Gamboa Rainforest Resort

We stayed 1 night, loved it/ hated it all at once. PROs: - Gorgeous drive in, only about 20-30 minutes from Casco Viejo. Got to see ships going through the canal at Culebra Cut- what a sight! - Beautiful property in the rainforest. We saw monkeys, type of toucan, capybaras roaming, etc. Best wildlife spotting. - Some tours were great (night boat safari where we saw alligators and tarantulas, day boat expedition). - Big rooms with comfy beds and nice bathrooms. My teens loved the hammock on porch if sprayed with mosquito spray. - Mosquitoes weren’t bad. We did a light spray before heading out and were fine. Cons: - Way too many people in lobby for tours. Everyone in lines, noisy, etc. It’s so lovely in the resort but I wish there was a separate area for tour management. - Food was just okay. We ate by the pool then two of us were unwell (hit us during a tour!). Not sure what it was as the water was fine to drink. - Sloth sanctuary was more plants than sloth. Set expectations if you decide to go. Overall: great for families (little kids, grandparents). Can see/do a lot in a wonderful setting. Close to the city also.

This is one of the coolest places I've ever been. I'm really glad we came here on a day trip, and sad that we didn't stay at the hotel here. (My 8 year old kid did say "next time we come to Panama, we need to stay here" so apparently I'm not the only one who felt this way). We came with elderly grandparents that have some mobility issues, as well as a 8 year old kid. So we're a difficult group. We all had a great time. We went on a boat ride on Lake Gatun (it was hard for the grandparents to get into and out of the boat, but otherwise it was great). We had lunch in their buffet, and we all loved it. (My husband and I are vegetarians and it was nice to have several good things to eat). We went on the arial tram, and all loved it. The mobile ones of us walked up the observation tower and saw incredible views. On the tram we saw a couple of birds, my son saw a toucan, and I saw a capuchin monkey. Then when we were coming in we saw a family of coati under us at the base. We counted 14 of them! And we saw a trogon bird that was beautiful. We enjoyed the sloth sanctuary and frog sanctuary but by that point we were all overheating, so we impatiently saw the butterfly and orchid area. I definitely want to return here sometime!

This hotel is great. It overlooks the Charges River and boy what a view. The food is great, the drinks are great, the staff is great and the tours you can take from the hotel are so good for families. We loved it (2 adults and 3 kids 16,13 &9). It looses a star as our aircon didn’t work so well and the pool has seen better days.

Very nice, friendly, well-staffed and maintained resort. The rooms were large and clean and we had a nice balcony where we often sat and relaxed. They have extensive grounds which include a huge pool with lots of sitting options and a small bar area and walking paths. We ate dinner one night at their restaurant and had a shrimp and fish soup which was very good. We also had breakfast there every morning which had lots of entrée options including the basics such as eggs and fruit. Our favorite place for dinner was the smallish grill on the main floor called the Monkey Bar. They have an excellent cheeseburger. We also got muffins and other items here as well. I asked for a couple non-alcohol beers to take back to our room and they served them to me stuffed into a bucket of ice with a couple lime wedges! I appreciated this extra effort. They have an excursions deck where I signed up for a four hour bird walk on the famous “pipeline road” and my wife signed up for a boat tour of the lake and a ride on their tree top skyliner. They were all well run and informative. I was really interested in finding a Trogan and my guide competently found one and focused his scope on it for me to have a closer look. One afternoon I took a walk to the bottom of the hill that the resort sits on and walked on a jungle path and later looked for birds on a wide rarely used road.

Beautiful location. Great to get an uber from airport to there. The hotel is amazing. Wildlife everywhere. Capuchin monkeys and toucans outside our room. Nighttime tour is a must.