HotelChatter

Inside these $500/night suites (Junior suites, for slightly less, offer a loft-style space, but have no bathtubs), guests get a pretty sizable living room, small kitchen area, and best of all: a balcony, with hammock, overlooking the Chagres River. Which, like the Ocean view rooms at Westin Playa Bonita, is definitely the view you should request upon check-in.

The rooms here are set up motel-style, with open-air walkways connecting all the rooms. Yet for an independent resort built smack in the middle of the rainforest, this place is seriously hooked up. An elevator provides access to all seven floors of the resort, and staff are constantly on call to make sure the rooms (which were 99% booked the day we visited) are immaculately swept, tidied and polished. Once you step inside your room, you don't for one minute feel like you're in the middle of a rainforest.

With good reason, the resort is super eco-conscious, and tries to get all guests to re-use towels and conserve water.

This place is great for couples on a honeymoon (a nearby privately-owned watchtower doubles as a romantic sunset dinner spot), or families—because the hotel offers restaurants, a pool, and fun-filled daytrips around the rainforest, little ones are less likely to feel bored.

 In addition to the Spa by Clarins (treatments range from $50-$210), a giant lobby greets guests, with an adorable wooden bar in the corner called Monkey Bar (above) that has giant floor-to-ceiling windows backing up to the river and Soberenia National Park. And if the rooms didn't offer the same stunning view, you might well find yourself drinking your days away in Pina Coladas right there at the bar.

[Photos: HotelChatter]