Posted by Lee on December 11, 2009
Recently I have been doing many trips from Boquete to Panama City. I have intentionally tried to stay at many hotels so I can compare them. I have enjoyed the Decapolis, loathed the Marbella and pondered the rates at the Executiive. I tried a hostel in Casco Viejo and Sevilla Suites in El Cangrejo.
I have come full circle back to the first hotel I ever stayed at in Panama, the Milan. Well located on a quiet street in the center of the El Cangrejo tourist district, the Milan is still an excellent, affordable place to stay.
The rates are up from the $25 of 2006 but the value is still there. With rates starting at $60 and no argument on the jubliado discount a night at the Milan and cost $30 plus tax.
For your money you get a spacious clean room, good security a decent on site restaurant and a gracious helpful staff. If you drive into the city you also have secure off street parking in the building. They have added Wifi to the building and are adding a second tower.
In summary I am glad I rediscovered my roots of three years past. The Milan is once again my hotel of choice when I visit Panama City.
You can contact the Milan at hotelmilan @ cwpanama.net (remove the spaces)
Posted by Lee on November 19, 2009
I am not a hotel reviewer, no white gloves above the door, but when I need to travel from Boquete to Panama City I need to stay in a hotel, so I have tried many. This trip is starting in the Executive Hotel it was recommended by a friend. The Executive is well located walking distance from the restaurants of Calle Uruguay and the tourist district of El Congrejo. It is clean, well attended and seems to cater to business people from around the world.
The rooms are nice but not elegant. They include a complete but mediocre breakfast, something not included in many hotels. They have wired internet in the rooms, be sure to ask for the login and password at the desk. The Executive also has a nice restaurant, bar and outside seating area.
I booked from their website, the rate was $85 a night and I thought when I arrived I would receive the pensionado discount making it a very reasonable $42.50, I was wrong. They did not refuse the discount, they pointed to their lobby sign which showed a rack rate of $165 and offered me the discount from that rate. This is becoming a common ruse with hotels in Panama City. An inflated rack rate and a higher than value real rate. The executive is worth $85 a night, apparently $80 if you book through Expedia.com, but I have been spoiled by real discounts on tariffs so next time another hotel for me.
The Decapolis with the pensionado discount is only a little more expensive and includes $20 in prepaid bar billing making it a far better value on the high end.
Posted by Lee on October 15, 2009
I live in Boquete Panama but I just flew into Panama City from Guayaquil Ecuador. It has been at least two years since I flew out of and arrived at Tocumen, Panama’s largest International airport.
When I left I had only carry on luggage and printed my boarding pass online, it made the Tocumen experience painless, no lines, no time at all. The airport is a melange of duty free shops few if any bargains, but busy. Flying Copa was smooth, they left on time, they served a meal, they provided free drinks including wine, beer and rum and finally they arrived on time in Guayaquil.
I left Panama with some gifts, a bottle of Ron Abuelo and a pound of my own coffee. They did not make rum in Ecuador and although they do grow coffee, nothing is better than Boquete Panama coffee! I returned with a Panama Hat. The hat internationally known as the Panama hat is not made in Panama, they are from Ecuador.
Not having a portable printer I could not print my return boarding pass. The long slow line to check in have motivated the need to acquire a portable inkjet printer before my next flight. The Internet can make flying easier.
When I arrived back in Tocumen immigration and customs were a breeze. If you have a permanent residency in Panama you short cut the process and get in the short line for citizens. Then came the annoying issue of getting from Tocumen airport to El Cangrejo, the site of both the conference and my hotel. Panama City lacks even passable public transport.
The taxis want an outrageous $28 to drive into the city and I was feeling adventurous. I said no, es caro.( It’s too expensive) to the taxi fare. I was surprised when I was seamlessly transitioned to something new to me, a collectivo. A nice car with air conditioning and two other passengers going to the same area; the fare $11. The collectivo works well if you are traveling alone.
The conference is in Veneto Hotel and Casino and I was offered a deal on a room for $125 a night, $50 less than their $175 rack rate. A $28 cab ride was too rich for my blood, a $125 room in Panama City seemed obscene. I booked a room at another area hotel, the Marbella. I have never stayed at the Marbella before and it is low on my list for the future. Their rate is $80 a night plus taxes, $40 with the jubilado discount, not too bad compared to the Veneto. Then comes the fine print, if you have a roommate add $15, not discounted, if you eat breakfast it’s not included either. The room I was in 222 had view of a wall, an air conditioner that had no controls, just plug it in and freeze or unplug and bake. I lasted one night.
