Rated 3.2 out of 5 by 34
reviewers.
Rated 1 out of 5 by TROQUE PLAYA BONITA????
A very nice and modern facility. Unfortunately, the setting is not the best. The view from one side of the building looks toward an old bus depot; and the beach view, only has a beach for about 4 hours of daylight in the afternoon. This seems to be due to the Pacific Tide which seems to subside every 12 hours. During the remainder 12 hours of the day, the beach is a muck-fill (dark mud with trash) which does no justice to its name, Pretty Beach. Also the service did not meet SPG standards.
May 14, 2013
Rated 4 out of 5 by Jet727100 Beautiful Hotel
This is one of the best SPG hotels I have stayed, My Platinum Status was recognized immediately, and I was upgraded to a beautiful suite. This hotel is immaculate, with a friendly staff. I had one little incident with room service but it was rectified on the spot. It is a little out of the way and a $50.00 cab ride each way to and from the airport, but the transportation service was great with a special thanks to Fowler and Alex, I highly recommend either to take you around. Great place SPG.
May 14, 2013
Rated 5 out of 5 by Lynn27 Dont Beleive the bad reviews
After reading the earlier reviews on this resort, I was uneasy about booking a reservation.I shouldnt have been. We were at the Westin Playa Bonita for 4 nights, and it was fabulous. The room was beautiful, clean and quiet. The location was fantastic, the food was incredible, and the staff were friendly and helpful. We never waited longer than a minute for an elevator, for a drink at the bar or a seat for a meal. I cant say enough good about this property. If you go, be prepared for some minor confusion at the front desk as the staff are still learning about the reservation and key system, and how to deal with the telephone and face to face customers at the same time, Additionally, the phones in the room did not work, but I am sure that will be fixed as the resort reaches completion. All in all - an excellent stay!
March 8, 2012
Rated 5 out of 5 by DanD Platinum service is astounding!
We stayed at the Playa Bonita for 4 nights in May 2013. We could not be more pleased with the service, especially the platinum service. Aristeres in the Platinum lounge was incredible! They also have a private Platinum pool!
May 12, 2013
Rated 2 out of 5 by Boston13 Dissapointed
While in Panama my wife and I spent one night in the Westin Playa Bonita to celebrate my birthday. We understand that the resort is new, but it has a long way to go to meet the Westin experience that we are accustomed to. When we arrived at about 5:00 PM, there was one customer at check-in, but no Westin personnel in sight. After we finally checked in, we were not directed to the room elevators which are not in an obvious location and took a while to find. When we got to the room, there was only one coat hanger, no waste basket and an empty water bottle in the night stand drawer. Although these were all quickly corrected, our first impressions were poor. When we went to dinner, there was a seafood buffet in the main dining room, but no a la carte offerings. It felt like a cafeteria and was so noisy that you couldn’t hear yourself think. Fortunately we were able to find another restaurant with some atmosphere. Although we were very disappointed, hopefully time and experience will solve these issues.
January 19, 2012
Rated 4 out of 5 by madforsalsa Better than I was lead to believe
Having read a number of negative reviews online, particularly concerning the level of service we would receive, I wasn't expecting great things in that regard. However, we experienced just the opposite. The service was good, even given our very limited Spanish, and we did not experience anything that I would call poor. In fact, many times staff would go out of their way to be helpful.
The only small criticism I can give concerns the maid service. We didn't get new face towels one day to replace the ones we had put on the floor (to indicate we wished new ones) and the coffee pot had not been cleaned out when I tried to use it the first morning (and the Coffeemate was missing). In addition, our complimentary water was not renewed until we complained about it. Small issues but enough to delete one star from my review score. The sign of a truly first class hotel is the attention paid to small details.
It almost goes without saying (because this is a very new hotel) that the rooms, the grounds and most of the facilities (the ping-pong tables are warped) were in very good condition and worthy of the Westin name.
The beach has many shells and sharp shell fragments so wear sandels or other footwear when you walk it. You can swim in the ocean if you choose, but the experience is not up to par with a beach resort on a Caribbean island, That's probably the reason for the hotel's many excellently maintained pools.
Regarding food in the hotel, our experiences were limited to the Pacifica and Starfish Grill for breakfast and the Starfish again for lunches and a few dinners. The breakfast buffet is decent but I've had better for less. The breakfast buffet moves around during the week: We thought it was a bit better in the Pacifica (a few more choices) than in the Starfish. You can get a la carte breakfast in the Starfish. The Starfish has a very limited lunch and dinner menu but what is there is quite tasty. I ended up having the Angus burger several times (I recommend it) and each time it was prepared exactly right. If I were running the Westin I would expand the Starfish Grill's menu with a few more items.
Finally, regarding drinks during your stay I can recommend the local Panama lager and can highly recommend the Passion Fruit Mojito, I'm not usually a fan of Mojito's - I find them too sweet - but this one tastes very different.
May 11, 2013
Rated 1 out of 5 by Disappointed001 What a disaster...don't stay at this hotel
Clearly this hotel does not deserve the Westin name. I had a meeting there this past week, and it was the worst meeting I have ever hosted in over 20 years of hosting events. The staff is overwhelmed, poorly trained and knew nothing about the hotel. Front desk team is rude and condescending. Cleaing staff mindlessly washes the polished public area floors while guests slip on the wet surfaces. The place is a fire trap with many fire exits locked, blocked, or have doors without handles. Elevators are constantly getting stuck.with guests in them. Makeshift gym is embarassing with dirty towels everywhere. It is too bad because the hotel itself is beautiful with nice decorating, but this place is very poorly run. I gues it's going to take over a year to sort this one out. Shame on whoever runs this place.
February 3, 2012
Rated 1 out of 5 by looschud just not ready yet. they should have been up front about that
it was an out and out money grab. none of the problems are permanent. but they opened weeks before they were ready. undelivered room service, no room cleaning for three days, no toiletries, no internet for 2 days, 20minute waits at the elevator, only buffet meals available and on and on and on. i found the front desk staff to be helpful when they weren't totally frazzled by complaints. it was all the fault of upper management and brand.
i have complained and the GM responded as did Starwood. My complaints have been sufficiently answered. i may go back if i see the reviews change over the next few months. i wish them luck.
but Westin have hurt their brand
February 9, 2012