Power Club Costa del Este shows 4.5 from 253 reviews, but the five written reviews here split sharply - two describe a genuinely good gym, three describe specific, concrete problems that get worse the more recently the review was written.
A Manager's Explanation Worth Reading Twice
Ahmed Said's review contains the most revealing sentence on this page: he spent fifteen months as a member, and every month brought complaints about the temperature: "Every month management got complaints from many many members of the temperature. They didn't care and one manager told me that they keep it this way because of their type of clientele. In other words, the rich members get catered to." I want to separate what's checkable from what isn't. That the gym runs cold enough to generate recurring complaints is corroborated by nothing else in this small sample, so I can't confirm it independently. But the manager's stated reasoning - if Ahmed is quoting it accurately - is itself informative: a deliberately over-air-conditioned gym is a real, if unusual, amenity choice some clubs make for a specific membership base that prefers it cold, even at the cost of everyone else's comfort. That's a business decision with a customer it serves and a customer it doesn't, not necessarily negligence.
Crowding, Confirmed Independently, Years Apart
Ahmed also calls the gym "truly mediocre" with "no sauna" and limited equipment and space. JuanD O, in a review posted roughly two years later, describes a related but distinct problem: "Machines are pretty old, dirty and rudimentary, can get extremely crowded to the point where you need to adapt your schedules, clientele usually hoards many machines at the same time and won't share." He adds a telling detail about why he stays anyway: "It is the closest to where I live so I go just for the convenience." Two reviewers, two years apart, independently describing crowding and equipment problems is a pattern worth taking seriously, even though neither review alone would be conclusive.
The Parking Lot Complaint
Luke Abbott's one-star review describes something specific enough to be alarming rather than just negative: "Have to exercise on the car park in extreme heat while inhaling vehicle fumes which make you feel sick, do not recommend." That reads like an overflow problem - when the indoor floor is full, some members apparently end up training outside in a parking area. If accurate, that's a direct extension of the crowding JuanD describes, not a separate complaint.
What the Positive Reviews Describe
Adriana, September 2019 - the oldest review here, predating all three complaints above - describes a genuinely complete gym: "Weights, instructed classes, and crossfit included in the tariff. Also bathrooms and showers available for all customers, as well as a small cafeteria." She does flag one early warning sign: "From Monday to Friday's evening, parking lot tends to be an issue as it gets crowded" - which lines up with Luke's much later complaint about training in that same lot. Elizabeth Sherwood-Smith, June 2021, found the opposite of crowded: "Lovely set up, friendly staff, hardly anyone there, good machines," specifically praising a weekly spinning class as worth the membership on its own.
A Timeline Worth Noticing
Adriana's 2019 review already flags parking crowding. Elizabeth's 2021 review describes a quiet gym. Ahmed's account, covering roughly 2023, describes persistent temperature complaints and mediocre equipment. JuanD's 2026 review describes old, dirty, overcrowded machines. Read in order, this looks less like random noise and more like a gym whose experience has been genuinely inconsistent over time - sometimes quiet and complete, sometimes cold and crowded, depending on when you showed up.
What's Missing
No review states an exact membership price, though several reference classes and CrossFit being "included in the tariff." Nothing confirms current conditions since early 2026.
Who It's Not For
Anyone sensitive to cold, given a specific, detailed account of persistent low temperatures. Anyone who needs guaranteed equipment access during peak hours, given two independent, years-apart accounts of crowding and machine-hoarding.
C. Villanueva, Panama, Provincia de Panama, Panama. The phone number is +507 392-8132, and the website is powerclubpanama.com. Open Monday through Friday 05:00-22:00, Saturday 06:00-18:00, Sunday 08:00-17:00.
FAQ
Why do multiple reviewers mention the temperature?
One reviewer describes persistent, recurring complaints about cold temperatures over fifteen months of membership, and says a manager attributed the choice to member preference rather than a fault to fix.
Is the gym crowded?
Accounts vary by year. A 2019 review flags evening parking-lot crowding specifically; a 2021 review describes it as quiet; more recent reviews describe extreme crowding and machine-hoarding during peak hours.
What's included in membership?
One reviewer lists weights, instructed classes, and CrossFit as included in the standard tariff, along with showers and a small cafeteria.
Has anyone had to exercise outside due to crowding?
One reviewer describes exactly that - training in the parking lot in extreme heat due to space constraints indoors.