Very clean centrally located hotel. Easily walk to Boquete. The staff helped up coordinate all our activities while in Boquete. Very small bar, but they are eager to make you happy. They were helpful with all of our plans. They even held our breakfast on the morning we came down from our volcano trip.

Slightly tired but OK room, though why the old TV / fridge unit is still there was a mystery as tube TV had gone on vacation together with the fridge. Maybe the owners felt attached to this lump of useless furniture? Bed was OK and bathroom fine, but mixer showers are the thing these days, and having to lock the room on exit with the key is very 1965.

Restaurant was slow but food OK in the evening. Breakfast was a trip back to the old USSR in the 1960s. Choice was non-existent. If you’d like a choice of fruit juices, cold meats, cheeses, or even breads - try somewhere else. Even the little packets of jam were only one flavour. Eggs were represented by a large vat of congealed scrambled egg. I asked for a fried egg on first morning and it never arrived. I tried again and was simply asked for my room number - clearly I’m a subversive trouble maker. On the third morning I pointed out that boiled and fried eggs were often on the menu at other hotels. Blank stare, as he’d never heard of these options.

So, you could have sloppy porridge, scrambled egg, a corn fritter and something else with the meat dish. Two days this was sausage in sauce, one day beef slice. But don’t think of serving yourself - portion control has a man giving you just what you deserve. Twice we were given a pancake with the meat, one day a waffle. These had been cooked earlier and kept hot so now constituted a serious threat to teeth, so dehydrated and hardened.

Bread was available, but none of that fancy stuff, just a small loaf sliced and left a couple of days to ensure maximum hardness and minimum moisture content. If you thought a croissant etc went with a $100+ room rate, you’re from another era.

Fruit juice - one; fresh fruit cubes - watermelon and mango one day (a choice !) Coffee or tea bags also available, as was something like cornflakes which I dare not try in case I exceeded my ration.

The whole experience reminded me of visiting the USSR back in the 1960s and 70s. The worst breakfast experience for decades. God help you if you’re a vegan here.

I guess the owners view breakfast as an evil encroachment upon their profitability and ‘guests’ will just have to accept what they’re given?

Overall, a mediocre hotel with no idea of late 1980s service standards, let alone the first quarter of the 21st century. All the owners need do is book into a hotel at $100 per night in Panama City, then try their own miserable offer. Alternatively, simply show some interest in the business ……. and their customers.

The first evening in the restaurant I asked for a second glass of wine. Like my fried egg the following morning it was Missing in Action.

Don’t bother, at these prices you can do much better. Or save a lot of money for the same mediocrity elsewhere in Boquete.

I made a reservation at this beautiful hotel and inadvertently clicked the no refund button. They were kind enough to refund some of my reservation charges, but not the full cost. I probably won't make a reservation again here. I will live in Coronado beginning January 1st and will find another place to stay if I visit Boquete.

Richard Lewis