News

Two new hotels have opened in Panama City in recent weeks, as international hotel brands race to stake their claim on the local market.

On Oct. 29 the Hyatt chain officially opened its first Hyatt-branded hotel in Panama, the 165-room Hyatt Place Panama City. The hotel is located in the heart of the financial zone and represents an effort by Hyatt to expand the Hyatt Place brand in Latin America, which it calls an “upscale select service hotel.”

The Hyatt complex was developed by Immobiliaria Panama and there are reports that a second Hyatt is in development on Costa del Este.

“We have been on a path of meaningful growth in the region and being represented in Panama is important because our guests are traveling there for business and pleasure,” Hyatt vice president of Latin America and the Caribbean Myles McGourty said in a press release.

The other new hotel is the 60-room Grace Panama, which is located in Panama’s distinctive Twist Tower. Described as a “contemporary urban boutique hotel,” the hotel is the first in Central America for the luxury chain.

The hotel will occupy the ground floor and the 13th to 17th floors of the tower, plus a lap pool on the 12th floor.

Both new hotel properties provide further evidence of the international interest in Panama City, particularly by brands that paid little attention to the region in the past. In September, Hilton Hotels opened its first branded hotel in Panama City.

Earlier this year, hospitality officials announced that more than 13,000 hotel rooms are now available in Panama City, almost double the number in 2007. More are expected in the near future, including a W, and more hotels will emerge to coincide with the opening of the Amador Convention Center next year.

Hyatt is among the international brands rumoured to be targeting an Amador expansion to handle the expected need for more hotel rooms.

In the short term, the result will almost certainly be a glut of hotel rooms in Panama City. But hotel companies are preparing for the growth they know is coming. And more visitors means more sales and rentals in Punta Pacifica.

Duncan McGowan is president of Punta Pacifica Realty, a Panama real estate agency focused on Punta Pacifica, the exclusive neighborhood of 18 towers perched on the edge of the Pacific Ocean.