Rating: 
Summary: it skims over some things
Review: i spent three months living and traveling around panama during winter "99. I read the book afterwards. It tells the truth about san blas but isla grande and many pacific coast beaches are glossed over. Several hotels were squalid and beaches awful but no mention thereof. The mountains are beautiful, the people wonderful, hiking and exploring mountains first rate. Bocas and most other beaches best ignored. Panamanian government regulations and their administration are crude. But dammit, chiriqui, pedasi, david, chitre, sante fe are worth it.
Rating: 
Summary: Highly recommended for business travelers
Review: I usually travel with a Fodor's or Michelin guidebook, but as there was no Fodor's or Michelin available for Panama, I purchased the Lonely Planet book before a recent trip to Panama. It was the first time I used a Lonely Planet book, and I found it very helpful. I was in Panama City on business, and the book provided very useful advice on where I as a businessman should stay, and it recommended not just the most expensive restaurants in Panama City, but also the best restaurants; writers, I've noticed, sometimes mistake the most expensive for the best. Not this one. I suggested four places for business lunches/dinners while I was in Panama City, and in each instance my Panamanian associates were impressed that I "knew" smart restaurants for business meals. Although I'd told them that it was my first trip to Panama, which it was, they soon took to saying, "And you've never been to Panama before?" with a wink and a chuckle. They ascribed to me more knowledge of their country than I possessed. I like it when other people make me look good, and that's one of the things this guidebook did for me. Next time I travel I won't be in such a hurry to by a Fodor's or a Michelin guide.
Rating:
Summary: The little green "traveling bible"
Review: I was a little skeptic about the accuracy of any travel book of Panama. I was born and raised there and found that this book had much more information that I even knew about!! It definitely was accurate, interesting and helpful. After 10 years of absence, visiting Panama with this book made my trip an experience I will never forget. Scott Doggett depicted a place full of wonders but also took the time to "warn" you of the "do's" and "dont's" which was very important to us. This book was a wealth of information and it helped us appreciate our travels much better.. and use our time and resources wisely!!
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Guide, but Politicized and Ethnocentric.
Review: Lonely Planet, probably has the most up-to-date, comprehensive, practical guide for Panama, currently available. Would I recommend it? Absolutely! Unfortunately, Lonely Planet, failed to edit the author's crude, narrow-minded, self-righteous, self-serving commentary. The author also glosses over or totaly ignores pertinent information. Personal politics and self-aggrandizement have little, if any place in a travel guide, and when it exists in such a publication, it suggests a lack of empathy for, and or understanding of, other people and their cultures. The shortcomings of Lonely Planet's guide, noted above, mar an otherwise excellent publication. For the typical "Ugly American" wanting to "Do" Panama, the Lonely Planet guide should prove more than adaquate. If on the other hand, you are an open-minded traveler capable of independent thought, you might consider, also obtaining, "Getting to know PANAMA" by Michele Labrut, a former press attache to the French Embassy in Panama. Written with class, mature intelligence and a sense of respect for Panama and it's People, "Getting to know PANAMA", not only fills the gaps in the previous guide, it is also an excellent travel guide in it's own right and an outstanding source for unbiased information.
Rating: 
Summary: total downer
Review: LP Panama uses the same formula as the rest of the very successful and helpful Lonely Planet book series. BUT Panama is written by someone who toured all or most of the country in a powerful 4-wheel-drive vehicle with a powerful winch, going in a style most budget travelers can not afford, and going far enough out where most affluent traveler would not want nor dare to go. It seemed to be a trip where he went where he wanted. Coverage of some very good areas was sparse (Bocas del Toro for one). Half the book seemed be be geared toward descriptions of hotels and restaurants. Only expensive ("acceptable") hotels are mentioned. There is literally no information about lodging around bus stations. His lodging suggestions were generally not very good, i.e. Panama City and David.The use of many description such as "a bowl of spaghetti in octopus sauce" to describe the roads around one town bothered me and infuriated some other travelers. He also mentions "a great deal" often. Most were rather pricey, great only if all your expenses are paid! He also missed some great areas in both the west and in the Darian area.
Rating: 
Summary: Formulas Don't Always Work
Review: LP Panama uses the same formula as the rest of the very successful and helpful Lonely Planet book series. BUT Panama is written by someone who toured all or most of the country in a powerful 4-wheel-drive vehicle with a powerful winch, going in a style most budget travelers can not afford, and going far enough out where most affluent traveler would not want nor dare to go. It seemed to be a trip where he went where he wanted. Coverage of some very good areas was sparse (Bocas del Toro for one). Half the book seemed be be geared toward descriptions of hotels and restaurants. Only expensive ("acceptable") hotels are mentioned. There is literally no information about lodging around bus stations. His lodging suggestions were generally not very good, i.e. Panama City and David. The use of many description such as "a bowl of spaghetti in octopus sauce" to describe the roads around one town bothered me and infuriated some other travelers. He also mentions "a great deal" often. Most were rather pricey, great only if all your expenses are paid! He also missed some great areas in both the west and in the Darian area.
Rating:
Summary: total downer
Review: This book almost convinced me to cancell my trip to panama. Virtually every trip in here is outrageously expensive or completely innacessible to an average Lonely Planet traveler. Luckily I went on the Lonely Planet's thorn tree for first hand advice & found how great Panama really is!
Rating:
Summary: Lonely Planet Panama
Review: This book is the most accurate account of Panama that I have read. I am marrying a man from Panama and purchased the book for family members to read. We are planning to get married there and the book served as an overview. Everything from the description of the people fom Panama to the suggested restaurants is helpful and accurate. The prices on some of the hotels have increased since it's publishing. I highly suggest the Hotel Panamonte in Boquete for it's restaurant and for lodging; it is a hidden treasure.
Rating:
Summary: This is the book
Review: This is the book that every traveller (except for a few who are always asking to borrow it) takes with them to Panama. It was very accurate and very helpful. The only problems we encountered were unlabelled streets (suggestion: try putting landmarks on maps where no street signs are posted) and the trip from David to Bocas del Toro (which was more of a happy surprise than a problem, as in reality it's cheaper and easier than in Lonely Planet). Panama is an incredibly beautiful country that is not very dense with tourists. Panamanian spanish is also muy facil de comprender. I wholeheartedly suggest visiting the country and embracing the culture and people you meet (not literally).
Rating:
Summary: Invaluable!!!
Review: We spent 7 days in Panama and the LonelyPlanet Panama book was our bible. I don't know what more we could have wanted from a guidebook, this one seems to have it all. As impoverished college students we were primarily looking at the cheapest way to do things and this book was deffinitely oriented around that type of travel. I really don't understand what some of the other reviewers are talking about when they say this book is written for people with lots of money to spend, that was not our experience at all. We went everywhere by bus and taxi and we saved so much money on transportation and lodging that we felt free to splurge in a couple of places. This book has just the right amount of detail so that your trip doesn't lose the element of surprise. I appreciated the range of accommodations described in this book allowing us to pick our own priorities in terms of how much we wanted to spend to stay somewhere or do something. I also appreciated the background and historical information that made the whole trip that much richer. This book is ubiquitous among the english-speaking tourist crowd and we saw people toting it around everywhere. It was a great conversation starter.
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