Gamboa Rainforest Resort

Wow, hard to know where to start on this one, there is so much wrong with this sad, neglect hotel, where the employees have given up hope. Even before we arrived, we tried to book a boat tour and a jeep tour. But three email reservation requests went unanswered and they don’t answer their phones. When we arrived at 3:30, only one of our three rooms was cleaned. Our balcony door was stuck, so we couldn’t use that. When we tried to call the front desk for a repair, we discovered that the phone doesn’t work. The elevator is a mess, as are the hallways. Around the pool, used towels and empty drink glasses are strewn everywhere, as employees chat among themselves, not to be bothered to clean up. The ice machine doesn’t work. I could go on, but you get the drift. It’s a run-down, broken-down hotel in a beautiful setting. If all you need is a place to sleep while you explore the jungle, it barely works. But a “resort” it is not.

This is where many times we have rate inflation with everyone wanting to be a 5 out of 5. For me, 3 out of 5 means good. It has to be something to leap past the average bar for a 4 or 5. With that said, this is a nice place to spend a few hours. The staff is warm and accommodating and the exhibits were nice. I wish I had researched it a bit more to set expectations. The 5 main exhibits are: Orchid Flowers; Sloth Rehabilitation Area; Frog; Butterfly; and Turtle. Then there is the Tram which "traverses a mile-long tract of Humid Forest that lies within the Gamboa Rainforest boundaries. Ascending 280 feet, over half a mile, it ends atop a hill where an observation tower offers superlative views." The Sloth exhibit was by far the best of the bunch. There are 4+ sloths, each with their own tree/resting area. The volunteer was hand feeding one while talking about them and their habitat. Clear picture area for those who wanted to take them. At the end of the exhibit there is a souvenir store with a myriad of items for sale at a reasonable price. The Frog exhibit is an enclosed netted area with a pond type setting containing various indigenous frogs including the dart. You have to have good eyes to see them. Recommend if you have two set of glasses (regular and sunglasses) you use the regular. The sunglasses (for me) were too dark. The Butterfly is a netted enclosed area containing multiple species of butterfly. Nice enclosure with nice paths and we saw multiple types of species. The Turtle area is a walled area and we saw one turtle (tortoise) Large area which made spotting the animal difficult. The Orchid area was a bit disappointing as it contained mostly container flowers (container as is 5-gallon buckets). We were not at peak time for flowering so primarily allot of green plants. Finally, the Tramway. This is where I failed ot do some research. The tram is an older exhibit with many of the towers a bit rusty. Each car holds 6 adults (3 benches for 2 persons). It stops to let people off then stops again to let people on. About 4 minutes per car goes by untll the car joins the line to go up and down. In mid-day sun and high humidity, this can seem to take forever. The observation tower also is about 7 stories. However, there is no clearance once you arrive only thick jungle growth. One has to climb to the top to get the arial view. So if you are not ready to climb all the way up, it (to me) is a waste. Again, part of it is on me for not researching to set expectations. In closing the reserve is good but not great. A nice place to explore and take family, but be prepared.

The staff at the tour front desk was extremely unfriendly and inpatient on any and all of our questions regarding the tour packages they offer. Need to fire this girl immediately for the sake of your business. Positive it wasn’t language barrier she just wasn’t in the mood to provide any customer service at all.

This is a great location for enjoying and understanding the Panamanian rainforest as well as the Panama Canal. All rooms are large a comfortable with terraces overlooking beautiful terrain. Staff is very pleasant and professional. Huge swimming pool. Food is OK, not great but you don’t come here for the food.Canal and rainforest trips can be scheduled by staff. Great place for kids and business conferences.

The pillows were amazing (Hotel Collection 1200 G). Klara was amazing at the front desk. She found out it was my birthday and made my birthday extra special (there was a cupcake waiting for me at the room with a tray that said Happy Birthday (in Spanish)). The room had amazing views and had a hammock in the balcony. We very much recommend the boat tour that takes you to Monkey Island (Isla del Mono). We saw several species and fed them (bananas and grapes). We had them on the boat so we got great video of the interaction. We looked for crocodiles or cayman (no alligators here in Panama) but we didn’t see any on the tour. We had a great breakfast buffet. Perfect place to relax; wonderful views!