The latest results of Travel & Leisure’s annual reader’s poll are out and incredibly, there are only three hotels on there not already reviewed in detail in Luxury Latin America. One is a mystery that must be a ballot-stuffing anomoly (Le Meridien Cancun), another is a business hotel that gets so-so ratings from our correspondents (Hyatt Santiago). The other is the Four Seasons in Mexico City, which we were slated to have a review of up six months ago until our correspondent there fell ill. She’s back in action and it’s coming soon–I mean it this time–along with a batch of other fine hotels in that city.

There have been some shifts in the rankings this year though and it looks like a lot more readers have had Mexico on their itinerary (12 of the 25 entries) and Belize got nudged out entirely this time. The Bristol Hotel in Panama snuck in at number 24 though, just ahead of the Fairmont Acapulco Princess.

The interesting move this year was the Tides Zihuatanejo (pictured here) popping into the top-5 soon after its makeover from the already nice Villa del Sol. Peru also made a nice showing this time. Inkaterra Machu Picchu Hotel, formerly known as Machu Picchu Pueblo Hotel, came out of nowhere into the top-10 and Miraflores Park Hotel popped in at 15. See our detailed reviews by following any of the links above, or see the full rundown here on the survey.

If you’ve traveled a lot in this region, give us your take on the results!

A while back I posted some pics and a quick description of the M.V. Discovery ship in Panama. Now we have the full feature story posted here: A Two-ocean Yacht Tour in Panama.

Even on the Web though, it’s hard to use even a fraction of the great photos that come out of a journey like this. So besides the ones you will find on the pages of the Panama boat trip story, here are a few more that didn’t make it in. I shot some video footage too and hope to have an edited version up in April, complete with dolphins, birds, and the Panama Canal in action.

While in Panama I had the pleasure of staying at The Bristol in Panama City. This is a fine hotel that is the best choice in town if you’re looking for the prestige address. (Several of the new James Bond movie actors were checking out as I checked in.) Here’s a video tour of one of the rooms on the top floor:

As you can hopefully tell from this, rooms near the top have an excellent view of the skyline. Here is a photo that captures it more clearly. With construction going up all around, last year’s great view can be tomorrow’s view of a construction site, though this spot in the banking district seems more immune to that than the ones right on the water.

There are two quirks to this hotel that keep it from being ideal for everyone though. It’s small and seemingly understaffed at times, with the two front desk clerks (who double as concierges) constantly disappearing into a back room every time they have to print something out. Also, there’s no swimming pool—in a city that is hot 12 months of the year. If “hop to it” service and lounging in a pool are important to you, check out one of our other luxury Panama Hotel reviews. (Note that there’s no pool at the other luxe boutique hotel either–Hotel DeVille.)

I haven’t posted on this blog for a while because I’ve been on the Atlantic, the Pacific, and the Panama Canal aboard the Discovery. This luxurious ship, run by Panama Marine Adventures, offers a truly unique experience.

The ship itself holds a maximum of 24 passengers in 12 cabins, which means plenty of room to stretch out. The photo here is the main deck for lounging, eating, and drinking. You can do plenty of all three since the the rates are all-inclusive. There’s a wall of glass providing panoramic views and decks in several spots for taking it in with fresh air.

Cabins are compact, of course, but well-designed and comfortable, with individual climate controls and a shower with more pressure than my one at home. Cabins are cleaned each day, with turndown service at night.

The itinerary is what really makes this trip special, however. By zodiac launch and kayak we explored the Pearl Islands of the Pacific, went upriver into the Darién Gap to visit the Chocoe Emberá native Americans. After a snorkeling and beach stop in the Pearl Islands again, it was time to transit the Panama Canal. Unlike the hulking cruise ships that go through here though, the Discovery gets to spend the night on Lake Gatun in the middle, anchoring near a Smithsonian research station and then touring the Barra Colorado nature reserve with their guides.

After transiting the other side of the canal, we stayed on the Chagres River (the Caribbean side), spotting lots of herons and a sloth from the motorboats. A few of us paddled along on kayaks and got a closer look, hearing and seeing nothing but nature.

The trip ends up in the bay of Portobelo, a historic town that was once the transit point for most of the gold crossing through the new world and on to Europe.

I’ll post a few more tidbits and photos this week before the full story goes up in our tour feature section. For more info, see the Panama Marine Adventures site.

Speaking of Panama, we now have reviews posted for five of the best hotels in the country. For the most part you won’t find opulent luxury here that will blow you away, but it does look like the hotel industry in Panama is waking up to its potential finally.

In the past they just haven’t gotten enough visitors to warrant the creation of upscale hotels catering to affluent travelers. The Panamanian tourism officials still don’t seem to have much of a budget or a strategy to remedy this, but the people who own two of the hotels we’ve reviewed have taken things into their own hands, inviting prominent travel writers and agents down to check the country out and report back on what they see. Word is finally getting out that Panama has almost as much to offer as Costa Rica in terms of natural beauty, but with lower prices and fewer crowds.

Also, while Costa Rica’s San Jose is nothing to write home about, Panama City is the most cosmopolitan and well, “happening” city in Central America.

We hope to get wind of new luxury hotels in Panama that we can add to our reviews in the future, but meanwhile we suggest looking into a vacation there now, while you can beat the crowds and get the kind of deal you used to get in Costa Rica before word got out.