BirdHouse@Gamboa, Panama Canal

One of the most beautiful and unique stays I have had through VRBO. Chimene was a wonderful host, with excellent communication and recommendations. It was incredible to see so much wildlife from the deck, while watching ships pass on the canal. Check out Treehouse Pizza in Gamboa for delicious pizza and sticky buns.

Beautifully artistic home. Loved everything about it!

We booked this home for an 8-day getaway, drawn in by the private pool. Unfortunately, we left after just one night.The House: The interior is mostly as advertised, and the homeowner is clear about the lack of AC on the main and primary bedroom levels. While we accepted this upfront, the interior still presented issues. The primary bed had several mosquitos on the comforter before we even got in—enough to make my husband refuse to sleep in it. We relocated to the lower level, which thankfully has AC. The biggest concern inside was the primary shower, which faces another home with no covering on a large window. We had to shower in the dark the first night and crouch low the next morning to maintain privacy.The Pool: This was the dealbreaker. The water was murky and uninviting—you couldn’t see the bottom. The host attributed it to diatomaceous earth used for filtration, but this wasn’t disclosed in the listing. It's still not a pool we felt comfortable for family usage. The surrounding area was also misrepresented: broken lounge chairs, the shade structure was no longer there, and red ants everywhere. We never used the pool and chose to leave the property after 1 night. Photos can support our experience. Location: Definitely know you are 40 minutes from Panama City and there are not many restaurant options near the home.Overall would recommend some owner TLC to the outside of the home. For the rate per night, we definitely expected a lot more.

Care about the aesthetics of where you're staying? This is a beautiful indoor/outdoor pavilion with interesting art and a fabulous outdoor space. There are lots of spaces for four adults to be together or by themselves, and our family loved the house. The location is an easy drive from the airport and is very convenient to bird-watching on Pipeline Road or the launch for many of the canal tours. Logistics for the trip were made so much easier with all the information provided by our hosts. Shopping and dining recommendations were all provided in advance, as well as contacts for other services like in-home cooking or tour guides. The house itself had everything we could think of and then some. Loved our week spent at The Birdhouse!

The house itself is beautifully designed with wide open spaces and beautiful wood interior! The kitchen is well appointed with every amenity you could possibly need to prepare great meals! The master bedroom at the top is a triumph with a balcony overlooking the garden and pool where every sort of tropical bird - including two types of toucans come to visit every day. The host could not be more helpful recommending tours, hikes, restaurants, supermarkets! She even loaned us her hiking polls. The ground floor is perfect for young people and we can’t wait to take our young adult kids back! Thank you Gamboa and the Bird House for a wonderful stay!

One of a kind home with a character and design unlike any other we’ve seen. It was a memorable stay with lovely times in the pool listening to the howler monkeys in the nearby hills We had the added benefit of getting to know the property owner Chimene. Thank you! Team Canada

Pictures can't capture how truly lovely this house is: charming sleeping rooms, a well-appointed kitchen, and comfortable common areas for the family to gather were only the beginning. Books, artwork, and personal touches made this place seem like our cozy home and not just another rental space. Our hosts were friendly, helpful, but never intrusive: they took care of us before check-in by setting up hummingbird feeders far enough in advance to establish a resident population, guided us through the day-to-day necessities like shopping and utilities, and followed though after check-out to be sure our experience was wonderful throughout. The kids loved the pool and our friendly Black Vulture friend. Nature lovers should not hesitate to book this oasis - my favorite parts of the visit were the early mornings sitting on the deck with a coffee, watching the Toucans and Tamarins along with my favorite, a gorgeous Squirrel Cuckoo (and a host of other birds and animals!). Gamboa is a marvelous small town, well away from the city chaos but with fantastic recreational options near at hand. We swam in a waterfall pool, hiked the world-famous Pipeline road, saw giant ships on the Canal, visited a native village (ask the hosts for a guide recommendation, so much more affordable than other published options!), took the kids to a zoo and playground, and even spent a day on the Caribbean side of Panama a fairly short drive away. I'm home now, exhausted, but ever so grateful for the once-in-a-lifetime memories of our Bird House trip. Book this place. Book this place. Book this place. It's magical.

Home stands out above all others, no home like it in the neighborhood – simply put unique.

If you want to wake up surrounded by nature, with the sounds of parrots and howler monkeys in your ears, be able to rest and relax in an amazing beautiful, bespoke house and also be able to get into Panama City for it's vibrancy this place is for you. You are right in the rainforest with easy access to tours and daytrips, but also totally self-sufficient if you want. We love this location and have stayed multiple times. We always look forward to going back.

There are times in life that despite one's efforts things still go wrong. The first night in the Birdhouse was one of those times. We were 4 female friends. Check-in day we had taken a 30 min boat ride, a taxi, hour plane, rented a car, visited Casa Viejo & Locks, grocery shopped & drove to the Birdhouse. We arrived ‪at the estimated time and went in as instructed. Our first greeting was a very cute bat swooping above our heads. We have all had bats in our house. Next we're the bedrooms which were behind the opaque facade walls. They were very difficult to opened. When we eventually found the bedrooms it was a punch in the gut. There was a strong smell of mildew & each bedroom was in a dark dank cubby hole. I am baffled as to why this information is not in any reviews? We had no way to phone contact owner/host as the WiFi password was not provided. The man across the street knew the password so we could make call The conversation was a disappointment. She came across as condescending. I'm sure it wasn't her intent, but that was how it presented. When I shared our complaints about no host to greet us, her response was “well most people like to be on their own to explore. The receiving host was her plan, and she never asked what we preferred. In addition, it's SOP in the field to have someone receive guests. When I mentioned any problems, her response was well your in the jungle. I knew where I was. I explained the downstairs was too smelly to sleep in and again her response was that’s how it smells in the jungle.(Apparently she was at an event and trying to appease me. We were both in bad places to communicate.) We all felt it was a health risk to sleep downstairs so we shared the only other bedroom & the two other girls slept on the couches in the living room no pullout bed. In all my planning I never envisioned that we would spend that amount of money to be sleeping on couches & doubling up in bed. In the end I would stay here again because it is the nicest house in Gamboa. Only as a couple/maybe one child. I did look around in the basement for any mold/mildew but could find none. All appeared clean. The owner reported that the housekeeper uses vinegar and bleach to keep the smell down. Dangerous combo. She stated that when no one is there they turn off the air conditioners. There were no dehumidifiers. (I see the problem now.) I just want others to know about the basement. I hope you enjoy your stay as in the end we did.