Gamboa Rainforest Resort

Beautiful resort, good location, clean, and well laid out. Rooms have all requirements, plus a great balcony with a relaxing hammock. [Details]

We stayed at this resort for one week. It is very quiet as most people here for nature. The staff goes out of their way to make things happen for you. If you love the beach and the entertainment this is not the resort for you to stay a week but absolutely worth to give it 2 days because the nature around it is above amazing [Details]

We stayed for a week at Gamboa and quite enjoyed it. The accommodations, the food, and the staff were all great. The one thing to note is that it is isolated - there is a one lane bridge into Gamboa and as a result there is not much there other than the resort and the rain forest! [Details]

A group of 4 of us attended this trip together, all of which had reviewed the pictures posted online. To get to the resort and see that the hotel was in dire need of updated renos was very deceiving, although while our stay they did begin some cosmetic updates (painting). It was also disappointing that our room was extremely moldy (actual mold growing on the wall) and musty. The hotel refused to change us rooms stating they were full, and our Sunwing Rep never even bothered to come to the meeting the next day, and therefore we felt he was useless. It wasn't until we talked to a bartender that we got an air purifier for our room, which helped immensely. Was a bit of a disappointment that all of but 4 balconies had hammocks, our room was one of the 4, but not a big deal. The rest of the week we had a fairly good time. Hard to deal with wait staff who looked down on you for wearing the all inclusive bracelet, and each staff seemed to be unclear as to what was and what wasnt included. Overall, we hung out by the pool, and the staff there was AMAZING!
MIx of people from families, couples, up to seniors. Majority of guests seemed to be up more towrds the middle aged to senior range as it was an excellent place to bird watch and many where there for that reason. [Details]

After reading mixed reviews we were pleased to have a very good experience. They do however have some issues with housekeeping that need to be addressed. Our room was not cleaned 2 days out of our 7-day stay and was cleaned late (after 6:00 pm) on another occasion. These issues were resolved by speaking with the customer service desk and/or the front desk. Although they do not seem to understand the significance of having rooms cleaned during the morning hours they definitely expect the rooms to be cleaned everyday and will rectify the problem when informed of it. You might have to be a bit persistent though. That was the only hitch in an otherwise wonderful experience. Having read other reviews we requested and were given an upper floor room with a dehumidifier and had no problem with musty smells. We found the food very good with lots of variety. There is something for everyone. The dining room, bar and tour desk service was very good and we found all staff to be polite, helpful and friendly. The pool is wonderful with no shortage of space or problems with tourists saving lounge chairs with towels.
(My own pet peeve – please people, don't do this!)
The view is fantastic! By all means – stay at this resort!
There is a group of about 15 capybaras living on the grounds. We also saw agouti, parrots, toucans and many other birds on the premises. [Details]

We had an awesome experience at Gamboa Rainforest Resort. Ther is nothing to not like about it. The beauty surrounding the resort was amazing. The rooms were nice, food was good. Not a party place, a lot of older people and people with children. Suitable for quieter nature loving people. [Details]

Staff very helpful, especially guest relations[Monique].Enough English speakers to be able to understand us. Very limited Spanish in our group. Fishing, lake tour, canopy tram, & 1/2 day canal transit good. Clean thru out the hotel & good repair. Large pool. [Details]

A beautiful hotel in fantastic surroundings. Views from the rooms are awesome. Centre of Panama Canal and rainforest just exceptional. The pool area is exceptional as well. It is rather quiet so not recommended for families with children. There are tours but no planned activities for the guests. When there are less quests the hotel uses an a la carte menu for lunch and dinner and they use the same menu for both. The variety is limited and boring. The one buffet at the hotel is usually good but not over the top. But knowing that before going, so expected.(at least I didn't have to cook!!) Service is excellent everywhere in the hotel. You get to know everyone and we made some excellent contacts for future trips to Panama. The restaurant by the marina is in a superb location. Would recommend that to everyone. While eating you can see the barges going through the canal and the wild animals are abundant. We enjoyed the hotel but we found seven days to be too long for this type of hotel. We are glad we experienced Gamboa and would recommend to people who love bird watching, seeing animals in their natural habitats, beautiful vegetation, and quiet and peaceful surroundings. [Details]

Very interesting and different hotel and location. Would recommend.
We really enjoyed all the birds and animals that could be seen right in the hotel grounds. The location close to the Panama canal was also of great interest. [Details]

No access to most of grounds after 5 pm or withour t paying large $ for guided tours. Must have rental car because no transportation available and resort tours are expensive. [Details]

The hotel was lovely and the staff were really nice. The rooms where great although feeling a tiny bit damp (hello it is the rainforest). On reading other reviews I packed FOOD at last minute in a panic!! Unless you are used to eating caviar at every meal, the food is really good. My teen son lives to eat and always found plenty of good quality food. We didn't have any bad experiences - I don't know where the other people stayed? We stayed in a "Garden View" room but a couple of people we spoke to, who booked the "Villa" style rooms, upgraded because the historic rooms were crappy so stay in the main building if you choose this hotel. We are not bird watchers, but loved the wildlife just going about their business around us. We saw; monkeys (the monkey island tour from the hotel was brilliant), sloth, crocodile, caiman, turtles,lizards including iquana, lots of birds including tucan, coati, agouti and capibara.
One of the best things was - no getting up at 3am to reserve a sun lounger by the pool - they are always available. [Details]

