Hotel La Corolina – Bocas Del Toro, Panama

It is no secret that Lindsay and I take great pride in the places we stay when we travel. Getting the right place to stay can not only enhance your experience but it can also affect your overall impressions of a given destination. We truly found a gem on the island paradise in Panama called Bocas Del Toro. While doing research for the trip I stumbled upon some blog post about a couple that was exploring a particular side of the island that was not as developed. They mentioned that they saw this amazing house on the hill and that they heard it was a new guesthouse getting ready to open up. There was no website but they did mention the name of the hotel “La Corolina” which helped me track down a MySpace page. From there I got the phone number for the owner and before we knew it we had booked ourselves a room. We flew into Bocas Del Toro in the late evening after a short flight from Panama City. We were met at the small airport by an American Man, and his local sidekick, driving an awesome truck/jeep thing with an open back with benches. It turns out he was the boyfriend of the owner and was there to pick us up and drive us out to La Corolina. We threw our bags, and ourselves, in the back of the truck with the local kid and took off up the coast. The drive was simply spectacular. We passed through the awesome Afro Caribbean town of Bocas before eventually ending up on a dirt road that hugs the coast. The dirt road had numerous water puddles/pot holes and it almost felt like a roller coaster in some spots it was so bumpy. Also, every once in awhile the road would sort of disappear and we would all of the sudden be driving directly on a beach…needless to say it was an awesome “airport pick-up.” Eventually we made our way to La Corolina and Lindsay and I were blown away. Perched up on a small hill above the ocean was a beautiful Spanish style home painted yellow/white. All of the windows and doors were open-air and shaped like an arch and the roof was made entirely of tile. The structure had been recently restored and it looked spectacular. Next to the home was a huge deck surrounded by palm trees that overlooked the ocean. In the middle of the deck was a bar with chairs/tables all around. The owner (Linda was her name I believe) came out to meet us and was extremely nice. She walked us over to a small structure adjacent to the main house to show us our private room which was simply spectacular. The interior was decorated with local materials and was a mix between modern/Caribbean. It was definitely one of the most beautiful and unique rooms we have ever stayed in. The owner was very glad we liked it as she said that the previous guest was from “Park City, UT” and was very snobby and unimpressed. We laughed and explained that we were also from UT but not nearly as snobby as people from Park City. :) The next few days on Bocas Del Toro were simply amazing. This was partly because the Hotel La Corolina was so unique and beautiful. For Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner Lindsay and I would sit out on the huge deck and just look out over the ocean. The owner and her staff would cook for us and make drinks and also gave us some great conversation. The resident dogs “Lola” and “sugar” were always nearby and we loved hanging out with them. On one particular night it started raining extremely hard and we just sat out on the deck and watched/listened as an epic storm came over the island. Lindsay and I have stayed in some incredible places during our travels and Hotel La Corolina in Bocas Del Toro is easily amongst the coolest of them all.