No habla español? No problem!

Not having a grasp, or any grasp for that matter, of the Spanish language, I was concerned about trying to make hotel reservations in Panama. Most hotels and hostels can be found on the web, but some of the smaller, cheaper places did not have any more than a phone number with which to contact them.

I didn’t feel confident enough in myself to phone and say “Hola. Habla ingles?” So instead I searched everywhere for another means of communication.

Email to the rescue!

Every place I emailed responded promptly, letting me know either way if they had availability for the night requested or not. If I emailed over the weekend, some would respond while others waited until Monday, which was fine.

The only place I reserved online, through a service, was Hotel Marparaiso for our one-night stay in Panama City. The rest I have emailed back and forth with the managers and reserved a room that way.

Once it was determined that the night I wanted was available and the rate was OK, I followed up by saying I would take the room and asked what information they needed from me to hold the reservation.

The answer: Nothing!

I’m not too worried about the reservation being honored once we arrive. Maybe I am being too trusting of a third-world country, but I’m not a glass-half-empty kind of person, so I remain optimistic.

Plus, I’ll pack the printouts of our email communication just in case.