Bocas Del Toro Apartments

Nice hotel in the middle of dirt. The room was clean, breakfast has a nice choice and very good. Staff was a little weird but nice. English was spoken by all but the maids. The loss of a star is because they let outsiders come in to use the pool. During the day there were families and it got crowded at times. I never used the pool because of this and I booked/paid to have one. I would have given it 2 less stars for the area and I wont be back but that's not the hotels fault. Town is dirty. Streets are sand and dust, open air restaurants were filthy, and somehow I got food poisoning. We were supposed to stay 11 nights but we left in 5 and lost all that money. It was a wreck.

The hotel has a nice location to get to discover Bocas and go out for short or long tours to the islands and their attractions. The breakfasts are delicious but some options are small portions and not worth eating. For a Selina one would expect a higher standard of service, but their staff makes no effort to meet it, they do the minimum to barely get the job done, their guest service is basic and their hospitality needs to be developed a lot. The rooms need a lot of ”love” to be up to the standard of a Selina: maintenance, security and comfort are things they lack. The few windows do not close well, there is little space and comfort in the bathroom to have your clothes hung up or to change clothes, the doors of the rooms are rusty, the floors always look dirty and full of dust and dirt, the plants are dirty, dead or very dry, the decoration is not something that helps to give a cozy feel. It is difficult to detail who is a Selina collaborator because they show indifference and since they do not have a uniform or a badge it is impossible to know who to ask for help. The last night we had to suffer from a Jewish party and there was no one to tell us that there was going to be a lot of noise and much less was there anyone to help us asking for respect and silence for the other guests for that noisy group of Jews who thought they were the only ones in the hotel. If you are looking to spend days and nights partying, Selina Bocas del Toro is for you, if you are looking to just sleep and go every day to the tours in the other islands, Selina Bocas del Toro is for you, but if you need comfort, services, hospitality, attention and tranquility, Selina Bocas del Toro is not for you.

Are you a deep sleeper then you are ok. This is a great hotel except for one minor detail. It's 50 metres from a bar that blasts music from 10 until early hours of the morning. So much so the hotel provides ear plugs in your rooms. I've never had that before! If facing hotel try to get room on opposite side to right. Apart from this friendly helpful staff. Good service. Rooms not huge but good sized. Made up daily with fresh towels. Clean. Ac, fan and TV that work. Great bathroom, hot water. Restaurant with quick service. Ice cream out front good. Writing desk in room and hanging space. Small juliette balcony. Water views both sides. Worth staying if you can deal with music. It will depend on season how many nights and how loud.

During my trip I tried out 3 different Bambuda hostels (in dormitories each time). I waited until I'd done all 3 before writing this review. Here is my personal experience : The staff are kind and helpful. You can ask them for any information. Concerning the restaurant, everything I ate was really good, they have a wide choice of western and more local dishes, and concerning prices nothing shocked me compared with other restaurants across the islands, even if, of course, they can always find cheaper! The hotel is not in the heart of the city, but as the city is anything but huge, there's no problem there! (5 min walk maybe?). This probably makes it a quieter place. The place itself is quite nice. Out of the 3 Bambudas I think they had the best dorms. I was in a 9-bed dorm room with air con and a bathroom (2 showers and 2 toilets). Everything was very clean, the lockers were big enough to hold our bags and there were also plugs inside to safely recharge our devices. There was thick curtains for each bed, allowing complete privacy and undisturbed light. It's also a bit of a party place, and a very cool one at that, with performing artists in the evening! The rooms are far enough away that you can't hear a thing. Very nice place to stay in Bocas Town. For your information, the taxi boat rides offered by the hotel are quite expensive so I advise you to find another station in town!