The Executive Hotel is a third generation family business, founded in 1951 by Vern Harry Jacobson and his wife Mollie Connor Jacobson when they leased the Gran Hotel Managua in Nicaragua. Over the next twenty-five years, they added several more hotels in Central America: the Gran Hotel Lincoln in Tegucigalpa, Honduras; the Gran Hotel Sula in San Pedro Sula, Honduras; the Gran Hotel San Salvador, El Salvador; the Brickell Point Apartments in Miami, Florida and the Grand Hotel Guayaquil in Ecuador. 
 
The Executive Hotel was purchased in 1969 from Mario Cespedes, a contractor who had started the construction of a 96-room hotel but decided to sell the property before its completion. The hotel was designed by Humberto Moran, a well-known and talented Panamanian architect who received a prestigious award for the design of this building. The hotel was ideally located in the center of the growing financial district of Panama City and with the property about 70% complete, the Jacobson family had enough leeway to leave their imprint on the internal spaces and finishes.
 
Opened in 1970, the Executive Hotel was well received because it met the needs of executive travelers. In fact, within the first month of opening it had a 100% occupancy rate and operated with the highest occupancy rates of the city.

In addition to being within walking distance of the main commercial and banking addresses of the city, the modern rooms were uniquely designed as a comfortable mini-office that featured many “firsts” in the Central American hotel industry. It was the first hotel that included private balconies, executive desks with swivel chairs, mini-refrigerators, in-room coffee makers, TVs, direct dial telephones (with free local calls), central air-conditioning, wall-to-wall shag rugs (…it was the rage back then!) and extra-long Simmons Beauty Rest mattresses on beds that doubled as sofas.

​The Executive also introduced Happy Hour to the community in its Galería Bar that often featured jazz performers, making it a popular watering hole for locals. It was the first hotel in Panama to offer a 24-hour coffee shop with a luncheon buffet (for people in a hurry) and an American style menu peppered with favorite local dishes and the Best Apple Pie in town.
 
Over the years, the Executive has fortuitously hired managers who have maintained the tradition of providing guests with friendly, efficient service in a comfortable setting. The managers were: Peder Jacobson (second generation) – 1969/1974, Francisco García – 1974/1978, Emilio Vargas – 1978/1980, Antonio Boeri – 1980/1991, Mark Jacobson – 1991/1992, Hernán Escobar – 1992/2008, Peder Jacobson  and Connor Jacobson assisting on important fronts related to the remodeling and expansion (third generation)  – 2008/2016 and, currently, Jhoscelyn Escobar.

Since 2008, the Executive Hotel initiated a major renovation effort. Unfortunately, the initial remodeling plans turned into a major rebuilding project due to the discovery that over the last 45 years most of the piping in the building had deteriorated past repair and needed to be replaced. We can now appreciate the reason why contractors often say that they would prefer to knock a building down and start anew rather than reconstruct an older building, especially while keeping the hotel open. 

The Executive has earned a loyal base of clients who are enduring the inconveniences of the construction while looking forward to the positive changes that are soon to come.  These faithful customers also appreciate the fact that even today, the Executive remains one of the best values in town. Now that we are finished, we will certainly find ways to repay our clients for their loyalty! 

​Concurrent to the rebuilding process, we constructed an adjacent structure. This adds 48 new rooms with 12 of them deemed luxurious suites, bringing the total amount of rooms to 150. In addition, we have five floors of parking space, a first-class gym and an attractive garden pool area that beautifully complements the remodeled rooms of the original hotel.
 
The new Executive Hotel maintains the innovative spirit that has been a tradition for many years. We are sure that all the effort and the finishes in these rooms meet the needs of our important clients. 

With all of our exciting renovations, we anticipate that the Executive Hotel will 

contribute to the increasingly positive future of Panama!