Hotel República

After nearly 24 hours of travel, we arrived at 2:30am and found out our room had been sold. We were four girls, and the receptionist seemed indifferent, smiling at us as he said he'd sold it. We reminded him we'd called to say we'd be there around 2am. He replied, “you said 2am, it’s 2:32am. This is business”. When we reacted, he got defensive and threw us out into the middle of a Saturday night, with drunk people around, saying, “The door is open, we don’t want your money”. Before travelling from Costa Rica by bus, we had written through booking.com to say we didn't know our exact arrival time. He said that wouldn't be a problem. We called again around 5pm to say we'd soon catch the bus and reach Panama City at about 2am, and the receptionist told us it was okay because they were open 24 hours. I've never had such a bad experience, and this is the first time I've written a negative review. Unfortunately, it feels like the easiest way to let people know how terrible the service was and how we were treated. I definitely don't recommend it.

It's a pleasant, basic hotel in a location I liked. The famous coca cola restuarant and the olde Towne are both within walking distance, and Cinco de mayo metro station is just 1.5 blocks away, one from albrook.

There were quite a lot of bugs in the room, and the AC didn't make the air cold. It mostly seemed to circulate it, while making the loud music from next door even more noticeable. A very loud disco beside the hotel plays all night. The staff is super niche though...

You get what you pay for. The old town is walkable from here, though the immediate area feels a bit sketchy.