18 Best Hotels in The Canal and Central Panama, Panama

Nestled in the forest overlooking the boulder-strewn Guayabo River, this lovely lodge is a mecca for bird-watchers and other nature enthusiasts. Its attractions are honeycreepers, euphonias, hummingbirds, and the other 300 bird species found in the surrounding forest. The sister lodge of the Canopy Tower (weeklong packages combine the two lodges), in Soberania National Park, guest rooms here are bright and spacious, with stylish slate floors, concrete bathrooms, and wide balconies that overlook the river and forest. Meals are served family-style in an airy restaurant-lounge with a self-service bar. There is a good natural-history library, but not one TV to be found. Though rates are steep, they include three meals, and wine with dinner. There is a minimum two-night stay, and with a three-night minimum stay, you get a free introductory nature/bird tour (otherwise all tours cost extra).

Occupying a former U.S. Army radar tower deep in the rain forest of Soberanía National Park, this lodge caters almost exclusively to serious bird-watchers and natural history enthusiasts. Rooms are small and basic, with cement floors, painted metal walls, ceiling fans, and tiny bathrooms, but they have big windows with views of the lower canopy. Suites are roomier, with hammocks and decent-size bathrooms. Guests tend to spend most of their time in the forest, or in the fourth floor dining room/lounge/natural-history library, which has walls of windows that let you look right into the forest canopy. The view from the rooftop deck, just above the treetops, is even more impressive. Three meals per day and one nature tour are included in the price. Additional tours are available for purchase. The minimum stay is three days.

Perched at the top of a steep hill at the edge of the forest, this two-story apartment rental has good views, especially from the second-floor balcony. The two apartments are a great deal for two couples or a family, but they can also be split and rented separately, with use of a full kitchen. The rooms are in the back and lack views, but they are spacious, with ceiling fans, private baths, and TVs. People tend to spend most of their time on the wide terraces, which have a hammock, table, chairs, and ocean views.

This small B&B occupies a ranch house in a quiet residential neighborhood, just a 10-minute walk from the beach. Guests have access to a large living room with a TV and kitchen, and a deck that overlooks the forest. Guest rooms are bright and clean, with attractive bathrooms and a minibar. Beach towels are provided, and guests can rent golf carts or book day trips. Room rates include transfers to and from the airport or the ferry.

This private retreat across the bay from Portobelo offers a splendid mix of ocean views, tropical nature, abundant art, friendly service, and fine dining. Accommodations are in four small houses with colorful decor that includes the work of local artisans, as well as such modern amenities as an LCD TV, iPod dock, and Wi-Fi. The houses surround a pool and a bright gazebo that serves as restaurant, gallery, and lounge. The cuisine is a fusion of Caribbean and Continental flavors, with a menu that changes daily, and accommodates guest needs. Large families, or small groups desiring privacy can rent the Casa Grande, up the hill, which has three suites, a full kitchen, and a dining–living room. Basic spa services are available, as are excursions to nearby beaches or colonial fortresses, and fishing, kayaking, hiking, snorkeling, and scuba diving. Folk dancing performances can be arranged, as can the chance to sculpt or paint with a local artisan; the property's wood workshop makes beautiful furniture for the hotel as well as to sell. The restaurant is open to the public for lunch (with reservations only) and day passes are available for nonguests ($120).

Panoramic views of the Chagres River and surrounding rainforest, abundant wildlife, a selection of outdoor excursions, and amenities such as a spa and massive pool make this hotel a great place to experience the rain forest without sacrificing comfort. The lobby is impressive, with giant windows overlooking the jungle panorama, life-size crane sculptures hanging overhead, and a stream cascading through a three-story tropical atrium. The bright guest rooms have wicker furniture, hammocks, colorful tropical decor, and balconies. Junior suites, with two additional queen beds in a loft, are an option for families. Garden views are disappointing—stick with rooms with numbers in the 300s or 400s. Activities include bird-watching, an aerial tram, a boat trip to Monkey Island, kayaking, and fishing. Day passes for nonguests cost $65 and include drinks, breakfast, lunch, and access to the swimming pool (nature tours cost extra).

