Full Review:
I had a wonderful stay in a 2 bedroom unit at the Country Vacation Villas (Amador) in Panama City Panama. This was an Interval International exchange for January. Country Vacation Villas was the resort name on the II confirmation (II code VSA) but the name on the hotel was Radisson Hotel Panama City. Most of the resort is still a hotel. A subset of the building unit has been converted to 2 bedroom timeshares/condos.
My unit number was 1405 and it was a corner unit on the top floor (4th floor). The unit looked like a hotel conversion with the kitchen and living room in the middle and bedrooms on the side. The master bedroom had a king size bed and an in suite bathroom. The other bedroom had 2 queen size beds and the 2nd bathroom was in the hallway across from the 2nd bedroom. The unit also came with a double decker washer and dryer. The kitchen area was extremely tight, so it was difficult for more than one person to be in there at the same time. You couldn’t even open the dishwasher door all the way as the door hit the side of the refrigerator at the 45 degree angle. There is a TGI Fridays restaurant connected to the resort and the food was pretty good for the 2 times we ate there. We cooked most meals as I had a rental car and was able to get to nearby grocery stores easily.
The resort is not rated by II but it was clean and I would say that it is a decent mid-level resort. The best part of the unit is that it had a balcony facing the Panama Canal! We had a front row seat to ships traversing the canal. Ships were moving back and forth all day every day. We could also see the “Bridge of the Americas” from our balcony which is one of 2 bridges crossing the Panama Canal. Another great thing about the location is that the resort is at the base of Amador Causeway which is a peninsular paralleling the Panama Canal on one side and the Panama Bay on the other side. There is a walking/running/biking path which runs the full length of the causeway which we walked most days. There are restaurants and shopping establishments at the end of the causeway.
There is a tow of things to do in Panama from cultural activities, entertainment, people watching and nightlife. There is no beach directly in the city though Panama City Panama is waterfront. The nearest beach is about 35 minutes away.
Of course one of the top attractions is the Panama Canal. You can book half day and full day transits of the canal, but those trips were totally booked when we were there. You probably need to book these trips before you arrive if you are there during prime time. We were able to book a tour to the Panama Canal Miraflores Locks though which maybe just as good as taking the book trip. The locks are the area where the water level is raised and lowered to allow the ships to move through the canal. You get a close-up view of the ships as they make their way through the locks. I consider tis trip to be a “must do” if you are in Panama City Panama.
I am also considering retiring in Panama City Panama, so I spent part of one day with a realtor looking at condos for sale. I am deciding between Panama, Mexico, or Florida as a retirement location.
All in all this was a great trip and I am very happy I was able to get this exchange.
View of Panama Canal from unit balcony:
