La Coralina Island House

Know before you go : the owner/manger offer private retreats several times a year, as a guest of the hotel you will be treated as if you are In their way. They shut down the restaurant, and have private parties there, all of the wellness activists (that you’ve paid for) are cancelled, the breakfast situation is dismal. 30-45 minute wait for coffee etc, the thumping music from their parties does not end until after 2am. If you are going there for peace and wellness, not happening. The spa becomes an after “retreat” playground for them. Sadly, they were very loud, my therapist kept turning up the music during treatment bc the spa pool area was now a party area. Also, NO regard for gender in the changing rooms. Three times I had to cover myself from men walking into the woman’s room. Super shocking how arrogant and disrespectful these owners were. As soon as The Weeknd long party was over, Monday proved to be an entire different vibe. Coffee was served in the morning, the pools were calm and overall the property relaxed a lot. The hotel is beautiful, the grounds are sublime, the food is really good, but AVOID AT ALL COSTS being there for the party/retreat weekends. Also, side note, there is no lotion in the spa or in the rooms. The beach is very drying on skin, and it’s fairly to common in any class of hotel to have lotion in the rooms, certainly the spa.

The most amazing hotel ever. It is so beautful, peaceful, relaxing and the staff made me feel so at home. I would definitely go back. It is Balinese style and the spaces are so beautifully decorated. The views on the ocean are wonderful. You walk to your room through amazing gardens, ponds, statues, wooden doors, stone gates. The rooms are so elegant and simple. The beds so comfortable and no nose from other rooms. A the yoga studio is amazing, open sides for amazing views of trees and flowers where you hear fascinating bird calls and sounds of monkeys. The beach club was great if you want to be right at the water. The food was delicious. Everything I tried from The eggs Benedict to the friend fish, skirt steak, opera cake, lemon cake was so good and beautifully presented. Never ate so consistently excellent food at any hotel. The staff was kind and polite and so helpful with bags, taxis, arranging activities outside the hotel. Is really a unique place and I would definitely go back.

Avoid this hotel My grandson and I spent four nights at this hotel. As other reviewers wrote, it is a lovely property. But that’s the only good thing I can say about it. It is remote, and the road from town is treacherous and unpleasant. The food is pretty, too, but pretentious, over salted, and the menu is the same every day. No real food, such as a fish filet, salad, rice, potato. And did. Mention over-priced. Service is amateurish and subpar. The manager promised to have a surfboard delivered to the hotel for my grandson to use. She contended that he needed to go to another island to surf. Really? And by the way, she never mentioned it. The coup de grace. Upon settling our bill, I saw they charged me $96 for towels. I had been sick, soiled towels, and I was charged for it. This has never, ever happened in my years of travel. And of course, I was not asked how I was feeling. If you want to do nothing, eat overpriced food, and take a long, tortuous ride to the property, this is the place for you. Not for me.

This hotel is a unique gem. Gorgeously appointed with attention to every detail. Excellent service and staff. Always friendly, super accommodating and professional. The cuisine and food at various meals was just delicious, fresh, and full of unique flavors. The infinity pool is the right temperature day or night. Bluff Playa is a few minutes by bike and such a dreamy beach. Taxi to places is generally $5/person. Have hotel help you book a boat tour to various islands. Best way to see Bocas. Recommend most highly.

Really beautiful property with great food and fantastic service. This place is shockingly beautiful compared to the rest of BDT. Very well thought out, very well built, very comfortable and inviting. Best food we had in all of Panama. BDT seems to be pretty much all about the surf. This hotel is a luxury spa resort in a town full of surfer crash pads. It’s amazing to see some of the other resorts in this area ranked higher, they are not even close to this beautiful place. The town is full of 1-2 star level properties and this is 4-5 level. there is a great surf break right out front and bluff beach is a unspoiled footprint free beach with deep soft sand just up the road. Very attentive service, great drinks, really good food, much nicer than the pictures make it seem. Unless you are coming to surf, I can say I would recommend BDT, but if you are coming to surf you won’t find a nicer place to stay.

Decor and pool beautiful. Ester spa manger got mad because we ate in the gym after a class. The way she spoke to us was poor customer service. I’m a world traveler and never had such horrible experience with the way I was treated. We didn’t even make one spill. Would not return. Better places away from main island.

Amazing boutique hotel with sea view. The place is super relaxing. Beautiful view. Has gym, spa with beautiful pool and sauna. I had massage there with Laura it was amazing experience. Would do it next time when i come. The food in the restaurant is very good , we ate at the Bistro by the pool and all the food was amazing! The hotel has little beach its good for surfers and relax at the beach restaurant La Coralina. The food is good.. At the reception are very helpfull and they can organize tour or taxi for you. The service is excelent! Have a drink at the bar. Yummie. The ambiente of the hotel is just amazing! I love it ! The hotel is near Bluff beach(30 min or rent the bicycle ), the beach is long with yellow sand..

This is thee sexiest, most serene and stunning hotel with amazing amenities and wonderful staff. Angie at reception was so attentive, she checked up on us even when we were gone for the day, made great bookings and recommendations- was super pleasant and funny, Winston was kind and helpful- so we’re the other male staff Spa staff was so comforting and Nana gave the best Thai massage. Yoga was fantastic and i will absolutely be back

We had an incredible experience. Came for 5 days last week with my two adult children and could not be happier. It takes a few hours to adjust to the scale and beauty of the resort, unlike anything I have ever stayed at. Private, serene, safe. Francesca greeted us when we arrived, so professional, and truly so nice. All the staff are warm and the service is shockingly fast, like in minutes. Bekar and Moses and the other servers set us up with drinks, food by the pool and gourmet dinners at night. Same for breakfasts, the female servers were so kind, attentive and filled our orders in minutes. Piping hot coffee. Made me hot chocolates to rival Starbucks. Best rum punches ever. Filet mignon cooked perfectly at dinner, fresh bread, salads, fresh vegetables, same for breakfasts and our gourmet burgers and fries by the pool. The food is half the price of what a gourmet dinner would cost in Canada! REALLY! Other comments: rooms are VERY clean. Lots of water pressure. Toilets all work great! Spa has very high standards for cleanliness/infection control. Water and ice cubes all safe to drink. Pools are amazing. Last point, I would strongly recommend paying Adrianna and her surfing partner for a lesson. My kids have surfed a little in Vancouver and Costa Rica but the waves here are NEXT level and unless you are super experienced, spend the $ and you will make huge gains, plus they are so nice and helpful and taught them tons. So if you want an experience like you landed across the world on some tropical island while only doing a 5 hour flight from Pearson (Toronto) and want to leave the world behind for a few days with no worries about food/safety/toilets working etc, you should really consider going. One more point, I never write reviews. But I felt I wanted to so others know what a rare gem it is.