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Breakfast is not very good compared to five-star hotels, but it is not bad, not many types. The environment is good. There are four or five swimming pools, and the gym is OK. Two or three restaurants and bars are suitable for weekend relaxation. The price on Ctrip is the cheapest after comparing many homes

We loved the location next to Panama canal and our view from balcony to passing ships and Bridge of the Americas. The staff was very friendly from kind receptionist to attentive bartender and they were all smiling and waving to our little son (4 months) every time they saw us. Gym was airconditioned and clean, opened till 12 am, swimming pool big and refreshing with sunbeds and umbrellas all around. Breakfast (7 usd per person) rich, tasty with good selection of fruit, chicken, saussages, ham, cheese and eggs. Free luggage room (even for couple days when we flew to Bocas) and shuttle to mall nearby. A taxi or uber cost 4 dollars to the city center or the fish market (Mercado De Marisco Cinta Costera). We made a great choice to book this hotel.

After reading multiple reviews we decided to book the Balboa Inn for a one night's stay before flying to Bocas Del Toro from Albrook Airport. There was nothing to suspect that the place we were booking was anything out of the ordinary small hotel. However, as our Uber drove through an obvious housing subdivision we wondered what we were in store for! We eventually realised that the ”inn” was half of a duplex house! OK, no problem, it's only for one night after all. We were greeted by William at the front desk - very friendly and showed us to our room. Upstairs with two heavy suitcases wasn't fun, but okay. Our room (I had requested a Queen sized bed) was very plain but clean. We had a queen bed plus a single. The bed was comfortable but dressed only in a bottom and top sheet - the air conditioning sounded like a plane taking off, but it was too hot not to have it on overnight. There is a lovely small pool in the garden area which was refreshing. The room was not particularly sound proof but we slept reasonably well. We walked to a nearby restaurant (more of a bar and grill) for dinner which was delicious (Balboa Food Court). My rating of 3* was more about the facilities and the quality of the premises than anything - good value for the money and good location for ease of access to Albrook Mall and airport but you can do better in town.

If it wasn't for the pool I'd have given a higher rating. I stayed in the hotel for 11 nights. No complaints about it as I had a nice big room, everything was clean and the staff were pleasant and helpful. Unfortunately, the pool area lets the hotel down very badly and it was because there was a pool that I had chosen to stay there. I checked with 2 different people and they confirmed it was part of the hotel. The pool itself was clean but that's all I can say that's positive. There was rubbish all round the edges of the pool area, including under the stairs, the artificial grass was a mess with bits of debris on it, there were no sunbeds (the photo is clearly well out of date), there were 3 old, scruffy and dirty mattresses and the white plastic chairs were dirty. The screens covering the stored paddleboards around the sides were dirty and had bird poo on them. There were weeds. Interestingly, at weekends when there were a lot of paddle boarders, sun umbrellas, clean chairs and an awning were put out. It's a pity that the hotel guests, who were paying to stay there, weren't treated so well. There were 1, sometimes 2, men 'working' there. For hours every day they sat staring at their mobile phones, doing absolutely nothing. Perhaps this is just down to personal taste but the noisy music from the 2 adjacent restaurants was awful. Someone needs to take a good look at the pool area, get it cleaned up and invest in some sunbeds, mattresses and clean chairs. It needs to be actively managed rather than just left to deteriorate. Be warned: if you want a hotel with a nice pool to relax beside, and peace and quiet, go elsewhere.