Gran Hotel Nacional, David

The plants and gardens around the pool was very nice, Breakfast and Lunch was more than adequet. The dinner and late night snack was in a separate dining area that was more like a pizza joint in the states. Staff was helpful and friendly and the younger staff spoke english. Had a free meal card for breakfast that was written for the entire visit. However the restaurant help collected the card on the first visit and caused a very small glitch...El desyuno incluye in el precio!

Estimados Señores, En el día de ayer, 31 de Marzo, tuve oportunidad de visitar la Cafetería del Hotel, en compañía de una pareja de amigos Canadienses. La experiencia fue realmente decepcionante, por decirlo finamente. Primero, en un Hotel de su categoría, es inconcebible que en uno de sus restaurantes, no haya personal que hable Ingles. Segundo, como se entiende que se solicite una botella de vino, y haya que solicitarle al personal que lo sirva, luego de hacerlo con la primer copa de cada uno de los comensales. Luego podemos seguir con el Buffet que se servía, resultando inconcebible, que aproximadamente 15 minutos antes del cierre del mismo, habiendo tres mesas ocupadas, uno de los platos ofrecidos (pollo apanado), se hubiera acabado, aunque para ser exactos, solo quedaba una presa, y no se hubiera agregado porciones del mismo, siendo que cuando fuimos a servirnos, y era la primera vez que ibamos, luego de habernos servido la ensalada, no pudieramos probar el mismo, con excepcion de uno de nosotros, quien fue el afortunado que recibió la oportunidad de probarlo. Para terminar, nuestro amigo, tuvo la "insolita" idea de tomar un Irish Coffee, lo que resulto algo totalmente desconocido para el personal que nis atendía, al punto de tener el solicitante, de explicarle sus componentes y la forma de preparación. Al llegar el mismo, estaba discretamente aceptable, pero no era exactamente lo solicitado. Solo me queda decirles que nuestra experiencia fue realmente lamentable, y esperamos que en futuras visitas, los problemas aca detallados, sean adecuadamente solucionados.

Its great.In a good area with neat shops resturants, and cantinas. Some english is spoken in the hotel,which to me is a clean well managed establishment,just be a little patient becuse it is panama time,but Carusos is to slow even for the locals,look for the subtle places to find the good people, food and prices. Coffee and fruit at Becky's is excelent plenty of internet cafes in the area for $.50/hour

Hotel Gran Nacional has been my "home" on several occasions. I have stayed there many times and some of my visits were for over three weeks at one time. Absolutely delightful. Management will go out of their way to please your every need. The staff are primarily Spanish speaking, however with a little effort on your part to try to speak a few words of Spanish they will then become bold enough to try their English. It works and I have made many friends at the hotel. This review is partially written to overcome the negative comments in one of the reviews where the reviewer used the word "rude". I know the story behind those negative comments and after investigation have determined they are unwarranted. I fully recommend using this hotel as your headquarters when you come to Chiriqui to visit, explore or possibly invest in the Beautiful Boquete area. I have done just that and I could not be happier. Can't wait to return, even though I live in Hawaii.

I was a little apprehensive after reading these reviews, but obviously, most of the travelers had no idea where they were. If you want a 5 star American hotel, stay in America. For being in a very little known part of Panama, the Gran Hotel Nacional is by far THE greatest hotel located in the David, Chiriqui area. Especially for the price. Do some reasearch on the hotel, and you will find many other reviews, especially about the hotel's cafeteria, which serve an excellent buffet for both lunch and dinner. I'm was thankful that they moved the casino, since being there 2 years ago, I did notice that there was a comforting lack of hookers standing in front of the hotel trying to get the casino customers. The movie theatre is literally a 2 minute walk from your room, since it is connected to the hotel. Shopping is only a $1 cab ride away, and the stores are excellent. Very comfortable beds and very clean rooms. Mind you, many of the employees do speak Spanish, but if you need help with it, ask. The hotel manager speaks English as well as German and Spanish, and I'm sure he'll be more than happy to help you out. Far better than many American hotels I have stayed in by far!

Ok! SO whoever wrote that this place is a gem, obviously has very low standards. I followed his/her advice and let me tell you. A mediocre pool and location doesn't do it for me. No shampoos, conditioners, they almost didn't have soap. Rude staff and yes! no iron. Come on this is the 21st Century. Cheap people is what they are. Some locals advice me to better hotels at better prices.

The sevice in the restaurants, bar and reception and bellboys is the worst we have ever encountered. It seemed that all the employees hated their work and did everything to make the customers aware of that. Also not one of the employees spoke any other language then Spanish. Don't go here you will feel most unwelcome and be glad to leave! We had no time to explore other hotels in David, so we can not give an advice for a good alternative!

This is a superb hotel with excellent accomodations as well as great restaurants. It has a very nice charming swimming pool area. The staff is efficient and extremely polite. You just can�t ask for more at any price.

I have stayed there on many occasions and I have fallen in love with the hotel. The food is fantastic, the service was great, and the rooms were clean. The price is an incredible value and the scenary is beautiful. It's a wonderful place all year round. The pool area is lovely either for a swim or just to stay around. We happened to meet the manager and think that the other comments were most likely not the managers fault but the customer service is excellent. I think that having a movie theatre IN the hotel and having a casino so near is fantasic and not even american hotels can compare. Don't let other comments draw you away from this gem. I plan on returning there every time we go to the hotel.

Rude RUde Rude. The General Manager cursed at us and yelled in front of everyone at the lobby area. They don't offer shampoo, condi.. nasty bathrooms and no iron. You can pay half the money in other hotels in town. the average price is 26 a night instead of 90 bucks at this mediocre place