Royal Decameron Panama

Hot weather, limited pool bar options. Staff can't speak English. Decent value. [Details]

Resort was very nice, lots of walking up and down hills. The staff was very friendly and helpful. [Details]

It was, ok at best. [Details]

We booked the Royal Decameron on short notice. We're so glad we picked this location. The resort is enormous..plenty of great places to dine! The view of the Pacific Ocean from our room was awesome..watching the sunrise each morning.
The resort is well maintained. The staff are friendly and courteous.
Our room, not glamorous, but comfortable enough.
We definitely want to come back again soon! [Details]

Overall very good it is as advertised 4* [Details]

We will never return [Details]

Great beach…it was huge…never felt crowded on it…that didn't include the pools …which drew several underdogs more people…they seemed more crowded than the beach…

The food i a few words was….aweful, repetitive and lacking in any creative output or design…
I know it's not a huge country and you are there for the heat and beach…but daily you knew if you missed something a breakfast you would see a portion of it repeated at lunch…
Terrible beef…and it's a joke to call what ever it is a steak…that's to be expected though..steak not their forte in Central America…we experienced the the same thing in Columbia
Have to go see my dentist to make sure I haven't worn down my teeth…
Staff was friendly, but we experienced a problem just like Columbia…very few staff speak English…and show no desire to change..
I realize I'm going to s foreign country and I should try to adapt…which I do…but if I'm paying Canadian or American $ for a trip to an isolated resort…the staff should at least speak English…this is not a first world problem or a racist rant about foreign language…but it is a question of getting value for the $ I paid to go go to any resort…
I don't drink, but my wife said the booze tasted weak…similar to being watered down…
Again, the food left a lot to be desired… [Details]

The room was a little date but overall very clean. We did not pay for an ocean view but still got an ocean view - we could see the ocean from our balcony and it was beautiful. Wifi in rooms was poor but very good in the lobbies. The resort was situated on rolling hills - lots of walking/hills/climbing stairs. Although this was okay for my partner and I, it is not ideal for older folks and people with mobility / health challenges. Food was excellent although spaces in restaurants would fill up quick making it difficult to make reservations. 4/5 pools close at 5pm and one stays open until 8pm. Wish there was 24hr swimming in pool(s) - visitors 18 should be allowed to swim at own risk if they are unable to hire a nighttime lifeguard. Would visit again. [Details]

Great resort...this place is big..grounds well kept...food was great every day in every restaurant. [Details]

My wife and I had a great time at this resort! It is quite large so there are lots of bar/swimming areas to choose from. Plenty of entertainment at night and the food was good! Rooms were spacious and clean. Overall a good experience. [Details]

My boyfriend and I went to The royal Decameron, panama from December 26 2019 until January 2nd 2020. And we had an absolute blast there! The staff are all fantastic, the place was beautiful, and the food was excellent! If you are okay with walking around a bit, this place is probably for you. There are 3 lobbies across the resort, multiple pools scattered across the resort, and many restaurants as well. This allowed us to stay in one area if we wished, without having to walk across the resort to get to something we needed. The ocean was warm and beautiful. There were many excursion options, which we were very happy about! And we had a fantastic New Year's Eve experience here! The staff worked extremely hard to put together a fun filled evening for both children and adults. We would both 100% recommend this place to both families and young adults who are traveling. [Details]

Love the resort, second time coming. Our building, 17, needs a repair of parts of the roof siding it was broken in parts and would make huge noise during the afternoon high winds back in the room. [Details]

This resort has several steep hills & lots of stairs. Be prepared to do lots of climbing & walking! This resort is not ideal for anyone with mobility issues or breathing issues. However, there is a shuttle service within the resort, which makes it a bit easier to get around.

The food at the restaurants is good but it feels as though things have been scaled back in order to cut corners. For example, there is no actual steak at the steakhouse. The buffets do offer quite a bit of selection of food but be prepared to arrive well before the buffet time ends because staff start to pull leftover food at least half an hour ahead of time and selection drastically dwindles.

Make sure to check channel 76 every morning for hotel events and open buffets.

Some staff are able to speak a bit of English but many staff are unable to do so & communication can be an issue at times as a result. Knowing basic Spanish words helps! Perhaps bring along Spanish to English dictionary.

Bring along your own towels from home because it can be very difficult to get a beach towel. Also, no face cloths are provided in the rooms or hand towels, so it helps to bring those from home as well. We are a family of 4 who stayed in the same room but cleaning staff only gave us 2 bath towels for the entire trip. On our first night there, we had no shampoo at all but luckily we brought a tiny bottle of it from home.

