Food was not good

If you go to Playa Bluff hotel, think about an adventure. No air conditioning anywhere. The restaurant has new chef from Italy. We only had breakfast there, (was ok) never ate dinner. We had dinner every night at Hummingbird hotel, amazing food, great ambience. Walking distance. The pool did not opened until the day we left. They had lost electricity and it was disgusting, so took time to clean. The staff is extremely friendly and helpful, the room is nice, doesn't have a fitted sheet, so is a little uncomfortable to sleep with a sheet that moves all around. No Mattress cover, the room could be cleaned better, need to move furniture and clean behind and under, since its a tropical place, spiders are everywhere. There is a big community kitchen that is fully equipped and you can buy food and make whatever you want. Unfortunately there are no markets close by, you have to take the shuttle that comes every hour in front of hotel for $3 or a taxi $20 into town ( around 30 minute ride one way) to buy food. Unfortunately the ocean was extremely rough, so we were not able to swim in the ocean, but if you walk the trail for about an hour or bike (they have bikes for rent) you reach beautiful natural pools. Take a book and plan to relax, eat and enjoy the weather, and go into town and take tours to the islands. You can arrange all tours with the hotel. The hotel is building a new spa, and tour thru their jungle and waterfalls.

This was the most expensive place that we stayed at in Panama and was the worst by a landslide. The patio door was just a screen that anyone could have broken into. We were woken up by loud people 3 of the 6 nights we stayed there and management pretty much said it was out of their control! Not impressed!!!! Our room was only “cleaned” twice, check in did not include instructions on where to get drinkable water, nor was there a glass in the room. The electrical outlets would not hold a plug for my charger. The sheets are too small for the bed and their are no mattress covers, yuck!!!! The curtains did not fully cover the windows. The patio door locks are broken, so a small padlock with a key is used. There are no lights on the patio, so sitting out and reading at night is not possible and there are wires hanging where lights should be. There was no hot water in the showers even after they were “fixed”. If you are there for surfing this is a great place to be, if that is not your intent then do not stay here, it is a long way from town and the shuttle only comes every 2 hours and a taxi will cost you $15-$20 one way. The breakfast is the same every day, eggs, pancake and toast with a few pieces of fruit. When we raised concerns it fell on deaf ears, the owner/manager thought that our concerns were trivial. She certainly does not belong in the hospitality business. This place has the potential to be quite lovely, but falls very short of its potential.

Great property on Playa Bluff. Filter was broken on pool while we were there so we didn’t get to use that. Lots of wildlife surrounding this property. Room was average for the price but we enjoyed our time here and the relaxing vibes in that area. Food at surrounding hotels was very good. The lodge only serves breakfast and it is average. Two pancakes, some scrambled eggs, two pieces of toast and 5-6 cubes of fruit.

The Playa Bluff Lodge seems to be in the middle of a "resurrection" of sorts. Apparently the place had a fire last year that destroyed the kitchen and perhaps more. I gather that the owner is trying to recover the business but seems to be doing it on the cheap. The only reason I give an overall "good" rating is due to the manager of the place, Magarena (Maga for short) who went out of her way to help us have a pleasant stay. The property has HUGE potential but it appears progress is very slow. I highly recommend visiting the Playa Bluff neighborhood but if you want a more comfortable stay, I recommend The Plantation, Hummingbird, or Oasis. Worth mentioning is the bus service that runs between Bocas town and Playa Bluff. The vans that act as a bus run every 30 minutes or so $3 each way but be prepared for a bumpy and often crowded 20 minute ride. The area is beautiful with opportunities to see sloths and Howler monkeys in your back yard.

The Playa Bluff Lodge seems to be in the middle of a resurrection of sorts. Apparently the place had a fire last year that destroyed the kitchen and perhaps more. I gather that the owner is trying to recover the business but seems to be doing it on the cheap. The only reason I give an overall good rating is due to the manager of the place, Magarena (Maga for short) who went out of her way to help us have a pleasant stay. The property has HUGE potential but it appears progress is very slow. I highly recommend visiting the Playa Bluff neighborhood but if you want a more comfortable stay, I recommend The Plantation, Hummingbird, or Oasis.Worth mentioning is the bus service that runs between Bocas town and Playa Bluff. The vans that act as a bus run every 30 minutes or so $3 each way but be prepared for a bumpy and often crowded 20 minute ride.The area is beautiful with opportunities to see sloths and Howler monkeys in your back yard.

The hotel and the staff is really nice, unfortunately the pool was not working but not a big deal, the hotel is green so they use solar panel for electricity and water pumping, so no air condinationing is installed.

This hotel needs work. There is essentially no management. The best, most efficient employees there are the cleaning staff. The rooms are nice but the beds are like slabs of concrete. The power to our building went out for over 8 hours (and the have solar, so can't blame it on anyone else). The hot water works for about 45 seconds, total. Plus, this is located 20 minutes from town and the shuttle to Playa Bluff is sketchy and the last one coming from town leaves at 6pm. Want a late night in town? Plan on a $20 cab ride back to the hotel. No exceptions. We will not stay there again.