I would like to offer a review of my vacation in Panama at the Playa Blanca from April 30 to May 7/07

My flight was a regular charter out of Toronto on Sunwing Airlines. We arrived in Panama on time and moved quickly through customs and onto the waiting bus. The Sunwing guide on the trip to the hotel had arranged a pit stop at the halfway point of our 2.5 hour trip to the hotel. I will caution people that when buying anything in Panama the price will change without notice. This I do expect from beach vendors and shops selling local wears but was surprised to see this happening at the pit stop. When I brought this to the attention of the Sunwing Resort Rep she would not believe it took place and told me that the bus didn’t even stop on the route. During my week it was not my only encounter with this type of scam but others had stories to tell as well. We arrived at our resort and I was assigned to a very nice room in building #3, with a great view of the resort’s pool and grounds. This resort is well keep and is trying hard with a large number of staff I do give credit to for their efforts. The food at the resort was on par with any 3 or 4 star resort I have stayed at during my many years of travel. Even with little or no understanding of English the staff tried hard. My Spanish is at best poor and I as well try hard but it is my vacation not my career. The tours offered by the resort were the daily topic at the pool, as most complained how they were not what they signed up for. I went on the Eco Canal Tour which I thought was great and others were upset as it was not even close to the write up at the from desk. If you go to Panama do take the tour, as the Captain of the boat was great and loaded with info on the area. This resort does have a problem with hot water or the lack of so be prepared, the weather was so hot during my stay that I sort of enjoyed a cool shower at the end of the day. The pools are laid out nicely and something for everyone. . The night shows I did not see but heard they were very poor.

I do think the tour operators should spent some time with the resort managers to explain how people are being taking advantage of and that it will only chase them away along with stopping return guests. My trip to Panama was fun, and I am sure down the road they will work things out. Last but not least when leaving the country I was charged $72.00 for extra weight in my suitcase. The only thing extra was 2 bottles of rum then when I entered from Toronto. I asked for a receipt and was given a rough time until the resort rep stepped in at which time I was given $15.00 and a receipt for $45.00 someone put $12.00 in their pocket. I did not take the issue further as during this whole commotion their were two security guards in the back ground, the one was glaring at me while punching his fist into his palm. Would not be surprised that in the future there is a news report of a tourist being manhandled or seriously hurt during the same sort of treatment.

My wife, daughter, a friend and myself spent a week at Playa Blanca from April 9 - 16, 2007. We chose Playa Blanca based on price and the reviews we had read concerning the resort. This was my wife and my first time staying at a resort.

THE RESORT:
A smaller resort approximately 90 minutes from Panama City, the drive from the airport was long after a 5+ hour flight from Toronto. However, once at the resort, we were quickly registered and assigned to our rooms. The rooms were large, very comfortable, and very clean.

Presently this is a smaller resort, only 200+ rooms, which made it feel very comfortable and not at all overwhelming. The grounds are well kept and very clean.

The pools and whirlpool tubs were clean, and at no time did it feel crowded.

The beach was cleaned every morning, and there were adequate huts and loungers available at any time of the day.

THE BUFFET:
The 3 buffets daily were varied and very enjoyable, with a well stocked fruit and salad bar, a hot section with approximately 12-15 different choices, and a large well maintained dessert section.

My wife has food allergies, as well as being vegetarian, and she had no problem, due to the large assortment available. Did I overeat, of course, how could you not!

Country Destination: Panama
Country Departing: Canada (Toronto area)
Hotel: Grand Playa Blanca
Rating: 4 Stars
Meal Plan: All Inclusive
Tour Operator: Sunwing
Airline: Sunwing
Date of Visit: February 26 - March 5, 2007

Rooms: The rooms were very clean. Each had an in room safe, however several people had problems getting them to work. We did too, we had all our travel documents / cash in the safe and locked but could not get back into it. The problem was resolved quickly. Two bottles of water were stocked daily, a small fridge would have been nice. We did switch rooms once. Our reason for switching was because we had a balcony that was small. There was enough room to stand out on it, that's it. We are both smokers and enjoy sitting outside in the morning with our coffee and having a cigarette. Our room was switched the second day. My suggestion to you if you want a balcony is ask for one that you can sit out on. Also, if you are planning on doing day trips and need to be woken at a certain hour and need an alarm clock there is an alarm clock in the room or use the TV timer, but the power went out several times in the morning. USE the wake up call service from the front desk! We stayed in building two, close to the front lobby was very quiet. It is not a huge resort so everything is pretty close together.

The Resort: There is what looks to be a garbage dump on the road entering the resort and garbage being burnt. Not the nicest thing to see when you are entering. The grounds are well maintained. We never had any bug problems. They did fog the resort nightly. The smell was a bit strong and I am not sure how safe the chemical is for breathing in. We were never told anything about this. When we saw the guys spraying we would just go to our room and get ready for dinner. (It was done around 6 p.m.) The pools were kept clean. Mini putt was directly around our building. We never played it but saw a few kids using it. Looked fine, they seemed to be enjoying themselves. The spa: It was ok. I did have my hair braided $20 for half of it. I also had my nails painted, was only $7. I did not get a manicure as it was not the cleanest looking spa. Massages offered on the beach would have been nice and something I would have done for sure. As you enter the resort there is a sign with a picture of a woman with the hot rocks on her back...not something offered so why they advertise it I don't know.

The Beach: We did not go in the water at all. We were all pretty much pool people. However, we did go down there and it looked clean.Lots of huts and loungers. They offered beach volleyball which people did play daily. Also my boyfriend is a soccer player and got a game of soccer going. He enjoyed it very much. There are 5 stray dogs (that we saw) that seem to hang out on the beach. One who just had puppies (three), that were living under the deck by the beach bar. They did not bother people unless you called them they seemed friendly but in desperate need of medical treatment! There was also two cats I think that stayed at the "Extreme Sports" hut located on the beach.

The Pools: There are two pools offered. The first one is the quiet area. There is a bar close to the pool. Rosemary was the regular staff there. Great worker!! Very friendly and got to know what you were drinking and would have it ready when she saw you coming. Suggestion would be take thermal cups as it is very hot there and they only supply small plastic cups. We took these and it was great. Not only did you make less trips to the bar but your drink stayed cold. (I drank mostly daquires, so it helped to keep them frozen). This pool did get busy on the weekend as Columbian's seemed to come in for the weekend. More kids and a bit noisier than during the week. There are not really enough huts around the pool if you like shade. We did have to play the towel game towards the end. Suggestion, if you are up late put your towel or something not valuable on a lounger. I put a cheap pair of sandals, and our towel. It was never touched we did this around 1 a.m. The second pool was the activities pool, we did venture down there. This pool has the swim up bar, which is always nice. Had different activities going on in the morning they did exercises in the pool, dance lessons in the afternoon around the pool. There was music going and just all around more action. It seemed like the same stuff everyday though. They need to switch it up a bit. Not enough huts around this pool either.

