Melia Hotel - Colon, Panama

"What I love most about this crazy life is the adventure of it."

¬J. Binoche

Located on the gorgeous Lake Gutan, this 5 Star hotel is stunning in beauty but lacking in service. Located on the old US Military Bases grounds and in the buildings of the largest American school on the Pacific side of Panama, the decor and facility has charm, the lush rain forest surrounding are tropical and the views of the lake and the pool are spectacular.  

 

On the surface the hotel has the appearance of the 5 star rating and an affordable rate, we are pleased with the building itself, the rooms are mostly clean and the space is more than ample. Having traveled to other 5 star hotels in Panama (non-city locations) at a higher rate per night, the complex and facilities as well as the amenities are fine. 

I can even handle the bump and hiccups of our reservation being lost, the room being just cleaned as we walked in, and the mini-fridge missing. But when it took over 30 minutes and 4 requests to order food at the pool side then an additional 45 minutes for our food to even arrive, it started to become apparent service was going to be an issue. In an effort to be understanding we did acknowledge it was a holiday window AND they were well understaffed. Sadly, it is a weak excuse for a hotel to say despite being at near full occupancy and hosting a New Years celebration party in their banquet facility, that they were unable to staff their hotel to serve the guests.

In the effort of moving on with the our 2 night 3 day escape to the Colon side of Panama, we spent a wonderful hour relaxing poolside, swimming in a high crystal blue water pool with the large in clear view. The weather may have been in the low 90s but with the breeze off the lake it was very comfortable. Poolside the hotel provided plenty of recliners and umbrellas  Unlike other hotel we have visited where there are only a few umbrella to shelter from the sun, Melia was plentiful with shelter to chair/guest ratio. 

The multi-level pool was also huge. Plenty of room for different preferences.  Never deeper than 8 feet and offering 2 ft shallow  play options too. For my teenage sun, his favorite was the 6 foot waterfall  or "jumping off point" to the lower pool. Feel to play, kids were cannon balling, jumping and doing flips off to the lower pool. Safe in design there was a bit of a overhang to keep the kids smacking the wall.


Unfortunately, when we returned to our rooms, one of the rooms had lost power. Out of the entire hotel, this one room had blown it's breaker. Okay, simple enough, just fix it. Unfortunately, again it took 3 requests of over 2 1/2 hours to get anything done about it. In the end, on New Year's Eve at 11:30 in my PJ's, I had to go the lobby to request a new room for my parents. Sadly it took a lot of demanding and complaining in Spanish (a challenge in itself) to make this happen. 

The next morning, breakfast was acceptable but not as lavish as promoted. A common complaint we heard from friends was that the price for the food was not comparable to what one received. Internet rating's that are negative seem to reference food issues too. But in all honest, we did not come for the food, we did not even really come for the   hotel itself. We came for the adventure and to see Colon and the Atlantic side of Panama. Sadly, though not having a clean place to sleep, a room with electricity (safety concerns started to creep into our thoughts too), and an ability to relax after a great day exploring, brought frustration and aggravation to the vacation. 

In the end, we left a day early and drove back to our Pacific side of Panama. Only a 90 minute drive, we were lucky to not be stuck with a longer drive home or a plane flight we had to wait for. The disappointing part of the settlement was the disinterest in really trying to make us happy. Not only was the manager unwilling to come talk with us face to face after the initial complaint, her response was to see me the next day at 8am when she was available  Not sure what kind of 5 star hotel  operates with out a manager or at least an assistant manager on side especially when they are at near capacity. Having worked in hotels in Asia myself, I can tell you that is a recipe for disaster. A mere 20% discount off "one charge" at the facility was their offer. Not quite acceptable on a $400 charge for 2 night for 2 rooms. After some long discussions and starting to call Capital One, they hotel ended up canceling the 2nd nights reservation, comped the no-electricity room for the 1st night and only charges us for 1 room for 1 night. 

In my next blog about the Gutan Lakes and the Shelter Bay Marina, I promise to shed a beautiful light on the incredible side of Colon Providence of Panama.