Gamboa’s Rainforest Resort is an incredible hotel experience. Located within the Soberania National Park, this hotel is designed to accentuate the natural beauty of the region. The walls are covered in ferns and flowers and intricate iron fixtures in the shape of vines drape across the columns. The ceiling is 
decorated with birds, hung in mid-air.
The whole resort celebrates the rainforest; all three restaurants, both bars and the 198 rooms, condos and suites. The hotel isn’t about roughing it though. Guests are treated like royalty and get to enjoy all the fabulous amenities the hotel has to provide, including a gigantic pool with a swim-up bar and a number of amazing rainforest tours.
The resort is comprised of 43 Historic Villas, which were built in the 1920s and recently renovated, 86 Garden View and Deluxe Hotel Rooms and 21 Junior, Deluxe and Tivoli Suites. The Gamboa Rainforest Resort overlooks the Chagres River, which leads to the Embera Indian Communities, and is situated next to the Panama Canal.
The rooms are all nicely decorated, in line with the rainforest theme, but still comfortable and modern. Each room is equipped with Egyptian cotton sheets, air conditioning, satellite television, wireless internet access, AM/FM radio, 24 hour room service, a mini bar, and 
an electronic safety deposit box. The bathrooms are beautiful, with lush cotton towels, crystal showers, and 100% natural amenity products.
If you don’t feel like pampering yourself with the natural products, you might want to visit the Spa and Beauty Center, which also uses only natural products. There are also a number of tours: to the Canal, to the Embera Community, down Pipeline Road, hiking, swimming, fishing, and more. The 18 hole 72 par Summit Golf Course is also a popular way to relax among visitors.
In the lobby of the Gamboa Rainforest Resort you will find the tour desk, which is able to schedule whatever kind of tour you like. Or, for cheaper rates you can use my guide and driver Carlos (www.panamacarlos.com), as he provides tours with pick-up and drop-off in Gamboa. Make sure you take advantage of the free night tour that the Resort offers.
Restaurants at the Gamboa Resort offer a wide variety of international cuisine. The Cototu Restaurant is open from 6:30 am to 10:30 pm, and offers indoor and outdoor dining. No reservation is required. At the Chagres River View restaurant, however, a reservation is necessary. It is only open for dinner, from 
6:30 pm to 10:30 pm. Los Lagartos is the third restaurant, and it is more geared toward families. It is located outside the main hotel building, but transportation by the resort’s shuttle is available. Los Lagartos is open Tuesday to Sunday 11:30 am to 5:30 pm. The food is expensive though, and the service isn’t always great, so be prepared, meaning bring snacks and drinks! There isn’t anywhere to go to eat, so you just have to swallow it. (A number of people will ask their driver to stop on the way into the resort at a grocery store, that way they can bring food and drinks in)
The two bars are the Monkey Lobby Bar, best for drinks and sometimes live music, and the Capybara Discotheque for a more happening night-life.
For those who need to do business the resort also has a business center and meeting spaces and a library for some quiet study.
Overall, the Gamboa Rainforest Resort is more of an experience in itself than just a place to stay for your time in Panama. High season is from December to April, so now is the time to get the better rates at this first class resort.
Visit www.gamboaresort.com/index_english.html for more information.
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[...] to get away from everything? Head to Gamboa Rainforest Resort. // [...]