Food: The buffet: The food was very good! There was something for everyone. None of us ever went away hungry. The snack bar: Offered hot dogs, fries, nachos, sandwiches, fruit. Food was very good as well.This was located near the activities pool. The a la carte: We only went to the beach a la carte. We went there twice for lunch, great hamburger offered! We went there twice for supper as well. Reservations are booked daily in the morning on a first come first serve basis at the buffet resturant. My only complaint here would be they offered a "extra" meal daily not included with your AI package. It was an additional $15 for the jumbo shrimp, then they had Lobster for an additional $20. My boyfriend did have the shrimp and said it was awesome, I debated on the lobster, but when we arrived it had been cancelled because they were too small. This is to be paid when making your reservation, however they will accept orders when you arrive if there is still some available. (I have travelled a lot and feel that you should not have to pay extra for this food. Other places we have been offered the same foods and was included). It was very windy down at the beach during the night. They need to put canvas or something around the restaurant to block the wind. A 24 hour snack bar or even a vending machine would have been nice as nothing was available after 10 o'clock. One particular night we were up late and could have used something to munch on especially when you are drinking. Suggestion take something from the buffet (like muffins) that can sit in your room if you get hungry late at night. Or buy snacks from the shop that can sit out. A fridge in the room would come in handy for this as well.

Weather: Not one drop of rain during our trip. It was very hot. I am not complaining as that is what we went for! While away back home they had two major snow storms made the heat that much more enjoyable!! Take sunscreen my boyfriend used it and still blistered! I did visit a tanning bed prior to our departure and did not have any problems.

Things to do: There are lots of trips offered. The downside is everything is at least an hour - two hours away. It is cheaper to take a taxi into Panama City and they will take you to the canal. We did not do this but looked into it. What we did do though is took a taxi into a town about 25 mins away from the resort called Pananomay (spelling may not be right but that is how it sounds) Great prices!! If you like shoes amazing deals!! Clothing is very cheap and name brand too!! There is a casino here. There is a cigar factory on the way back your taxi driver will ask if you would like to stop. We did and had a tour, took pictures and bought some cigars. The cost was $10 per person that got you there and back. We did the canopy tour in the rainforest. The day we went it was just the four of us that booked this trip. So it was very personal. Our tour guide went above and beyond for us. Cable glideing was very exciting if you are into a rush. There was also shopping offered afterwards. This trip cost $50 per person. Was well worth it!

We traveled to Panama ON Dec 18/06 to Jan 1/07

The flight was uneventful, but cramped as usual. We arrived at the Grande Playa Blanca at 7:30 pm.Luggage was shipped on a seperate truck and was there waiting for us. We had been given a card from Sunwing at the airport but was not told what to do with the numbers stapled to it. Come to find, they were our room number and should have been attached to our luggage to get it to our room. We just took our luggage ourselves, it was no problem.

We were in building #7. We had a beautiful view of the beach and ocean. We could also see the activities pool but it was not noisy.

Room was very clean and comfortable. We had fresh flowers in our room daily. We did have a little visitor to our room, we were told it is called a sticky frog. Boy can they climb and jump.

Food was excellent. We ate at the buffet most of the time.
Where there was excellent variety. We also had lunch at the beach restaurant. Food here was a la carte. I ordered the veal chops and my husband said "make that two", when the food arrived I got a T Bone steak and my husband got 2 steaks. He is a firm believer in you ordered it (even if by mistake) you eat it and he did.

Service was very good. Staff are very friendly and willing to help in any way.

The ground are very beautiful and quiet. The resort is very well laid out.

Country: Panama
Area: Farallon
Hotel: Grand Playa Blanca
Rating: 4 Stars
Meal Plan: All Inclusive
Tour Operator: Sunwing
Airline: Sunwing
Date of Visit: November 2006

The Area:
Farallon, a beach area on the Pacific coast is located approximately 2 hours from Tocumen airport. Currently there are two major resorts here, the Grand Playa Blanca and the Royal Decameron. Currently, several high rise condominiums are under construction behind the Playa Blanca. Beside the Playa Blanca resort are several privately owned villas. Panama is undergoing a building boom, so I wouldn’t be surprised if this area becomes more developed in the near future.

The Resort and Clientele:
The Playa Blanca is a smallish resort of approximately 200 rooms, comprised of seven 3 and 4 storey buildings. Buildings number 6 and 7 are closer to the beach and thus offer oceanviews, while the rest center around the quiet pool. While the property is small and thus easily navigable, I wasn’t crazy about the layout. The buildings are very close to each other. This, coupled with sparsely planted trees, affords very little privacy in the rooms, including the higher floor rooms. The mini-putt is located right in front of Building number 2, directly in front of the rooms.

The resort is kept quite clean, and the vegetation and flowers seemed to be well looked after. During my stay at the end of November to early December, the resort seemed to be at near full capacity. The clientele was made up of mostly Canadian couples and families from Quebec (most of whom seem to suffer from a severe smoking addiction) followed by groups of Panamanians and Colombians, with a few European couples from Finland and Germany. There were also a handful of people travelling solo, which was nice to see. The Playa Blanca, while lively during the day, caters mainly to families and couples, and is not for those looking for a lively Acapulco or Cancun style night life.

The Room:
I changed rooms three times. I have no idea what constitutes the “Sunwing VIP Room” as the rooms looked all the same to me. The first room I was given had no room safe. I informed the front desk immediately, but it took a second visit to the front desk before anything was done. They moved me to another room. That room, room #201 had to be the worst room in the entire resort. It is located at ground level, right next to the lobby and lobby bar, beside a walkway. When I opened up the curtains the next morning, you can imagine my surprise when I stood face to face with a man playing mini-putt right in front of my patio! So I trundled off to the front desk yet again. They told me I had to speak with my Tour rep. So I attended the orientation briefing (which I normally find a total waste of time) that morning just so I could speak with her. After suffering through an hour long monologue describing all of the excursions available through her or the associated tour company (information that was, by the way, already handed out at the beginning of the session), she had all of the people who wanted room changes to accompany her to the front desk (seems I wasn’t the only one). We gave her our room numbers and were told to return at 3:00pm to find out what would be available. I was offered room #218, same block but on the second floor. I had more privacy, but no real balcony, only one of those European style “Romeo and Juliet” types. I had no energy to go back and complain yet again, so I stayed put. It was OK. I was still able to open up the sliding doors and stick my wicker chair close to the ‘balcony’ barrier and sip my morning coffee.

The rooms are average sized and simply decorated, with either two double beds or one king. The mattresses are very firm. While I prefer a firm bed, these were so firm that I awoke with a very stiff back most mornings.

The rooms also contain two wicker chairs, a wicker table, a dresser with mirror containing 4 drawers, several lamps, room safe at no extra charge, a TV (don’t ask what channels, I never turned the thing on) a closet (bring extra hangers, there weren’t very many) and a remote controlled A/C unit. A small coffee maker was provided, and (delicious) Panamanian coffee was replenished daily. One small bottle of Bacardi gold rum (worth $2.99us) was also provided. The rooms do not have fridges. Two beach towels were provided in the room upon check-in. These could be exchanged for fresh towels or towel cards (needed for check-out) at the Animacion station (near the activities pool).

