In Panamá, “pushbuttons” are motels that rent rooms by the hour.
You pull into an open single-car garage, press a button to close the door (and conceal your vehicle), and enter the connecting room.
All transactions (eg., room charge, drink orders) occur through privacy-ensured sliding openings so the staff can’t see you.
Rooms look similar to a hotel room, with some embellishments — perhaps a mirror on the ceiling above a heart-shaped bed. A TV stuck on a porn channel? Pink champagne on ice?
Not that I would know for sure. 😇
These businesses satisfy vital social needs.
Do you need a quiet, discreet location for covert extracurricular activity and you live at home with family? Go to the push.
Are you in high school and want a venue for a small party away from parents? Go to the push.
Are you a sex worker (a licensed and regulated profession in Panamá) and don’t work at a brothel and need a place to go with a client? Go to the push.
Too much for Valentine’s Day? 🤣
I took this photo of the iconic “Love Camp” from the passenger seat of a taxi as we drove past. I scrambled to take the picture in time. Circa 2012, with my sister during a visit home to see Mom.