dgolds
Dec 10, 00, 11:45 pm
I recently had the opportunity to stay in these two hotels in one of Latin America's most cosmopolitan cities.
Review: The Marriott is a terrific property, highly recommended. The Westin Caesar Park could use some work.
3 days at the Marriott...
In my experience, Marriott hotels tend to vary less from property to property than any other chain. The Panama City hotel is no exception - from the look of the hotel, it would have been difficult to discern that we were in Latin America had everyone in the house been speaking English. But certain Marriott properties have a little extra oomph - a noticeably higher quality of execution - that makes them a real pleasure to stay in. I have had that experience at several Marriotts, for example, two of them in in Boston (Copley Plaza, Cambridge), Nassau Long Island (NY), and the Denver Tech Center. Now, I'll be able to add Panama City to my list.
The Marriott Panama City is very well located, right in the heart of an upscale and bustling shopping and office district. Plenty of restaurants are within a short walk. Being centrally located, it's easy to get to the major attractions, such as the Canal, the Zone, and Casco Viejo (old part of town). It's also a short walk from the bay, which has a pretty bayside walk. (We didn't try it, as it was in the high 80's and 90's most of the time we were in Panama City.)
Our reception at the Marriott was warm and welcoming. The front desk was aware that we were on reward travel, and we encountered no problems with our certificates. We were also notified about our complimentary breakfast in the lounge at the twentieth floor. That was an especially nice treat, since although I am Platinum in Marriott's program, my travelling companions are not, but they were comped for breakfast as well.
We had lovely rooms on 18 and 19. My room came with a nice Platinum amenity of Perrier water and a box of really nice orange flavored cookies.
Breakfasts were good, and service was excellent throughout our stay. We ate two meals in the hotel, one lunch and one dinner, both very good. The seafood buffet on Friday night ($12) was particularly nice, although the mob scene around the giant shrimp was a bit strange - reminded me of people fighting over the merchandise at Macy's the day after Christmas.
We had only two glitches during the stay. We had requested rooms with two beds; one of the rooms had a single king bed. And, our bill had an incorrect charge on it of $35/day. Both were quickly and easily dealt with by the very polite front desk staff.
...and a night at the Caesar Park.
We left Panama City on Sunday to drive west to Boquete, where my friends Keith and Terry retired to last year. I needed to get back to Panama City for a flight to Miami Thursday, so I hopped a Mapiex Aero prop jet to Albrook Airport on Wednesday. Panama City has two airports: SAL - Albrook - the domestic airport in the former Canal Zone, and PTY - Tocumen, about 20 miles west of the city. As it can take an hour or two to get from SAL to PTY, depending on traffic, I decided to overnight Wednesday in Panama City for my Thursday morning flight.
An aside: the flight into SAL makes a gorgeous approach, starting at the mouth of the south side of the canal, flying over the Bridge of the Americas, and over the container port into the airport. I really enjoyed locating the landmarks I had seen on our canal cruise earlier in the trip.
I hopped a cab from SAL to the Caesar Park, a Starwood property on the east side of town, perhaps five miles closer to the airport than the Marriott.
Check in was a little strange. The front desk did not have any record that I was a Platinum in Starwood's program, and made no mention of it initially. I did hand the clerk my Starwood card, and from that point on, he made a really big deal of saying that I was a Platinum and that I was getting special treatment. He must have told me something to that effect four or five times in the span of three minutes or so. I was not offered a suite upgrade.
My room on the 14th floor was miniscule. Furniture was dated, even a little run down. The windows were fogged over, so even though the room had a beautiful bay view, with the skyscraper condos of Paitilla in the background, I was unable to see it. I thought, "oh, well, I'll only be here one night." I turned the air conditioner on and left the room to check out the hotel gym.
Came back to the room, still no air conditioning. I asked the concierge at the lounge (right across the hall from my room), and she offered me a room switch, which I accepted. Air conditioning worked in the new room, but not well. The temperature on the thermostat had nothing to do with the temperature in the room, and it was difficult to get the room comfortable. Again, "oh, well, I'll only be here one night."
I did not have a chance to look around the neighborhood as I got in to Panama City after dark. There is a good choice of restaurants in the basement of the hotel, as well as a small shopping mall. I ordered room service and was disappointed with my Caesar Salad - a thin veneer of grilled chicken breast served over iceberg lettuce. (I thought the Caesar Park might be a good place to get a Caesar, but I was wrong.)
So what's nice about the Caesar Park, other than the Starpoints you get for your stay? Terrific gym - one of the best I have seen in a hotel anywhere, with a great workout facility, sauna, and steam. (The Marriott's was quite good as well, by the way.) Very friendly staff: even though the property itself is lacking, the staff is enthusiastic, friendly and helpful. The 14th floor concierge and my bellhop Luis, with whom I got to visit with three times - after check in, during my room change, and when he brought up my platinum amenity (an absurdly large chocolate chip cookie) were both particularly nice.
There were a couple more bumps in the road before leaving. The controls on the showers at the Caesar Park are odd - you have to push them a certain way to get water. Mine was broken - even after a visit from hotel engineering, who told me how the darn thing was supposed to operate - I had to push in the control know about every five seconds so that water wouldn't stop coming out of the shower head. (The engineer offered to fix the problem or move me to another room, but at that point I didn't have time, so push away I did.) And, check out did not go smoothly - the front desk clerk was unable to find my credit card imprint and kept me standing at the front desk for about five minutes while she went looking in the office for my paperwork. When she finally came back, I told her I had moved rooms, and she was then able to liberate me from the Caesar Park.
My overall impression of the Caesar Park is that it could use a major upgrade, especially to the dated and somewhat rundown rooms. It's a shame when a good staff tries its best to please, only to be done in by a less than excellent property. Expectations set by the fact that the property carries the Westin marque were not met.