The bathroom has a shower (no tub), toilet, sink and hair dryer. Toiletries consisting of soap, shampoo, conditioner, body lotion and sewing kit were provided. The water pressure was excellent all week, and I had sufficient hot water all week, save for one day. The water in Panama is safe. I brushed my teeth with tap water and I also used tap water to rinse out my cup, and I did not suffer any ill effects. Bottled water is provided however for the extra sensitive folks.

There is no clothes line. Due to the Panamanian humidity, don’t bother placing wet items on the balcony to dry (you’ll be going back home and your clothes will still be wet).

A note about the room safes; I’ve had to call the front desk twice about mine. Besides the fact that my first room didn’t have one, I had a lot of trouble programming my numbers. In both cases, it turned out to be dead batteries. This seemed to be a very common problem for many people during the first couple of days.

Beach and Ocean Swimming:
Ok, this is not the Caribbean; it’s not even Puerto Vallarta or Acapulco. The beach in front of the hotel is comprised of caramel coloured sand with black streaks. While the staff cleaned it every day it was still covered in small stones, shells, twigs, leaves and man-made debris. The water near the shore was very murky and churned up with sand. If you swam further out, the water was much clearer and less brown, but so deep you could not see the bottom. The water gets deep very quickly here. Three or four steps into the water and you are in over your head. People with young children should be very careful. The water was very calm most days; on my last day there were some waves, but not as large as in Ixtapa or Puerto Vallarta for example. I found the water to be a comfortable temperature, certainly not as warm as the Caribbean in the summer, but much warmer than in Puerto Vallarta during the same time of year.

The hotel lacks sufficient palapas on the beach. You would think that this being a smaller hotel, that the palapas they have would suffice. Unfortunately, since this hotel accepts guests on day passes, the number of people vying for space around the pools or beach exceeds the hotel’s capacity. This unfortunately means that if you want shade during the day, you have to play the beach towel game every single morning. This may require you to stake your claim even before the sun comes up.

I walked down the beach to the Royal Decameron hotel, and I found their beach to be larger, flatter and cleaner and their swimming area larger. The sand there also appeared to be much smoother and softer.

Close to the Decameron hotel, you can find the remains of Manuel Noriega’s beach house. I ventured inside to take some pictures. I’m not sure how safe the building is anymore in its present crumbling state.

Pools/Jacuzzis:
The hotel has two fairly sized pools. The pool closest to the beach is the busy, activities pool, and the second pool close to the rooms is the quiet, relaxing pool. The water depth in both is quite low, around 3 feet. The quiet pool does have a deeper section on the side, in which the water came to my shoulders. There are two Jacuzzis located by the quiet pool. The water in the Jacuzzis was just slightly warmer than in the pools.

Food/Drinks:
The resort has one buffet restaurant which serves all meals, plus two a la carte restaurants for supper; one closed-in International, and one near the beach which is an open grill. This beach grill is also open for an a la carte lunch. A snack bar located by the activities pool offers simple foods such as pizza, burgers, fries and fruit, and was open most of the day.

The quality and quantity of the food at this resort is the one area that truly exceeded my expectations. Having stayed at dozens of all-inclusives over the years, I can honestly say that this resort’s meals have been some of my more memorable. I was particularly impressed with their interesting variations and selection of vegetables (plantain, Name, banana, eggplant, chayote, corn and yucca just to name a few).

What I did not like was to constantly stand in line. Standing in line seems to be a way of life at this resort. You line up to obtain a table, and then you line up to get your food. For the a la carte restaurants, expect to line up bright and early to make your booking. These are definitely not features of a 5 star hotel.

Local drinks are included in the all-inclusive price. I drank lime daiquiris and caipirinhas, which were very tasty. Top shelf liquors cost extra. Bars are located throughout the property and open and close at different times during the day and evening. Bars open at 10:00am.

During meals, rose wine was Italian whereas the white and red were from Chile. It probably won’t be the best wine you’ll ever savour, but not the worst either. Slightly better quality wine can be purchased at $10.00us a bottle.

Things to Do:
Panama has so much to offer! Your best bet is to arm yourself with a good guidebook such as Lonely Planet, Frommer’s, Rough Guide, etc. to get some background information on this lovely country, and then decide what you would like to see. Panama has it all; shopping, jungles, valleys, historic buildings, water sports and let’s not forget that engineering marvel that is the canal. The country is very safe as long as you avoid the Darien province (the province closest to Colombia).

There is a tour company on site, and you can book organized tours through them. I am not a big fan of organized tours myself. Besides being over-priced, organized tours do not provide much flexibility. It is much less expensive and so much more rewarding to rent a car, take the local bus, or arrange for a private tour with only a few other people and see the country at your own pace and at your convenience.

The tour company reps will always try to dissuade you from travelling independently and no doubt they will use all sorts of scare tactics to do so. Example: during our briefing session, I asked the Sunwing Tour rep how and where to catch the local bus going to Panama City. She made a big to-do about how the bus would make many stops along the way, and how the bus ride would be 4 to 6 hours long. Well, in fact, the local bus made only 2 stops and it took 1 hour and 45 minutes to get to Panama City. The bus was clean, comfortable, air conditioned and cost me $3.50us on the way down. On the way back, I paid $5.00us, and the bus dropped me off right in front of the hotel. To get to the trans-American highway, take a taxi from the hotel. This costs approximately $5.00us.

If you need advice on public transportation, do not hesitate to speak to the front desk staff. I brought a map with me (the Panama brochure in the rooms has a great pullout map) and the very helpful young man at the desk explained where everything was, what bus to take, where to get off, etc. I’m sure if you try to obtain this information from the tour desk or from your Tour rep, they will only try to talk you out of doing this. This is such a shame. Since I enjoy snorkelling, and there is no off-beach snorkelling at this particular location, I thought I might book a snorkelling excursion to Farallon Island, as was advertised by the water activities centre on the beach. I spoke with one of the young ladies at the water centre. I received a very un-enthusiastic response to my inquiry. They needed a minimum of 5 people, and she wasn’t sure when they would be going, and sure she would take down my room number, but I was supposed to keep coming back to check with them, etc.etc. For such a bother they were charging $49.00us for a two hour excursion! Understandably I decided to forget about it. I will repeat, make your own arrangements!

Shopping:
In one word, great! There are lots of shopping opportunities in Panama. If you are interested in local handicrafts, then visit the large covered marketplace located in Amador.

If you are interested in clothing, jewellery, electronics, and other consumer goods, then there are several large malls such as the Multiplaza or Multicentro, or try the newest and largest, the Albrook Mall adjacent to the Bus Depot (the bus will take you directly there). The Albrook mall also has a big bustling food court where you can eat either typical North American fast food, or the more traditional South American fare from the several Parilladas. If you are interested in purchasing the delicious (and inexpensive!) Panamanian coffee, just visit any grocery store in town. There is a Super 99 right at the Bus Depot. This store also sells both imported and local liquor at good prices.