We had the best vacation, which exceeded our expectations. If you are a nature lover than Gamboa in the ideal spot. Located within the rain forest you can go on hikes, walks and other adventure activities. The Soberania national park, located 5 minutes away from Gamboa also offers great hiking trails and attractions (e.g. Summit Zoo).
We took the Monkey Island and Arial Tram tours at the resort, which were well worth the money. The resort also offers complementary nature walks during the day and a night drive for animal spotting.
When we researched this vacation we saw some comments about the food. Well, we were plesently suprised and enhoyed the food very much, especially the buffet. One of the restautants "La Gators", is located in a beautiful setting on the Chagres river overlooking the Panama Canal.

30 minutes away from the Miraflores locks and 45 minutes away from Panama City, we enjoyed the fact that we could hop into our rental car and see the major attractions and still spend our time in the rain forest.

We saw so many animals in the wild : Sloth, Hauler Moneky, Capuchine Monkey, Spider Monkey, Capibaras, Turtules, Iguanas and many birds.
If you are not a nature lover, you may porefer a beach style resort, but for us this was just perfect.

Highly recommneded ! [Details]

We travelled with sunwing with the "inclusive plan"

The flight was FULL and we did not get seats together, even after checking in more than 3 hours ahead of time. We had a stop-over in Costa Rica so it was about 8 hours from Toronto.

Once we landed, going through customs was a breeze and our shuttle was waiting for us after we got our luggage. There were only 2 of us from the full sunwing flight going to Gamboa resort. The driver did not speak one word to us the entire hour it took us to get to the resort.
Check-in was quick as it was just the 2 of us but there was no explaination as to what was included. we were just handed our room key and told where it was. We got to the resort around 3:30 and we were starving as the last meal we had was breakfast on the plane. The only food available at that time until 6:30 pm was the Monkey bar snack menu which we had to pay for a meal. The only drinks that were included were national brands and even then, staff did not know if they were included. This seemed to be a common theme throughout our stay. None of the staff spoke english and were not helpful in answering questions at all.They also seemed annoyed to be serving us and we never saw them smile. And we were very generous with tips but still no change.

As for the "inclusive" part of the trip, nobody knew what was included so it was extremely frustrating.
The 2nd day we were there was a holiday and no alcohol was served. We were not informed of this until we tried to order drinks. Other people we spoke to from other resorts did not encounter the same problem, they were still served. As it was a holiday, many locals stayed at the hotel. That is when our service went from bad to worse. It was like we didnt exist, especially not being able to speak Spanish. There was never food left at the buffet, no matter what time we went. The A la Carte restaurant was closed every day so the only dinner option was the buffet.
We decided to leave this resort after only a few days because even after speaking to the general manager, nothing changed.
The hotel itself is absolutely beautiful as is the location. It is surrounded by rainforest and has breath taking views. The rooms were also nice and clean and beds were very comfortable.
The free trips around the resort were also very worth while. As was the monkey boat tour and the aerial tram. We were happy we got to see the wildlife we did in staying there but would not return because of the lack of service, no english speaking staff and zero personality. Nobody cared whether we were happy or not.
We travel alot and never complain about anything, but we were very disappointed in this resort, especially for the price that you pay. [Details]

I stayed in one of the historic villas in early March, and it was HUGE with lots of character (sort of like a Canadian cottage with lots of screened windows). There were toucans in the backyard! The food was great; the setting spectacular. It was always warm, and when it was breezy–most of the time–it was amazing. I fell asleep on my couch with the wind wafting over me. Very relaxing. The last couple of days were extremely muggy. One warning: don't lie in the sun by the pool without a thick layer of sunscreen (I got a terrible sunburn). Don't worry about mosquitos unless you're going to spend a lot of time in the rainforest birding. The Segway outing was fantastic, also the EcoCanal tour by boat!!!! By accident, my iPhone was left at the resort, and after I contacted them, it was returned to me in Canada by courier for only $14! Wonderful staff!!! [Details]

This is a hidden jewel in the rainforest. Enjoyed every minute. Best of both worlds.Beautiful surroundings, amazing pool. You must like nature and humidity.Many great tours from this area. If you are tired of partying or tired of being around "drunks" at the party all-inclusives you will love this place.A nature lovers paridise. I will go back with my kids next time.Next year can't come soon enough. [Details]

This was a great resort in all regards. The resort itself was beautiful, the food was good, the drinks were good, and there was so much to do. The resort grounds are full of trails and wildlife. Plus the hotel offers plenty of free activities to keep you busy. The pool and weather were great. We stayed in the Villas, which although not luxury accommodations, were clean and very spacious. The hotel is a bit remote, but cabs are readily available and not too expensive. Also there is no beach at this resort. [Details]

As birders, the hotel is a delight. The grounds are magnificent, the room standard is just fine and the food very good. All of the staff are friendly and welcoming, they just need some hummingbird feeders to make the place perfect! PS despite the comment below there is no beach, the dumb form would not complete without a comment! [Details]

We weren't sure about a down south vacation without the ocean. However, this was an experience of a lifetime. [Details]