Guest User
April 18, 2024
I booked Palmar Beach Lodge as a splurge for myself during a recent first time trip to Panama. It was by far the most expensive lodging (at least double to even four times the amount of other lodging I booked) of my entire trip and I was very excited to head there for some relaxation. I did my research and understood I’d have to walk in a ways from the water taxi drop off point. I figured this meant it would be even more peaceful and relaxing, which was right up my alley. After coming from Boquete on a shuttle, I paid for a water taxi to Palmar Beach Lodge. This cost a bit more than I was anticipating, as there was no one else headed to the location. I was still feeling excited. After the drop off at the dock on Isla Bastimentos, I began heading inland on the trail. At one point, the trail turned but was not well marked, so I had to backtrack and find where I was supposed to go. I was insanely hot carrying my heavy backpack and another smaller backpack, and more than ready to relax and cool off. As I walked along the path, I walked past an area of construction, where several tall building were in the process of being built. I thought to myself, well, that would suck to pay for a quiet vacation and end up next to that! I finally made it to the reception area and was greeted by lovely employees who then showed me to my room. I booked a room with A/C, as a I prefer to sleep in the coolness and dislike constantly sweating lol. It was very much a big splurge for me, as it cost so much more than anything else I booked on this trip. Imagine my shock and dismay when the employee led me down the sandy path to my room. It was literally right next to all the construction going on. I’m sweating buckets and now listening to all sorts of hammering and saws and whatnot. The room itself was nice. It seemed clean and organized, although the “spacious closet” that was advertised was not even a real closet, just a small section with a rod and a few shelves. Regardless, it had A/C and I attempted to cool off, both literally and figuratively. The lock on my only door, a patio door, was bizarre and took some finagling in order to get it to lock and unlock, which you had to do with a key from both sides. This made me feel slightly unsafe as a solo female traveler. It seemed like it wouldn’t take much to break the lock and enter the room. The construction noise continued, and I decided that the amount I paid for this room was not worth this complete lack of peace and quiet. I went back to reception and asked for a refund due to the construction. I was handed off to a male employee who was pleasant but told me they would not do a refund and the best he could offer me was possibly a free meal. This never happened. I headed down to the beach to try to cool off in the water. The ocean at Red Frog Beach, which I was not aware of, was incredibly powerful, with red flags indicating it wasn’t safe for swimming. I’m not a strong swimmer and simply wanted to be able to