Hotel4Real!

The Crowne Plaza Panama City was my first stop in Panama. Located in the older half of the city, the hotel building itself was naturally not new, which I did expect before my stay. With that in mind, even though there were some problems, I did find my stay at the hotel almost good enough.

My arrival into the city was bumpy, mainly thanks to the delayed flight due to weather, not in Panama but in my place of departure (Houston). However, once I landed, it only took me half an hour in an uber to get to the hotel from the airport. The uber driver spoke perfect English (which I unfortunately took for granted, and learned my lessons the hard way the next day) and told me about the city and the area. He mentioned the location was good, close to all major amenities, and most importantly very safe. The front desk agent was friendly, again spoke perfect English, and offered me an upgrade to a balcony suite, as well as a welcome drink voucher. I then made my way upstairs to my room.

My suite was on the 5th floor, and the pool was on the 4th. As soon as the elevator door opened, I started to smell a very strong smell of chlorine. The odour persisted into the room, although to a lesser extent, however it was strong enough to make my sinuses quite angry. My initial plan was to ask for a different room, however when I stepped into the elevator I decided to check some of the upper floors, and the odour was very much present on each and every one of them. In the end, I decided to live with it as I was only in for a quick one-night stay. It was a mistake, as this reaction stayed with me for an entire week, and even followed me back to Canada.

The suite itself though was good. I was very surprised to see a full kitchen, as well as a spacious and functional living/dining room and an oversized balcony facing the city. If I have to pick on something, I probably would have appreciated a coffee table in front of the couch.

The bedroom did not have balcony access, but other than that it was also roomy, and considering the age of the hotel it was quite well appointed with some surprisingly modern touches.

Speaking of age, this was probably one of the biggest regrets of my entire stay. Even though the lobby seemed quite new, the modernness stopped as soon as the elevator door opened. Everything upstairs felt fairly old school, and some areas were very much overdue for some TLCs. This theme unfortunately extended into the rooms, with most furnishings looking like they were from the 90s, and most bathroom fixtures either not working properly or falling apart (see the faucet pic below).

I used the restaurant for a quick drink in the evening. The bartender was welcoming and showed me my options. I only went for a Modelo, but the bar menu was quite extensive. The next morning however, the restaurant was somehow much more chaotic, with the team pretty much overwhelmed, by presumably a group tour showing up together. I entered the restaurant, helped myself with the buffet (which was quite some ways ahead of North American hotel buffets), and left with literally zero acknowledgement or interactions. After breakfast, I went straight to the front desk after and tried to pay for it, and the gentleman insisted that I shouldn’t pay because a) nothing was posted and b) I was not well taken care of. I felt really bad as I did eat the food, but did appreciate the gentleman’s attempt to make it right for me. Very classy, something I’d only expect at maybe a Ritz.

Overall, I did enjoy my stay at the Crowne Plaza Panama City. The hotel was old school in many ways, but even though the hard product might be lacking, they did a good job to make up for it in many other ways. The situation may be different if the room rates were high, but considering I paid USD 60 for my night in a suite, can I really complain?

RealScore

Service: 8.0

Design and Room Size: 7.0

In-room Amenities: 9

Bathroom Size and Layout: 6

View from (my) Room: 7

Hotel Location: 7

Available Guest Facilities: 8

Food Quality: 8

Food and Beverage Service: 6

Executive Lounge Quality: N/A

Final RealScore: 7.37

Final RealRating: A

Hotel is built/opened: 2000

Total number of rooms: 149

Length of stay: 1 night

Membership level at check-in: Gold

Room type experienced: Premium One-bedroom Suite (better amenities)