The New Washington Hotel has 124 comfortable rooms. All rooms have cable TV, air conditioning, telephones with direct access to international calls, hot water showers, room service and internet access.

The hotel has a conference room, hairdressing service, and 24 hour reception and check-out service, in order to provide guests with the attention they deserve. Among the shared facilities there is a safe cloakroom, lift access, a bar, cafe and restaurant. Laundry service is available and guests who bring their own car can leave it in a car park near the hotel.

Guests can enjoy a pleasantly warm swimming pool, go to the bar, gamble in the casino or go dancing in the Pirates Discotheque. A variety of menus are offered at each of the hotels’ restaurants. A beautiful garden in front of the hotel greets visitors.

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Colon anchors the Caribbean end of the Panama Canal. The infrastructure of the canal zone is an important addition to the area’s commerce and culture. The Four Points hotel is conveniently located at the Millennium Plaza within Panama’s largest free trade zone.

This property lives up to the Starwood reputation for quality and service. It’s all here, Wireless Internet, fully appointed rooms, well equipped fitness center, great dining, as well as easy access to trendy boutiques, a casino, travel agencies and car rentals.

When planning larger scale events, make the Four Points your destination of choice. This property offers nearly 8,000 square feet of meeting and convention space with a full package of supporting amenities.

Remember, Panama means business. The Colon Four Points is proof.

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the Colon Free Duty Zone. It offers both business and leisure travelers everything they need for an enjoyable and comfortable stay in Colon.

This hotel has 102 rooms and suites, some of them featuring a view of the cruise port. Within the room, you will have air conditioning, cable TV, hair dryer, high speed internet access, voice mail and room service. Also available are balcony rooms, handicap accessible rooms and rollaway beds.

Among the services offered, this hotel has a swimming pool and sauna, a business center, child care, dry cleaning and laundry service, fitness centre, bookstore and travel agency. . All types of meetings and special events can be held here.

The hotel has three areas designated for special events. These three areas are the Palenque, Gatun and San Lorenzo salons with capacities of 10 up to 250 people. All of the areas have data show and screen, flip charts, laptop computers, microphone, tables and chairs according to your needs, whiteboard and markers and virtually anything else you might need. Professional caterers are also available.

The Radisson offer many varied dining options. From  breakfast buffet to a casual dinner of regional or international cuisine, you can find it all at the Radisson.

The hotel features five different restaurants. The Deli Café, where you can enjoy a gourmet coffee with pastries. Drake’s Restaurant offers you international cuisine. In the Lobby bar you can enjoy live music and a variety of drinks. The Morgan Bar & Grill has a variety of starters and grill food you order while enjoying the swimming pool. Room service, is available 24/7, with a limited menu from 12 am to 6 am.

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Even with the charms of Panama calling, you just might be tempted to spend your stay right in the hotel. You can choose from any one of four different restaurants, the star of which is the popular Drake’s. The cuisine in this hot spot celebrates the role of Colon as a gateway to the Pacific. Local fare is the order of the day featuring Panama’s abundant natural fruits and seafood. As night falls, check out the casino, and Colon’s brisk nightlife.

A Colon adventure is one of Panama’s best. Experience our nation’s natural wonders while expanding your company’s markets in cooperation with the business friendly staff in Panama’s largest free zone—Colon.

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The Davis suites are close to both the Panama Canal and to the Colon Free Zone. If you are into heavy duty, duty free shopping, the Colon Free Zone is for you. This is the world’s second largest duty free zone next to Hong Kong. On roughly a square mile of land you will find duty free merchandise from all over the world. All you need for entry is a non-Panamanian passport!

This part of the world boasts of Columbus’ fifth voyage when he called a harbor to the east a “beautiful port.” Portobelo went on to become the site of a huge trade fair in the days of the Spanish Main, when Spanish galleons brought goods and returned with gold. In more recent history steamships brought passengers to Colon to board the Panama railway to cross the isthmus on their way to the California gold rush.

Today Colon is the Caribbean outlet from the Panama Canal and sees 5 percent of all world trade pass through it. From your room at the Davis Suites, you can visit the fortifications at Portobelo one day and go kayaking in the Panama Canal the next. You will want to make sure you save enough time and money to check out the deals at the Colon Free Zone or you will never forgive yourself.

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There are 2 presidential suites, furnished in style, with a large sitting room and bedroom. It also has a Jacuzzi and kitchen with microwave. It is just like being at home. Other rooms are available to suit your needs. There are the Royal Suites, which consist of a luxurious bedroom and a fully furnished sitting room and the Ambassadorial Suites, which have a kitchen, two bedrooms, one sitting room and a dining room. Also available are the Super Executive Deluxe Suites, the Double Rooms and the Single Rooms.

Among the services offered, there is a fully-equipped gym and a nature shop, where you will be able to get energizers and other supplements. Professional trainers are there to provide you with premium assistance. The Bush bar is the place you might want to go if what you are looking for is relaxation and a cozy environment with live music. The restaurants offer buffet, and la carte service is also available. A swimming pool outside has its own bar.

A massage salon might be the perfect therapy you require. If massages are not enough for you, the hotel offers a sauna, where you can relax and enjoy the steam baths. Modern washing machines are available in the laundries, which are also available for outside guests, from Mondays to Saturdays.

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The historic New Washington Hotel was originally constructed in 1913, following an order by William H. Taft. Taft felt that the fury of activity surrounding the canal justified an upscale hotel. The plan must have worked, the hotel’s first guest was Vincent Astor, a scion of one of the world’s wealthiest families.

