The Hotel itself is an old Canal builders house situated in the Casco Viejo section of town which is know as the French section due to its narrow streets and balconies overlooking the road below. Currently there is a lot of renovation happening in the area and Casa Mar Alta was one of the first newly renovated buildings. The house itself has been restored to its 19th Century former glory and the house name Casa Mar Alta mean 'high tide'.

The house has 2 rooms in total and must be Panama's smallest hotel. There is the penthouse room and a deluxe room. Casa Mar Alta is a great place to spend your first or last night in Panama as the Casco Viejo section of the City offers some of the best cuisine in town.

The Penthouse, located in the second and third floor of the building, was designed to offer its visitors intimate luxury, maximum comfort and colonial elegance, highlighted by the owners private collection of art that covers all the walls of the hotel. The penthouse has 2 bedrooms with their own bathrooms, living room, dining room, kitchen and roof top terrace with views of the city.

The second room in the hotel is a much smaller room and has 1 bedroom with 2 beds in. All the room shave the typical French style balconies overlooking the cobbled street below as well as french doors and windows and Panamanian hardwood flooring.

Originally rebuilt from a house designed by an aristocratic French family during the failed French Canal between 1872 and 1880, it was restored in 1923 and later abandoned by its owners 50 years later. It laid to rot until in 1998, when its current owners restored Mar Alta to its original details using original French design to give the house its former shape.

The hotel is also located on the walkway around the entrance to the Panama canal where you can see the Kuna selling their molas to tourists and you will also se Noriega's old officers club.

Review:

'I enjoyed a dining room, office, sitting room, sun terrace, bedroom and maid's quarters. I could have stayed there forever.' -- Howard Marks, London Observer.

'If you looking for a taste of Panama and want to be in the thick of it to absorb the culture then Casa Mar Alta is a wonderful place to stay. The Penthouse must be the most economical room in the whole of Panama!!'

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