Some rooms are better equipped and maintained than others. Our first room had barely working air conditioning but the room we were moved to had a newer a/c unit.

Guests are only provided with 1 room key. If you want a second key, it is a $15 deposit.

The pools and grounds are very well maintained. There are many loungers throughout the pool and beach areas, so you will never have a problem getting one. Although, the resort could you some more upright chairs in these areas. [Details]

We arrived and the room we were assigned had no toilet paper or towels or lights and the cups were dirty. I ran after the maid and she gave me the towels and toilet paper. The next day we woke up to a bathroom with over 50 ants. I went to the lobby 4 times and they did nothing until I contacted the travel agent. That is when they changed us room - 3days later. Have been going here for 4 years and will not be going back. Beach is not cleaned up - horse poo and cups littered around. Lacking of yard maintenance. [Details]

We found this hotel adequate for our vacation. We had some issues with the air conditioner in our room. We called for service three separate days, then it would run for a day or less and turn off. We could turn it on again but it would not stay on long. This did get fixed the third time we called for service. Three buffet restaurants but on several days at least one was closed for a meal or 2 were closed. Food was adequate. The pools were nice but some of them were closed for maintenance for more than one day. [Details]

We enjoyed our first trip to Panama, loved the weather - always very warm. Clean hotel, fewer amenities than we expected but we weren't too disappointed. We found the food only average, had expected more and there was always one restaurant and pool closed which made planning the day a nuisance. Local shopping for souvenirs and gifts isn't close, have to go to Panama city which is 2 hours away. Close to the airport which is nice. Mostly friendly staff, bellboys wanted us to carry our bags then wanted a tip - but the others were very nice. [Details]

After visiting Royal Decameron three years ago I chose to return this winter because I remembered such a positive experience. I was not disappointed. Although the hotel itself has signs of wear and tear (rooms slightly dated, dresser drawers wobbly) the resort itself is fantastic. The public areas are well maintained, the staff are friendly and efficient and the location and the weather are perfect. Large variety of restaurants with great selection of very fresh, healthy and delicious food. There's a wide choice of bars and pools so you can choose to be in a quiet area, or in the middle of all the action. The resort is large enough to get good exercise simply walking around the shaded pathways, climbing the numerous stairs and hills. The beach is also a long beautiful stretch to walk and felt very safe even off the resort. I will certainly return again! [Details]

Nice pools, clean & well maintained room & grounds. No issues with staff.
We like to experience local foods but we found most of the food was bland and simple. Forget about deserts, they are well presented but cheap in quality. A la carte restaurants had very little on the menu and for the most part we did find something we liked. Resort is on a hillside, therefore, lots of stairs.....
Rating:
A la carte = 7/10
Grounds & pools = 9/10
Overall food = 6/10
Room & A/C = 9/10 (Basic room, but clean & comfy)
Check in = 10/10 (Fast & easy). I wish other resorts would learn something from this. [Details]

Overall a great vacation in Panama. Weather was HOT. Check in was very smooth. Hotel is very close to the airport. WARNING.....Hotel is located on a huge hill so anyone with mobility issues or young children should request a "beach level" room. Rooms are practical and clean. Pools and grounds nicely maintained. Resort is large which allows for nice evening walks. The beach is wide and also well maintained. Watch for jellyfish though. They post red, yellow, green or white flags along the beach as warnings to swimmers, which they review during the orientation session. The bartenders at the pool bar for the most part did an outstanding job! While there we visited the market in Anton Valley. The market is not huge and is about a 45 min drive from the hotel. We had better luck and prices buying from the beach vendors who were extremely friendly! The food at the buffet restaurants was really bad. We have traveled to 17 All Inclusive Resorts and this ties last place with a resort we stayed at in St. Maarten. The bread, omelette and pasta stations saved us. By day 3 our son was making rice sandwiches to fill himself up. Some of the employees are EXTREMELY rude (NOT ALL, BUT SOME). They had an employee telling guests that the Atlantis Buffet Restaurant was closed and would re-direct you to the buffet restaurant up the hill, when in fact the Atlantis was open and NOT FULL. This happened EVERY day for NO APPARENT reason. Spanish speaking guests were not re-directed so we ended up just following suit and would eat at the Atlantis anyways since it was closer to our room. [Details]

