James Luckard

It's the same hotel, just renamed.

zakami

Stayed here this past weekend with my family (wife and 2 kids, six and four) and want to point out what a phenomenal value this hotel is. This was an award stay at 3k per night for the two nights. As SPG Platinum, was upgraded to an executive suite. The hotel provided two roll-away beds for the kids, which fit nicely in the living room. Lounge access was granted as was the ability to eat breakfast at the restaurant as an exception since its easier with the kids. We had an issue with odor due to some renovation work with the initial room and were re-accommodated to a lower floor. Any concern/question was addressed with a huge smile by the front desk staff. One of the agents was "don't worry mr. zakami... it will be all taken care of." I took that with a grain of salt given previous experiences in the region, but indeed she delivered. I've stayed at a long list of nice places all over the world and this is certainly amongst my top 5 redemption in terms of value.

libuser

just checked in for a 5 night stay. What an amazing value. Paid a lowly $60 lnf rate. Got an amazing upgrade to one bedroom recently renovated suite on the 6th floor overlooking the bay. Got a super early checkin at 6am and they even allowed me to use the lounge for brekkie on my checkin date. Had to wait 20 mins for them to clean the room. In any case superb lounge, superb room, amazing upgrade. Would definitely return.

ElevatorEnthusiast

The Sheraton Grand Panama seemed more like a normal Sheraton to me (albeit one connected to an Aloft), but it was comfortable. Here are my pros, cons, and photos:

Pros:

• Upgraded to an Executive Suite before arrival - this was a corner room with full bathroom that only had living room furniture connected to a normal King bedroom also with identical full bathroom
• The bed was very comfortable with very heavy covers, plush pillows, and plush mattress (really enjoyed this bed)
• The shower pressure was quite strong, temperature was good, and the door surprisingly kept water off the outside floor
• Views toward sea and highway were interesting
• Living room furniture, including the couch, were all plush and comfortable
• Lots of accessible outlets
• Wi-Fi worked well
• Left a massive plate of pretty and tasty charcuterie
• Told automatically I would have 4 PM late checkout
• Service was pretty friendly (though, I have a misgiving about Elite benefits - more later)

Cons:

• Bathrooms are quite cramped
• No Internet capabilities on the TV

Lounge / Breakfast Situation (kind of a con, but not too bad): I was told that I would have access to the 15th floor lounge. I asked about if breakfast in the restaurant is a choice and I was told that it wasn't. I asked if it was a welcome gift choice, and I was told that points was the only choice. This is incorrect (especially as lounge breakfast is supposedly only offered on the weekdays and evening service is listed as only Sunday - Thursday), but I chose to not go further and raise a stink the next day if the lounge breakfast was bad. Evening service in the lounge was bizarre as I was the only guest - they had two heated options (I didn't try either) and a small selection of others - I had one chocolate chip cookie, which wasn't that good. When I arrived at breakfast in the club at 7:30 AM, I was again the only guest (two others finally showed up) - this is bizarre as the hotel seemed quite busy, and there's no way I'm the only Plat+. Regardless, breakfast choices included bacon, scrambled eggs, and oatmeal. There weren't croissants but some bad looking muffins. What I will say is that scrambled eggs were some of the best I've had in a while (quite creamy) and the bacon was pretty good. The cappuccinos from the machine also had some sort of sweetness (perhaps vanilla flavoring) that was really good. As a result, I didn't complain about the whole club / welcome gift debacle. I'm not a fan of how this was handled, but oh well...

Photos:

ElevatorEnthusiast

Very interesting - it appears that this hotel used to be a Marriott and was also once a Westin - what a pre-Bonvoy Bonvoy history!

James Luckard

The hotel opened on July 18, 1982 (per the hotel's current Facebook page, which I can't link to here) as the El Marriott Panama Hotel (per the 1982 Marriott annual report).


In late 1983 or early 1984, it became the Marriott Caesar Park, a joint venture between the two chains.

Over the course of the early 1990s, the dozen or so hotels of the Caesar Park chain (owned by Aoki) were transferred to operation by Westin, which Aoki had bought in 1988. The Panama hotel seems to have switched from Marriott to Westin in 1994. The Caesar Park hotels were never branded as Westins, though they were part of the chain. The Caesar Park Hotels appear to have left Westin around 1997, but this Caesar Park property remained with Westin, for some reason, along with one in Cancun.

Around 2002, the Caesar Park Panama appears to have left Westin. (Google shows a big lawsuit between the Caesar Park chain and Starwood around this time) The hotel then became the Sheraton Panama in 2006:

https://www.panamaamerica.com.pa/eco...-panama-259016

It got bumped up to the Sheraton Grand tier in 2016.

