We have stayed at several hotels in our 2 trips to Panama City, and the Bristol is the best.

THe Intercontinental is nice, but big and somewhat bland.

THe Decapolis is very hip and lively.

The Bristol is elegant, small, but first rate service and accomodations. Trust me, if you can get a room at the Bristol, you wont be disappointed. The restaurant is fantastic.o

Overall: We spent only one night at the Bristol earlier this month before flying out of Panama City en route back to the US. It was like an oasis in the desert! I would highly recommend this hotel and would definitely stay there again. If they had a swimming pool or even an outdoor lounging area, we would have stayed at the beginning of our trip as well. It’s definitely an elegant, first-class Panama hotel.

Rooms: The first thing I appreciated was the carpeting, after having spent 7 nights with tile floors. We had a standard room (we were not upgraded as we had hoped due to our Leading Hotels of the World club membership), but it was a nice size, with a king-size bed, chair and ottoman, desk and chair, large armoire with TV, DVD player, CD player, valet stand, closet (with safe), and bar area (including a nicely-stocked minibar). There was a plate of several pieces of fruit there when we arrived (banana, pear, apple), and the lighting and music was set in welcome. Imagine our surprise, when another more extensive fruit plate was delivered later (tons of strawberries, two more pears, half a fresh coconut, two kiwi halves, and some yummy meringue cookies) and decorated with orchids. I’m not sure if everyone receives the larger plate, or if it was because we are members of the Leading Hotels of the World club. Our bed was also turned down, with robes and slippers laid out, as well as bedside mats and caramel candies. The bathroom was huge, with separate bathtub and glass-enclosed shower. Toiletries were slightly above-average, with soaps, shampoo, conditioner, lotion. There was a hair dryer in one of the bathroom drawers, and fluffy towels were plentiful. The lighting in the room was excellent, so atypical for most hotels. The rooms were very soundproof.

Restaurant/Food: Barandas was a great meal, and after feeling a little food-deprived over the past three days, we indulged in a four-course meal. Everything was presented perfectly using unique ingredients. The meal cost about $100, including a few drinks, similar or a little below the cost we would have paid for an equivalent meal in the US. There is a dress code in the restaurant—men cannot wear “slippers”, meaning flip flops or sandals of any kind (though, gratefully, the maitre ‘d seated us anyway in the back, because it would have been a shame to miss that meal). The “cigar” bar (where you can’t smoke cigars any longer) was really hopping, with live music and excellent service (but it is tiny and clubby-feeling).

Taxi: A taxi to the airport arranged by the Bristol was $35, which could be added directly to the hotel bill. If you went outside and arranged the taxi on your own, you could expect to pay $25.

Other info: We didn’t use the health club. There was a doorman, but we didn’t see a bellman. The lobby registration desk is somewhat non-traditional, meaning no “counter” is provided just two small desks/tables with chairs. The wakeup call comes accompanied by a coffee service—a nice touch! The hotel was sold out on the Friday evening that we stayed there, so be sure to make a reservation. There was a gas station/convenience store about a block away to buy drinks and snacks, if necessary. E-mail communication was sporadic: sometimes I received a response, and other times it was not acknowledged.

We stayed at the Bristol three nights over the New Year's weekend. It's a really great option for anyone who wants a luxury hotel with a boutique feel. It's true it doesnt have a pool but it is in a great area if you want to walk to the night clubs and restaurants around Calle Uruguay. The room was really upscale, we were more than pleased.

The two concierges Boris and Elizabeth were extremely helpful, literally bent over backwards to help us organize the rest of our trip since we didn't have any other reservations or tours booked except the hotel first the first night. Boris must have worked for two hours.

** another concierge Anna was NOT helpful and actually lied to us about booking a dinner reservation. She pawned it off on the hotel operator and then told me the reservation was made when actually the restaurant was closed and she never bothered to check with the operator. Anna seemed more interested in talking to her friends on the phone when she should have been working on our behalf.

Aside from that one experience it was otherwise a great stay.

The Bristol Hotel is the best hotel in Panama City if money is no object, they have the #1 resturant in the city too (my opinion), I fully reccommend this hotel if money is no object, I had a bit of a hard time to get the room price down to US $125 per night, they tried to charge me US $175 when I was booking the room before I left Canada (very high), the service is excellent (as you would expect for this price range), I would not at all classify this as a 5 star hotel like they claim, however it is at least a 3+ star and close to a 4 star, however the resturant is 5 star all the way.