The Westin Playa Bonita Panama - All Inclusive

Customer Ratings & Reviews

TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

5674 reviews

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  Nice Amenities, but Worst Westin/Marriott Service All Around....

  This Westin is a nice property with good amenities, but there are just so many problems, issues and we just had poor service from so many people throughout our 5 night stay. THE PROPERTY - 4 Stars Our family decided to stay in Playa Bonita instead of one of the properties in Panama City Centre for the amenities. The multiple pools were really nice. Next to a beach which really isn’t a hang out swimming beach but has a great ambiance. The reception area with its high ceilings and view to the ocean is really nice. Those were the best parts, but unfortunately everything else about this Westin Playa Bonita sadly underdelivered in so many ways. For context, we stayed for 5 nights and I am a long time Gold Elite Member and am generally forgiving on the occasional lapses in service or hotel standards. A huge problem for this resort is the main elevator bank to the rooms during the morning time period is a very long wait anywhere from 5-10+ minutes. No exaggeration. One morning it was at 10 minutes, we stayed in a lower floor and it took us 10 minutes just to ask where the stairwell was, and then it only took us to the 2nd floor and we had to cut through the offices to get to the main area and then take a different stairwell. Elevators would show “full” and skip our floor multiple times every morning. One morning, a housekeeper let us take the employee elevator so thankful for that. The rooms has very thin walls/ceilings, and interior slightly outdated as other commenters have mentioned. With that being said, we had an ocean view and the other side was of the treetop canopy so they were nice. SERVICE - 1.5 star THE. WORST. MARRIOT/WESTIN “service” I have ever had in the world. Check-in receptionist was unfriendly, rude, and curt. We arrived early morning and of course they didn’t allow that early check-in. Then, 15 minutes later we were allowed to check-in early for $80 even though I am a Gold Elite member. That’s fine, but when I would ask questions, she just answered curtly and seemed quite bothered. This continued with the buffet which we ate 1 lunch and 1 dinner. Food itself was okay, not great, but serviceable. We thankfully did not have the full meal package. However, the servers while okay just seemed annoyed everytime we made a request. Starfish Grill didn’t have good reviews. Food quality was solids, but again, the service was horrible. Waitress had to keep being flagged down for everything. 1 plate didn’t show up until 30 minutes later when the rest of our meals were done. The “full chicken” dinner place literally was just 2 small pieces, so that my son went next door to order another pizza afterwards. We wanted to book a couple day trips and talked to one of the tour desk person. While he was able to let us know if there were any availability, the price, he Oh speaking of the pizza at the casual italian. Pizza itself was fine, but then getting the bill took multiple requests even though there were multiple people standing around. My only good service experience was at the Cafe where I got my morning coffee and the ladies who got my coffee each morning were pleasant and efficient. This is reason for the extra .5 star or it would have been a 1. EVERYTHING. WAS. HARD. Caused frustration every day. I actually don’t blame the staff for all of this poor service. It’s clearly a training issue and management hasn’t properly trained the staff or emphasized trying to even pretend to be nice to customers. LOCATION: 3.5 stars Playa Bonita is across the bridge to the Center. It’s both a pro and a con. Pro in that it’s really nice property as mentioned. Con is it took a 15-20 minute Uber ride to get into city outside the Westin. Good part is Uber is around $15-20 into city center and usually arrived to pick up in around 10 minutes so reasonable. We normally prefer to pick city centers but decided for a more resort experience. While we don’t regret this decision because property has good amenities, the bad service and crazy slow elevators made the experience negative. VALUE/OVERALL: 2 stars For this price point and the Westin brand, and you can see my other hotel reviews where I rarely provide poor reviews, but I would NOT recommend this hotel. Worst Westin/Marriott service I have ever gotten. Check my review history, I rarely give below 4 stars.

  Dec 28, 2025
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  A great place- can be better

  My wife and I had a wonderful vacation at the Westin Playa Bonita, where the rooms were excellent, the drinks were great, and the food was truly delicious. The staff was perfect throughout our stay, especially María Tejada at the Starfish Restaurant, who was incredibly kind and helpful. However, we had mixed experiences with the live music at the lobby bar On our first night, the duo Babito and Genesis were disappointing as the man treated us quite poorly when we requested songs, making the night feel boring and leading us to leave early. Fortunately, our second night was the complete opposite ,the singer Angie, was amazing and so kind to us, creating a wonderful atmosphere where everyone was dancing. Because of Angie's show and the great service from people like María, we are definitely coming back!

  Dec 28, 2025
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  Close to Panama City

  The hotel is wonderful and right in the beach. We had breakfast, lunch and dinner at the buffet. Lots of variety to choose from. Enrique at the buffet was so nice and helpful. His service was fantastic. The ocean water was very comfortable and the pools were never too busy. The rooms were well appointed and up to USA standards. The hotel Is very close to the city so if you come to Panama for a short period And want to come to the beach also this Is the place to come.

  Dec 26, 2025
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  Close to the city but set in nature

  I attended a conference at the hotel and it was an ideal venue for such a large event with many different meeting rooms. What I most enjoyed during my stay were early morning birding walks and ocean swims before work began. Although best to swim at mid to high tide to avoid sharp rocks, it is indeed a playa bonita and the ocean is warm and calm, just wonderful for long open-ocean swims (if that's your thing). There is an abundance of extraordinary birds, sloth and other amazing widlife in the hotel gardens and wild forest areas all around the hotel.

  Dec 18, 2025
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  Romantic and leisure

  Veronica and Jair were great. Loved their service at the starfish restaurant. They made our stay even more enjoyable. Fantastic

  Dec 17, 2025