While there are many shops at Tocumen Airport, you will not find typical souvenirs such as T-shirts, coffee, Kuna handicrafts, etc. Make sure you buy such items beforehand. At Tocumen, you will only find perfume stores (lots of them!), liquor stores, and high-end jewellery and designer clothing stores. I also saw only one restaurant, so you may want to bring your own snacks or sandwiches.

The hotel does have one small shop that carries souvenirs and other sundries. The prices in this store were about double what you would pay in town.

Weather:
I love Panama because you can always count on the weather being hot. My stay this time was just at the end of the rainy season (which runs from May to end of November). We had some brief showers on some days, but it always remained hot. My last trip to Panama was in January, 2000 and during that month it was hot, sunny and much drier (and a bit less humid as a result). Even during a cloud cover, sun protection is a must. Once again I saw too many people with blistered and peeling shoulders and backs.

Insects and Other Wildlife:
The resort fogs for mosquitoes, especially after heavy rains. Keep an eye (and ear) for this because the stuff really stinks and makes you choke. I didn’t see any horseflies, bees or wasps.

There are lots of cute little froggies all around the resort, especially at night. Watch your step so you don’t crush the little darlings. At night you can also listen to the soothing sounds of cicadas and crickets. I also saw a few bats, lots of dragon flies and tons of small lizards defying the laws of gravity; excellent counter-balance the mosquito population.

On the beach you can watch all sorts of sea birds; cormorants, frigate birds, pelicans, herons, terns, gulls and egrets. During breakfast or lunch, look out for hummingbirds buzzing around the flowers near the buffet restaurant.

In the ocean, I was happy that for once nothing bit, stung or poked me for a change. I did see a few (thankfully dead) jellyfish on the shore. These weren’t the small golf ball sized ones I usually see (and bump into). These babies were about the size of cantaloupes. Luckily I did not see any live ones in the water. I did not swim in the ocean when the flag was red, and thus I didn’t see any stingrays that are popular here.

In Conclusion:
I enjoyed Panama very much. It is a beautiful country with beautiful, warm, friendly people. It is certainly a very affordable location to vacation with many opportunities for sightseeing, shopping and nature excursions.

We just returned from 1 week at the Grand Playa Blanca, formerly the Barcelo. This is a smaller resort, well laid out with 3 and 4 story buildings, 1 activity pool and 1 quiet pool. The grounds are beautiful and well maintained. Internet access is available ($3 for 30 minutes), gift shop (prices were reasonable), and hairdresser.

Restaurants: Buffet was the largest I have seen with a great variety of food that changed from meal to meal. 1 a la carte on the beach (baby lobster tails, calamari, shrimp in brandy sauce, steak while we were there) and 1 beside the buffet restaurant, which had a menu of rabbit, steak in mushroom sauce, salmon in orange sauce, vegetarian dish as an example. There were 4 in our party, and all of us thought the food was good. The Argentinian wine served was excellent.

Beach: not your white Cuban sand but very fine. Stingrays come in and bury themselves in the sand at this time of year so there would be several hours a day when the red flag was up and one really shouldn't go in the water.

Weather: The first 3 or 4 days were cloudy, but beware, you can get burned on their cloudy days. Temp was around 30C+ .

Staff: Amazing. Many have minimal English (but they are trying to learn), friendly and really go out of their way to help you. The lifeguards work long hours both at the pools and on the beach.

Rooms: are a nice size, in-room safe, 2 Queen sized beds, wicker table and 2 chairs, as well as 1 tv chair, so there is plenty of room. Bonus, they use the same current as we in N. America so your electric curlers, shavers etc will work. Hairdryer in the bathroom, and a coffeemaker in the room as well.

Tours: There were 2 tours offered into Panama City and we opted for the Panama Canal with shopping in the afternoon tour, $61 US. Unfortunately, our guide misunderstood and we didn't go to what is the largest mall in Central America or S. America, but ended up at 2 strip malls. The other tour is about 11 hours long and tours the older sections of the city as well. Two of our party really enjoyed the Canopy tour in the Rainforest. Standard sunset sailing, jet skis, etc.

Currency: The US dollar is used which they call a Balboa. Their coins are of the same value and look like US coins, but are different.

Downside: Unfortunately, in order to get to the beaches, the resort is a 2 hour drive from the airport. We booked through Sunwing and were not impressed with how we were treated. The flight from Toronto to Panama is 5 hrs 20 min., departing at 9:30 a.m. We were not told that we would be going to Liberia, Costa Rica FIRST to drop off passengers, which added 1 more hour of flying time and more than 1 hr on the ground. So, instead of arriving in Panama at 3:20 p.m., then to our resort 2 hrs later, we did not get to the resort until 8 p.m. We thought coming back that at least this would be reversed and we would be spared the extra hours. No. On the flight down, we were served 1 meal, breakfast at 11 a.m. A long day without food.

We opted for paying the $20 per person to do pre-seat selection, as did others. On our return flight, we found out that Sunwing had double sold the advanced seating so our seats were taken. There were many unhappy passengers. This is all computerized and should not happen. No one needs to be stressed or upset on their holiday.

We were at the Barceló for 2 weeks March 7 - March 21, and it was great. The weather was amazing and hot, but not unbearable. I suggest going to this resort (or the Royal Decameron) for 2 weeks. With the 5 hour plane ride and the 2 hour bus ride from the airport, you don't want to get back on a bus for quite some time.

GETTING THERE
It's a 5 hour flight from Toronto, which was not painful but the food was sub-par. Bring your own snacks or you'll starve.

There is a 2 hour bus ride from the airport to the resort along a winding and hilly highway, but the road is in good condition. Our bus got a flat tire about half-way to the resort, and we stopped at a service station to change the tire (for another bald tire). If you need to use the washroom, use the one in the restaurant and buy something small like a bag of chips.

THINGS TO BRING
Lots of suntan lotion, hat, large insulated drink cup, zip lock bags for treats from the buffet, maybe beach towels, as the hotel ones are very thin and small.

THE HOTEL
It was wonderful; remember it's new so the shrubs haven't had a chance to grow yet. Everyone is very friendly, from the staff to the other guests. The rooms are very nice and large, ask for building 6 or 7 they are the ones with the ocean view. The staff at the front are not the most helpful if you have problems with your room, as there never seemed to be a manager around.

The daily entertainment requires some work as they too don't seem to have a manager watching them. They do have a schedule for activities but they do not follow it closely. Always remember; the activities are geared for the guests at the resort at the time, and many guests do not want to participate in the activities. We did not watch many of the nightly entertainment shows, but what we did see was okay.

The Barceló has 250 rooms and it's not a very lively place at night. If you're looking for a more up beat resort we'd suggest the Royal Decameron which has 658 rooms and is 30 minutes down the beach.

FOOD
There is a buffet for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. It's quite good and you'll surely find something you'll like. They have an à la carte restaurant, which you book at 0830hrs at the entrance to the buffet. The à la carte was great; try the filet mignon or the sirloin or the seafood pasta... all fabulous. Apparently, you can also get lobster here but you have to ask for it 24 hours in advance, and there is no extra charge. Wish we had done this but they don't advertise it. There is another à la carte restaurant on the beach called Sails, its very good and opens at noon and stays open through dinner, it's a very nice setting and quiet.

