Long overdue review...We were here last April 2014
We had…read morethe most wonderful experience from this hotel. The staff was so courteous and helpful. Booking the hotel was a breeze and responds to emails promptly. I must have emailed them several times for questions before our arrival and with the time difference, my emails are answered within 24 hours.
The moment we checked in, we were greeted by Doris. Her sweet smile welcomed us warmly and made sure we got everything we need to make our stay comfortably. It was nice to meet her as we communicated few times through emails. She gave us information for the restaurants, gave us coupon for some establishments, the entrance to Grotto, wifi info, etc.
We had the Triple room and is quite big compared to the typical european (small) rooms. It has a large bath tub & shower. It was perfect as my mother has limited mobility and using the european tub means it will be difficult for her. The whole bathroom is "senior friendly" (meaning it has handrails in the toilet & portable chair in the shower. It was very spacious. We had a double & single beds in the room and it was comfortable beds; we slept as were at home. There are 2 elevators for usage & one is larger than the other.
There is no restaurant during our stay; however, the cafe (see suggested Breakfast & Dinner picture) at the next hotel is connected at the Panorama. You can access it through outside too. We have our breakfast here always as we have our favorite & wonderful person "Esperanza". Sometimes we have our full breakfast or just plain croissant that are to die for along with the cappuccino with fresh crema! We have our dinner here too as there are only few restaurants that are open for dinner near the area. We prefer to have dinner at this cafe as it is fast and excellent service. Though the food choices are limited, it's bearable. As for Lunch, definitely our favorite cafe is "Cafe Les Brancardiers"! This cafe I believe they serve breakfast too but we always come to this cafe for lunch. They have wide selection of food and definitely SUPERB!!!! This is our ultimate FAVORITE! Unfortunately, they close around 3pm or 4pm; otherwise, we will have our dinner here too.
We tried the other restaurant "Sauveur Restaurant" but VERY, VERY DISAPPOINTED with the service. We got there just when they opened and ordered immediately. We had the pre-fix menu and it took them 30 mins to serve the salad then another 30 mins for the main entree. The other table had their food immediately even though we were there first. After having disappointed with the food, we decided not to have our dessert (even it comes with it).Our waiter never came back to our table as he knew we were upset with his service. After we paid, it took them again another 15 mins before we got our change. We had to hail someone just to get their attention. REALLY BAD SERVICE...I DON'T RECOMMEND THIS AT ALL! This is the only BAD experience in our trip.
The Grotto's side entrance is about less than a mile away, very convenient from the hotel.
Big thanks to all the staff of Hotel Panorama and most especially to Doris!
Overall, one of the best hotels we've stayed and the next time we're in Lourdes, we will definitely stay in the hotel again. Excellent hotel & staff!