We arrived at the Crowne Plaza late at night in September and by mistake were allocated a room which had not been serviced. A single phone call to reception brought a bell-boy up in a matter of minutes, bearing profuse apologies, and an immediate upgrade to a suite for the entirety of our stay to "compensate us for the inconvenience" - this was a highly appreciated and totally unexpected gesture of goodwill, and impressed us greatly.
In fact for the entirety of our stay the staff at thus hotel impressed us with their willingness to offer friendly advice and assistance - a request for a map of the city that we could consult before setting off for a day's sightseeing resulted in a complimentary map being provided for us. We mention this fact because, having travelled to other Central and South American countries in recent years, we did find the Panamanians much less generous in their approach to customer service - you could get what you wanted but at a price! - but the Crowne Plaza was the exception to what we found to be the general rule.
Overall we found it to be a very pleasant base from which to explore the city and we were not in the least bit disturbed by traffic noise or church bells (rather than complain about the latter, go across the road and have a look inside this rather beautiful little church!).

I spent 2 nights there, as Priority Platinum I was upgraded to a suite.
Pro's: excellent bed | airco is good, can be regulated to small power so that you are not freezing | no problem with hot water | window double glazing, but not too efficient | quiet on the backside except one night when there was an event outside which lasted until 1 am | friendly staff, reception quick to accommodate me as I wanted to change room | Location | suite allows limited cooking and has a large fridge.
Con: let us be straight, the decoration dates from the 70's. I am now in an Holiday Inn Express of Quito which has a much better decoration. The Crown Plaza choice of furniture, painting, lighting, the old TV screen, the bathtub, actually the denial by the owner of this hotel to recognize that we are in 2010 and that customers loyal to Crown Plaza have higher expectations, is depressing.

I stayed here with my wife and two small children for 6 days in September of 2010. I felt that it was a very good value, and an absolutely decent hotel in its own right. Panama City is not the most inviting place in Central America, but this hotel was a comfortable place for me and my family to hole up for the better part of a week. There is definitely not much for kids to do, either in the hotel or the city for that matter, but there was enough space in our rooms and the common areas of the hotel for us to spread out, and we did take a few excursions on foot and by cab. Taxis in Panama City are copious and cheap -- this is the way to get around town.

The rooms were comfortable and clean, though there are no carpets and the floors naturally get dirty quickly from the diesel exhaust from cars and busses outside. The Hotel is located very close to many restaurants and a shopping district, but the better shopping destinations must be reached by cab. There was plenty of good internet in the rooms, and the HD TV had decent options. The hotel pool isn't much to speak of. It's more like a big wading pool on a lonely roof perch overlooking the El Panama resort hotel which has a much nicer pool and leisure facilities. The fitness room was small but had decent cardio machines and was always stocked with fresh fruit and water. I found the beds very comfortable and slept well. The air conditioning cranked, but the hotel itself was always cranking the air so I never had to cool off the room for very long.

The hotel boasts several restaurants, but in the end it seems like everyone has the same menu. Of that menu (and we sampled quite a bit of it), both variety and quality were good. The breakfast buffet was pretty good, with standard breakfast fare and local dishes. There is also an egg/omelet chef and fresh waffles with lots of toppings. The staff was attentive, and kept me well supplied with lots of surprisingly good coffee. Lots of fresh fruit every day.

On the overall, the Crowne Plaza definitely has its act together as a quality, competent business hotel. This is not the lap of luxury, but it's a good value and I didn't feel like they were skimping anywhere. I would recommend this hotel to any business traveler, or to tourists who are looking for a good intermediate option.

Excellent service in a great location. In the heart of Panama City walking distance to most malls and casinos.