BEACH & POOL
If you are looking for clear blue water to snorkel off the beach, then Panama on the Pacific side is not the place to go. The beach has dramatic tides and when the tide goes out the red flag goes up, and it's not considered safe to swim due to the sting rays. We never saw one stingray nor did anyone get stung when we were there. The little water socks/shoes you might want to bring with you will not protect you as they do not come up high enough. When the tide comes in they change the flag to yellow, indicating that it is safe to swim in the water. We were in the ocean every day, and found that it's a good spot to boogie board. There are palapas (huts) on the beach and these get occupied early but honestly we never had a hard time getting one around 8:00AM.

The pool is very nice and also has palapas but these do go early, so be there to get one at 7:00AM. I found the pool would get too warm and it wasn't refreshing but there is a swim up bar in the pool, so it's not that bad. There are 2 pools at the resort, the one closest to the beach is the activity pool and the one further in land is the quiet pool.

On the Sunday the hotel offers local companies in Panama discounts for family passes. On the first Sunday we were there we were over run by 1000 locals from Panama. It was a bit crazy and most of us fled to the quiet pool. They come in at 8:00AM and leave by 4:00PM; they also eat at the buffet. The next week there were only 150 people. One of the managers advised that they will only do up to 300 people from now on.

EXCURSIONS
We did not do any of the offered trips as we found that they were expensive, and we did not want to go on another bus ride. To help us get around while in Panama we purchased the 'Lonely Planet' travel book on Panama before we left, and found it to be a great book.

Our first trip we took a taxi to Rio Hato and then took the collectivo to Penonome. This is supposedly a great place to shop, in our opinion it was like a big Biway. Our next stop after a short taxi ride was to La Pintada where they have a small cigar factory. Here my husband bought a box of cigars for $40. They were very nice but do not speak much English. The taxi waited for us then deposited us back in Penonome where we took the collectivo back to Farrallon.

2. Our second trip we rented a car from the Decameron hotel, it was $57 US for 24 hours unlimited mileage with great air conditioning. We set out early in the morning to El Valle de Anton, an old volcano up in the mountains. It was beautiful, if you get the travel book it'll tell you all you need to know about this wonderful area. We did the canopy zip line, hiked around the waterfall, went to the hot springs, took a 3 km hike with a 12 year old guide (Miguel), ate fire baked pizza at Pinocchio's. The pizza was amazing but only get one, as they are quite large and filling! O yes and shopped at the market. It was an all day trip. There is also an animal sanctuary on the way back to the highway, do go, we should have but didn't. After dropping off the car we went to La Fogata for dinner, Luz and Jorge were wonderful even drove us back to the hotel after our lobster dinner.

3. At the resort, speak to Souje at the internet room. She rented us a 15 seat van, driver, and English speaking guide. I found 8 other interested people and we made our own trip. We went to the Gamboa rainforest, did the monkey island tour (amazing) went to the Summit zoo (can miss), then to the Mariflores Locks and watched a cruise ship pass, off for lunch on the Causeway, to the shopping mall where the boys bought Corona for .70 each. Of course a cooler, ice, limes, and 60 Corona were purchased. A long day but well worth it, cheaper than the ones offered at the hotel, and we designed our own package.

Panama is a wonderful country, and the food at the resort is amazing (as my waist line can attest). If you like to do a little local traveling and exploring while on vacation, then this is the spot for you. Remember they have 8 months of rain, the dry season is Dec - April, but the 2 hotels are in the dry zone and usually it only rains for a short period of time.

We did take a quick tour through the Decameron resort, and from what we saw it was very beautiful and lush, but we "heard" that the food wasn't that great compared to the Barceló.

My wife and I just got back from one week ant the Barcleo Blanca Panama March 7 to 14 2005:

The bus ride was not impressive on the way there we got a flat tire and there was no radio on the bus to call for help so the drive continued on very slow to a garage were they changed the tire, after about a hour we were back on the road. I also noticed that the driver would drive very slow or very fast that's when I could see that his speedometer was not working so this should give you some idea of the bus we were riding in.

The Barcelo Blanca was nice the main entrance was nothing to write home about in fact it was very simple, the room we had was very large with a king size bed clean and comfortable. The pools there are two both are clean and nice, the staff friendly the waiters were great very polite and always a smile, the food was excellent we ate and drank a lot it was the best. There were a couple of days we had no hot water and one day we had no water at all this is not the kind of thing you would expect from a 4 star, also on our last day there they let bus loads of the locals into the resort there must have been thousands someone told me 1500 had been let in, this I'm sorry is ridiculas we just left and went to our room.

The excursions are not that great either we did two the Shopping and Canal this one we were rushed threw the shopping malls and ended up buying one thing when we thought we where going to do more, the Canal was impressive and we did enjoy that part. The next tour we did was the Eco Canal Tour this we were told it would take about a hour to reach it was more like 3 hours, when we finally arrived our guide took two boats out we got lucky our guide spoke the other boat thier guide said nothing, we were shown different plants, trees and wild life this was fine but then he took us to a house boat on the lake for lunch, when we got on the house boat we were give food and drinks which was fine but then our guide had to make a phone call he left the house boat and made his call from about a 100 feet away and this kept on till it was time to leave and then there was a argument between him and one off the bus guide as too the time we should be leaveing anyway we were not impressed.

Went there the week of Feb 7-14, 2005.

Flight: 5 hours, Air Transat, uneventful

Bus from Airport to Hotel: 2.5 hours with 20 min stop halfway throught. Not as excruciating as I expected as there was a very nice tour guide talking to the passengers with a microphone for the 1st hour. I still remember how many types of birds and snakes they have.

Check In at Hotel: One of the easiest and quickest I have ever had. The only thing is they don't show you where your room is. You are left on your own for that. They do however bring your luggage soon after. The resort is pretty small so its easy to find your building and room. Our balcony overlooked the quiet pool and we oversaw all the people traffic. Its amazing what people do when they think nobody's watching! Ha Ha

Food: For all you travellers who expect North American cuisine on vacation in Central America-you won't get it so get over it fast. They like to cook with alot of sauces and nothing tastes quite the same as home. That being said, although the buffet was quite small, there was always something you could find that appeals even a little. The a la carte had a wonderful filet mignon. The snack shack at the pool served pretty good food too. Their ceviche is the best I've ever had.

Entertainment: Theatre show was from 10:00pm to 11:00. Not my cup of tea but they tried really hard. The pre-show however was very funny. That is when they get guests to come on the stage and do stuff. After the show the disco opens. Unless there are a lot of young people during your week don't expect much at the disco. The casino is at the Decameron which is a 4 or 5 dollar cab ride depending on which driver you get. The casino was dead during the week (at the tables) so if you want to play other people besides the dealer go on Fri or Sat night. The slots however were half occupied. They have everything from nickel to dollar slots.

