To be blunt, Intercontinental tends to be one of those chains where the room, service, and amenities are almost identical no matter what city you're in around the world. From inside my room, this hotel could be in any one of a number of cities in completely different time zones. And I think that's one of the reasons some business travelers love it. Most business travelers want stability and consistency (not the "foolish consistency" mentioned by Ralph Waldo Emerson, but a more rational kind).

This Intercontinental is an excellent example of what this chain does. Service was outstanding. The room was spotless and well appointed. Room service was prompt, pleasant, and good quality. My meals were almost hot when it arrived, which is not that common for room service. Internet connectivity was good.

The bed was comfortable and the room dark and quiet at night. I heard no noise from neighboring rooms or the hall. Linens were the standard high quality you'd expect. Bathroom was well appointed.

The business center had everything you could need, including meeting rooms. The service there was very friendly. They charged for everything, of course. But that's the norm.

I have no significant complaints about the hotel but there are two things that could be improved:
1) No CD player in the room. A small thing, but sometimes I carry a CD or two that I like to listen to while working in the evening. But this hotel has no CD players. You tend to find CD players in more "hip" hotels ... like the W or boutique hotels.

2) No carpeting in the room. This is due to the extreme humidity of Panama. Carpeting can easily get damp and moldy in such an environment. That's too bad, because I'm not a big fan of tile floors in a hotel room.

Other than that, I'd recommend this hotel to any business traveler looking for high quality lodging in Panama City. It isn't a very happenïng "tourist" place. For that, there are plenty of resort hotels in the area.

Well what can I say; this Hotel TODAY does not meet International Standards by no means it is totally outdated when it comes to Guest Service Standards, Product, Facilities and most of all price value.

I have been in this Hotel this weekend and was to say the least surprised in many ways and wonder how Intercontinental operates a 5 star Property in such a poor condition. Intercontinental very own operation Philosophies are neglected every step along the way.

Service attention and attitude of the Employees are also far behind any 5 star hotel, the Club Lounge does not meet Guest Services as conducted in any other Intercontinental Hotel, there is simply no attention to details, cleanliness or guests service needs.

The Guest room as well as the Bath room on the 21 floor which we had are also by far not up to a 5 star hotel, neither its amenities, the only new amenity in the room is a Flat screen TV.

The main Restaurant is operated more like a Banquet-hall rather then a Restaurant, the furniture, cleanliness, table linen and flat wear as well as decoration is way behind time. The food however was of good taste but could be easily improved by upgrading its presentation.

The main swimming pool does not offer much more in service, cleanliness, deco and attitude. When we arrived the waiters where sitting around the pool bar and had a conversation while the Pool was full with guests.

Overall I would not give this property more then 2,5 stars in product as it is presently, 1 star in Guest Service and Employee attitude. The location of the property is great however without an extensive renovation program, a very strong trainings program focused on Guest Satisfaction for Employees of all levels it is a falling star of the past.

I am sorry to say this hotel operation is by far the most disappointing 5 star property I have seen over the past 10 years.

I stayed here in October 2005 and this is definately the best hotel in Panama. I attended meetings in other hotels and was able to compare most. I also stayed in the Decapolis but this has it all.

The location is right on the main road and on the water, the views are amazing. There are restaurants in and attached to the hotel which are well priced and worth the visit. The rooms are excellent with one of the best beds I've ever stayed in.

There's underground parking available for hire cars which was free and not offered by any other hotel. The only down side is that there are no shops nearby other than a small supermarket in the reception area.

It is a large hotel but the staff make it seem like it's a small boutique hotel catering to every request within minutes.

The week after I left, President Bush stayed here on his visit to Panama so it's got be be good.

I travelled to Panama City for the purpose of shopping and the culinary experience. I was not disappointed by any of the above. The hotel Intercontinental was the better of two hotels that I stayed at during my 5 days vacation. I got in at around 3am due to a delayed flight and was ever too excited to see the bed. I slept like a king the bed was very comfortable. At six o'clock I was awaken by a boom boom boom sound from the floor above me, I heard the phone ringing in the room next to mine and so I came to conclude that the walls are very thin, sound penetrates it and for me that was very disturbing. I got out of bed and began my morning routine made coffee and walked towards the curtains pulled it apart and was wowed! The view magnificent! It would be the enjoyable part of my vacation just sitting by this floor to ceiling glass panel peering out into the ocean sipping my coffee absolutely blissful.
Room service was fast and the food excellent I would recommend it to anyone, obviously I sat in by the window to eat and yes even the night lights of the partial city view was fantastic and made me happy!
The pool area was very clean and well kept, sufficient amount of lounge chairs and around four poster beds around the pool. Our rooms were always clean after my day out shopping and it was spotless. We were even allowed to check out a bit later.
One major problem I encountered was during check-in at the other hotel where it was realized that Intercontinental took out a whopping 650USD security deposit from my credit card without my knowledge cause there was absolutely no conversation about security deposits and to make matters even worse I was told that seeing that it was a Friday my credit card would not have been reimbursed until the Monday morning. The promise of my money back on the Monday never materialise and therefore was left with the pending amount until a week later and phone bill due to the excessive calling to and from my credit card company and the hotel.