Staff are very friendly, warm and attentive. Very big resort, spread out across almost a kilometre of beach with many pools and activities. The food was really good with lots of variety at the buffets and the a la carte restaurants. Lattes and cappuccinos were excellent, especially at the Lobby Bar! While this is an older hotel with real keys to rooms, the hotel is well maintained and everything is very clean, including the grounds.
There is lots of walking along elevations since the hotel is built along a hill. Steps or paved paths connect all the levels. The hotel has multiple shuttle vans that would move guests between locations on the resort, so mobility restricted or tired guests had the option to get a ride!
Sports equipment was good quality, including good tennis balls! [Details]

We traveled to the Decameron the first week in Dec and our family included 2 boys (age 8 & 10), 1 grandparent (over 70) and 2 fortysomethings. The resort had something for everyone. There are 2 movies every night on the beach with popcorn provided. 1 kid movie (minions / boss baby / beauty and the beast etc) and 1 adult movie. We watching Wonder Woman & the latest Fast and the Furious. Food was quite good, tons of salad and fresh fruit - but limited vegetables, dessert lacked.
Panama City is 1.5 hour to 2 away for a city tour (canal is on the way). Anton Valley is about an hour away with rainforest, waterfall, ziplining etc.
We had beachfront rooms and were very thankful we didnt have to climb all the hills each time we wanted to go back to the room.
We flew in and out of Rio Hato airport - it is about a 10 minute drive away from the resort. Small airport so airport noise was very limited (I think less than 1 airliner/day).
Overall trip was thoroughly enjoyed by all age groups in our party. [Details]

Loved it. Fun and relaxing! [Details]

Low quality services and multiple strange " internal rules" applied to Canadian tourists . No activities or party on Easter days. Bad food . 70% local tourists ( Spanish) very noisy and rude. A weak and disoriented management trying to bring....any kind of tourists even for a weekend. Not recommended for Canadian tourists . [Details]

Just what you would expect for a 3 star hotel. Management tried but they had to few staff that spoke English or even tried to be pleasant to English speaking guests. Resort is old and outdated but is well maintained. Did not make sense to pre book for buffets and only added to the frustrations. [Details]

Enjoyed our stay at the Royal Decameron. The grounds and the pools are exceptional and the staff were professional but difficult to communicate with as there is very little English. The major weak spot is the food. It is extremely bland for a warm climate and is very repetitive no matter what restaurant you go to. The Sushi venue was a nice setting but awful food and neither of us could eat anything. The tour to the canal and old Panama was excellent and very good value. [Details]

Very good time .nice location, 10 minutes to the airport .God food [Details]

Alot of stairs and walking, no washcloths supplied, they do not stock the bar fridge. Wifi only available in the lobby & intermittent. Cater to the french and local people visiting. Very little or no English. Games in the pool are explained in french and spanish I had to ask for english and with the use of hand signals we got through it. There were some irish people there the were quite up set that the comunication was so poor. Have to get to the beach or pool early if you wanted shade. Breakfast was good and lunch. Anton Valley was a great tour. Better take cash my visa and m/c would not work thrre but it did
on every excursion and even the local grocery store. No regrets going, but will not be back. Not
even if it is half price. [Details]

This one of the best resorts that we have stayed at. Very clean, good cleaning services. Great staff, very helpful, providing service with a smile. Delicious food. Fabulous entertainment every night.never a dull moment. Please bear in mind, this is a large resort, a lot of walking is required depending on where yr room is, and there are steep rises and stairs so comfortable shoes would be a good idea. But a little exercise doesn't hurt with all the good food yr eating!! Alternatively you could ask for a room closer to the pool area or the beach :) [Details]

I got to the Hotel expecting a wheelchair room, which I didn't have, putting the blame on our Travel Agent, they had a room the next day but because it was so far away from our friends we decided to stay where we were. They have all the restaurants down on the ocean view, to get there you must walk up and down a 500 foot hill, or call and wait for shuttle to take you back, and their English is so bad they don't understand where you want off. They made you make reservations for the buffet for dinner. Breakfast buffet wasn't worth it, always running out of bacon and not wanting to fill it back up. Most workers weren't happy. Would not be going back. [Details]

First, the quality, variety, freshness and temperature of the food was only a 1 star.
NO shade or minimal on beach or around pools. As seniors we need shade to protect against the sun. WHY do you need to have reservations for dinner at the buffet? We had to be at reservation desk by 7 am to get the ala cartes we wanted, then waited 1 hour and 35 min. Not what I want on my vacation. Our group will not go to another Royal Decameron again. [Details]