Isla Taboga's best hotel, the Vereda Tropical is perched on the hillside overlooking the Bay of Panama. Its best rooms have views of the town's fishing fleet, cargo ships, and Panama City, which is almost as impressive at night. Rooms have basic decor with high ceilings, fans, colorful bedspreads, and small tile bathrooms. The best rooms have French doors that open onto Juliet balconies with ocean views—well worth the extra money. You may want to eat at the restaurant ($–$$) even if you don't stay here; it's the best kitchen on the island, and the terrace view is gorgeous, though the service can be slow. The eclectic menu includes a good pizza selection, pastas with a choice of about a dozen sauces, lobster served various ways, curried prawns, and paella.

Formerly the Bristol Buenaventura, Panama's loveliest beach resort combines elegant rooms and Spanish colonial architecture with an 18-hole golf course and a splendid stretch of sand. The lobby and main buildings resemble a colonial palace, with a chapel across the plaza. The sumptuous guest rooms have hardwood floors, four-poster beds, marble bathrooms with a shower and a tub, and the amenities you expect from a luxury hotel. Garden rooms open onto terraces lined with tropical greenery; the rest have balconies with ocean views past the canal, pool area, and residential nieghborhood. It's a short walk or golf-cart ride to the handsome El Faro Club House, with a restaurant and pool on the wide, palm-lined beach. Outdoor activities include the par-72 golf course ($115 for guests playing 18 holes or $70 for 9 holes on weekdays, $135/$80 weekends), tennis, deep-sea fishing, snorkeling, horesback riding, and various other tours. The Tamarindo Restaurant ($$$–$$$$) serves excellent Latin American-Mediterranean fusion cuisine.

This attractive hotel and spa, built in the Tuscan style—stone walls, arched doorways, and barrel-tile roofs—has some of the nicest rooms in El Valle. In a pastoral setting at the foot of Cerro Gaital, the rooms are spacious and nicely decorated, but the architects went overboard on the small Tuscan windows, which shortchange guests on the views. Spring for a superior or deluxe room, which have bigger windows. All rooms have the same amenities as the country's top hotels. The lawns and pool are lovely, and the "Irish Pub," which doubles as a restaurant, has tables outside, though the best restaurant in town—La Casa de Lourdes—is next door. The spa has an array of treatments, and a Jacuzzi and sundeck on the roof. A 2013 expansion included new guest rooms, a second heated swimming pool, and a second restaurant, which serves paella and tapas.

This lovely collection of houses and rooms surrounded by manicured gardens, great trees, and a babbling brook has a tranquil, homey feel. Owners Lionel and Monica Alemán transformed their vacation home into a B&B upon retiring, and the accommodations are certainly homey, with frilled curtains and bedspreads, knickknacks, and cement ducks on the lawn. Ideal for families is either the two-bedroom Linda Vista cottage with a full kitchen, gas grill, fold-out couch, and an adjacent room with a bunk bed, or the suites with three beds. Two rooms in the back of the original home are less expensive: Limoneros, a yellow room, has a lovely private terrace, and the very pink La Vie En Rose has a slightly smaller patio. The policy here is to pamper, as is apparent in the sumptuous breakfasts, and attention provided by the charming, bilingual owners.

This attractive B&B was designed to resemble a Spanish mission, and the owners paid great attention to the details, importing hand-painted tiles and sinks and getting a local carpenter to make replicas of furniture found in southern California missions. The bright rooms have high ceilings with fans and are tastefully decorated with ceramics and Mexican carpets. Suites are double the size, with kitchens and breakfast bars, and cost only $35 more. Rooms open onto a courtyard with a fountain, where the complimentary breakfast is served. The only drawback is that it isn't on a beach—it's in a residential neighborhood a 10-minute walk from playas Cacique and Ejecutiva. Free snorkeling equipment is provided and guests can rent golf carts.

