Sheraton Grand Panama ★★★★★

The Hotel San Francisco Was Built Around

Via Israel is the long avenue that runs east from the bay towards the airport road, and for decades the Sheraton has been its anchor. The building sits at Calle 77 in San Francisco, beside the Atlapa convention centre, and it is laid out horizontally rather than vertically: gardens, two pools, a casino block, a wellness club and five restaurants spread across the grounds. Three hundred and fifty six rooms make it one of the largest addresses in the city. Arrive in the afternoon and the place reads like a small campus rather than a tower.

Why It Works

Very few hotels in Panama City let you do everything without leaving. Here the choice runs from a poolside grill to a bakery counter to a sports bar, and the INERGY wellness club gives the stay a proper spa floor rather than a treatment room. The Sheraton Club lounge turns a working trip into a comfortable one. And the scale means the hotel absorbs a convention without the rest of the property seizing up, which is the failure mode of smaller business hotels in this city.

Why This Location

San Francisco is residential Panama City: leafier than Marbella, quieter at night, and a few minutes from Parque Omar, the city park where locals run in the early morning. The Atlapa centre is next door, Multiplaza is close, and the corridor to Tocumen airport starts here, which is why the drive out is 18 kilometres rather than a crawl across town. Albrook, the domestic airport for flights to Bocas del Toro and the islands, is about 10 kilometres the other way. The bay and Casco Viejo need a taxi, and that is the trade off.

Fast Facts

• Price: Premium

• Vibe: Large, green, convention city, family capable

• Rooms: 356 rooms and suites, with Sheraton Club floors

• Best For: Business travellers with meetings at Atlapa, families who want two pools, travellers with early flights from either airport

• Our Favorite Thing About the Hotel: Mi Rincon, the poolside grill, which turns lunch into the middle of the day rather than an interruption

• Dining: Restaurante Bahia for international menus, Las Hadas for bakery and local specialities, Aromas for infusions and desserts, Mi Rincon by the pool, The Yardline sports bar, and Lobby Bar 507

• Amenities: INERGY Wellness and Social Club, Sheraton Grand pool and a splash pool, casino, 24 hour fitness centre, Sheraton Club lounge, extensive meeting space, hotel car service

• Attractions: Atlapa Convention Centre next door, Parque Omar, Multiplaza, Albrook airport about 10 km, Tocumen airport about 18 km

Rooms, and Whether the Club Floor Is Worth It

The room stock is deep enough that availability rarely becomes the problem it is at boutique addresses downtown. Standard rooms are generous and quiet away from the pool side. The Sheraton Club lounge is the decision to make: it is complimentary for Platinum members and otherwise charged per stay, and it pays for itself on a working trip where breakfast and evening drinks would otherwise be restaurant meals. Families are well served, with the splash pool as the argument that usually settles the afternoon.

Five Kitchens, One Poolside Grill

Bahia carries the international and themed menus, and it is where most guests eat on the first night. Las Hadas is the bakery, and it is good enough that Panamanians drop in without staying. Aromas handles infusions, snacks and desserts in the afternoon. The Yardline is the sports bar, busy when there is a match. Mi Rincon, the grill by the pool, is the one to plan around: it is where the hotel feels least like a business address.

What to Know Before You Book

Check in is at 3pm, check out at noon. The proximity to Atlapa is the hotel's character rather than an incidental detail, so ask what is in the convention diary if you want quiet grounds. The hotel runs its own car service to both airports at fixed rates, which is useful for an early departure. And if you are combining the city with the islands, note that Albrook is the closer of the two airports, not Tocumen.