The best!

Guest: Naples42 (Naples Florida)
Date of Stay: 10/23/11 Review Submitted: 10/31/11

We recently stayed in Heather's condo with another couple visiting from the USA and it was even better than we expected although the pictures and descriptions are exactly as it is. You can literally walk in and be set up for living. The wonderful beds with excellent quality linens provided the best sleep we had in Panama. Our only regret was that we were there for only 3 days as our destination was Pedasi. We will definitely return for a longer vacation and really enjoy what this area has to offer. It was comforting also to have english speaking property managers, Brock and Catherine, who went above and beyond to make us feel comfortable. We can recommend XOKO restaurant and a funky beach bar/restaurant Woody's. For ease we took advantage of the dinner buffet offered at the hotel one evening and we were all able to find things we enjoyed. We highly recommend staying in this condo.

Recommended for:Adventure seekers, girls getaway, sightseeing, families with young children, romantic getaway, age 55+, families with teenagers.

gorgeous

Guest: Elanna (Woodstock, Md)
Date of Stay: 04/17/11 Review Submitted: 04/21/11

This Condo was wonderful. Everything one could need was there.I have never stayed in a better stocked condo. I do recommend that you listen to the owner when she says you should go shopping BEFORE you reach the condo. We were very impressed by the basket of goodies that were left for us. Thank you for such a great time!

Recommended for:Adventure seekers, girls getaway, families with young children, romantic getaway, age 55+, families with teenagers.

Guest: The Crawford's and Croft's of Wisconsin. (-)
Date of Stay: 02/07/11 Review Submitted: 03/01/11

Dear Heather, Our stay at your "Condo of Paradise" was fabulous! It was the first time my husband and I stayed in a condo while traveling, but our friends fifth time staying at a condo while they traveled with their two daughters, age 9 and 11. They said it was the best, well equipped, and stocked condo they have ever stayed at. You had it all, Heather, from Q-tips, spices, movies, games, to extra bath and beach towels - absolutely amazing!! Seriously, there was nothing that we needed that you didn't have in your condo. We all felt as if we were at home away from home, and sometimes that is hard to accomplish for people. Your directions with pictures from the airport to your condo where awesome too, even in the dark. :-) A few of the highlights I want to emphasize on would be the comfort in the condo such as the beds, furniture in the living and dining room, the air-conditioning units throughout the condo, along with all the other amenities, gave us all a calming and soothing setting to live in for the week. The condo itself was spacious and very homey, unlike a small and congested hotel or resort room. The view of the ocean was breathtaking from the balcony. The pool, right outside in the backyard gave you privacy and solitude, which was welcome after a day of sight-seeing. And if we wanted to be around a lot of people, we'd just take a short walk to the Playa Blanca Resort which was less than five minutes away. There we would find more pools, entertainment, buffet meals for a discount because we were residents of the Balcony Towers, games to play, and so on. The resort has tours and excursions that you can purchase for a comparable fee to most any other place, and was well worth the convenience of being that close to your stay. We went through the resort to rent ATV's and a jet ski, and had a fantastic time. So, to anyone out there that would like to have a home away from home, families with or without kids, and of any age, young or older, as this place has steps and an elevator, I would highly, highly suggest, and I mean that from the bottom of my heart, staying at Heather’s condo, in the backyard of Playa Blanca Resort. You won't be disappointed! It truly is a “Condo of Paradise.” Thanks for the superb and extraordinary vacation place to stay at.

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Guest: Julie (-)
Date of Stay: 02/04/11 Review Submitted: 02/17/11

Heather, We had an incredible stay at Lola! Our first WOW was the floor to ceiling cupboard full of towels(after being at a VRBO in the city with 3 towels and the constant need to do laundry.. we were thrilled!). We chose to rent this condo because of all the incredible reviews. I expected it to be great by Central American standards..but it was INCREDIBLE! It was so clean you could eat off the floors. The rooms were super spacious. A few of our cousins from Panama City came for a night and there was plenty of room for all of us. There were more plates than we needed, tons of plastic ware for our kids and every appliance we could have asked for. The high chair, pack n play and booster were wonderful(another reason why we chose this place!) Our kids loved the movies and games. There are literally 3 huge bags of beach and pool toys and one awesome bag with wheels that we brought to the beach. Speaking of the beach- you can see it(totally unobstructed view) from the balcony. It is not more than a 5 minute walk down a paved path to get there. We sat under cabanas and had a grand time. The condo's pool was also wonderful. In addition the second largest pool in the world was a few minutes walk through the parking lot. One day we paid the guard $20 to let our family of 4 in. The next day we walked in like we knew what we were doing and got in for free! They haven't figured out their system with the pool yet, so I suggest offering money or just walking in! It was amazing! The hardest part for us was finding restaurants. We are usually super adventurous, but with our 20 month old and 3.5 year old we didn't have quite the patience to drive around forever. What we learned is that if you turn down the street toward Decameron, there a lot of restaurants there(many of the ones Heather listed). Many of those are a bit Americanized but still good. Our favorite nice Panamanian restaurant was Galeon. The food was wonderful and the people were great with our kids. Lastly, Heather was great to work with. She always replied promptly. I emailed her from the condo asking what we needed to do upon departure. She said "NOTHING! just turn your key in the box and enjoy your vacation." That was the best response ever. Thanks for the great stay. We will be back next year.. and I'm sure some of our Panamanian family will be contacting you soon. Julie Quesada - February 2011

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Guest: Harry (-)
Date of Stay: 05/24/10 Review Submitted: 07/06/10