Service: Extremely nice and eager to please. The conceirge was friendly. The housekeeper gave us extra pillows, ashtrays and towels immediately after asking her. We also gave her 20.00 at the beginning of the week-I don't know if that helped or not. Beach: Worst I've ever seen. Very disappointed with it. I am a beach person that had to use the pool all week and that was not what I signed up for. Awful, hot, hurtful sand, yucky water with stingrays and 2 inch rocks in the water that you have to walk on or the tide brings it up over your feet. Pool was nice but heck I can swim in a pool at home!!!

Weather: Unbelievably hot and sunny. Bring tons of sunscreen. Tons.

All in all it was a nice resort. They really try hard but they still have some kinks to work out. If you are after a nice beach with a wild night life you better think again. This place is really quiet and 80% of the guests were "mature".

Just returned from 1 week holidays at this resort (Jan.31-Feb.7) and thought future travellers would like some insight before going there.

Good: Flight with Air Transat was smooth and uneventful--the one thing I would recommend is booking Club Transat on this flight for it is a long flight (5 hours).

The transfer at the airport to the hotel was quick and painless--but the bus ride is 2 hours long as they state in the brochure. There is one pit stop about 30 mins. before getting to the resort--at a gas station/diner for restrooms and drinks/food. Beware--have napkins or toilet paper with you--the local restrooms are very dirty, with no toilet paper and the toilets don't flush! This was the same at all local/public restrooms we had the pleasure of stopping at during our holiday while out on tours etc.

At the hotel--check-in was quick and efficient. The weather was amazing-hot and sunny. Bring lots of sunscreen, you will need it! The hotel is not too big--great for a relaxing and laid back holiday. Everything is located close together so walking is not a big issue in case someone cannot walk great distances at a time. The buffet meals were all great--small buffet (cafeteria line style) but the food was very good! They should consider separating the food stations to avoid the large line-ups at dinner. We found this to be a bit annoying at dinner time. Overall, the food was very good-breakfast, lunch and dinner.

The rooms are large, clean and well kept. The toilets tend to plug and back-up at times--beware! Maintenance quickly fixed the problem. Front desk was more than obliging with repairs in the room. However, one thing that wasn't clear was the fact that there didn't seem to be a manager on duty at any time. Another couple who encountered problems with their traveller's cheques asked to see the hotel manager and were promptly told there wasn't one! At no time was a manager offered to them to assist them with their problems. That is not very professional for a chain of this stature.

Bad: The beach was nothing to be desired. This is not a beach destination by any means. The water is murky, sand is dark but the biggest issue is the stingrays. The beach and water are full of them. They burrow into the sand and when the tide is low if you go into the water you likely will get stung. A few people that week were stung-which is very painful--when there is high tide they say it is safe--however very, very few people ventured in to find out. Everybody just stayed by the pool.

Lounge chairs are a fight! You must be up before 7 am to secure one! This resort was the absolute worst I have seen for hoarding lounge chairs and cushions--people were taking the cushions back to their rooms to use for the week--needless to say if you snooze you lose! Oh--and forget about palapas (umbrellas) they are virtually impossible to acquire. On my last night there I was up at 4:30 am (yes - you read this right) to get a lounge chair with a cushion under a palapa by the active pool. To me that is ridiculous--never have I had to wake that early to secure a chair!

Traveller's cheques are not accepted anywhere on the island unless it is at the airport. They have absolutely no trust in them and will not cash them in as a few people found out the hard way. Take cash and credit cards---you get a better exchange rate on credit cards--book your tours and large purchases at duty free shops on your credit card and save your cash for the local market.

There was 3 incidents of theft from rooms during the week I was there---make sure to lock up everything in your safe and in your suitcase. Put your goodies in your suitcase and lock it up. There was a camera, a watch and cologne stolen from 3 different rooms while I was there--the hotel was not too helpful in solving these matters either as I heard from the people involved.

Excursions: I would strongly recommend the canal/city tour as it was very informative about Panama and the people who live there. It is a long day 7am to 7pm but worth it. The other tour is the jungle tour--beautiful day--would strongly suggest this one as well. As for the others--don't bother--they are a waste of money. Water activities at the hotel never happened--no one signed up for anything (could it have anything to do with the stingrays in the ocean??)

Airport departure: Watch the check-in weigh scale. It has a mind of its own. It does not accurately read the luggage weight--hence many, many people were stuck with a payment of $6 US for every kilo they were over. This did not go over well. The worst I have ever seen at an airport. They also like to thoroughly check your carry-ons after you go through the x-ray machine. They questioned the coffee I had and the hairspray (aerosol can) I had in my carry-on??? They were checking the majority of people passing through. Very thorough since Columbia is their neighbouring country!

We stayed at this resort from January 31 to February 7, 2005.

The Good:
The weather - always hot and sunny (although a bit too windy at times)
The food - very tasty, plentiful and varied
The rooms - clean, comfortable - hot water was never a problem

The Bad:
The fact that swimming in the ocean at any time but high tide is strongly discouraged because of stingrays (we did witness one person stung as a result he ignored this advice). This fact detracted from an otherwise pleasant beach. The ocean water was not very clear.
Not enough lounger cushions (people would therefore hoard them for the duration of their holidays).
The fact that this resort is located in a remote area so that it was not possible to walk to any town, or anywhere really. It was a twenty minute drive to the nearest town.
-Travellers' Cheques are not welcome. This compels tourists to carry excess cash or use credit cards or, if you are brave and stupid, your debit card.

The Ugly:
This resort was suffering a theft problem while we were there. We knew of three instances which all resulted in property being stolen from guests' rooms; a camera from one, a watch from another, and a bottle of cologne from our room.
There also seems to be a second form of Departure Tax at the airport. They weigh your bags and charge $6US for every kilogram in excess of the allowable weight. These scales are not accurate; our luggage first registered 7 kg overweight until I simply lifted and one of the bags up and then immediately placed it back on the scale in the same place, after which it came in at 3 kg. over. I did it a second time and this time it registered 4 kg. overweight. The superviser then pressed the "reset" button and our weight was then 5 kg. over. We ended up paying for 3 kg.

Excursions from the hotel:
We did three established tours from this resort.

1. Valle De Anton - this is the one excursion we wished we had not done. The El Nispero Zoo and Botanical Garden is a sad menagerie of numerous birds and other animals confined in cages too small for a healthy existence. The hyped waterfall and walk is simply overhyped. The craft market is standard fare for any place in Panama.
2. Panama City and Canal Tour - strongly recommended. Very eye-opening in respect to the living conditions of many Panamanians. The only thing I wished was included in this tour was a bit of time in the business centre of downtown Panama City.
3. Ecocanal and Jungle Boat Tour - strongly recommended. Simply put, this was a great day. The highlights were the capuccin monkeys, the realization of just how busy the canal is, and the lunch that is provided.

We just returned from Panama (barcelo playa blanca) Feb. 07/05.

This is a great resort.The food is great with a good variety. The staff are awesome.The maids,bartenders and waiters do a fantastic job,always friendly and smiling. If there is a problem it is taken care of immediately.

Swimming in the ocean is not recommended because of the stingrays that bury themselves in the sand,but there's always lots of room in the pools.

