Name: Casa Congo - Rayo Verde - Restaurante
Address: Calle Genea, Portobelo, Portobelo, Portobelo, 00000, Panama
Rating: 8

Shopping on site

Air conditioning

Smoke-free property

Ticket assistance

Gift shop

Garden

Terrace

No elevators

Reception desk

General

Non-smoking rooms

Room service

Family room

Cable TV

Shower/Bathtub

Shower

Linens

Toiletries

Rooms

Breakfast

Restaurant

Breakfast/lunch to go

Packed Lunches

Kettle

Meals

Free Wi-Fi

Internet

Tour assistance

Tourist services

Hiking

Fishing

Recreation

Beach/pool towels

Next to the beach

Pool and beach

Meeting and presentation facilities

Business

Snorkelling

Sports

Beauty services

Beauty and wellness

Family/Kid Friendly

Kids

Pets Not Allowed

Pets

Temperature control for staff

Personal protection equipment for staff

Extra decontamination measures

Temperature control for guests

Personal protection equipment for guests

Individually packaged food

Additional measures against COVID-19

Health and Safety Measures

Location

At the hotel

Room amenities

Enrique Adolfo Jimenez Airport

Casa Congo - Rayo Verde - Restaurante

Portobelo

child-bed

child-bed-fee

external-private-bathroom

private-bathroom

shared-bathroom

10-beds

11-beds

12-beds

13-beds

14-beds

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3-beds

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37-beds

38-beds

39-beds

4-beds

40-beds

5-beds

6-beds

7-beds

8-beds

9-beds

king-bed

queen-bed

limited-time

lounge

treatment

no-window

bay-view

bosphorus-view

canal-view

city-view

courtyard-view

garden-view

golf-view

harbour-view

inland-view

lake-view

land-view

mountain-view

ocean-front

ocean-view

oceanside

panoramic-view

park-view

partial-ocean-view

partial-sea-view

partial-view

pool-view

river-view

sea-front

sea-view

street-view

sunrise-view

sunset-view

water-view

with-view

annex

basement

main-building

1-bedroom

2-bedrooms

3-bedrooms

4-bedrooms

5-bedrooms

6-bedrooms

not-guaranteed

wired-internet-access

smoking

sauna

duplex

safe

mini-bar

breakfast-for-1

breakfast-for-2

pets-allowed

wi-fi

kitchen

The Casa Congo was a delightful surprise—very clean, comfortable  and nicely decorated in the style of the Congo (a very nice store highlighting the joyful intricate art of the Congo is located downstairs)..  Good beds, high speed internet, mini fridge and spacious balconies with *comfortable* chairs and spectacular views are only some of the positives that await you.  The charming and competent Emily can arrange  your boat tours or whatever else  might be of interest.  Boat trips are the main draw to the Portobelo area, but there is some interesting history to be found as well.  Tour the Counting House to learn of Portobelo’s importance back in the days of pirates and the great Spanish empire, as well as how the Black Christ wound up in Portobelo. 
The restaurant is also a cut above the usual.  I highly recommend the fresh fish and specialty salads. They also have espresso!

A HIDDEN GEM

A gem in the rough. This hotel is really a great place, with  terrific views, a fabulous restaurant and unbelievable arts and craft displays.
Emily the manager is very attentive, but not overbearing. The rooms are well appointed and the overall experience was a good one. 

A Place To Relax, Reconnect with Culture and Rejuvenate. 

Everything was great from start to finish. Very friendly host, we were offered an upgrade for free. Comfortable beds and very tasty breakfast. We had a very good dinner at the restaurant as well. The location is central. No hesitation in recommending. 
Water pressure in the bathrooms could be better, and the wi-fi was slightly patchy.

Nice friendly hotel in centre of Portobelo.

We had a couple of nights in Panama after a trip to the San Blas islands and decided to stay in Portobelo.   Casa Congo was super receptive as our dates had changed unexpectedly, and they resolved all issues before we arrived.  The accommodation was overlooking a peaceful bay and the room was excellent, hot shower, air con and a comfy bed.  The staff are super helpful and they have lots of activities which can be booked through their reception.  We took a boat trip to a nearby beach, which also went through some amazing mangroves.  We set the pickup time with the boat driver and we spent the whole day enjoying the pristine beach.

Well organized hotel on the water's edge

A really nice hotel. Our room was a good size, spotlessly clean, a/c, good WiFi,  fridge, tea and coffee and a hot shower. Plus a balcony overlooking the river flowing into the Caribbean. 
Breakfast was a good choice, ours being eggs, toast, tea or coffee, juice and a large plate of fruit.
Safe car parking was only 150 metres away and assistance with our luggage was provided. Portobello was a pleasant town for a stop over. Decent old Spanish forts, a very pleasant old church, small supermarket and meals available at the hotel.

