Shores of Panama 2004

The parking garage and elevators were a nightmare. The garage felt very tight, with traffic moving in both directions, and the elevators were always full. We waited 30 minutes on the fifth floor with a beach wagon. I won’t stay at this resort again, though the location, resort, and pool were fantastic. What matters most depends on the person. The rules were overwhelming, with signs everywhere threatening eviction. I was nervous the whole time that our family of five, with kids aged 12 down to 4, might get kicked out for breaking one. Most staff members we dealt with were unfriendly, except for the bar staff. One security guard threatened to throw my son out of the pool for “messing with the fountain,” even though I was beside him the whole time because he can’t swim. The guard then claimed he’d warned my son twice before, which wasn’t true. My son had never been left alone in the pool. He stood at the pool’s edge staring at us, then said he didn’t appreciate our son looking at him.

I’ve been coming to Shores of Panama for years and have always enjoyed the property. It’s a beautiful resort, but the coffee shop has let me down. The prices feel excessive, including a $2 charge for a small amount of milk in coffee. The donuts often seem stale, and I’ve seen them left out overnight, which makes me question their freshness. The manager was rude and disrespectful, making the visit unpleasant. Good service matters, and I hope management takes these concerns seriously. I still like staying at Shores of Panama, but the coffee shop needs to improve to match the resort’s quality.

Check-in was really convenient. We paid online, and our envelope with the instructions, wifi password, and reserved parking pass was ready outside in the garage. Staff were there with our information and handed it to us after checking our identity, so I didn’t even have to go inside. The rooms were clean and had a slight bleach smell.

The food was good, but it was expensive and the workers weren’t friendly. The poolside lounge chairs were no help either. People claimed seats with their things for the whole day, and guards didn’t enforce the rules. Despite all the chairs in the photos, I couldn’t find one available during the entire week. Our unit, 1401, had air conditioning that worked only half the time. The dryer broke, and maintenance wouldn’t fix it. There was constant left-hand smoke on the balconies, and it was suffocating. Parties and fights kept happening, and the elevators were a nightmare. After waiting 30 minutes for one that wasn’t packed, I had to walk up and down 14 flights on multiple days. When I did get on an elevator, it went up and down several times before heading where I needed. This was absolutely the worst place I’ve ever stayed in Panama. It wasn’t family friendly.