The one drawback for us was there was no fridge in the room.I think in order to be classed a 4 to 5 star the rooms should have a fridge or mini-bar. Other than that you coudn't ask for more.

Executive Summary
We had a great time and would highly recommend the hotel to anyone who wants a low key relaxing vacation. If you want beach sports or lots of poolside activities you might try somewhere else.

Getting There
We flew Air Transat and I would recommend anyone willing to upgrade to first class to go that route. All the buses from the Decameron and the Barcelo empty their passengers out at the airport at the same time. Some people waited 2 hours to to check in on the way back. If you go first class they have special check in privilidges. Also be prepared to pay extra if your luggage is overweight. I believe the charge was $7USD per Kilo over 42. Again if you fly first class you're covered.

The Hotel
The rooms were large, modern and well cleaned. The grounds are well manicured and very pretty. Staff were friendly and attentive. Not many of them speak english but if you can make yourself understood, they were very accommodating. The food was excellent in quality and variety. We are now converts to Panamanian coffee. Don't bring travellers cheques. You'll have a hard time cashing them at the Barcelo. The pools were always warm and very clean. Not much happening as far as activities in them but a nice place to relax. The bars were well stocked and the bartending service was excellent. Unfortunately, the plastic glasses in most areas were very small. Bring your favorite insulated mug.

The Beach
Playa Blanco is an amazing long stretch of beachfront. The sand is not the powdery variety but it is clean and beautiful. The tides are moderate and you feel them swimming but they are not overpowering. There is quite a problem at low tide with jellyfish and stingrays. Several people were stung at low tide while we were there. At high tide the swimming is great. There was no lifeguard on duty while we were there and the red flag stayed out constantly until someone complained and then they started changing it with the tides.

Be prepared to get out of bed early if you want a chair with shade. If you tried to reserve a shaded chair after 7AM you were out of luck. This was annoying but typical of many resorts.

The Barcelo has outsourced their beach sports to a seperate company. The hotel needs these guys to get their act together if they are going to become a 4 or 5 star all-inclusive. The only thing that you can do at this resort without paying extra is take a kayak or paddleboat around the roped off swimming area. All other activities involved spending cash. You can't even take a bicycle, sunfish or a windsurfer out without paying for a "tour".

We signed up for 2 or 3 snorkling and bottom fishing excurisons. The desk staff took all of our information and then cancelled the trips at the last minute for lack of people. We did take them up on the deep sea fishing tour. We ended up about 10 to 15 miles out in the Pacific when a storm blew in. We discovered while pounding through 10 to 15 foot waves that the 25 foot open deck fishing boat did not have lifejackets on board, nor a marine band radio. It was a very scary experience to say the least. We came back soaked and frozen but happy to be alive. Other fisherman had a better time but I would urge caution if you plan to go out with these guys.

Excursions
We went on the Lake Gaton eco-tour and I would highly recommend it. The guides were excellent and we had an amazing lunch on a 65ft houseboat on a quiet backwater of the canal.

The shopping in Panama is amazingly cheap for clothing. We chose not to go back to Panama City because we didn't want to endure a 2 hour + bus trip. So we took a 20 minute cab drive to the nearby town of Penonome. We loaded up on clothes and shoes for a fraction of what you would find anywhere else. My wife and I laughed because I couldn't make up my mind which pair of $2 shorts I wanted.

There are several restuarant nearby with excellent seafood. If you like eating lobster on a warm beach with sand between your toes then try Pipa's. If you want more variety and have had enough of the sand then try a place called Calamazones. We had the largest shrimp I have ever seen there. Three shrimp covered a large dinner plate.

My wife and I are in our later 40’s we have traveled to several different resorts in different countries (Mexico, Cuba, Dominican, Saint-Martin, San Andres) this was our first time to Panama and I would not hesitate to go back.

Flight: We flew Air Transat and the departure was delayed ½ hour due to a passengers seat needed repairs.

Transfer to resort: This is a 2 hour bus ride (nice coach style air conditioned bus) with a short stop midway. Our tour guide on board called it a” Hamlet” stop (to pee or not to pee) the route traveled from the airport to the resort is mostly a paved 4 lane divided highway and a good driver. Our guide was very interesting giving us information about tours available, history, and facts about Panama.

Check in: On the bus we where given envelopes with our room number and resort information. When we arrived to the resort we were given our room keys and towel cards and we were in our room in 10 minutes. Our luggage arrived to the room maybe 10 minutes later. That was a nice experience.

Room: We were given room 617. This room is located facing the ocean and across the activity pool. Very nice room clean and comfortable on the second floor. The way they number the rooms is 6 being the building 1 being the second floor 7 being the room therefore; room 524 would be in the 5th building, 3rd floor, and 4th room. Room 408 the 0 would mean you are on the ground floor. If you are looking for a quieter room I would suggest buildings 1 to 5. Buildings 6 & 7 do have ocean views but are near the activity pool and the theater which can be fairly noisy.

Pool: The resort has two very nice pools one with a swim up bar, the other pool the bar is at one side of the pool. Not the size of the pools you would see at the Barcelo in the Mayan Riviera but still very pleasant to swim in (clean and warm). The chair saving routine happens at this resort as well ,so like most places if you want a palapa get up early to save a spot. That was the only negative thing about the pools, not enough shady spots to sit under. They need more palapas.

Food: The food was great. There is an a la carte restaurant, a buffet restaurant and a snack bar at the pool. We mostly ate at the buffet restaurant, the food variety was very good and well prepared. The fruit and fresh vegetables were in abundance. Lots of great desserts. There have been some previous comments about seagulls being a pest around the snack bar. This is true but it seems to be only in the later part of the afternoon. Please don’t feed them if you go to this resort.

Beach: The beach is very nice and clean .The sand is coarser then that you would find on Caribbean beaches, it has black sand streaks from the lava formation I would assume. When you go onto the beach from the resort if you walk to your left there is a stream that you cross ( at low tide but it turns into a river at high tide. Be careful my wife and I had to swim across it to return one day) After you cross this stream if you walk for another 15 minutes you will be walking past the Decamaran resort. Note that the tide changes every 6 hrs so keep that in mind when you are walking this way. If you turn to your right from the resort we walked for 1 ½ hrs and still did not run out of beautiful sandy beach. The waves can be little high at time with undertows so it would probably would a concern with children. Beach also needs more palapas.

Tours: There plenty of reasonably priced tours available. The Panama City and Canal Tour is one of the tours we went on. It is a full day tour with a very nice lunch in a restaurant in Panama City. This was very informative about the city and canals history. We also tried the Anton Valle tour. this a ½ day tour where you drive into the mountain, again in a coach style bus (very comfortable) and see a water fall ,rainforest and a village market. Worth every penny $35 per person.

My boyfriend and I just got back from Panama. We stayed at the newly opened Barcelo Playa Blanca. Our overall experience was great. Below is a quick summary of the resort and our experiences.

Flight: Was on schedule. We flew with Air Transat.

Transfer to resort: This was about a 2 1/2 hour trip to the resort. We stopped at a rest station about half way there for about 20 minutes for those who needed to use the washroom and smoke. Our trip was quite very informational since the tour guide provided a lot of history and information about Panama and the things around there.

