a 12 pack of diet coke and of course some small plastic bottles of Mott's Clamato Juice for yummy Ceasars. There was always plenty of hot water for the showers and the cleaning staff did a great job and keeping things nice and clean for us. We found the beds very comfortable. We had kingsize beds and got good night sleeps however I was told the walls are very thin and you can hear others next door, but that didn't happen to us. You can also rent a safety deposit box that I would also reccommend for piece of mind that your passport and valuables are locked up.
Your Arrival
We arrived 20 minutes early but had to sit on the tarmac because the gate we were going to was occupied at the time. We had a fast check through security and customs and then were on our bus to the resort. It's approximately a 2 hour drive but they stop about 45 minutes into the shuttle for a washroom break and for anyone that wanted to get some refreshments or beer for the shuttle to the resort. We just considered it a free tour of the countryside as we arrived during the daylight and got to see some countryside and Panama City.
Old Reviews - Getting married in the Caribbean
Royal Decameron Costa Blanca
Scott & Siân Thunder Bay, ON
February 2006
We were married at the Decameron on Jan 27th, with 32 of our nearest and dearest. What an adventure!
This was our first all inclusive holiday and if this is only 4 star, I can't imagine what they could have done to spoil us more. If you are a first timer or getting married abroad The Royal Decameron Panama is for you!!
Rooms: Were clean and comfortable. The beds were very comfortable as specially the pillows. We booked about a year in advanced and were all in section 12 on the beach front. Well worth the extra couple of bucks, if I had had to hike it all the way up those hills every day, I might have been a little disappointed.
Staff: SOOOOO nice, those who spoke little or no english did everything they could to figure out our "international" hand gestu! res with a great smile doing all they could to get us what we needed. Which is much more friendly then the tired old Quebec vs. Canada complaining. Our first week was mostly folks who flew out of Toronto who complained about the French Canadian tourists to no end. As did the group that flew out of Montreal, that were there our second week. They complained about the English Canadians. Let's live up to our reputations people, we're supposed to be friendly!
Food: We love to eat and the food here is really good. If you're ready to try things that are a little different, there is tones for you to eat. If you just want a hamburger, the snack bar is where you want to go. We got up early a few time for the a la cart, which were good, but the buffet was just a good and we didn't like to be rushed.
Food tip: if you're just dying for a simple sandwich, the Pacifica had a sandwich station to the ! right of the big grill. ALSO....if you want a really special meal that is like nothing you've ever eaten, ask the tour desk about Pipas Bar and Grill. OUTSTANDING seafood for $25 and the wine is really good.
Tours: Any place that isn't covered with snow is my idea of great time. But the tours we did were nothing like I could have imagined. The zip line threw the rain forest was like being in my tv as a cast member of the Amazing Race. The crew was very careful and lots of fun. The trip to the Embara Tribe was really cool, a swim in a waterfall, food, dancing, great souvenir shopping, and tattoos. A really good day. All of our tour guides were awesome and loved to answer any questions you have about Panama and the tours etc.
Tour tip: if you have a sensitive tummy any trip into el Valley will require gravel (I used the garlic, non-drowsy kind) as the road is curvy with lots of ups and downs. ALSO...el! Valley is best on Sunday as there are more local vendors then during the week.
Wedding: So perfect! If you're thinking about getting married this way, Marnie (the wedding coordinator) is great, easy to get a hold of and her english is perfect, she's from Canada. I didn't have to worry about anything. The photographer takes amazing shots and the video is done with 2 cameras to get everything in. The live music is very romantic. The setting is very romantic, we were under the big tree. Other tourist were very respectful and stayed at a respectful distance. We were married on a Friday, after dinner we went to the beach disco that was just off site, you still drink for free and you can party until 4. The power went off a few time that day and night ( a little scary as it was pitch black) due to the air conditioners over loading, but came on right away.
The Gamboa...is very different from the Decameron.! This wasn't the best for us, where as others we met loved it. The Gambo is a beautiful big hotel in the middle of the rain forest. It's quiet and reserved with a lot of property to explore, you will see alot of wild life if you get up very early, the hotel has coffee and muffins for the hikers. We stayed in the villas which were beautiful, but I felt a little like an unwanted guest tucked far way from where is was happening. The walk to the hotel was about 10 minutes and a driver would come an pick you up if you called. Our phone was broken for 3 day and I told 4 people at the front desk about it. The food was nice, but we had to wait to get a seat, I wasn't used to waiting. Getting the bus to the airport on going home day was a nightmare, highly unorganized with no representative to tell us if we were missing out bus, when the next one was coming or if we need to get cab.
I worked at a 5 star hotels in down town Toronto for years before moving to ! Thunder Bay, and in my opinion the Gamboa was not a 5 star by Canadian standards, with the exception that the staff generally tried to be 5 star snobby.
I did appreciate that I was able to whined down for a couple of days before heading home.
Panama: is a beautiful country with kind and outgoing people. I always felt safe and loved that you could drink the water!
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