Later that evening I took a friend out for a belated birthday dinner. We wanted steak and I remembered the sign at the Veneto for a New York steak dinner, $19 including a bottle of wine. It seemed to be worth a try. The New York Steakhouse in the Veneto Hotel is a beautiful venue. After being seated we waited, we waited and waited some more, finally we waved, jumped and caught the attention of an inattentive staff.
Menus and a wine list arrived with prices rivaling Smith and Wollensky in New York City, $65 for an imported Porterhouse; we ordered the special. It started with a nice salad and fresh rolls with honey butter. A bottle of cheap Chilean red wine and finally a not so wonderful steak, served with overcooked vegetables and a small dab of decent mashed potatoes. We completed masticating the steak and drinking the wine, then headed across the street to the Wine Bar.
If you want a really good Filet and far better bottle of wine for about the same cost, allow me to recommend the filet at the Wine Bar or the shared El Pomodoro, which has the same items often for a lower menu price. The El Pomodoro in El Cangrejo Panama is far better and less expensive then its namesake in Boquete. Don’t let a poor experience in Boquete prevent trying the Panama City location.
Posted by Lee on September 26, 2009
Last time I went from Boquete Panama to the big city I stayed at the Decapolis, a nice four star hotel. This time I went to the other extreme, no stars, a hostel in the Casco Viejo district of Panama City.
Casco Viejo is an area of Panama City rising like a Phoenix from the ashes of old Panama. The area is an island of beautiful restored building in a UNESCO world heritage site. The restoration centers on the Republic’s governmental center and expands outward a few blocks, not too much. It is becoming a artistic, cultural and performance center for the city.
We stayed in Hospedaje Casco Viejo, my daughter selected based on a guide book recommendation, it then unselected it but failed to tell me. We arrived about 2 am after a very late Delta flight from Atlanta and found the staff accommodating, the rooms spartan and the venue on the fringe of safety.
We were woken early by the sounds of construction, both the hostel and building next door are being renovated.
The church across the way was doing early morning meals right along the coast.
We stayed two nights, my private room for two with a private bath, cold water only, was $36, theirs with a shared bath a little less. I stayed alone but need to pay for two.
There were two redeeming things about the Hostel, the fascinating people from around the world and age spectrum staying there and the location. We were two blocks from fine restaurants and beautiful historical buildings. Unfortunately one of the policemen guarding the Presidential compound suggested even those two blocks were unsafe to walk at night.
Caso Viejo is on the edge of happening, hopefully the island of beauty and security will grow in time.
Posted by Lee on June 3, 2009
It seems that road trips from Boquete Panama are becoming very frequent these days. My youngest daughter, Paige, aka Gumby, came to Panama to begin two months of her summer. She will leave with horse care experience, hopefully better health and some algebra too.
With a recommendation of a friend we decided to overnight in Panama not at Las Vegas, where I usually stay but at Torres de Alba across the street. I have stayed in Torres de Alba before, I always found it nice but over priced. The suites include a kitchen, well appointed bath, washer and dryer and living area.
We needed an extra bed and because of raves from friends I decide to try again. Torres de Alba is really two towers of one bedroom apartments. I made my reservation over a month ago. At that time I had to argue to get a Jubilado Discount. With a rack rate of $119 a night, I felt a 35% discount for the Sunday night was not too much to request. After an extended discussion and proof that I was indeed a resident jubilado they agreed to a rate of $89, above the $77.35 it should have been.
When I checked in on Sunday night the rate was on the reservation card. We asked about wireless Internet, they do not have it. For an additional $5.25 they offered a cable and list of IP settings for a computer with 24 access.
Our room number was 1072, logically we took the elevator to the 10th floor, wrong assumption. The desk clerk failed to explain, 10 meant tower 1, 7 means floor seven and 2 is the suite number on the floor. It took a little help to find our room.
Torres de Alba has an excellent energy saving plan, to have electricity you must insert your room key into a device in the room. I have a habit of leaving a television on when we go out, a way to alert potential intruders that the occupant is in and that it might be a bad time to try a break in. That did not work in Torres de Alba.
We spent the night listening to alarms and street noises. The checkout was uneventful until I received a bill for $102.00 for one night on a pre-negotiated, written rate of $89. They never disclosed an extra charge for extra people. Taxes are not a surprise the per head price was..
Torres de Alba is not on my list of recommended accommodations in Panama City. Next time, back to the Las Vegas, the Milan or Crystal Suites all better values, all more forthcoming with costs and all higher on my list.
