Gold info that is. While it’s tempting for many to declare the death of guidebooks and pretend you can get everything you need from a travel app or your social media contacts, savvy travelers know better.

There are few purchases in the world that can give you a quicker, surer return on investment than a travel guidebook selling for less than 25 bucks. This hardcover $22 (list price) Footprint Panama guide is easy to pack and is full of the kind of insights you’re only going to get from someone who has spent a lot of time on the ground doing research.

Author Richard Arghiris has done the hard work so you don’t have to. He’ll save you time, hassles, and money so you can enjoy your vacation or retirement without relying on trial and error. (Or bad advice from virtual friends.)

Richard has written a few stories for narrative webzine Perceptive Travel that are quite good, like this harrowing tale of a Bocas del Toro serial killer. Or this one on decaying Bluefields, Nicaragua. So he knows how to recognize and tell a good story.

More importantly for you, he knows how to get the facts straight and since he’s been living in Panama for years, he knows them better than most. Footprint Panama naturally covers all the spots the readers of Luxury Latin America are likely to visit or invest in, from Bocas del Toro to the Azuero Peninsula, Boquette to Panama City. You get great background info, tips on tour local tour companies, and advice on where to eat and what to do.

I really like the feel of this book, with it being a sturdy hardcover but being just a tad larger than a mass-market paperback. It’s very easy to stuff into a daypack with your camera like I did on my most recent trip to Panama. It’s a bit over 300 pages, and they’re thin pages, so it’s not too thick.

My only complaint, besides the tiny type necessitated by the small book size (my eyes aren’t what they used to be) is the frequent omission of top hotels in the listings. For mid-range properties it’s fine, but there’s no Valle Escondido in Boquette, for instance, and many of the top hotels in Panama City are MIA. So this guidebook is highly recommended for everything except high-end lodging. Stick to checking with us on that.

We try not to spend much time covering the ins and outs of the hotel industries as the signs on the door change often throughout the world. But two prominent hotels we’ve reviewed in Panama changed from independent properties to Marriott brands recently, so we’ve updated our reviews.

The major one is the Buenaventura Resort on the Pacific coast of Panama, opened with all kinds of hype and pizazz before the owners of the Bristol in Panama City found that booking beach resort rooms at high rates was harder than doing so in the city. So Marriott signed on to manage the place and tap into their international marketing machine. If you’ve got lots of Marriott points, you can now book a beach resort in Panama. See our review of the JW Marriott Golf and Resort.

The other is the former Finisterre Suites in Panama City, which also opened with a bang and then promptly started looking for an international brand to partner up with when the expected bookings didn’t materialize. It’s now the Marriott Executive Apartments Panama, with the old name tacked onto the end.

In general it’s as good as the old one, with a seldom-used spa and poolside bar gone but otherwise looking exactly the same. And again, if you’re a frequent Marriott traveler, now you can cash in some points for a suite.

Panama is known as the Miami of Central America, full of skyscrapers, international banks, and lots of wheeling and dealing. It’s a thriving business center that has shrugged off the worldwide recession and kept growing at a frantic pace.

If you’re a tourist, however, this pace—on top of the heat and humidity—can be a bit daunting. Your main impressions if you stay where most Panama City luxury hotels are located may end up being of construction noise and traffic.

For leisure travelers who like to stroll to dinner instead of hail a cab, the historic Casco Viejo area might be a better bet. There are no big hotels in this area of architecture on a more human scale. We’ve just reviewed three upscale boutique hotels in Casco Viejo though: Las Clemantinas, Canal House, and Casa del Horno.

These are small buildings with limited amenities, so don’t book here expecting giant gyms and meeting rooms. What you do get at these is an interesting place to sleep, personal service, and often a kitchen or living room. Hey, one of them was good enough for Daniel Craig when he was shooting a James Bond film and Panama’s equivalent of the White House is in this area (and also white–easy to spot).

Casco Viejo is a UNESCO World Heritage site, so many tourists come here for a quick stop on some kind of bus tour. If you stay here, however, you can visit the local cafes and bars after they’ve all left. Plus instead of seeing the Panama skyline from the middle of it, you see it from afar, lit up and beautiful at night.

See the full round-up of luxury boutique hotels in old Panama City.

When the Westin brand continued their Latin America expansion and set up in Panama, they didn’t build another skyscraper in the middle of Panama City. Instead they located it on a nearby beach on the other side of the Panama Canal entrance: Playa Bonita.

The location is close enough to the capital to stay here on business and get meetings done, but it’s a resort you’d be happy to bring your family to so they can play while you’re working. Naturally it’s going after the meeting and convention business as well, but there’s only one other hotel on this beach – the Intercontinental Playa Bonita – and you’re next to jungle. So it’s never going to feel very crowded.

For leisure travelers, staying here can make a lot more sense than being right in the city:

Right on the Westin’s premises, at the office of Gamboa Tours, guests can plan half-day or full-day outings in the hotel’s proximity. Popular sightseeing attractions include Casco Viejo, Panama City’s picturesque historic quarter, now a UNESCO World Heritage site; the Panama Canal’s fascinating visitor center at Miraflores Locks; the wildlife-rich Gamboa Rainforest and other nature reserves; the Embera Indian Indigenous Village; and the unique Museum of Biodiversity, designed by renowned architect Frank Gehry.

Of course if you just want to laze your day away by the large pool complex, that’s fine too. You get a unique vista here: ships waiting for their radio call so they can proceed through the Panama Canal.

See our full review of Westin Playa Bonita near Panama City.

Some define luxury lodging as a place with lots of gold and marble, others by pampering service, and some by private exclusivity.

Laguna Azul, on a Caribbean island off the coast of Panama, falls into the latter category, with a dose of green travel guilt reduction for good measure. You can only reach it by private boat transfer and once you’re there, you certainly don’t have to worry about vendors bothering you to buy bead jewelry or rowdy 20-somethings partying late into the night. This is a sedate, relaxing spot meant to make your cares melt away.

Plus where most upscale resorts seem to treat energy and pollution as an inevitable by-product, Laguna Azul does its best to

Biodegradable soaps and products are available throughout the property. Waste water is treated and used to irrigate the landscaped grounds, and the hotel’s roof is designed to collect rainwater. Solar energy complements a generator. Laguna Azul also strives to thrive hand-in-hand with the local indigenous community. Currently, fifty percent of the workforce (with a goal of at least seventy percent) is from the Ngöbe community.

Considering all that’s included: meals, drinks, boat transfers, a daily tour, and on-site activities, the rates here a great value: $500 per couple any time of the year.

See our full review of Laguna Azul Resort in Bocas del Toro.