TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

We are currently staying at the resort. Our king river view room is spacious, clean and comfortable. The view is amazing and the hammock is perfect. The monkey bar is slow, but the bar food is good. The ala cart restaurant is delicious. We just had the fish of the day, filet, soups and a cocktail and bottle of wine for under $100. Both entrees weee delicious. We enjoyed it so much, we’ve already decided to eat there again tomorrow. If you’re doing the Copa stay in Panama, you get a discount on the rooms.

We stayed 2 nights at Gamboa rainforest reserve and it was just enough. We booked the resort with the expectations that the facility wouldn’t be in the best condition and that the food was subpar. The location is AMAZING! It’s close to Panama City yet far enough away to experience the rainforest and all it has to offer. We booked the upgraded room with the river view and hammock. The room is clean and comfortable with a spectacular view. There was no mildew smell. I highly recommend this room: 727. The staff in general were nice and pleasant. The biggest issues: Pool was not clean and water was cloudy. We didn’t use the pool as we came to explore the forest so we were unaffected. Food was TERRIBLE! The breakfast buffet was just okay but lunch and dinner were comparable to food you would find at a Cuban resort. Food is also expensive. We did one lunch buffet, one dinner at the à la carte and one dinner at the monkey bar. There are no other choices as this resort is not close to other restaurants. This was the biggest deterrent as to why we did not stay for more than 2 nights. The tour company within the resort was misleading and we were very disappointed with the service. We had booked a hiking tour that was supposed to be 3 hours and we were finished in 1.5 hours. We were 4 adults ages 42,44,75 and 76. They changed $67 per person! We ended up fighting with them and refused to pay as this was not the tour we agreed to. We ended up canceling another tour we had booked as we didn’t trust the service. There is a public marina just down the street where you can do the same tours at a lower cost. If you go to the resort with the expectation that you’ll have a clean room surrounded by paradise but you’ll be eating low end food, you’ll have a good stay.

Stayed at Gamboa Rainforest Resort with our family. The location and surroundings are beautiful, but the pool is extremely unsafe. There are sharp, poorly maintained edges. Our son fell and suffered a deep cut reaching the muscle and had to be rushed to the hospital for stitches. This was terrifying and completely preventable. We do not recommend the pool at all, especially for children. Management should take responsibility and urgently address safety and maintenance issues before someone else gets seriously injured.

This was our second stay at the Gamboa Reserve. Encountered the same issues a few years ago on our visit. The front desk check in was seamless. The rooms are spacious and clean. The view from the deck is a perfect spot to listen and watch the many birds in the jungle. Interrupted by staff weed eating and leaf blowing between the hours of 7am and 9am. The a/c works well but was very loud. The level of service in the bar and restaurants was not up to international standards. The service required so much patience. The bar staff treated us like we were a burden to them. When the bar food finally came it was sub par. Not one smile in the morning when ordering coffee. We had dinner in the private dining room. The service was a bit better but the food was not worth it. All “freezer to fryer “ food. Hope that the service and food improves soon. I will find someplace else to stay on my next visit to Gamboa. Maybe some customer service seminars for the staff is needed. This could be an amazing place.

The location and the bird/animal life is amazing. However, the property needs more of an investment, and the unfriendliness of the staff was really palpable. The front desk check-in was fine, but particularly at the restaurants, including the monkey bar, staff were really not helpful or welcoming. And when you are trying to figure out tours, probably best to do on line and register in advance as tours, such as the Pipeline, fill up. This place has so much potential and I just hope they can bring it up to the next level.