Posted by Lee on April 18, 2009
Recently we have been traveling from Boquete Panama to Playa Blanca and the to Panama City. Heather is in the midst of acquiring and furnishing a condo on the beach. The inspections, negotiations and purchasing of furnishings has been an ongoing process.
When in Panama City we have been staying at the Las Vegas Hotel, it is well located,and shows it’s age but the staff here has been wonderful. On my last trip here I forgot my laptop in the hotel room. I remembered about an hour out of Panama City.
I called the Las Vegas spoke to the manager and with in a few minutes they located my computer. I asked Yasidra, the manager to hold the computer until we returned in two weeks. When we arrived this past Thursday, the desk clerk immediately said good evening Mr Zeltzer, we have your computer; I was impressed.
The Las Vegas is not the fanciest hotel in Panama, nor the quietest but it is well located, clean, has the El Pomedoro restaurant inside and a warm friendly staff that held my computer for two weeks and recognized me upon arrival. Some impressive traits.
Posted by Lee on March 4, 2008
Another travel day. A shuttle from the Best Western Irazu in San Jose to the Airport and then waiting. We chose to fly Air Panama to save a few hundred dollars, I expected the worst for my decision I was wrong. A friend left San Jose on Taca for a nonstop flight to Tucomen at the same time. We arrived in town hours before him, Taca lost his luggage and he waited until they found it.
There are some lessons if you follow in our trail. In the San Jose airport gates are fluid. After we paid our exit fee from Costa Rica we looked for Air Panama’s gate, there was none. We were told they would appear between Delta and Condor and they did indeed.
We discovered free wireless Internet at gate 5, nice.
The flight to David was smooth sailing and 45 minutes long. David is the International Port of Entry and I was surprised how smooth things went. Immigration and customs and the cute drug sniffing Cocker Spaniel all in about 30 minutes.
We re-boarded and did the next 45 minutes to Albrook, painless.
Next Copa Air to Buenos Aires after a day enriching the merchants at Multiplaza.
Posted by Lee on January 8, 2008
When we needed to stay in Panama City for a month I discovered Panamacasa, they rent furnished apartments and we took one for a month in October. They were great and helped me out in a real crisis situation.
I decided to rent a house from them at the beach in Coronado while our children were here. It seemed logical a real surf and turf, Beach and Mountains holiday for them.
For about $110 a night we had this lovely house near the beach.
Nicholas discovered reading for pleasure again.
Paige managed to find the beach but tide was high and the seas were a bit rough while we walked to the coast.
But there was beach and water both in the same place something not often found in the desert of Arizona.
The house was great, three bedrooms, baths and this outstanding gazebo on which you could find Jennifer or I lounging about in hammocks.
If you need a place in Panama City, Coronado or even Boquete for a week or a month I do suggest checking out Panamacasa.com . In our opinion having a full service apartment for a week or month is hands down better than staying in a motel or hotel.
Posted by Lee on June 3, 2007
The saying in Real Estate is Location, Location, Location and the Plaza Patilla Inn in Panama city is located perfectly for easy access to shopping, the Tucomen airport and an unbelievable view of the city and Bay. If they had comfortable or even sleep-able beds we would stay there again.
Rather than show the hotel I want to share these pictures from the our 18th floor room.
The Multicentro Shopping center
Panama’s largest open sewer at low tide and high aroma. They are working toward sewage treatment.
The marina in the bay
Posted by Lee on March 29, 2007
Our first taste of Panama was El Congrejo. When we arrived in July we arrived at Tucomen Airport in Panama City and needed to overnight someplace. Various people recommended the Milan Hotel in El Congrejo and we stayed there. I have fallen in love with El Congrejo and want to share why. If you make a trip to Panama you now have my opinion of a place to stay.
El Congrejo is an older district full of hotels, restaurants and lot’s of activity. It is safe and a fun place to be. Bars, Casinos, Discos and lots of shopping are all with in a short walk of any of these hotels.
We have stayed in three hotels, the Milan, the Las Vegas and Torres and Alba. The Milan is rather simple and has a basic decent sized room and was a bargain at $25 a night, it is now $60 a night and no longer such a deal.
Both the Las Vegas and Torres and Alba are apartment hotels, big suites with kitchens and living rooms and are $70 to $80 a night. Be sure to ask for the best rate usually a corporate rate.
Looking from Torres and Alba at the Las Vegas Hotel and the excellent Italian restaurant run by Willie Dingleman across the street.
A view from Torres and Alba down the street toward the Veneto Casino
ClaroCom under Torres and Alba has free wifi access from 9am to 10:30pm
Manolos Cafe, one of the many Manolo’s restaurants in the city. An excellent spot for Breakfast, lunch or dinner.
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