Quote: In a perfect world, there would be perfect flights that all arrive at their destinations at about 2:00pm. Then by the time you get your luggage and procure transportation it will be time to check into your accommodation of choice. After a flawless check- in you can freshen up and head out for an eventful night on the town. Unfortunately it is not a perfect world and thus we found ourselves on a plane that was landing in Panama City, at 10:30 at night. After getting our tourist visas, breezing through customs, getting our luggage and signing our rental car agreement, we were finally on our way at 12:30am. Fortunately "our way" wasn’t that far.

When we booked the flight we knew that it would be landing late at night. We also knew that our first destination, El Valle de Anton was a two and half hour drive away and we had no desire to go driving through an unfamiliar city at 12:30am searching for a hotel for the night. The most logical option was to spend our first night at a hotel that was as close to the airport as possible. I did some internet research before the trip and found the Riande Aeropuerto Hotel and Resort.

All of the staff waiting at the reservation desk were friendly, gentle and sympathetic when they saw our yawning faces. We were well past our bedtime and travel worn, and that was a good thing because our need for a bed distracted us from the fact that the hotel appeared to have seen better days. We followed a staff down musty smelling hallways covered in worn out carpet. It seemed as though someone spent a great deal of time and money to build a beautiful grand hotel, then once it was completed they went away and the grandeur has been fading ever since. Though shabby, our dimly lit room looked clean and so we slipped into our pajamas, climbed in one of the beds and went to sleep.

Overall I thought the Riande Aeropuerto Hotel suited our purpose well. We needed a place to crash for a few hours and although it was worn and musty, it was also clean and acceptably comfortable, yet I still couldn’t help feeling, that our $55.00 a night threadbare room with only one working light seemed like a sad neglected child who was starving for some love and attention. With the light of a new day and the renewed energy it brought us, we decided that it would be best to be on our way as soon as possible. I guess they must have had problems with hotel guests unable to use the shower controls because someone drew little arrows and the phrase "to open" on the shower wall in pencil. The water pressure was anemic and the water itself was cold. We did enjoy the little balcony attached to our room. While we each took a turn showering the other person stood out on the balcony and just soaked it all in. The weather was warm and tropical; there was green grass, magenta flowers, swaying palm trees and birds fluttering to and fro. It was definitely a change from the over cast, frigid, and slushy environment we had escaped from the day before. It felt as though the balcony was letting us know we had arrived and it was time to let the adventure begin, only the room kind of said, that we should wait and start our adventure after we arrived at our next and hopefully better hotel.

http://www.hotelesriande.com/aeropuerto/index.asp



From journals "Panama, why Panama, all they have is a canal?"