Don't be fooled by the pictures posted on the resort's website. For USD 139 per night my wife and I were disappointed to not find any toiletries available in our room, including soap, stained towels, a shower with little or no water pressure, some rude staff, mediocre food and Ocean Spray as a substitute for fresh juice. Beware, flies will consume your breakfast before you have a chance to taste it! Overall, it appeared the hotel was most concerned with cutting costs than providing its guests with a comfortable experience.

Well all i can say is i should have read more reviews before going...what a waste, maybe partly due to the carnavales but overall the price was ridicules food below average for panama, often cold or cool when served, the room was not cleaned after the first night, and for $170 a night we got one bottle of water an no help with our bags to the room. Just one guy that walked with us to show us the location. I have lived in panama for years and also they declined any discount for my residency status, a law i always thought. we were so unhappy we left early and due to work obligations arrived a day late, ended up costing over $630 for 2 days and one night...and still i was happy to leave early. AT $170 you can stay a some very nice decameron hottels which include all food and beverage and water sports also, They even charged us $10 not the advertised $6 to leave the island becuase they said they had to send a special boat for just the two of us, yet we waited 45 min to leave on a boat 10 of the hotel staff...a total rip off....

My husband, my mother, and I just returned from Bananas. We have travelled extensively in Panama, and this is the first time we all agreed we had a good time and would return.

Rooms: The cabins are not extremely fancy, but they are clean. They also all face the ocean, and you can hear the peaceful back-and-forth of the waves. My husband and I stayed in a room that had been recently renovated with flat-screen television, split A/C, and a new, modern bedspread. All rooms also have a balcony and a hammock. Also, the bathroom items are not the usual nasty Panamanian stock. The rooms are of good construction and quiet. Even though the hotel was full or almost-full throughout our stay, we were able to sleep peacefully.

Service: By Panamanian standards, service was outstanding. Employees were friendly and smiling, with a can-do attitude. The service was comparable to what you could expect to receive in a U.S. hotel such as Marriott. For example, when the waitress brought the wrong dish at dinner, the hotel merely replaced the dish without argument. Normally, this transaction in Panama would have required involvement of the manager, accusations that the customer placed the order incorrectly, etc... We were very pleased with this. Whatever we needed, we got.

Beach and other amenities: The beach was lovely!!! A large portion of the beach in front of the hotel was not suitable for bathing. But, the hotel had two deeper bathing areas, with clear water and gentle waves. The water was also clean, which is not always the case in Panama. Be sure to bring your water shoes because the beach is really rocky. The hotel offers large grounds with areas to relax, eat, play, etc.. The free breakfast is pretty good, with a good variety of dishes. It is true that the breakfast area attracts insects called zaganos, but they are harmless. (And this is the tropics.) It is also a very family-friendly place; almost every group included children.

I would recommend that you spend no more than three nights here. It is not easy to get to the main part of the island, nor is there much to do there anyway other than relax by the beach, read, hang out with family, etc... The menu does start to get repetitive after more than a few days in the hotel. Also, be aware there is five- to fifteen-minute (depending on how rough the sea is) crossing from the mainland. If the seas are rough, the trip can be a bit scary. But, the hotel boat drivers know what they are doing, and the hotel provides life jackets for all boat passengers. Overall, our stay at Bananas was very pleasant and relaxing. We are already talking about our trip there next year.

Yes, you can stay at places on the Island for half the price. But, at this hotel I had everything I needed.

We arrived at La Isla Grande with no reservations. This was the third hotel we tried. At $140 for the night it was definitely more than some of the booked locations. But, they provided up with free snorkling gear, breakfast, kayaking and a clean room with two beds, a/c, hammock and a safe.

My biggest complaint is that the bathrooms were not very clean. The food is so-so. The staff I found very helpful and wonderfully bilingual.

It was not the greatest hotel for the cost, but it was serviceable, a step above the other places we looked at and had great beach access.