Originally Posted by
yscleo
My wife and I are flying to Panama city PTY to stay March 23-29, before going on cruise. Too bad Marriott removed reviews from their hotel descriptions. The descriptions may not be up-to-date with what's actually there. I just made Platinum, so hoped to have breakfast comped.
I called both hotels, and got some answers (not confident as they don't speak good English):
Le Meridien: Room has coffee maker (not on website), no microwave nor fridge. pool/spa need reservation, only open till 6pm? Lounge open and has happy hour 6-7pm. Breakfast comped in dining room. Has laundry (she didn't sound certain or really understand, website doesn't show laundry)
Sheraton: Room has coffee maker, fridge but no microwave. pool/spa open. Lounge closed but breakfast comped in dining room. Has laundry (as on website)
We plan to relax mostly, visit canal visitor center one day (visited once, short time), and one day dive/snorkel at Portebelo. Sheraton seems to have more restaurants and shopping nearby, while Le Meridien is by the financial district and closer to sea/bay, maybe better view. Sheraton has slight promo on point redemption (86k). Marriott now has double night promo to count toward Elite status, so if want to pay, Le Meridien has slightly better purchase rate.
If you've stayed in there, please share your thoughts. Thanks.
We ended up staying at the Le Meridien. It was mostly good, except for one Sat. night 3/26 when there was a party at the 6th floor banquet room. Our 5th floor room was right under that banquet room. The loud noise started around 9pm. After midnight it was still very loud and my wife called frontdesk asking when the party will go till, and if they can turn it down a bit because we couldn't sleep. The guy said he'll ask, but no answer. It went till almost 2am. The next day when I asked the frontdesk, the guy said there was a birthday party.
Another issue was I paid with Marriott GCs the night before check-out. But instead of redeeming what we owe, they redeemed everything, leaving a negative balance. When I pointed that out, they lady said I can just spend the balance at the hotel. I asked for the balance back on a GC. Next morning when checking out, they did not have a GC for me, and said they'll ask the office. We left, and there was no contact from the hotel about returning that negative balance.
Other than that, as Plat we were comped buffet breakfast which was good. There had local fruits and I liked the papaya. They also have a daily 6-7pm happy hour where you can get drinks and snacks.
There is spa facility. When we asked, the lady didn't speak English, but with gestures did indicate the steam room broke and sauna is $15/p. We used the pool once. Although Panama is hot and humid, the small outdoor pool is unheated and when the sun goes down it felt cool.
The business center is small and by the printer it listed charges for printing. When I asked at frontdesk, the lady said I can send email and they can print up to 10 pages free.
They have a lounge, but it's only table/chairs/sofas. Nobody looking after it, no refreshments. We didn't see anyone using it.
The hotel is conveniently located, not far from the bay. We walked to the bay for nice strolls. It's also 1km from the Megapolis Outlet Mall -- which is not mega, just a medium sized mall and 1/2 of the shops are closed. We did buy a few things in the department store Conway which is like a cheaper Walmart. The packaging bag shows red circles like Target. We also walked to the mediclinic for our pre-cruise antigen test.
Three other couples also came to stay at this hotel, and I was able to arrange a shuttle bus to take us to see Fort San Lorenzo, then to the NCL Jewel cruise embarkation in Colon, Panama.
I'd stay at this hotel again, unless there's a party.