Las Perlas Playa Blanca

Had a great week, amazing weather. The hotel was is exactly like it is in the pics. There's nothing that would stop me from going again. The Italian and seafood restaurants were amazing,the sushi and martini bar weren't anything to brag about. There's not much to complain about when there's a beach, ocean, and 30℃ weather. [Details]

Good Hotel unfortunately the staff did not know english. The present airport is a 3 hour drive to the hotel (too far). [Details]

The Room
Rooms have a constant odor of sewage coming from the drain pipes in the shower and bathroom area. The 1 bedroom suites are very roomy, (with 2 TVs, mini bar, dishwasher, microwave and oven) however they are all covered in smudge marks, looks like the last guest had 10 kids all with dirty hands. Daily housekeeping consisted of bed making and toilet cleaning.

Service
Service with a smile is very rare. Most employees are very indifferent; employees seldom make eye contact or greet you when you pass them. Try finding a employees that warrants a simple tip, it we'll be a challenge. On a positive note there was one employee, AMEL, he was always friendly, and interacted with guests. If you have tip money, he is the one you should give it to. He also makes this neat little grasshopper out of palm leaves.

Restaurants and Buffet
They have 2 a la cartes, Aqua Bar and the Beach Bar. The Aqua bar is on the second floor in a "Banquet Hall" type setting not very cozy. Service is very slow and the food is below sub par. The Beach bar is beside the pool, outdoors. This would be very nice if the steaks and chicken they serve where up to the 5 Star rating they claim. The steaks, all of them, are to say the least very chewy. Bring your own steak knife they only give butter knives. Stick with chicken, just check to make sure they didn't forget to cook it.

The Buffet, nick named the garage by most guests I spoke to
The buffet area is tucked in out of the way at the back it the resort. It looks like it was an after thought. The structure looks like an airplane hangar. The air cooling system was not turned on the whole week, they did have a small portable unit running with lost of fans. The noise level was so loud you couldn't hear yourself think. The food again was very sub standard, it you went out for dinner at home you would send it all back to the kitchen.

Over all this was a very disappointing resort, not worthy of it's the 5 Star status or price tag.
Oh by the way this resort is owned by Sunwing, that may explain the inflated star rating. Save your money keep looking for another resort

This is not a a 5 or 4 Star Resort, and barely a 3 STAR RESORT. [Details]

Nice new building yet the the lack of a maintenance plan was evident - mold, flooding, plugged shower/sink, etc. Poorly trained staff, struggling occasionally to do their best, yet without clear direction from their rather amateur management team - truly dysfunctional. Must note the exception - the Customer Service rep, who tried to do the right thing despite her relatively limited influence. [Details]

This is a not a five stars hotel,restaurants are very poor,disco music is very old, during the day it is not animation or music in the hotel. The hotel is far from the airport, 2 hours plus 1 hour waiting in the airport for the bus to come and get us, don't go in the adventura 2000 tour, is expensive and they give you a very short time for take pictures and etc. [Details]

All in all it was good. The rooms could use some sound proofing and the washrooms on the resort (not just in the room) could use some improvements. The beach was really nice and clean, but if you wanted to sit down at the water there was no service. The pool at the resort was nice but a lot of wasted space with the lazy river that didn't even function. This resort had no entrainment and no shopping if you wanted to buy souvenirs or if you ran out of anything. [Details]

This was exactly what I had expected based on other reviews and research. It was perfect for what we wanted. Quiet and beautiful and relaxing. [Details]

Gorgeous Resort and very clean rooms. That is all I can say that is good. I am an easy traveller and found this resort waste of $. It was so difficult to order room service or ask for help as hotel staff can't speak English. Only the bartenders speak ok English. The name say it is a Spa but you have to go to the resort next door (Playa Blanca) which is a 10 min walk for the spa. You actually have to walk or cab there if you want to rent seadoos, ATV or do anything fun. There is basically no entertainment, no English speaking staff, the disco is completely empty, the lounge is empty. Everyone either go to sleep after 10pm or go visit a different resort. Going into the city is a $100 cab ride and 1.5 hour each way. This is a beautiful resort made only for Spanish speaking seniors. I had to help a group of lost and frustrated seniors as they, like we did at the start have no clue how to get to our room because the layout is very confusing and you need a golf cart to take you around if you have luggage. Very dissapointing experience as I was there to proposed to my girlfriend. Don't waste your money here. [Details]

We have visited this resort Dec. 3-10 from Toronto and at the end we were happy for the value we got vs. the price paid (we bought the package under a Sunwing Champagne promotion - for the full listing price probably we would not have been so happy at the end).

We have started our vacation with a lots of room issues (got moved 3 times in 2 days - no AC, hot water, broken bed, shower), but the reception staff are accommodating if they have rooms available.

Definetely not a 5 start resort, but a good one with great potential in our opinion.

A big joke from Sunwing - Deluxe Junior suites advertised by Sunwing are in reality simple hotel rooms, very small with no balcony, the one bedroom suites are very nice and large - a lot of extra space you do not truly need, would help if some of that extra space would go to the simple rooms (not possible now, but there is a huge difference between the two).

Food was ok , but not a lot of restaurants/variety. No spa on site.

The pool was nice (and clear when we have been there) and the ocean has a long walking line in both sides. The water was murky(the sand is black/gray), but this did not stop us going into ocean to swim.
We had very nice baths and swims - during high tide there is a strong undertow and current.
We have chosen this resort first due to the guarantee warm weather and we were not wrong - nice weather, we were lucky not to get a lot of rain.