Brochures from April 1984, mid-90s (Caesar Park) and late 00s (Sheraton)


Backs of the two middle brochures, with the only sign that the hotel was a Westin:


News articles from 1988 and 1989, when the hotel made international headlines:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/archi...-e42f83306279/
https://www.washingtonpost.com/archi...-6f6059cf2520/

James Luckard

I forgot to check my old Westin directories and Marriott's annual reports, which are online. I figured out the chronology, and edited the post above.

Milkman

I stayed here in February. I was not impressed with the hotel at all - age clearly shows and I found the lounge offering to be absolutely horrendous. Bed was lovely though.

Edit; by far the cheapest option amongst the various full service/luxury properties. February is high season for tourism in Panama.

ElevatorEnthusiast

The bed quality was by far the best part of the property.

Bravada04

By the sounds of it, this is not the best choice in Panama albeit it might be the best bargain? Can anyone confirm if beer/wine are complimentary in the lounge? They seem to have good point saver rates at times so it is hard not to try this place out.

reggiekush

No free alcohol in lounge.

Bravada04

I am booked for Panama in the future and have been looking at the Le Meridien and Sheraton real closely.....of course along with a few others and have received some good feedback from Elevator! I only plan on staying at the Le Meridien for 3 days if I do pull the trigger on that one. I plan on 5 days at the Westin Playa Bonita (probably not the best but want a little resort feel)..then it is a toss up for another 5 days - Santa Maria which obviously is nice and probably the best but some of the prices/points at the other places are much more reasonable...also looking at the W and/or the other Westin.

Looks like you have recently visited and would love your full feedback on the both the Le Meridien and Sheraton. The Sheraton seems to be at the bottom of the list but just can't seem to figure it out. I do love the cheap point redemptions though! so I can't seem to remove it off the list!

reggiekush

Just checked out of Sheraton Grande and checked into my favorite local cantina 😅. Was upgraded to a city view suite on the 5th Floor with partial water views. Popped up into CL around 3ish for a Pepsi and they had small croissants, mini cinnarolls and cupcakes.

Evening snacks are from 6-8 with no alcohol. They were serving mini empanadas, beef medalians w/a few veggies and a green tortilla wrap, cold, with ham amd cheese. No one was actively making their rounds but someone did come once every 5ish minutes to clear tables etc. Only 3 tables when I arrived at 7.

The suite itself is dated as is the entire property more or less. Hallways had a smell but the rooms were fine. Towels were of pretty poor quality imo and the showers lacked decent hot water (I tried both). AC worked fine but one of the thermostats had a sticky button so a few presses were needed. The staff were all kind though I had the least interactions with them out of all my hotel stays lately. No fault of their own I guess but I just didn't run into anyone. They staff were nice enough to let me order a pizza at 2am-ish (I gave them a heads up in advance) which is an item not on their late night menu, so that was nice of them.

If deciding between both, i would look at the area you want to be in, Marbella (touristy and filled with expats going to cocktail bars and San Francisico (Sheraton) where it's easier to mix it up with everyday people of you're into that kind of thing along with more local good spots in the immediate vicinity. I was able to BRG my Sheraton on a few dates before finalizing my itinerary so take a peek at that.

For a longer stay I would choose LM.

I always said I'm never going out of my way to try an Aloft but with it connected to Sheraton Grande and the points price basically free at 4800 I figure this is as best a chance to try this mini-W brand 😅

Bravada04

Well, I think it sounds like the Sheraton might still be at the bottom of the list. Albeit we love to mingle with the locals and visit the local restaurants that are away from the tourists. I would love to know more about your local cantina! The point redemption here is still pretty cheap, especially with the redemption levels getting out of control. I am on vacation and want to relax and have a nice/decent, modern hotel - this just sounds like it is missing the mark. Thanks for the information.

Milkman

I have stayed at Le Meridien on quite a few occasions the past 2 years. I love the location on Avenida Balboa; you can walk or jog along the Pacific coast, you have a drug store just across the street and you can walk to restaurants within 5 mins. Just about enough time before you get sweaty from humidity. The hotel is small and has a somewhat homey feeling to it; the staff in the restaurant are super friendly while the reception a little less so. Dated structure and strangely dark for a hotel but great beds and bathrooms. I get upgraded to suites on basically every visit, due to my status, and enjoy the very spacious rooms. I definitely rate this higher than Sheraton, most of all due to location, but it will not be a wow-experience for you.