El Oasis Hotel y Restaurante

We stayed here with an Intrepid tour group. The hotel feels bright and breezy, with plenty of outdoor spots to sit and rest near the rooms. It's at the edge of town, close enough to walk to restaurants, bars, the supermarket, and the river.

A great find. It turned out even better than the reviews in our travel guide and online had led us to expect.

The main drawback was the noise. Somewhere nearby, a band practices until 10 pm on Tuesdays, and I think Thursdays too, which was a nightmare if you wanted an early night before hiking or taking a ride up volcano baru. On weekends, the bar by the bridge was loud until around 1 or 2 am. Otherwise the room was great, the kitchen had everything needed, breakfast was delicious, and the staff were super friendly. They also did a great job with the laundry. Lovely hotel, just a bit noisy.

We spent 10 days exploring Panama, and this was our favorite hotel. The gardens and grounds were beautiful, with baby ducks, and everything was spotless. Across the white water stream, it's pretty quiet, but only a short walk from the Centro. The woman who cooked and served us a really good breakfast with choices also took time to walk around the gardens and chat. I'm embarrassed that we can't remember her name. I can't recommend the hotel enough!