Flew out of Pearson with Air Transat early in the morning. We had to go to Pierre Elliott Trudeau airport in Montreal to pick up more passengers which made the day even longer. Flew Club Class for the 1st time and I will attempt to do so from now on. They treat you like royalty in Club Class, priority check-in & boarding, more baggage allowance, great food, drinks and seats. Arrived in Panama after a great flight and overhead view of Cuba, going through customs was a breeze. The Nolitours reps meet you in the main terminal, you give them your bags and they put your luggage on the truck and you board an air conditioned bus after they give you a beer, water or soft drink. It is then about a two hour ride (with a 15 minute stop at a restaurant on the highway) to the resort. The tour operator on the bus tells you the history and interesting sights of the country as you travel.
Check-in at the hotel was very organized as they had about three buses coming from the airport all around the same time. I would estimate that it took all of about 5 minutes. You are escorted to your room by a bellboy and your luggage arrives about a hour later at the bottom of the stairs of the building that you are staying in.
Rooms;:
The rooms are OK, functional, but very clean. I was in Building 30B, room 3039, Oceanfront, right next to the Atlantico buffet. Most of the buildings have three floors to them and I was on the 2nd floor. The maid did a great job for all 14 days that I was there. Shower (no bath) was large and I always had hot water no matter when I took a shower. The TV had about 25 Spanish channels and about 6 English channels. There are no fridges in the rooms but the maid will leave you with a 1.5 litre of water every day. A suggestion is to also rent a safe for $2/day. It takes a couple of tries to figure out the key for the safe. Rent the safe key as soon as you check-in before you are taken to your room.
Food and Drinks:: The resort has three buffets for breakfast & lunch, and two buffets, the Atlantico & Pacifico for dinner. There are about 8 a la cartes, 11 bars and 9 pools. In each of the three lobbies they post the dinner menus for the the two buffets. The lobbies are also where you can reserve your a la carte reservations. Reservations are made between 7AM – 12 Noon, and from 2 – 5PM. The sitting times for the a la cartes are 6:15, 8:00 and 9:30 PM. I would recommend that you get to the lobby early in the morning to book your a la carte for that night, or, you can book three ahead of time for the week. Lobby # 2 was where most of the Canadians, Francophone & Anglophone booked their dinners and tours. Food was always good in all of the restaurants, I tried everything and never had a problem.
The drink menus are posted in Englsh & Spanish at every bar, and I certainly tried many of them. Bring a Bubba Keg from home to keep your drinks cool and the bartenders have no problem filling them up. There are childrens shows every night around 8:15 PM, mainly movies. The adult shows start around 10:00 PM. The shows are %99 in Spanish and geared towards the tourists from Columbia which made up about %70 of the guests while I was there. They try hard but it is usually the same dancing and lip singing every night but wearing different costumes. The other guests, about %30 Canadian, would watch a bit of the shows and then drift off to the various bars. I did find that there was a slight communication problem. Many of the resort workers do not understand English very well. The front desk personal & bartenders were generally very good in English. Little story: For several breakfasts in a row I went to the Atlantico Buffet and had my omlettes made in front of me by the same cook. One morning though, I wanted two fried eggs over easy, but, there was no way that I could say that in Spanish and no way that the cook understood my order in English. I eventually got my order made known to her by many hand signals.
Beach and Pools:: Beach is very long and has white, brown and black sand mixed together. The sand can get very hot. Never had a problem finding shade. Be careful of the waves and undertow,these two things and the tide in the Pacific Ocean can make swimming a challenge some days. They have lifeguards throughout the beach and on wave runners out in the water. You can reserve pedal boats and kayaks at the nautical centre. If you walk down the beach about 5 minutes you will come to Woodys Bar & Grill which is operated by two Canadians. I went ther once for a change and it was fine.
Many pools throughout the resort but my favourite was the adults only one on top of the hill which featured a swim-up bar. The lifeguards at this pool strictly enforce the adults only rule.
Tours and Excursions:: There are a variety of tours that you can take but beware that the resort is a long way away from many of these. I did two, the Panama Express Train and the Panama Canal Expedition. The Panama Express Train tour is 12 hours long. You are transported by bus over to Portobello on the Atlantic side of Panama where we toured the forts and town where infamous pirates like Henry Morgan and Sir Francis Drake attacked. We had a nice lunch in a restaurant right on the beach. We then went to Gatun Locks on the Canal, then took the Panama Express train from Colon and followed the canal all the way back to Panama City and then by bus back to the hotel. The Panama Canal expedition is basicaly a day out on the Panama Canal on a motor boat that holds about 20-24 people. Here we saw the big ships up close, monkess, crocodiles and many various other exotic animals, and had lunch picnic style on an island in the Panama Canal. There is a small casino accross the street from the hotel, with several 1, 5 or 25 cent slot machines.
Horseback riding is free and you reserve your time the day before at the activity, towel exchange hut by the pool. The towel huts are also you can exchange your beach towel every day. On your last day, hand in your towel for your towel card which you must present an check-out. Internet is $10/hour. You buy your internet card in any of the shops in the lobbies.
Things to consider:: Bring plenty of sunscreen, and limit your exposure to the sun. I saw too many Canadians get badly burnt by the sun. Take it easy, the humidity level is VERY HIGH and takes some getting used to.Just walking around the large resort I frequently arrived back to my room drenched in sweat. Seriously consider upgrading to Ocean Front. There are many, many stairs and hills to climb getting from the beach level, where most of the restaurants, buffets and pools are located, up the hill to where the Ocean View and regular rooms and three lobbies are located.
On your last day you must have your baggage outside bt 4:30 AM, check-out is at 6AM, followed by breakfast and then the busses leave the resort around 7:30 AM for the two hour drive back to the airport in Panama City.