Panama City Hotels

[World Travel 69]

They are in the lobby, from what I hear.

Is Trump International in Panama chica friendly?

[Prince Pong]

Anybody know if the AC Marriott is the same as the regular Marriott in terms of the guest fee? I've searched the boards and even called the hotel a couple of times and the woman claims not to understand what I'm asking.

Anybody else have luck at the Holiday Inn? Or know if Global Hotel is friendly?

What does Marriott and these other hotels do with those ID copies long-term anyway? I'm no Secret Service or Donald Trump but it's not like I want those records hanging around for years to haunt me later.

[LeoAiolia]

Seems I'm a bit late here for you but maybe someone else can benefit from my method. I have gone to Panama exclusively for Habanos for the past few years and stayed at the Marriott (right across), Holiday Inn Express and Continental Hotel. I should mention that I used to live in Panama when I was younger so I know how to handle myself and how to work the people there.

Panama Marriott:

The only time I had trouble getting a girl back to my room was the second night of my first trip. I stayed at the Marriott not even knowing about Habanos until my Taxi driver mentioned it on the way from the Airport. The first night I had no trouble just walking right to the front door and into the elevators. The second night, however, I was stopped and told that I could not bring a guest up because I did not register her during check-in. I tried to argue with the guy but decided to let him think he won and walked back out and told the girl to follow me through the Casino. As it I connected on the second floor to the hotel and there is a small elevator right through the doors, it is the best way to take a girl up quickly and without anyone noticing.

Holiday In Express.

When I stayed here I actually brought two girls back from Habanos, a short 1.5 block walk. The guys at the front desk only made copies of their passports and gave me a look as if they were proud of me for taking two girls.

Continental Hotel.

This hotel is also very close to Habanos, just a short half block down the street. Again, it has a Casino entrance that is right in front of two side elevators so this is the best way to bring girls up without any problems. Only once there was a guy at the door as I believe there was an event going on, but I gave him $5 and walked along with two girls. Another time the girl didn't want to walk from Habanos to the Hotel so we got a taxi. I asked the guy how much and he told me to just give him a tip. I told him to drop us off at the side Casino entrance but he ignored me and left us at the front door. I gave him a tip of $2 but he said it was $5. I told him I am not a tourist and that he did not say that when I asked for the price and that he ignored me when I told him where to drop us off. I told him next time he needs to be clear and listen to the customer and I got out of the cab with the girl (again, I lived in Panama so I was expecting for him to try to pull a fast one on me). Since I had booked the room for three guests, I was able to register her at the front desk and go up without any further issues. This hotel also offers a shuttle to the airport for around $13 (it has been over a year so maybe check before), which saves you $17 from the $30 that taxis usually charge to go from that area to the airport.

I fly into PTY Tuecheman Airport on Jan 4 from Miami and on Jan 6 I fly from PAC Allbrook Airport to Bocas del Toro. Then after 2 weeks I fly from Bocas back to Panama City. I am looking for a girl friendly hotel with out a joiner fee close to PTY Tuecheman Airport. Hopefully not to far from Habanos and Venito Casino. I was ready to book Venito until I read the negative posts here. I will only be in Panama City 2 nights. On my return trip we have a wedding and accommodations are set so I only need info for Jan 4 - 6. Help!

[Diveho]

I fly into PTY Tuecheman Airport on Jan 4 from Miami and on Jan 6 I fly from PAC Allbrook Airport to Bocas del Toro. Then after 2 weeks I fly from Bocas back to Panama City. I am looking for a girl friendly hotel with out a joiner fee close to PTY Tuecheman Airport. Hopefully not to far from Habanos and Venito Casino. I was ready to book Venito until I read the negative posts here. I will only be in Panama City 2 nights. On my return trip we have a wedding and accommodations are set so I only need info for Jan 4 - 6. Help!

[FredA1212]

Is Trump International in Panama chica friendly?

[TravelA]

In a lot of South American countries they only change towels if you leave them on the floor.

If you hang them back up they think they are okay.

Yes, that's in most countries these days and I consider it a positive idea, I usually use towels more than once.

But how should I leave a towel on the floor if there are no towels at all? Okay, maybe the room maiden just looks at the floor and thinks "well, there are no towels on the floor so they must be hanging up somewhere but I won't check."That makes sense.

