The stay at this Radisson (instead of the one in San Juan) was a reminder why to love Radisson. Lets be honest, I ‘ve done absolutely nothing to deserve my “Gold Status” except send an email, but they sure do treat their Gold’s well. A suite upgrade and $20 towards the bar was part of the reason we loved this hotel.
I must admit, the outside of the building is quite rundown. Seeing it we regretted our Radisson choice, but walking inside was an uber modern decor and design. The lobby had a very trendy, cosmopolitan look with metal beams decorating the ceiling and blue glowing lights to highlight the bar. High ceilings made the seating area feel very open. This hotel definitely opted for “cool” over “cozy.” This felt true in the rooms as well. The interior decor used clean, simple lines with a few bold accent pieces in the form of bright paintings. The over-all neutral tones were off-set with a few vibrant accent colors.
The room was the best part. A bedroom, living room, two bathrooms, a walk in closet and a bar/sink area, with an ocean view. Plus, the pictures don’t do justice for how large the living room and bedroom actually were. Each room was bigger than the entire room we had at the Renaissance Aruba. (Although, as I’ve said before, what do you do with a suite? There are 6 chairs and a 3 person couch and two of us who went right to bed.)
After exploring Old City Panama we came back and used up our drink certificates at the bar before crashing. $20 of drinks and we got 3 of those girl drinks that I’m normally too cheap to get her and went over by $.50. At check out they went to have me pay for my $.50 balance for the night and drinks and just kind of said, don’t worry about it.
I decided to pay for the one night with points as it was 28,000 points and going for nearly $200 that night at the time of booking. It’s slightly painful to use Club Carlson points for one night when we could get another one free, but it seemed like the best option and I definitely don’t regret it.
Having a rental car in a big city in Central America could be a little overwhelming but the Radisson had free parking and free valet parking. Except for a tip, I payed nothing. Just pulled up and got out. The staff was friendly and was so helpful that I depended on the staff, even at the door, for everything. “Where is the…?”, “How do I get to…?”. Although the hotel’s not very central for tourist attractions, i’d certainly spend two nights there fore 28,000 points.
The Caribbean Hopper:
- Where and how we booked it
- Renaissance Aruba
- Radisson Decapolis Panama
- Exploring Old City Panama
- InterContinental San Juan
- Exploring Puerto Rico
- Gran Melia Golf Resort Puerto Rico
- Radisson Ambassador Plaza Hotel San Juan
- Conclusion
I loved my stay there on a business trip as well, excellent for drivers as you point out, I couldn’t believe the parking was free. I feel guilty about gold status from the credit card so didn’t have the heart to do anything but chuckle over the moldy strawberries welcome gift.
Um… That is just not okay. lol, how do they not notice such a thing? Glad to see the breakfast was A-OK as we ducked out way too early to enjoy breakfast.
Great to hear that this Club Carlson hotel is in the know about ‘Gold Status’. I have heard some not so good reviews of some of their properties in Croatia not even knowing the benefits of the status levels.