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In the News from Panama

Colombian Group Opens New Hotel in Panama City

Colombia-based investment firm Grupo Talarame has opened a 300-room luxury hotel in the heart of the financial district, adding options for visitors and business travelers—and more competition for existing hotels.

The 30-story Hotel Las Americas Golden Tower, located near the near the Patilla Hospital, enters the market at a time when Panama City is experiencing a glut of new hotel rooms. Occupancy rates are hovering below 50 percent and room rates have been dropping, despite growing demand.

While hotel operators are struggling, the competition is good news for travelers, who are finding a wide variety of deals on room prices. According to the Hotel Las Americas Golden Tower Web site, a deluxe room for a weekday night in September is $150.

The new hotel was designed by Uruguayan architect Carlos Ott. The new hotels features 285 hotel rooms and 15 suites. Of the rooms, 270 are “deluxe” rooms of 44 square meters. The Presidential Suite is 240 square meters with a terrace and Jacuzzi.

The hotel includes three restaurants, including a gourmet “tasting room” on the 29th floor. The spa advertises a “flotarium,” with mineral water for massages and treatments, “the only one n town.”

The tower includes three-story garage with 150 parking spaces.

“The venture is a unique project, which we hope will become an icon of the city,” Andrés Felipe Ordoñez president of Talarame, said in a statement.