[World Travel 69]

In a lot of South American countries they only change towels if you leave them on the floor.

If you hang them back up they think they are okay.

Stayed at Veneto for 2 nights about 3 weeks ago. Had no girl in the room but had the same problem with towels. When I checked in there were no towels at all. Before going out for dinner I told the lady at the reception that I needed towels. She apologized and made a note.

I returned about 2 hours later, still no towels. The next morning I used my own towel. Went to the Panama Canal that day. When I returned there were small towels for the hands and for the floor but not a big one for the body. How stupid can someone be? Not that stupid, must be intentional.

Well, at least there was no warm water in the room, so I didn't want to shower more than necessary anyway.

[TravelA]

* Re-posting here so nobody makes the mistake of staying at this hotel. *..

EDIT: I almost forgot. Second time housekeeping did not change the towels, so pretty pathetic. I also enjoyed the 9 AM Saturday morning wake-up call at my door by the cleaning staff. What is the point of a do not disturb sign if you're going to knock anyway? Just incompetent.

Even funnier, they did the same thing today (Thursday) and then phoned the room. Phone is unplugged again! I went out and when I returned from my afternoon out, the room was cleaned, again no fresh towels, yet phone plugged in. Guess what? I unplugged the phone! So glad to be leaving this dump tomorrow. I think Panama could be a lot of fun and I may come back, but never to this hotel EVER!

Stayed at Veneto for 2 nights about 3 weeks ago. Had no girl in the room but had the same problem with towels. When I checked in there were no towels at all. Before going out for dinner I told the lady at the reception that I needed towels. She apologized and made a note.

I returned about 2 hours later, still no towels. The next morning I used my own towel. Went to the Panama Canal that day. When I returned there were small towels for the hands and for the floor but not a big one for the body. How stupid can someone be? Not that stupid, must be intentional.

Well, at least there was no warm water in the room, so I didn't want to shower more than necessary anyway.

[Alex Dee]

Just to let you know that I also stayed at Eurostars hotel, which is nice, but they do have a $25 chica fee.

[Guerinto]

* Re-posting here so nobody makes the mistake of staying at this hotel. *.

This place is the worst hotel I have ever had the displeasure of patronizing in my extensive years of traveling. Their whole objective seems to be to antagonize their customers. How a place can essentially be running a brothel, yet have a chica fee that is 80% of the room rate I paid is just ridiculous.

My first night I talked my way out of the fee. Then for 3 days I had a lady I met online staying with me. No problem there. Was never questioned and stayed out of the casino. We came in and out using the ground floor elevators near reception.

Then today I had a lady visit me that I met on Tinder and she just came up to my room. We're getting down to business, then a knock on my door. I yelled out no thank you and continued with what I was doing. Then he knocks again and announces he is security. I yell I don't need any security. Then the phone rings. "Sir, you have a woman in your room, you have to pay. " I snapped at this point, told her I booked for 2 and was not paying anything and said good bye and unplugged the phone.

We finish up and then decide to go for lunch and drinks. Wouldn't you know that the security f**ker is waiting outside the elevator on the ground floor and blocks our path to exit and insists we go with him. After trying to reason with these idiots, I blasted them for their poor customer service and incompetence. I even suggested she call the police and I was leaving and she was not getting a penny more for a room I already paid for. Then she says the girl would not be allowed to leave. Well, now they have me as I am not a jerk that will involve the lady in my battle, so I threw my credit card at the lady and told her to bill it. I told her to expect a letter to management / ownership, and bad reviews everywhere I can post. The $42.50 USD they extorted from me will cost them a lot more. I also asked why this policy was not disclosed on check-in, or on booking.com. Of course she did not have an answer.

What a buzzkill. I leave Friday and if I come back to Panama I will get a well reviewed hotel by the membership here and not this rip-off establishment. I might even get an apartment, which is normally what I do when I travel, but I figured for 1 week a hotel would be fine. WRONG!

On the positive side, I had a blast with the non-pro for 3 days and had a couple of other pro sessions. Habanos is awesome and the chicas at the Veneto Casino are cool too. I will be in Cali, Colombia at the same time as one of them, so we will hook up there too.

