US$100–150

Hotel Ladera (tel. 730-9000, www.hotel-ladera.com [1], US$142 s/d) is essentially a business hotel in a country-resort location. It’s just across the bridge from the Panamonte [2], on the east bank of the Río Caldera and offers formal service and rooms that have firm beds, terraces, TVs, and a vaguely Japanese-minimalist air. The restaurant/bar is handsome in an austere 1970s-bachelor-pad kind of way (split-level, double-sided fireplace).

Just up the street from Pensión Marilós [3] is Hotel Rebequet (tel. 720-1365, US$96.80 s, US$121 d), a modern place with nine large, clean, pleasant rooms set around an interior courtyard. All have small TVs and refrigerators. Prices for this place have doubled since the last edition of this book, so it’s not the great deal it once was. Boquete [4] hotels in this price range generally offer more. But the Rebequet is a consistently solid option, and it’s worth calling to see if deals are available.

Hotel Los Establos (tel. 720-2685, www.losestablos.net [5], US$143 s/d, US$253 for suites) was originally part of the Valle Escondido empire, with similar Spanish-mission decor, but is now under new management. It’s 0.7 kilometers farther up the hill from La Moñtana y El Valle: The Coffee Estate Inn [6]. As its name suggests, it was originally meant to be a horse stables but became a hotel instead. Its pastoral setting is stunning: It has a panoramic view of Volcán Barú [7] and the surrounding countryside. On its four hectares, a spacious bar area with pool table looks out on a large garden, at the far edge of which is a new restaurant (7 a.m.–9 p.m. daily) with terrific views of Boquete valley and Barú.

There are just four rooms downstairs and two suites upstairs in the main building. Two new rooms have been added in a separate building. The suites consist of a small bedroom attached to a small sitting room, though the latter is glass-enclosed and gets a lot of light.

Each of the downstairs rooms has a tiny terrace, but, oddly enough, only one of them looks out on the volcano. All the rooms have cable TV and a DVD player; guests need to bring their own DVDs (they can be rented in downtown Boquete).

The Riverside Inn (tel. 720-1076, www.riversideinnboquete.com [8], starts at US$137.50 s/d, including breakfast), consists of six opulent rooms in a lovely wooden house by the Río Palo Alto. The best of the bunch (and, naturally, the most expensive) is the Orchidea, which features a handsome, king-size four-poster bed and a large bathroom with a whirlpool tub, both of which look out on the Río Palo Alto.

All rooms have free wireless Internet access and televisions with cable TV and DVD players. The common areas feature a cozy sitting room with stone fireplace and a TV room/solarium. The hotel is under the same management as the Rock Restaurant, which is just next door.