I stayed at Sierra Llorona in January for a few days during a 90 day trip to Panama.

I tried to book a stay in the late fall but had problems getting responses to my emails. When I tried again in January the situation had changed completely--they've hired a new manager and he responded to emails within minutes!

The lodge is just the right mix of seclusion for the area (Colon is noted as being a bit 'sketchy' .....and it is!) and accessability. It's pretty easy to find, and close to the birding/history sites of Achiote Road, Fort San Lorenzo and the rest. If you're in Panama for any length of time I'd recommend a stay here for a couple of days.

Staff are great--very helpful but not intrusive. Food was very good, there was plenty of it and they were attentive to my preferences. Room was spotless and very pleasant.

Birding on the property is excellent. They have a guide who will help you on the property, and can arrange guiding anywhere in the area. I hit Achiote Road and Fort San Lorenzo and really enjoyed my stay.

The new management is making a big difference!

We stayed here for a few days to bird. Hard to find due to signage being down.Lovely location in rain forest with a nice variety of birds. Room was only adequate and could have been cleaner. Meals are served at specific times and there is not much choice. Food was too salty and lacked flavor. We would not go back here. We took a chance on this as reviews were quite old.

This is a beautiful, elegant lodge with really considerate, courteous staff. We had a great stay at this place and also managed to arrange a trip to Achiote Rd. We saw lots of birdlife on the road just past the lodge and in the gardens, although found the paths in the grounds a steeper/muddier than expected. Rooms and food are great. (No swuimming pool or camping though as it says in the Lonely Planet. This didn't bother us at all but I guess it could bother others if they were expecting it. You can walk to a natural pool though.)

My husband and I spent 3 nights at Sierra Llorona Lodge in February 2008. It's a pretty location with about 200 acres, I believe. Our room was simple, with a nice back porch for hearing jungle sounds and watching firefllies at dusk. We saw some capuchin monkeys along the entry driveway one morning, but didn't see too many birds on our own there. Our room was hot the first afternoon, due to no afternoon rains and no A/C. It cooled off fine at night, though. The real highlight of our stay was our fabulous birding guide, Michael Castro. He's an amazing person. He's great at identifying birds (and monkeys) by ear. We thoroughly enjoyed listening to him calling to all the birds and monkeys (and a caiman). He speaks English just fine for being a birding guide and is passionate about protecting Panama's forests and wildlife. The food was good, too, and plentiful. The new management of the lodge is really shaky, though. We had a very hard time making our reservation; our e-mails weren't answered for weeks. We decided to pay for an international calling plan and reached the new manager a few times, but the phone was never answered the last few times I tried right before our trip . So, when we left for Panama, we didn't know for sure if we had a ride taking us to Sierra Llorona , what our birding plans were, or what the plans were for our ride to our next destination. We were met promptly at the airport by the very bright, interesting, funny musician son of the owner. The new manager wasn't there, and we never did see her. We were led to our room, but had no idea when we would see our birding guide, what trips were planned, or when meals were served. When Michael showed up, everything improved considerably. He even drove us to our next destination. A cute little 8-year-old boy, who spoke no English, charmingly showed us the frogs on the Sierra Llorona Rana Trail. The hummingbird feeders were fun, too.