Hotel Palma Royale ★★★★

Fifteen Keys on Main Street, Fifteen Metres From the Sea

Bocas del Toro is an archipelago in the Caribbean corner of Panama, close to the Costa Rican border, and Bocas Town on Isla Colon is the door to all of it. The town is a grid of clapboard houses on stilts, painted in the colours the banana trade left behind, with water taxis pulling away from every second pier. Main Street runs its length and carries most of the noise. Palma Royale sits on that street, fifteen metres from the sea, and answers the setting by building for quiet: travertine, bamboo floors, double insulation between the rooms, warm colour in place of tropical pastiche.

Why It Works

Most of the archipelago's good rooms are out on the water, on Bastimentos or Carenero, which is wonderful until you want dinner, a pharmacy or the last boat back. Staying in town solves that, and this is the house in town that takes the standard seriously. Fifteen keys, ten of them suites, several with full kitchens, and a penthouse with two bedrooms for a family. Everything you need is on the street outside, including a specialty grocery next door, and the airport is four minutes away, which counts on an island where every arrival involves a small plane or a boat.

Why This Location

Main Street is the spine of Bocas Town: restaurants, dive shops, boat operators and the piers where the water taxis leave for Bastimentos, Carenero and Solarte. Everything in town is on foot. From those piers you reach Red Frog Beach, Starfish Beach on the north shore of Isla Colon, the mangroves of the marine park, and the surf at Paunch and Bluff in season. Bocas del Toro airport is four minutes away by road, with flights to Panama City and David, while the land route runs through Almirante. What the address buys you is time on the water rather than time spent getting to it.

Fast Facts

• Price: Premium

• Vibe: Caribbean town outside, calm and unfussy inside

• Rooms: 15 keys in all, 4 rooms, 10 suites and a penthouse with two bedrooms and a wraparound balcony

• Best For: Divers and snorkellers, families who want a kitchen, travellers using the town as a base for the islands

• Our Favorite Thing About the Hotel: The double insulation between the rooms, which on the liveliest street in the archipelago is worth more than any view

• Dining: Main Street's kitchens are at the door, with a specialty grocery and deli next door for the suites that have their own

• Amenities: Sea-view balconies or garden patios in every category, full kitchens in several suites, fridges throughout, the piers within a short walk

• Attractions: Water taxis to Bastimentos and Carenero from the piers, Starfish Beach on the north of Isla Colon, Red Frog Beach, the marine park mangroves, the surf breaks at Paunch and Bluff

Four Rooms, Ten Suites and a Penthouse

Fifteen keys split into four rooms, ten suites and one penthouse, an unusual ratio and the reason to look past the standard category. The rooms are compact and give onto either a garden patio or the street. The suites are where the house makes its case, with sea-view balconies, more space and, in several of them, full kitchens, which changes both what a week in the archipelago costs and how it feels. The penthouse takes the top floor with two bedrooms, two bathrooms and a balcony that wraps the corner. Travertine and bamboo run through all of them, and every category has a fridge.

Water Taxis, Starfish Beach and the Rest of the Archipelago

The reason to sleep in town is the boats. The piers on Main Street send water taxis across to Bastimentos, Carenero and Solarte through the day, and the operators for diving, snorkelling and the marine park work the same stretch. Starfish Beach lies on the north shore of Isla Colon, reachable by road or by water; Red Frog Beach is a short crossing to Bastimentos. In season the breaks at Paunch and Bluff work the Caribbean side of the island. Fix the boat the evening before rather than the morning of, and keep the last day loose: the crossing back is short, but the weather decides.