Hello Heather, We really appreciated the beautiful getaway!! Cindy and I had a very relaxing week in Panama that included massages on the beach! What a beautiful place you have. The condo was clean and we really liked your furnishings! Everything that we could imagine was there for our use. I BBQ all the time at home, but we were too lazy reading our books to do any cooking. Cindy did make a great breakfast every morning and we were really impressed with the taste and cost for the fruits and eggs we bought. Those eggs are sooo yellow and had great flavor, and the mango and papaya were out of this world! We closed off all rooms we did not use to reduce air-conditioning, since it was just the two of us. We enjoyed meeting Brock, who was very friendly, and didn't need to disturb him until the day we departed. We had a little difficulty with getting the key back into the key box, which is not surprising if you knew my mechanical ability. All in all, we were very impressed and felt safe in the resort. I really can't suggest any improvements, everything is very thought out! The only mistake I made, was to get a GPS from the rental company instead of following your very good directions, we went on a "goose chase", the GPS did not work but we did get to see parts of Panama City we would never have seen. We appreciate this opportunity and look forward to a return visit!! All the best, Harry Jameson - Florida, USA - May 2010

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Guest: Veronica (-)
Date of Stay: 04/15/10 Review Submitted: 07/06/10

My family and I stayed at the Dilley's Condo in Playa Blanca in April and thoroughly enjoyed it! Furnishings were gorgeous and the kitchen was fully equipped with every needed item (just like home!) Heather was a great help sharing some sightseeing recommendations that enhaced our stay! We are very happy to have spent our Panama vacation there, it was a great starting point for many day-trips! Veronica Cool - Maryland, USA - April 2010

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Guest: Lori (-)
Date of Stay: 04/01/10 Review Submitted: 07/06/10

Hi Heather, Sadly...we returned home late last night from Panama. We wanted to email you and say Thank You; we had a wonderful time and your condo met all our needs perfectly. Our boys absolutely loved the pool, the beach and all the sand toys!! We had no major problems throughout the week and I will be keeping your information...we try and return to Panama every couple of years to visit family; hopefully, you will still be renting your condo!! Thank you again, Lori & Hector Lowery - Weedsport, New York - April 2010

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Guest: Franky Family (-)
Date of Stay: 03/01/10 Review Submitted: 07/06/10

Dear Heather, We would like to thank you for everything, we really enjoyed the Condo. Thanks for the basket ( with teas, coffee, candies, cookies, etc ), was a nice detail. Your house is so nice and well equipped. We find everything that we needed, including children toys and amenities, lots of information about Panama and places around. We really felt at home. As for the place, Playa Blanca has such a nice ambience that we did not use the resort amenities it was not necessary, the Poole, laguna, and beach were just great. We had a great time, and we will recommend your place to other friends. We will love to return. Thanks and best regards, The Franky Family - Guatemala, Central America - March 2010

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Guest: marsha (-)
Date of Stay: 01/01/10 Review Submitted: 07/06/10

Hi Heather, We had such a great time at your condo. It is so beautifully appointed and comfortable. We enjoyed having all the comforts of a home while there; we especially loved having the grill, washer/dryer, ice maker, and your lovely Turkish towels and bath amenities. We made much use of the very helpful information you provided both in your emails and in the book in the condo. The cell phone you provided was a God-send, since none of us had reception in Panama. Thank goodness for Brock and Catherine who made it so easy for us to get to do everything we wanted to do and took care of our creature comforts. Among other things, they hooked us up with two fishing charters, golf, shopping and dining recommendations, directions directions directions, and they even scrambled around to get us a couple of bags of ice when we first arrived (the ice-maker was inadvertently switched off during cleaning). It was comforting to know we only had to pick up the phone to get assistance of any kind at any time of day. I'm sure you are happy to have them looking after things at Playa Blanca for you. It was my first time in Central America, so it was pretty interesting just to be in that part of the world. None of the four of us had much Spanish, and no one brought a Spanish-English dictionary, so that made it even more interesting to try to navigate. Our near total lack of Spanish also made it really funny at times; like when we pulled out large bills at the Super 99 in Pananenome (sp?) and finally figured out that we were holding up this very long line (on New Year's Eve) because we were being asked to produce our passports. Oh is THAT what they are asking for??? Who knew? Hilarious. Well, you warned us to bring small bills. At any rate, next time I'd brush up on some basic Spanish and bring along a dictionary/phrase book that I could carry around. We really enjoyed the new Woody's out on the beach at Playa Blanca, and I think we were there at least 4 times during the week, including New Year's Eve. Our new favorite fish is the local sea bass called Corvina, which Woody's serves up whole. Woody's will also prepare your catch for a plating fee. We took a fishing charter on the Reel Lucky out of the Decameron, and brought back mahi-mahi and Spanish mackerel to Captain Jim and his crew at Woody's Playa Blanca. They prepared a feast that fed just about everyone who happened to be in the place - including Brock and Catherine .......

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Guest: Jeff (-)
Date of Stay: 12/20/09 Review Submitted: 07/06/10

Heather, We are already recommending the Lola Beach unit to our friends. Playa Blanca was a great location for our day trips. We had plenty of space, a beautiful view, and everything we needed to relax after our expeditions. We went to El Valle and Gamboa Resort for the markets, horseback rides, ATV, zip line, tram and canal adventure. Vista Mar is a sweet golf course. Our special find was the Smithsonian Research Station at the end of the Amador Causeway. It's open to the public for a very reasonable entry fee- $5.50 covered 2 adults and 3 children. There is parking, a picnic spot, and interesting marine exhibits. Search youtube.com for porterpanama1. If you call ahead there may be an opportunity to visit the Gatun location on the Caribbean side for more exhibits. Panama is clearly up and coming. We had a great vacation, we learned a lot, and we hope to return again soon. Thanks for everything, The Porters - Pennsylvania, USA - Decemebr 2009

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