The smallest of Playa Blanca's all-inclusive beach resorts, this Mediterranean-style hotel has attractive rooms in two-story buildings scattered around sunny grounds, just steps away from a wide beach. Because the hotel is next to a river mouth, the ocean is sometimes murky, but there are two large pools. Guest rooms are bright and spacious, with wooden furniture and balconies, some of them quite small, though the best ground-floor rooms have terraces. There are a few rooms that have ocean views, but they are worth the additional $35. Unfortunately, there is often music blasting by day and the nightly "entertainment" performed by the pool is also rather loud. An aquatic center provides free kayaks and pedal boats, rents motorized watercraft, and sells an array of tours.

If you have to spend a night in Colón, this is your best option, since it's next to the Colón 2000 cruise port, with its shops and restaurants, in one of the safest parts of town. The rooms are pretty standard, but well-equipped; be sure to get a port view. The lobby has a large restaurant and a lounge, and there are several more dining options next door. Most of your fellow guests will likely be Latin American business travelers, who have come to make wholesale Free Zone purchases. All in all, it's a safe, dependable hotel with a good business center and buffet breakfasts.

Panama's largest, and one of its most attractive, beach resorts offers good deals outside of the peak season, but also the food and service problems typical of all-inclusive resorts. Its 852 rooms are in 50 four-story buildings scattered along 2 km (1 mile) of beach, amidst luxuriant grounds. They are bright and colorful, with large bathrooms and balconies or terraces. Few have ocean views—it's worth paying extra for one. The resort has an 18-hole golf course, 10 pools, eight restaurants, 11 bars, a dance club, casino, game room, spa, gym, and legions of beach chairs. Meal options range from massive buffets to restaurants specializing in seafood, Japanese, Thai, or Italian cuisine, but don't expect memorable meals. Free activities range from kayaking and tennis to volleyball, but golf, fishing, snorkeling and other tours are extra.

Rooms in the upper floors of this stately resort are steps away from the beach, and have great views of a cascading series of pools and the glistening Pacific. The design of the resort's six-story building was inspired by the Tivoli Hotel, which was the Canal Zone's premier hotel in the early 20th century. Its well-equipped, spacious rooms have Juliet balconies with views of the pools, gardens, and sea; only suites are on the beach. Public areas are attractive, but it's more compact than the other beach resorts. There is a tennis court, game room, clubs for children and teens, a 24-hour gym, four restaurants, three bars, a dance club, and a Sheraton Club lounge for guests staying in premium rooms.

This dive resort owned by Scuba Panama, the country's biggest dive company, has decent rooms in a lovely coastal setting at very low rates, making it a good option for budget travelers who can do without a lot of service. Accommodations range from dorm rooms to bungalows; the second-floor "single" rooms—small but colorful, with ocean views and narrow balconies—are comfortable enough, but spring for a cabaña (bungalow), which costs just $10 more, and offers much more space and privacy. Large trees shade the ample grounds, and there's a gazebo atop some boulders over the water. The resort has a full dive center and inexpensive trips like snorkeling to Isla Mogotes. The tiny, open-air restaurant serves breakfast and a limited menu, but there's better food down the road.

One of the best deals in El Valle, this vacation rental near Cerro Gaital consists of just three suites with kitchenettes and two standard rooms surrounded by 2½ acres of gardens and lovely views. It belongs to retired captain Larry Thormahlen and his wife, Becky, who make a stay here that much more enjoyable. There is a small pool surrounded by a stone deck and abundant flowers, and a free-standing kitchen nearby that guests can use. The rooms have two single beds, or a queen, but the suites are the big draw, with high ceilings, TVs, kitchenettes, and private patios. Rates include a glass of wine in the evening, but you have to make your own breakfast, or drive into town. It's best to drive here.