A really nice hotel

Pros: Apreciated to see how they  promote their beautiful cultural heritage and  give oportunities to locals. Locals really try to do their best. Locals are kind and supportive. Clean rooms. Very nice view. Very delicius food. 
Cons: the hotel manager is terribly rude and  unprofessinal. She gave my family and I the worst travel experience we have had in more than 12 years doing comunity tourism. She yelled at us that " THIS IS NOT CANCUN" and that we better go to Cancún among other offenses after I made a complaint about two very specific things:   1. The first day I did not receive my breakfast, despite it was part of the deal. I had to buy other food due to lack of apropiate comunicación; 2.. During the boat trip to the beach they left my 5 months baby out of the area protected by the sun despite It was the only support I asked for before Booking and talking to the front desk lady.
After doing this very specific complaint to the front desk lady,  the manager came to interrupt my family's breakfast in an extremly  rude way and asked me "COME TO MY OFFICE" like giving us an orden,  when I went to her office the first thing she did was to  yell  at me that "THIS IS NOT CANCÚN!!" and if I dont like the service i better go to Cancún. She started yelling at us that "she cannot accept our complaint"  because  she has given me "free late  check in"  (i arrived only at 7 pm 2 days before and there was no info about paying "extra for late check in"),  also mentioned she gave me "free cleaning service". None of these aparently  "free" services we're never asked for or mentioned by the management before, it also had nothing to do with my complaint.
During the discussion the lady started to make fun of my smile out loud,  and suddendly in  a very agresive way started to complaint about how she had to manage a situation where  someone tried to steal a car in the parking lot of the hotel a week before my stay ( really confusing and akward moment since I had never been to this place before this stay).  Then she noticed she took it way too far and decided she Will give me "for free" the boat service, while talking in a very arrogant way, like all her offenses could be solved with money and giving me the comunity services for free.  Luckily the manager of the restaurant came in  to apologize for the situation caused, while I was telling him the offeses I received from the lady she started to shout out  " I AM THE MANGEER" and  interrupted me insistently while  reapeating in a very disrespectful way "WHATEVER YOU SAY, WHATEVER YOU SAY".   She ended up kicking us out saying that we better leave before the check out time and she doesnt want to hear any complaint about us  "not knowing the time to leave". My mom, grandma  and husband we're  just horrified by such a horrible experience and took our two babies to pack in récord tome while my little boy was crying because he was  afraid this lady might do something to us and the baby ended throwing up My breastmilk after we left the place.   I must add that the locals we're all very supportive and kind, they  gave us the phonenumber of the general director so I could  inform him about the  terrible experience we just went through. The general director apropiately apologized and verbally showed his support.

Most horrible hotel manager experience I have lived with my babies

We are traveling with 3 kids and were so happy to find Casa Congo in Portobello. The front of the hotel is the Casa Congo Art Gallery housing beautiful paintings and crafts by local artists. They are also behind the initiatives in the square and around that make Portobello so pretty and colorful. 

Our room was perfect for us. At the top of the building with a full and 2 twin beds and lots of art work from the gallery on display. It was spotlessly clean and very comfortable. The staff are great and even with our limited Spanish they made us all feel welcome. 

The restaurant is right on the water.  Super clean, great staff and delicious food. We loved the octopus in coconut sauce. 

We took a boat ride, organised through the hotel, to one of the beaches nearby and spent the perfect morning snorkeling, exploring and enjoying hermit crabs. 

Casa Congo made our trip to the Caribbean coast perfect.

A perfect base to explore Portobello and around

Casa Congo is a boutique hotel located right in the small town of Portobelo, right on the seafront. We stayed in an annex called "Rayo Verde", which is another building about 100 meters from the Casa Congo. Our room, the "Rayo Luna", opened onto a large seafront terrace, right on the bay. We fell asleep every night with the waves lapping the terrace wall....pure magic! We much preferred the rooms in Rayo Verde for that reason......we heard the rooms are larger in Casa Congo, but they did not have that magical terrace, which was effectively our living room! The staff are excellent, breakfast is very good and included in the price. Special Shout out to Manuel, the manager, who had to get up and come back on our last night to let us in.....we had locked ourselves out of the room!

Our stay in Rayo Verde

Took a trip to Portobelo up from Panama City and loved the stay in La Casa Congo.  Staff was friendly and helpful, hotel was clean and updated. AC worked great, had a great meal at the restaurant and a boat tour/beach excursion the next day.  Recommend.

Great Stay

friendly people, clean and nice room with A/C, hot water and a very good restaurant with a nice view over the bay in Portobelo. Good deal for a short break from hectic Panama city. From Sabanitas good bus connections to Portobelo.

Casa Congo - Rayo Verde - Restaurante

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