Where to stay in Panama City as an observant family

Which neighborhood is best for an observant family?

For most families, Punta Paitilla is the answer: the shuls, the kosher restaurants, a kosher supermarket and the start of the Cinta Costera waterfront park are all within a few minutes of each other.

How far is each hotel from shul?

We cross-checked these against the walking times Chabad publishes for 11 of the same hotels, and ours are within 1 to 3 minutes of theirs.¹ For the Plaza Paitilla Inn we use the street route to Beth El; a shorter path exists on the map, through a passage we couldn’t confirm is public. Hotels near synagogues lets you pick your hotel and see the walk to each shul, and ranks every hotel by its nearest shul. For prices on your dates, our hotel rate search shows live rates; booking on the site isn’t open yet, so we help you book.

What does “Shabbat-friendly” mean here?

We use a written test, not an impression. A hotel passes if it is on Chabad of Panama City’s hotel list, or if our map route puts it within about 1.2 km (around 15 minutes) of an Orthodox shul. Most pass both ways; a few pass on the walk alone.

13 hotels are workable with planning: they are within about an hour’s walk of a shul, like the Hyatt Regency, the AC Hotel and the four hotels in Casco Viejo, or they are a beach resort where an observant family has documented a self-catered Shabbat. Passing the test says nothing about keys, doors or elevators, which most hotels don’t publish.

Room keys, doors and elevators: what we know

• Eshel Suites is the only hotel that publishes mechanical room doors. Chabad describes it as built for Shabbat use: no electronic keys or doors, no sensors, no elevator and only low floors.²
• Floors: Chabad notes that rooms at the Plaza Paitilla Inn start on the 2nd floor and at the Residence Inn on the 6th.²
• Shabbat elevators: no hotel publishes one, so ask the hotel directly before you book.
• Staff help: Chabad says the neighborhood hotels know Shabbat guests and staff will open doors and take guests to their rooms, but that hotels generally have electric doors and light sensors.

Can we cook or keep kosher food in the room?

Eshel Suites has kosher kitchens in its suites, according to Chabad, which labels it a kosher hotel (no certifying agency is named).¹ Every other hotel is not kosher. The Residence Inn has suites with kitchens or kitchenettes, and in Boquete the Boquete Garden Inn has a kitchenette in each room. Families elsewhere rely on Chabad’s meals and take-out, kosher restaurants and Shabbat meals delivered to the hotel.

If you rent an apartment instead, Shevet Ahim publishes a list of 17 elevators it certifies for Shabbat in residential towers in Bella Vista, La Cresta, Paitilla and Punta Pacífica, plus one in Coronado, most with a passenger limit. The list dates from about January 2023, so confirm it with the building.³

What about the beach or Boquete?

The beach resorts near the city have no shul, minyan or eruv in reach and no certified kosher food. A beach Shabbat therefore means self-catering: every meal delivered from Panama City’s kosher businesses before Shabbat, and room access settled with the hotel in advance. Most families visit the beach on a weekday or Sunday instead.

In Boquete, Panamonte is about 15 minutes on foot from Chabad of Boquete. Chabad Boquete also rents five rooms steps away from its center, published at $75 a night on weeknights and $120 in total for Friday and Saturday nights, and serves Shabbat meals by reservation.⁴ We found no eruv information for Boquete.