Hotels can be just a convenience—-but sometimes they’re part of the travel adventure. In Panama City, Hotel Indigo makes sure the wonders of life on St. Andrew Bay are highly visible, and accessible. It’s right on the marina and very new—opened in the summer of 2023.
Dozens of casual seating arrangements overlook the water. Choose from fully open-air patios or covered spaces for shade from the sun but inviting for bay breezes. A wide lawn with a small pavilion becomes a waterside movie screening stage some evenings, and concert venue other times.
Floor five is the top, with big-window rooms and a gathering place called Steam on 5, paying homage to the era of steamships, to steamed seafood and the sunsets.
Libations and light bites, plus local seafood, available.
Thirty of the 124 rooms have balconies. All have a mini fridge and free wifi.
And every one has art to make you wonder! Hotel Indigo Panama City Marina is most likely the only place to find a painting of a young woman walking an alligator on a leash–in front of the very recognizable Martin Theater a few blocks away.
A seafaring captain portrait hangs right next to her—more homage to the maritime past.
SheBuysTravel Tip: Henry Felix just might be that captain, and his diary seems to be the source of the girl with the alligator story.
Accessibility Features
Twelve bullet points on the website explain features to make life better, and safer, for people with special needs. Among them are grab bars and shower transfer seats, but also re-arrangeable furniture and turning-around space in bathrooms.
Accessible rooms are near the elevators.
The heated outdoor pool also has a transfer seat for safe entry to the water.
Pet Friendly
Dogs are welcome, two in fact! Forty pounds is the maximum weight and they can’t stay alone in your room.
Leashes required; the $75 non-refundable fee is waived for service animals.
Only One Hotel Indigo Like This
“Hotel Indigo caters to explorers; no two are alike,” says General Manager Jean Capps. “We bring in the sights and the sounds of the neighborhood.”
That means walls of indigo behind the lobby check-in desk. Blue-purple washes of color are reminiscent of the coastal indigo crop years ago.
Metal artists constructed flowers shaped like indigo blooms to fill a lobby wall and lighting sculptures make floor lamps ridged and a bit curvy like the palm trees along the Hotel Indigo promenade.
SheBuysTravel Tip: Could be fun to look around with intention to spot yet another nautical theme in the public spaces, and the bedroom. Walls, ceilings, floors all included.
“Two years of research are behind the details,” Capps said, “for authenticity.
“Hotel Indigo Panama City Marina is nautical versus beachy.”.
The history and the research are available, but not displayed with expectations for travelers to be students. This is all about mood and a subtle sense of place.
The Panama City property is #144 of the InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) Indigo brand. Capps said worldwide the total will be 150 in 2025.
Other Amenities
Parking’s free in an open-air lot, and the fitness center is available 24/7. Sometimes fishing competitions mean all sorts of interesting boats are parked in this spacious lot too.
Downtown Panama City is easily walkable, with individually owned businesses offering hands-on projects along with shopping. Restaurants all seem to have patio and sidewalk seating as well as indoors options.
Live music happens often.
So do regattas—–easy to watch from hotel perches.
The lawn is often the scene of Sunday afternoon concerts or evening movies on a big screen.
Other stories about Panama City
Leave a Reply