Check in: Painless and very quick. We got off the bus and within ten minutes we were in our room.

Room: Comfortable and very clean. Although the bathroom was quite small. Our room was always made up by noon. A couple of mornings (around 10ish) the chambermaid woke us up because they wanted to clean our room. Just as well I guess so we wouldn’t waste the day away.

Pool: We spent most of our time at the busier pool where all the activities were happening. Pool was very clean. The pool guy was always there in the morning and throughout the day to ensure that the pool was clean. Tip: Get up early to reserve your lounge chairs with cushions and palapas. There’s not enough cushioned chairs and palapas. We were always up by 7 am. By 8 am, there were no comfy chairs and palapas left. The sun gets very hot around 11-2 so you’ll want somewhere to sit.

Restaurant: The food was great, especially dinner time. The variety of food was awesome. There weren’t really any repeat of food. We always found something we liked and it was quite delicious. A la carte restaurant (only had 1)– We were allowed to book for two nights which we did and the food was great both nights. Snack bar- offered burgers, hot dogs and fries. The most annoying thing about the snack bar was the seagulls. The seagulls liked to hang around there because some people were feeding them. That became very annoying when you are trying to relax and you have 20-30 seagulls flying low over you and sometimes taking a crap (my boyfriend was a victim of this). This was the only thing I did not like about the place.

Disco: Not the liveliest place in the resort. Since the crowd was older – many seniors and couples with little kids, the disco wasn’t really a happening place. Our last night there, I think there were less than 20 people in the disco. If you are looking to party, this is not the resort to go to.

Beach: Sand wasn’t as powder soft as I am used to (like in Cuba). The tide was always low so it was a great idea to go in the ocean to swim as the jelly fish would get washed up to shore. We didn’t go in the ocean at all. They didn’t have the best beach there but the other stuff made up for it.

Excursion: We went on the Deep Sea fishing trip. Departed around 6:30 am and came backto the resort at 11:00 am. Our group caught about 28 fish in total (4 fishermen and 2 passengers). They caught mostly sea bass and sierras. While fishing, we were lucky enough to see a school of dolphins. They were jumping out of the water and twirling in the air. That was an amazing sight!

Casino– Located at the Royal Decamerom hotel about 5-10 minutes from Barcelo. There was a free shuttle that left our hotel and transported us there. Last bus back was at 11:30. Casino was fairly small but busy.

My husband and I just returned from our one week trip to Panama (February 2004). We stayed at the Barcelo Playa Blanca Beach Resort and Casino (no Casino yet). It's a brand new resort and it's beautiful.

The drive to the resort was 2 hours with a pit stop half-way. Pack some snacks for this trip. We had a guide on the bus who talked about the history of Panama, a little about politics and religion and answered all our questions. Very comforting to have when you first arrive in a different country. When we arrived at the resort we were greeted by friendly , smiling faces (the staff) and cold punch drinks. Just what we needed to get into holiday mood after a long day of travelling.

Resort
The rooms are in 3 storey blocks and they're very large. Lots of room to unpack and stack all your souveniers. The chamber maids keep the rooms extremely clean and 2 bottles of water are made available in your room each day. Each room has a safety box with programmable code (free), cable TV (with a couple of English movie stations) and a telephone.

The resort was just opened in December 2003 and the grounds are beautifully landscaped and constantly groomed by the grounds keepers. There are two pools. One with a swim-up bar and daily activities with music, dance lessons and water sports - the social committee crew really try to get all the guests involved without being too overbearing. Lots of fun!! The second pool is in a quieter area where you can relax, wade in the pool and work on your tan. There's also a bar at this pool, so you don't have to go too far for refreshments. There are plenty of lounge chairs and the pools aren't crowded at all.

Food
We have absolutely no complaints about the food. The buffet breakfast, lunch and dinners were great! They offered a great variety of different foods each day. You won't go hungry and the coffee is great! We went to the a la carte restaurant one night and the food was also good. The service was a bit slow, but we didn't mind - more relaxing that way.

Beach
The beach area is beautiful and fully stocked with lounge chairs. When the tide is out (early morning) you can walk along the beach to a small fishing village (very safe) where you can buy souveniers from the locals. Very friendly people. You will also see pelicans soaring and fishing off the shoreline. (Funny bird the Pelican - its bill can hold more than its belly can).

Tours
There are plenty of good tours to choose from but, they usually take a full day because of the travel time to and from. Add 2 hours each way.

To sum it up - we had a fabulous time and we would (already have) recommend Panama and this resort without hesitation. Panama is quickly gearing up to becoming a hot tourist destination, so I would advise that you book your holiday soon.

Hello, my name is Justin. With my wife Etta (we are in the early sixties) we just came back from Barcelo Playa Blanca Beach Resort in Panama.

We’ve been, like many Canadians, to Cuba, Mexico, Dominican Republic and I must say this Panama resort has been by far the best we’ve found.

Five hours of flight plus two of bus ride, both although long, very comfortable, took us to the isolated Barcelo resort.

ROOM
We were given a room with one big double bed. We wanted two double beds and the staff gave us another room immediately.

The room, with air conditioned, cable TV and bathroom with a shower was large and very clean.

We enjoyed particularly the air conditioner; it was very quiet, out of the way (on the top of the doorway) and operated by a digital remote control. In the room there was a coffee maker, two bottles of water and a container for ice, the machine for which was close by in the hallway, along with water dispenser. We didn’t have a safe in the room, but most of them have one, free.

The room was cleaned thoroughly every morning, water, and any other consumed item replaced.

We were very pleased with our room.

FOOD
In the open air (just a roof over it) buffet restaurant there were tables with two tablecloth and cloth napkins. The buffet had five sections; bread and salads, vegetables, meat and fish, pasta and pizza and a much bigger dessert one.

In all of them we found above average variety and taste. We enjoyed in particular the fish and the filet mignon, this last one was excellent. Although there were two a la carte restaurants for us to go to, we didn’t. We found the selection in the buffet very good and didn’t see the need to go elsewhere.

SERVICE
We’ve never seen better service than at this resort. The staff was extremely polite, helpful and very efficient, everywhere. Best of all, they were not being nice for the tips, as we found in other places. To show our appreciation with a monetary gift, to some of the staff, we almost had to chase them.

My request to use their internet was satisfied immediately, and at no cost. For a telephone call to Canada I paid $ 1.80. US

POOLS AREA AND BEACH
At Barcelo there are two pools, one very large with a sit in the pool bar, music and activities. The other, about a hundred yards away, smaller, with a hot tub, was quiet. Both of them were very clean. We found the beach with nice sand acceptably clean. The thing we did not like were the jelly fish during the low tide, just about until early afternoon, otherwise the ocean was calm enough to swim in.

We also enjoyed the minigolf. It was of natural grass and kept very well.

If you decide to go to this resort and you are allergic to smoke, be aware that smoking is allowed in the open air restaurant. Even though there is enough ventilation my wife, who is allergic to smoke, every once in a while was hit by a cloud of it.