Courtyard Panama at Metromall Mall is a good place to stay if you have an early morning flight as it’s a straight shoot down Av Domingo Diaz to the airport.

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Since Panama City (PTY) is the hub airport for COPA and a solid Star Alliance connection, many people will find themselves in need of an overnight near the airport.   It’s a decent 3 star hotel and a bargain using 10,000 Marriott Reward points.  Since I had points from a Facebook game in 2012, I thought this was a good use of them.

Beware of taxis which can be a rip-off $15 or even more coming from the airport.  You can get a bus from the bus stop across the street from the hotel (use the bridge over the highway) for $1.  Normally you need a bus pass which would bring the ride down to .40-.50 cents but it’s hard to find them so we just offered locals who had bus passes $1 each to get us on board.  It would be really nice if this hotel would offer a free airport shuttle but they don’t.

The hotel is next door to a large modern shopping centre with a supermarket if you need to stock up on drinks.  There is a food court with all kinds of cuisines on offer at reasonable prices.  It has a swimming pool which we didn’t have time to use and free wifi with an average speed.

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I would only recommend this hotel as a pre-flight stay as there are much nice places in Panama City, let alone the Radisson Summit near Soberania National Park!  But since many flights do leave early in the morning, it may come in handy.  Trip Advisor reviews seem to also agree the hotel serves it’s purpose as an airport hotel but nothing to get excited about.

If you are on a points stay, breakfast won’t be included.  We used United Club passes to get into the Copa Club for continental breakfast.

If you don’t have Marriott points and are looking for a reasonably priced cash stay, also consider the Riande Aeropuerto Hotel which is a bit closer to the airport, has a free shuttle and has more attractive grounds (that look like they may attract birds)!