Review: The Marriott is a terrific property, highly recommended. The Westin Caesar Park could use some work.
3 days at the Marriott...
In my experience, Marriott hotels tend to vary less from property to property than any other chain. The Panama City hotel is no exception - from the look of the hotel, it would have been difficult to discern that we were in Latin America had everyone in the house been speaking English. But certain Marriott properties have a little extra oomph - a noticeably higher quality of execution - that makes them a real pleasure to stay in. I have had that experience at several Marriotts, for example, two of them in in Boston (Copley Plaza, Cambridge), Nassau Long Island (NY), and the Denver Tech Center. Now, I'll be able to add Panama City to my list.
The Marriott Panama City is very well located, right in the heart of an upscale and bustling shopping and office district. Plenty of restaurants are within a short walk. Being centrally located, it's easy to get to the major attractions, such as the Canal, the Zone, and Casco Viejo (old part of town). It's also a short walk from the bay, which has a pretty bayside walk. (We didn't try it, as it was in the high 80's and 90's most of the time we were in Panama City.)
Our reception at the Marriott was warm and welcoming. The front desk was aware that we were on reward travel, and we encountered no problems with our certificates. We were also notified about our complimentary breakfast in the lounge at the twentieth floor. That was an especially nice treat, since although I am Platinum in Marriott's program, my travelling companions are not, but they were comped for breakfast as well.
We had lovely rooms on 18 and 19. My room came with a nice Platinum amenity of Perrier water and a box of really nice orange flavored cookies.
Breakfasts were good, and service was excellent throughout our stay. We ate two meals in the hotel, one lunch and one dinner, both very good. The seafood buffet on Friday night ($12) was particularly nice, although the mob scene around the giant shrimp was a bit strange - reminded me of people fighting over the merchandise at Macy's the day after Christmas.
We had only two glitches during the stay. We had requested rooms with two beds; one of the rooms had a single king bed. And, our bill had an incorrect charge on it of $35/day. Both were quickly and easily dealt with by the very polite front desk staff.
...and a night at the Caesar Park.
We left Panama City on Sunday to drive west to Boquete, where my friends Keith and Terry retired to last year. I needed to get back to Panama City for a flight to Miami Thursday, so I hopped a Mapiex Aero prop jet to Albrook Airport on Wednesday. Panama City has two airports: SAL - Albrook - the domestic airport in the former Canal Zone, and PTY - Tocumen, about 20 miles west of the city. As it can take an hour or two to get from SAL to PTY, depending on traffic, I decided to overnight Wednesday in Panama City for my Thursday morning flight.
An aside: the flight into SAL makes a gorgeous approach, starting at the mouth of the south side of the canal, flying over the Bridge of the Americas, and over the container port into the airport. I really enjoyed locating the landmarks I had seen on our canal cruise earlier in the trip.
I hopped a cab from SAL to the Caesar Park, a Starwood property on the east side of town, perhaps five miles closer to the airport than the Marriott.
Check in was a little strange. The front desk did not have any record that I was a Platinum in Starwood's program, and made no mention of it initially. I did hand the clerk my Starwood card, and from that point on, he made a really big deal of saying that I was a Platinum and that I was getting special treatment. He must have told me something to that effect four or five times in the span of three minutes or so. I was not offered a suite upgrade.
My room on the 14th floor was miniscule. Furniture was dated, even a little run down. The windows were fogged over, so even though the room had a beautiful bay view, with the skyscraper condos of Paitilla in the background, I was unable to see it. I thought, "oh, well, I'll only be here one night." I turned the air conditioner on and left the room to check out the hotel gym.
Came back to the room, still no air conditioning. I asked the concierge at the lounge (right across the hall from my room), and she offered me a room switch, which I accepted. Air conditioning worked in the new room, but not well. The temperature on the thermostat had nothing to do with the temperature in the room, and it was difficult to get the room comfortable. Again, "oh, well, I'll only be here one night."
I did not have a chance to look around the neighborhood as I got in to Panama City after dark. There is a good choice of restaurants in the basement of the hotel, as well as a small shopping mall. I ordered room service and was disappointed with my Caesar Salad - a thin veneer of grilled chicken breast served over iceberg lettuce. (I thought the Caesar Park might be a good place to get a Caesar, but I was wrong.)
So what's nice about the Caesar Park, other than the Starpoints you get for your stay? Terrific gym - one of the best I have seen in a hotel anywhere, with a great workout facility, sauna, and steam. (The Marriott's was quite good as well, by the way.) Very friendly staff: even though the property itself is lacking, the staff is enthusiastic, friendly and helpful. The 14th floor concierge and my bellhop Luis, with whom I got to visit with three times - after check in, during my room change, and when he brought up my platinum amenity (an absurdly large chocolate chip cookie) were both particularly nice.
There were a couple more bumps in the road before leaving. The controls on the showers at the Caesar Park are odd - you have to push them a certain way to get water. Mine was broken - even after a visit from hotel engineering, who told me how the darn thing was supposed to operate - I had to push in the control know about every five seconds so that water wouldn't stop coming out of the shower head. (The engineer offered to fix the problem or move me to another room, but at that point I didn't have time, so push away I did.) And, check out did not go smoothly - the front desk clerk was unable to find my credit card imprint and kept me standing at the front desk for about five minutes while she went looking in the office for my paperwork. When she finally came back, I told her I had moved rooms, and she was then able to liberate me from the Caesar Park.
My overall impression of the Caesar Park is that it could use a major upgrade, especially to the dated and somewhat rundown rooms. It's a shame when a good staff tries its best to please, only to be done in by a less than excellent property. Expectations set by the fact that the property carries the Westin marque were not met.