Gran Evenia Bijao - All Inclusive

A fantastic all inclusive.. great food with a lot of options , 5 course meals offered at every meal, drinks were strong and delicious,.. the grounds are absolutely beautiful and very clean. The staff were super friendly and attentive. They have nightly shows and daily activities at the pools for all ages which were really nice. The beach is clean and there are lifeguards for the beach and the pool. Laying chairs at both locations along with cabanas. Overall an awesome place to stay, absolutely wonderful !!

I came to celebrate New Years Eve at Gran Evenia Bijao and while the beach was pretty and the food was good on the 31st, the $600/night stay was definitely not worth it. The hotel is a bit outdated but overall clean, however there is a strong scent of sewer near the pool area that often lingers around the hotel property and also often you could smell sewer within the rooms as well. They have “do not drink water” sign over sink but the strong occasional smell made me wonder whether bathing in it or using it to brush teeth was a good idea. My husband had stomach issues a day after…Panama water is safe and I have never seen this problem anywhere else. The entertainment on Dec 31 was lacking. The live band was good but “fire” dancers just carried fire sticks and did not actually dance w the fire like I’ve seen in other places. Post the show there was a DJ who was just ok and some host that kept yelling where are the people from Colombia and mentioning various cities in Colombia every few minutes. He yelled out a few other countries once in a while but there seemed to have been a strong preference for Colombia at this hotel or from this host…I am not Colombian and came to Panama not Colombia so was very surprised and frankly disappointed at this clear favoritism. Many other countries were there at the hotel. On Jan 1 I wanted to make a reservation at one of their specialty restaurants but as I received different information from 3 different workers on where/when to do so, we were too late and had to eat at the buffet area (which seemed like remade leftovers for the most part). I spoke to the manager to mention that there needs to be better employee training, signage in order to communicate the correct information but he seemed to care less. Clearly customer service is not a high priority for management in this hotel. Overall I would not recommend and will not be coming back.

I'm normally not a picky traveler and don't normally leave a review but this place should be avoided. First off, room service is non existing. They change the towels, make the bed and that's the extent of it. Had coffee cups the first day and soda in the fridge and after that nothing. Had to ask for coffee and even then they only left coffee k cups no sugar no powdered milk and the mini fridge was not filled once during our stay. Then out of 5 travelers in our group, 4 got food poisoning at one of the a-la-cart restaurants, on the bus ride to the airport we did a survey and out of 40 people 34 got food poising.. We heard and saw the same from others while we were there, people getting sick all over the place. When you venture out at night the smell is just unbearable, it's as if they empty out the waste next to the resort. I've traveled to many resorts but this is by a country mile the worst....

The locals refer to this hotel by several names, but it’s all the same place: Bijao, Gran Evenia Bijao Beach Resort, Gran Evenia Rio Hato, and The Old Sheraton. This can be confusing. The hotel is advertised as a 5-star establishment, but by North American standards, it would be closer to 3½ stars. It also feels more like a hotel than a true resort.||The hotel has potential to be great, but there are significant issues that need attention.||The buffet restaurant is open-air, and while the food was acceptable, the desserts were limited. The service, however, was good. Although there are nets to keep birds out, they still manage to get in, fly around, and eat the food. Additionally, there is no air conditioning, and the restaurant can become uncomfortably warm. When temperatures reached 30°C, it was extremely hot inside. In North America, a health authority might have shut it down due to these conditions.||The beach is nice, and there were no horse droppings, but there is sewage flowing into the sea on one side of the hotel, where people swim. This could be hazardous, especially when it rains and the river water flows into the sea, increasing the bacteria levels. During our stay, it rained, but no warnings were issued about the potential dangers of swimming in the sea.||There are several pools, but some of the small tiles were broken or missing. While there were plenty of chairs, the poolside entertainment during the day was minimal. The slides, though present, have low drops and were mostly unused.|The room was clean, but the bathroom ceiling had mold, and the door was broken. The lobby needs repainting. ||The hotel caters primarily to Spanish-speaking guests. The staff spoke very little English, and most of the guests were local Panamanians or from other parts of Latin America. Entertainment was mostly in Spanish, and the performances were short and dull, with only three dancers. Spanish-speaking guests were getting better and quicker service in the bars.||If you don’t speak Spanish and are concerned about food hygiene, you may want to consider another hotel. However, if the management addresses the issues mentioned, this hotel could become a great option.

