Discovering Panama without leaving the hotel

Text: Armando Cerra

Photos: Mónica Grimal

What did we know before landing in Panama? Almost nothing. That it is crossed by the famous Canal. That a few years ago it opened all the news for a few papers full of frauds. And that a genius like Rubén Blades was born there. Oh, and that they have hats that carry the name of the country around the world! Although that seems to have some nuances to clarify. But to find out, you will have to read until the end.

To correct all our ignorance, we stayed at a hotel in Panama City that is a gigantic illustrated travel guide. A fabulous introduction to thoroughly enjoying the Central American country. That hotel is the W Panama (without the accent mark for corporate reasons of the Marriott hotel group of which it is part).

It is part of the forest of skyscrapers that is the financial district of Panama City. And it is just a stone’s throw from the Cinta Costera. An ideal location to get close to the attractions of the capital. But that will be later, because now it’s time to take a stroll with our guide Yamal Silcott, W Insider of the hotel, a lover of his work, of the culture and of the traditions of the country.

We met him at the welcome desk, where we couldn’t stop admiring the thousand and one details of the decoration. Its colour and luminosity struck us even more coming from the dimness that surrounds the entrance on the ground floor, from which one ascends to the lobby on the 15th floor.

But everything has a meaning, Yamal tells us. The semi-darkness of the corridors is inspired by the dim light that barely makes its way through the thicket of the trees. rain forest or the humid jungles of Panamanian territory. This gloomy atmosphere is recreated so that guests can enter a place that surprises them at every step.

An example is the lobby, which is a burst of colour. The enormous white reception desk is striking. It seems out of context. More like Versailles than the Tropics. But no. In reality, it is a piece of furniture inspired by the long French presence in the city. And behind it stands a wall made of scraps of fabric in various colours and shapes. Like the patches used by mulatto women to sew their skirts for dancing the Congo dance.

Although it is difficult to look away from that wall, we take the opportunity to check in and leave our luggage in the room. By the way, it is a very large suite! There is a gigantic bed, but also a small living room, a dressing area full of mirrors, a bathroom where nothing is missing and even a hydromassage bathtub, which offers views over the capital thanks to the floor-to-ceiling windows that close two of the four walls of the suite.

It makes you want to fill it with water, add salt and relax for a while. However, Yamal awaits us on the Wet Deck, the pool area on the 15th floor to continue the tour of the hotel. Or in other words, take a walk through the history of the country. However, as soon as we arrive, our guide asks us about the room and some of its details. Like if we have noticed the pillows woven as if they were molas made by the Kuna ethnic group or if we have seen the lamps that evoke artisanal basketry.

Everything has a reason. Everything is reminiscent of Panamanian culture and past, both distant and more recent chapters in time. A good example can be seen next to the pool. There, between skyscrapers, is the Wet Bar, with its container-like appearance. A clear allusion to the container ships that have crossed the Canal every day for more than 100 years.

But that’s not all. There are other containers spread throughout the W Panama and each one of them is transformed into a mural depicting a canal episode. In the case of the Wet Bar, it is about representing a milestone for the future of the country. Specifically, when the Cosco Shipping Panama ship inaugurated the long-awaited expansion of the Canal in June 2016.

This painting, like the rest that decorate the hotel’s containers, is also a tribute to the way the city’s public buses are painted. The so-called red devils. That’s why the work was commissioned to an artist like Óscar Melgar, capable of transmitting that urban and contemporary tone that the W Hotels brand likes so much.

Once we leave the pool and return inside, we see more containers. One of them houses the destination bar, whose walls depict the 1977 agreement in which Torrijos on behalf of Panama and Carter representing the United States signed the return of the Canal to the country that hosts it. Something that did not materialize until 1999!

Nearby is the Living Room, a tribute to maritime traffic. The walls are painted in a dark, almost black blue, the colour of the night sea. And in that night, white cubes light up, like the lights of ships in the distance. In addition, yellow ropes run here and there, simulating the moorings of ships. Meanwhile, a kind of coloured Tetris runs through the furniture and the wall, imitating the cargo of a merchant ship. And of course, there is another large container, this time hanging like a DJ booth with images alluding to the remembered Panama Railroad.

The Living invites you to have a cocktail, but we have to continue the route through the hotel. Now we arrive to the Moró restaurant. The dining room for breakfast, lunch and dinner. A magnificent place to discover local products. Sometimes with a very modern setting, such as a mashed otoe with cracklings or a beetroot risotto. And on other occasions with an appearance as traditional as it is exquisite, without going any further, a good sancocho or a hearty rice with chicken and chicken will satisfy anyone. In short, we left Moró salivating, but we will get our revenge at dinner time.

We cross the welcome desk and finally we will have a good Balboa beer at La Cajita, another more informal bar and restaurant at W Panama. With a food truck spirit. You will have already guessed that it is located in another container. A spectacular one for its graffiti paying homage to all the Panamanian workers who made and make the existence of their Canal possible. A tribute that has been personified with the portrait of Cecil Haynes, who began working there in 1928 and remained there until the year 2000. A true institution in the Canal, so much so that one of the tugboats bears his name.

This unique “tour” concludes and now it’s time to go out into the streets to discover the city. But first, Yamal recommends that we look at the gallery of “painted” hats that decorate the entrance to the W Panama. These are the authentic hats of the country, with shades and shapes somewhat different from the so-called Panama hat. A mistake that is also linked to the Canal. In Panama, everything is! It is said that when Roosevelt visited the lock works in 1906 he was photographed wearing this type of hat, which actually originated in Ecuador, but due to those images in the press, what was previously known as a jipijapa came to be called a Panama hat. And so it goes until today. The whims of history!