Overall we enjoyed the trip, but would not give this resort more than 3.5-4 star. There is still a lot to be done to become a 5 star, but I think it has a good potential under the proper management. [Details]

Staff tries hard, management gives staff no direction. Adverttised buffet open nov 1, still OT open. Buffet in main building not good.
Resort runs out of stuff frequently, should not happen at 20/30% occupancy. Pool was green sun/mon. Pool closed Tuesday while they cleaned it. Pool was going green again by Saturday.

Resort has great potential, staff need to be mentored by management. Be taught what is expected of them. Service is very inconsistent [Details]

Room was fantastic, musty smell if living area curtains closed, kitchen had one cupboard that was strong musty order, I put fabric softener sheet in and help out a great deal. Service got better as vacation progressed, bartenders & servers, Anel (pool), Archie (lobby), Em (pool & lobby), Vanessa at the sushi bar, Luis & Mauricio the lifeguards are a definite asset to your organization they understand that great service is number one priority for travelers. Food could be improved, 2 weeks it became repetitive but enjoyed the BBQ buffet, International buffet, Panamanian buffet, others were too salty, ate at Italian restaurant most of the evening meals. The lunch meals were great, really enjoyed the pool side bbq & we all liked your lunch buffet in the upstairs buffet, soup salad & sandwiches, breakfast buffet & room service were wonderful. Beds were fantastic, bathroom nice also. Housekeeping could improve, animal feces on walkway and on our front deck, which I knocked off but our front patio was never cleaned in room 906. I did complain at the front desk that we could not lock our patio & bedroom windows, we asked to move but we would have lost our ocean view. We stayed in that suite & found bamboo to use as patio door & window jams. Had an adjoining room which had 2 double & private washroom, but there was no privacy, you could hear them talking & hear the toddler squealing while the parents were trying to settle her. Didn't like that at all, to be there for 2 weeks and get the family with small child attached to our room was not good at all. Over all I'm rating it a 3.5 working hard to be a 4. You should not advertise spa & services if you do not have them available we had to pay for our own transportation to enjoy a massage that you said you provided but don't. Gym was fantastic. The extra cost for brand name alcohol not good either, you'll earn better reviews when your all inclusive includes all brands. Coffee bar, should be open & available at 6am with better & move snack selections. Would have been nice to be able to have more vendors in with their crafts, once in 2 weeks and with limited product. Wanted to buy a sun hat & tee shirts and other souvenirs but came home with purchases off the beach from the same vendor who ventured out in front that was nice. But still no tee shirts. It was nice to be there when the resort was not full, not sure your service would have been able to keep up with a larger crowd. Didn't like that toddlers were allowed to play in the pool naked, cute for the parents but not so cute for the other guests, in this day of pediphiles who knows some sick person might have been taking movies of the child from across the pool, just not a good idea all round. [Details]

Beautiful rooms, great service, nice layout! [Details]

This was my 10th time to the Caribbean and definitely the best. Great resort and great people. The food was beyond my expectations. Only one complaint and that was our maid.Very poor at cleaning the room. I complained about our room not being clean and a new maid was sent up in 15 minuets. [Details]

A quiet relaxing resort for the week we were there. The hotel compound in general is very nice.
Beautiful pool and plenty chairs around the pool and on the beach. [Details]

The resort was beautiful and its obvious that the price will be much higher once it is fully open . The rooms are very nice , comfortable bed, high thread linens, full kitchen , big balcony , flat screen tv . Food is very good and all meals , except for breakfast are a la carte . They now have highered a guy that is their annimation team and he was organizing events for the week such as volleyboll , dance lessons , 80s theme night etc . There was no disco or nightly shows in the hotel but we had full access to the resort nxtt door where we would get shuttled to/from so we didnt feel like we were missing much . The only complaint we have was that the ocean was unswimmable since they were in jellyfish season and a few of us got stung . This however is out of the resorts control and as i understand is only a seasonal thing ( once a yr ) . However the pool was still a good replacement. I woud defintely return to the resort and you should recommend it to everyone that is going to panama . [Details]

The resort is great. The grounds were beautiful, the rooms were well above expectations, and the staff were very good and accommodating. [Details]

Hotel was extremely clean, rooms well maintained. Food was outstanding and restaurant staff very pleasant and courteous. Some hotel staff could use with a little more english, but a valid effort was made. The replenishment of daily water was non-existent. Bottled water, while maybe only 1 or 2 per day is very important. Travel times to and from airport are long, but was expected. Sunwing arrival and departures were horrible. 2 hour delay leaving Panama. Airport staff not friendly, no english, no PA announcements or notifications of delays. Sunwing representative almost non-existant. Once at "orientation" and then that was it. Little or no visability at the airport. I would recommend hotel for sure but maybe Signature should pick it up. [Details]

Hi Husband and I enjoyed our stay very much.The service was fantastic. The food was high quality and delicious. The resort was very clean. It was beyond our expectation and we would go back in a heart beat. [Details]

This resort is not fully finished yet when we were in there for vacation. Only 20% of rooms are furnished and open for vacationers. Therefore it is quiet and no line up for anything. However, only a few of the staffs speak English so it is not easy if need something.
The garden and the pool are well designed and decorated but not very big. So it will be crowded when the resort is fully open. [Details]

AMAZING hotel! Great staff, delicious food, epic room, and very clean! 24/7 resident DJ is talented and overall experience was fantastic. [Details]

Panama is a very rich country. However they are relativley new to the the resort game. They need to be informed on what is expected and demanded by North American customers. This resort requires Hotel Management Training 101. [Details]