The hotel is located in one of Colon’s more desirable areas on the corner at the point where the Panama Canal meets Manzanillo Bay. The property features classic Spanish Colonial architecture blended with design additions spanning nearly a hundred years of service.

The New Washington is one of the area’s more affordable hotels. You’ll find a wide array of excellent restaurants, as well as a casino and disco for fun after dark. The property has been updated with all the modern comforts you have come to expect.

Immerse yourself in Panama’s colorful history with a stay at Colon’s New Washington Hotel.

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When gold was discovered in California in 1848, it provided the impetus for building a method of fast transportation across the narrow Isthmus of Panama. With plans in progress for the Panama Railroad, Manzanillo Island was linked with the mainland by American entrepreneurs; including William H. Aspinwall. The engineers innovated a drainage plan to allow them to construct the railhead by first drawing off enough water from the swamps on and around the island to be able to build on it and connect it by bridge to the mainland.

The Panama Railroad asked for bids to construct the track from the Atlantic shore to the Pacific shore. The construction contract was awarded to a company headed by George M. Totten and John G. Trautwine, who sent an order to New Orleans to have a small pine board shack built and shipped to him. This was the first permanent structure in what became the town of Aspinwall which was later called Colon.

Due to the tropical diseases malaria and yellow fever; it is estimated that more than 12,000 people died during the construction of the Panama Railroad. The true numbers will never be available, because many of the people keeping records died too, some of them from cholera contaminated food or water.
The Panama Railroad is the most expensive railroad built in the world. Building the forty seven miles of track that inaugurated the first inter-ocean railroad cost – in addition to the lives of twelve thousand people – eight million dollars and five painstakingly muddy and mosquito tortured years of work. The workers who cleared the land and laid the track were from all over the world, but as they died by the thousands; those who survived stood apart.

These two brand new cruise passenger terminals represent an investment of $100 million dollars; and open more opportunities to offer dock services in Panama. It is estimated that during the cruise season 2007-2008, at least 192 cruise ships arrived at dockage in Panama with passengers, who will have graciously left at least 40 million dollars in their wake.

All these investments have resulted in the recognition of Panama as “Best Adventure Destination”. Panama is a wonderful place to visit. So there may be a new group of adventurers, who are cruise passengers landing in Colon or Panama City, doing cross country visits through the Panamanian highlands and beaches; then either join their ship on the other side of her canal transit, or fly home after extending their adventures overland.

Cruise ships dock at Colón 2000, next to Cristobal Port, the northern entrance to the Panama Canal. Colón is the second largest city in Panama, which was made a free trade zone in 1953. The Colon Free Trade Zone is now a huge merchandise mart for primarily wholesale business. While in Colon at the Cristobal Cruise Terminal (Pier 6), there are piers for two ships of any size. Colon 2000’s glass-and-marble terminal building has a large lounge, an Internet cafe, a huge duty-free shopping mall (part of the Colon Free Zone), restaurants, and craft shops. The entire complex is surrounded by landscaped parkland, and strong security systems.

Princess, Holland America, and Royal Caribbean were some of the first lines to include Colon 2000 as a port of call on some Panama Canal itineraries. It doesn’t hurt that they’re getting incentives by the Panamanian government: Panama has hedged its bets by establishing a 5-year program that pays cruise ships $2.50 to $12 per passenger for calls at any Panamanian port. The incentives grow as the passenger count rises, and additional incentives are offered to lines that register their ships in Panama.

Reconnect with your spirit of adventure at Meliá Panama Canal Hotel. Whether you are looking forward to spending your days venturing out in the tropical outdoors, visiting all of the attractions of Panama, or you are planning your next corporate business event, Meliá Panama Canal offers a lovely venue. Most all of the 258 rooms overlook the shores of Gatun Lake, just 10 minutes from the Free Trade Zone in Colon, and about 90 minutes from the Tocumen International Airport in Panama City.

The Meliá Hotel was originally built as a hospital for WWII service people in the 1940’s and then was used as the School of the Americas, a military training facility, until 1984. It then remained empty until the late nineties, when it was renovated into the Melia Hotel. So if you have allergy issues, be aware that this is an old building in the tropics, and consider other lodging.

The surroundings of Meliá Panama Canal Hotel offer the perfect scenery to explore and take part in the world famous bird watching eco-tourism of the region. Panama Canal’s Gatun locks on the Canal near Colon are a great way to see how the ships are able to travel across the Canal. You can visit and support the local indigenous community of Emberá on a canoe trip. Your companions may chose to take adventure tours through historic regions and tourist sites, enjoy the beaches of the Caribbean, deep-sea fishing, shopping and more. At the hotel, you can enjoy the outdoor pools, tennis and basketball courts, kayak excursions, nature walks on ecological trails.

Three restaurants, a piano bar and pool bar are available at the Melia, yet travelers reviews are strong in their recommendations to decline on the all inclusive offers from this hotel. At Meliá Panama Canal, business and pleasure will go hand in hand as you embark on a quest to discover the treasures of Panama, for yourself.

One guest didn’t hold back on her opinion…that traveler stated: “The Melia Panama has tremendous potential. However, several serious and mostly remediable flaws prevent it from even being a comfortable and pleasant destination. The service at this hotel does not come up to 5-star standards, is closer to 3-star.” And with the rates running from $159 – $231 per night including taxes, you may want a little more for your holiday.