We stayed at the Melia Panama Canal from Feb 28th through March 7 2005. We rented a car from the International Airport from Dollar. For the week it was quite inexpensive. The main highways are good and we felt completely safe. Colon is an older rundown city, however you are located quite a piece away from the city.

The hotel is located on Lake Gatun and is completly surrounded by beautiful lake frontage and rainforest settings. The pool is gorgeous and the facilities are soo soo clean and beautiful. Many cruise ship passengers visit the hotel throughout the day as the hotel offers jungle tours and other boating adventures from the dock.

We had the corner suite with lake and pool views from each window. This is a 5 star hotel. We did not stay all inclusive as we wanted to travel around and that worked very well for us. We did have approximately 1 meal a day at the hotel and at the end of the week our tab was 180.00. (Not bad)

The rooms have a fridge and there is a super 99 market not far from the hotel. We went to the Colon Free Zone for shopping (Not great) There is a better mall in Panama City. We visited the historic areas of Panama City, The Gatun locks are a 10 minute drive from the hotel (Taxi is 5.00) Would highly reccomend as these are the largest of the locks. The parks are very close by 35 minute drive to Soberano. You are located about 1.5 hrs from Panama City because of the traffic.

We saw some beautiful country side on the carribean side of Panama.

I would highly reccomend this hotel as it offers everything you need for a great holiday. And it is much better weather than the Carribean (32-33 every day and sunny with a little breeze.

Have a great trip to Panama!!

From the moment you arrive at the resort, it is paradise. The grounds were beautiful, plants, birds, flowers and the lake. The staff was so good to us, we felt like we were coming home each time we left to do something away from the resort.

We drove from Panama City, traffic was something else. We didn't have trouble finding the resort from directions and maps we had. If you wish to get around Colon, hire a cab, ask for Daniel at the hotel and he will arrange for one. Very honest and very helpful. The "free zone" was not one of the best places to go. The Gatun Locks was great, with ships placing through.

The restaurant served excellent meals, although we paid for the all inclucive, but never ate or dranke enough to cover the costs.

We would return to this resort. We stayed there in mid May of 2004.

The hotel and the grounds are absolutely gorgeous!!! There is a beautiful lake that was visible from our room. STUNNING!!!!!!!!!

The major downfall for this resort was the fact that it was quite far from anything! The city of Colon is so dangerous (it is about 30 min by car) that the Lonely Planet guide says not even to go there during the day.

Getting to the resort was horrendous; had to have a police escort from Panama City airport as a matter of fact. The police almost forced us to follow them from the airport. It was not a pleasant experience.

If you are interested in sticking to tours and relaxing at the Melia, this is the place for you. If you want some excitement, go somewhere else... outside of Panama!!!!!