Hopefully this is a coherent review. Even after lunch and 3 Balboas, I am still so # pissed! If not for the girl, I would have insisted they call the police. Basically this hotel uses words like policy and security to extort their customers and they are quite vigilant about finding their extra fee money. How the hell do they find out that a girl dressed in jeans and a normal looking shirt came up to my room? Are they watching on camera? Did a cleaning lady on the floor rat us out? Did someone follow her up?

What a joke of a hotel. Besides the ridiculous "security" restrictions, the hotel is old, the air conditioning temperature control does not work well, several electrical outlets do not work, the bed is not comfortable, the carpets are old as is the stained furniture. I was willing to live with 2. 5 or 3 stars for $54 a night, but the poor customer services puts me well over the top.

If you want to have fun, DO NOT STAY HERE. They are so hypocritical it is nauseating.

EDIT: I almost forgot. Second time housekeeping did not change the towels, so pretty pathetic. I also enjoyed the 9 AM Saturday morning wake-up call at my door by the cleaning staff. What is the point of a do not disturb sign if you're going to knock anyway? Just incompetent.

Even funnier, they did the same thing today (Thursday) and then phoned the room. Phone is unplugged again! I went out and when I returned from my afternoon out, the room was cleaned, again no fresh towels, yet phone plugged in. Guess what? I unplugged the phone! So glad to be leaving this dump tomorrow. I think Panama could be a lot of fun and I may come back, but never to this hotel EVER!

[Seismo]

Not sure if they charge a chica fee but you can get to the elevators from the parking garage. As long as you have a room key, bypass the front desk. Very nice for $50 rooftop pool and football on the TV, is Spanish. This hotel is just down the street from the Venetto.

I stayed here several years ago and had several problems with having visitors. Sometimes the front desk clerks looked the other way, other times they wanted to charge a fee. The fees ranged from a low of $20 to a high of $125 !

The manager explained that they are trying to be family friendly and they do not want to encourage " this type of vacationing" It worked as I never returned.

I have also read several reports on line about the room safes getting broken into. Some, but not all cash was reported missing, and the safe combination needed to be reset. The management blamed it on a brief "power outage".

STAY AWAY!

[Jbj64]

Not sure if they charge a chica fee but you can get to the elevators from the parking garage. As long as you have a room key, bypass the front desk. Very nice for $50 rooftop pool and football on the TV, is Spanish. This hotel is just down the street from the Venetto.

[Alex Dee]

I am staying at the Hyatt place. Booked room for 2 to avoid chica fees. Came in last night with a chica, guy at reception was discreet and polite in asking for her ID and informed me there is a $15 charge. I kindly informed him that I had booked the room for 2 and he said if its a different girl next time that I will be charged. Lets see what happens tonight. Although I disagree with fee, I chose this hotel because it was known they charge $15 compared to others its cheaper fee and gives me some security and comfort. Would help if fellow members could post about other hotels.

[Alex Dee]

Guys, need some help on chica friendly hotels. Taking a last minute trip and will be there this Fri. So please help / advise urgently. Thanks.

[Jbj64]

I have booked a couple nights at the Metro Hotel which is not far from the Veneto. I will post after my trip in late Sept.

Hotels

During my 1st stay in Panama, I resided at Tower House Suites, within easy walking distance of Habano's. At 52.65 USD / night (1 person; all taxes included) for a studio apartment with kitchenette, it was great value. When I met my final visitor (Karen) in the lobby, the receptionist informed me I would have to pay a 24.50 USD chica fee, because the girl hadn't been registered when I originally checked in. When I checked out a few hours later, the same receptionist was still on duty. Luckily, I was only charged a chica fee for 1 out of my 4 visitors. I guess it depends on the receptionist on duty at the time.

Returning to Panama, I stayed at Hyatt Place, which is a real class act. At 74.80 USD / night (1 person; all taxes included) for a room with a separate sitting area (equivalent to a junior suite in many hotels), it was also good value. Even though my reservation was for a single person, I didn't pay any chica fees for my 4 visitors. Unfortunately, that seems to have changed recently.

After missing my flight, I couldn't get a good deal at the Hyatt, so I checked back in at Tower House Suites. I only paid 48 USD (2 people; all taxes included) for a budget double room, but was still given a studio apartment with kitchenette, similar to the room on my previous stay. And, despite 3 visitors in a single day, there were no chica fees to be paid.