Where to stay
 

We will be in Panama City for couple of weeks in Beginning of May. For the first couple of nights we are planning to stay at the County Inn by the Canal. We are debating if we should stay downtown or again at the County Inn by the canal, for last couple of nights we are in Panama. Does anyone have suggestion if it matters if you are downtown or a little farther away from downtown. We are looking for medium priced hotel in the $60-99 range per night.

Country Inn is a 10 minute taxi ride to downtown Panama City. Just depends on what you want: Country Inn does have a lovely setting, but could be any hotel in the US in it's character (even has a TGIF for its restaurant).

We stayed at Sevilla Suites in Panama City in January. Right downtown, we had a full one bedroom suite for about $88.00 (tax included). Lots of restaurants within walking distance. Panama City was a much more pleasant place than I expected. Jean

I forgot to mention--check out the Gamboa Rainforest Resort. It's 30-40 minutes outside of Panama City. What a beautiful place to chill, with plenty of nearby rainforest activities if you want.

I assume you are going somewhere else in between hotels. We did the Gamboa in between. I say switch hotels and get a feel for another part of the city and a more local flavor hotel. Taxi's are inexpensive enough to do it. We stayed at the Caesar Park. Pool was almost as nice as the Mirmar and definately nicer than any of the other pools (from what I saw)...if that is important to you. It was for us at night...coming back and popping in the pool for 1/2 hour to relax.

Jean...or others: Is the pool at Sevilla Suites decent size? Sevilla gets good passing reviews here, but little comment on Tripadviser etc.
Is it within walking distance to the central business district?

Thanks for your answer.