Reality Check on Apartment Living in Panama City

In hindsight, we spent too little time looking for an apartment and negotiating rent, so ended up paying more than we might have. On the other hand, we live in an excellent location directly across from the Cinta Costera, a tree-lined park with soccer courts, fountains, exercise equipment, and a long, paved trail for runners and cyclists.

The Cinta Costera was a major $189 million waterfront reclamation project completed in 2009. David walks about 10 km of its trails every morning, stopping to feed the cats who live there. In the evenings, the park is filled with vendors selling hot food, souvenirs, and shave ice.

PH Sky Residences on Avenida Balboa

Our apartment building has a rooftop pool with stunning views of Panama Bay, as well as a lap pool and gym above the parking garage. For security the building has fingerprint scanners to access doors and elevators.

We rented a fully furnished apartment, but that can mean different things in Panama. Ours came with furniture and electronics, but we had to buy linens and dishes. The kitchen had a microwave, but not a toaster oven or coffee maker. Even so it would have been more expensive to ship those items from the U.S. than to buy them in Panama.

We also came to discover the never-ending maintenance of our 2009 apartment building. In the last year, painters spent two months on the building’s exterior, the pools were closed three months each for renovations, and the elevator to our apartment was out of service at least once a month for repairs.

The four ductless air conditioners in our apartment were so old and inefficient our landlord eventually replaced one of them. The kitchen faucet, water pipes, and washing machine all needed repairs during the year, and one of the TV sets died. The biggest project involved resetting several large tiles that were falling off the bathroom walls.

Our coffee view

We had ants in the kitchen for about three months in the spring, which we learned was an annual event. We also learned marble tile floors tend to chip easily, and mold must be cleaned regularly from the air conditioner and dehumidifier filters.

Most inconvenient, gas to the building was cut off for 20 days in July for a government-required inspection that occurs every three years. That meant no hot water, clothes dryer, oven, or stovetop cooking.

To get us through, our landlord installed a temporary electric water heater (which routinely tripped the circuit breaker) and loaned us an electric burner for cooking. I hung clothes near a sunny window to dry, and took sheets and towels to a same-day lavandería—$6 per load for wash, dry, and fold service.

Great views though!