The service of all personnel is outstanding and 5 stars, but the facilites are less than 3 stars : No blower, no Iron, body wash not refilled, only 2 towels for a triple occupancy and a/c working at a fixed temperature (in Hot and humid Panamá weather). Good variety of good for an all inclusive, though it is not easy to move around. Bring your own meds. Over the counter meds available, but more than double the price.

I cannot recommend this hotel, but I am hopeful the latest owners can turn things around. If you read the other reviews, the following are recurring themes. There are three main issues: 1. There is no potable water in the guest rooms. I'm not sure how you can operate a hotel without it. The hotel provides bottled water in the rooms. 2. Food safety is questionable. Due to the water issue we only drank bottled water we brought from the room, wine, or soft drinks. However, drinks and foods prepared with the water are also questionable. Our table guests one evening mentioned that they all had gotten food poisoning. My wife finally said, I'm going to have a Piña Colada and I'm drinking the water at dinner. She later was sick all night. 3. There is a wafting odor of sewage. It isn't constant, but frequent enough to ruin your day. We stayed at the resort via a trip booked with Exoticca. On the plus side, the service is very good. Despite my lack of Spanish, the staff was very responsive. The food servers were prompt and polite. Staff could be seen cleaning and working around the property. The towels are nice and fluffy, and the Los Olivos theme restaurant is very good. The rooms are basic, but nice. In our room there were spots of blistering paint and plaster. The hibachi style theme restaurant was just okay. My beef was too tough to eat. I remarked to the person next to me that it takes a lot of Cabernet to tenderize this meat, as I took a sip of wine. In the US you might see a hibachi chef juggling knives, catching an egg in their hat, or flipping pieces of shrimp for guests to catch in their mouths. Here, the chefs just paddled their spatulas on the grill. Speaking of wine, only two are available at the resort: a Cabernet Sauvignon and Sauvignon Blanc from Chile. The wines are good, but I would like another option or two. We arranged a very nice tour of Anton Valley through the tour desk. The beach is very nice and there are plenty of pools. There is loud upbeat music constantly playing. This could be dialed back a bit. There are many activities for kids, so this is a popular place for families. There is entertainment at night, but it wasn't really our style. In spite of all the issues, there are good people trying to improve the resort. However, I currently cannot recommend that you stay here.

The hotel is just okay. The room was fine, though the bathroom had a bit of an unpleasant smell. The New Year’s Eve dinner was acceptable, but the food overall could have been better. At the New Year’s Eve event, the DJ spent most of the time giving shoutouts to people from Colombia and Romania, seemingly ignoring guests from Panama and other nationalities, which was disappointing. The sancocho served in the early morning lacked thickness and rice, but it was tolerable. We also had an issue with a reservation for one of the restaurants. When we went to make the reservation at around 11 a.m., the staff member in charge was apparently on lunch break. Another employee told us she’d return at 2 p.m., but by the time we went back, there were no spots left. They insisted we should have come earlier, even though we had done so. As a result, we had to eat at the buffet, where the food was just okay. A few additional concerns: the water is not potable, as noted by signs in the bathrooms, which feels inconvenient for a resort of this caliber. After my stay, I experienced some stomach discomfort. While I can't say for sure if it was related to hygiene issues or any water we were served, it left me with concerns about overall sanitation. Additionally, there’s an unpleasant sewage smell near the beach, and the peace is often disrupted by noisy buggies or Polaris vehicles passing by. This can be very annoying. Customer service also needs significant improvement. Overall, the hotel isn’t terrible, but it doesn’t offer value for the high cost. I wouldn’t recommend it. Too much money for too little in return.

I've been here twice, and the place is really nice. It's great to see improvements since last year, such as better looking rooms and entertainment after dinner (that dance show was amazing). The whole scenery (pools, beaches, etc.) are pretty as well. The buffet was good, but compared to last year, it lacked variety and quality. I'm also disappointed that there's no Chinese food like siu mai, which was definitely the best part. Aside from the buffet I have no complains. It’s a nice quiet place with fun activities that the staff encourages guests to participate in. The pools are great and the beach is beautiful.