Name: Bambuda Lodge
Address: Bocas del Toro Province, Panama, Carenero, Carenero, Carenero, 0, Panama
Rating: 9

Smoking areas

Smoke-free property

Garden

Terrace

Outdoor furniture

General

Non-smoking rooms

Soundproof rooms

Room service

Locker

Linens

Rooms

Laundry

Safe-deposit box

Luggage storage

Services and amenities

Diet menu (on request)

Restaurant

Snack bar

Bottled water (at extra charge)

Meals

Free Wi-Fi

Internet

Transfer services

Transfer

Spanish

English

French

Languages Spoken

Tour assistance

Tourist services

Hiking

Sun Deck

Ping-Pong

Recreation

No parking

Parking

Water park

Swimming pool

Outdoor pool

Beach facilities

Water sport facilities

Pool and beach

Darts

Snorkelling

Sports

Pets Not Allowed

Pets

Location

At the hotel

Bocas Del Toro

Bambuda Lodge

Carenero

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 : 

Out of the 3 Bambuda I think they had the most amazing staff. 
Everyone was kind, smiling, friendly and very helpful. For some examples, they use WhatsApp to communicate and on the way to the hotel my water cab broke down. I told them just to let them know I'd be arriving later and they offered to call for assistance. Another example, I dropped my AirPods case (i m a mess) and lost one of them. Half the staff helped me look everywhere for it. 

For backpackers on a budget, you need to know that there's no kitchen and as there's nothing on Solarte Island you'll be totally dependent on the hostel restaurant. There is a filtered water fountain, but I haven't tried it myself.
As far as the food is concerned, everything I ate was really very 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.

Good to know too - for dinner they have a "family dinner" concept which means you have to order your meal before 5.45pm. After this time, you won't be able to order any food whatsoever. So if you're planning to arrive at the hostel after that time, be sure to have dinner beforehand!

The place and the location itself are amazing but I was a little unlucky on the room. I was in a 6-bed dorm room with a bathroom, and it wasn't very clean (not bad considering there were already 4 other people in the room) but there was a terrible smell of urine throughout the room (not even in the bathroom itself). Also be aware that it’s kind of a party place so if you are in the dorms it will get noisy (unless you are partying too 😉)

As the place is more or less off the grid, there's no hot water or aircon (but you can ask for as many fans as you like!). 

as you can imagine, since you're on an island where there's nothing, you'll have to pay for water cabs every time you want to go somewhere and then come back, which can get expensive! 

My advice, choose this hostel if you want to chill and relax in a beautiful place rather than to visit, there’s a time for everything!

Not a budget option but still nice and affordable

Just WOW the staff is amazing The meals are very good We can pick fresh fruit in the field The atmosphere is great day and night The slide is great the fun Away from the main island we always have to take the taxi boat

Wow.

We booked a Private Canopy Room. The room itself is pretty dated and it doesn't have a private balcony - if you are in one of the front rooms, the guests in the back rooms walk past your room, via a "side gate" to their rooms. The rooms at the back have private balconies as you can lock this side gate.

The organised jungle walk was incredible - got to see loads of red frogs without going to red frog beach - and the swimming at the beach would have been great if we'd had the time.
  
There are lots of volunteers - workaway staff - so if you want to have a party, this is a great place to stay as there are organised drinking activities in the evenings but if not, the private rooms are far enough away to not be affected by the noise.

The activities were a bit hot and miss. Stand up paddle boarding advertised on the website but they only had one and it was broken. They did have 2 kayaks but they were both single kayaks so if one had been booked/taken when we wanted to go out, the only way to be active with a partner was to take out the canoe.

The water slide is a thing of beauty though - really enjoyable and lots of fun! The pool is also great but there are definitely not enough loungers around if the Lodge is busy/full.

We included breakfast as part of our rate which was good. The food overall was great - lots of options and all very tasty. However, there are no other restaurants nearby so you have to eat at Bambuda unless you pay for a water taxi which can get get pretty expensive when doing a round trip. This, along with the room rate, makes a stay at Bambuda Lodge not very budget friendly. The prices for the private rooms are more like that of hotels without the trimmings of a hotel (no hot water etc).

Side note: we did have terrible weather (cloudy every day for the 3 days we were there) so this possibly negatively impacted our stay.

Not a budget option - would stay elsewhere

Terrible terrible experience. We arrive at Bambuda lodge excited for the hostel but they had cancelled our booking without even telling us. In fact, they sent us an email the day prior saying they were excited to welcome us for check in (nothing about cancelling our reservation for 2 nights). The manager Victor was incredibly rude and said he would give us a room but then changed his mind and left us with no where to stay. The helpful lady at reception had already checked us in and we’d paid for one night’s stay but this had to be refunded as Victor was having a tantrum. They will try to blame the system but really it’s just bad management. Manager is man in the photo. Been packacking across Central America for 3 months and not experienced anything like this before.

Terrible management

Bambuda Lodge is the PERFECT place to stay if you're looking to relax, have fun and connect with other people.

Stop looking for other places because you won't find anything better, just book it.

The views here are absolutely fantastic, the staff is so welcoming and friendly and they're going to make your life heaven. Victor, Sebastian, Marco and all the people working here will make you want to extend your stay and come back!

The food options are always varied, reasonably priced and absolutely delicious. The drinks are also great and they have Happy Hour with different stuff daily, along with daily activities every day.

If you like always exploring, you will have to pay for the boat to other islands every time($5 to the main island one-way) so it can easily build up on the cost, but it's the same in all area. This place is remote so take that into consideration when setting up your expectations for that.

If you like touristic areas full of resorts, restaurants and stuff nearby, this is NOT for you. If you want to chill, stay in a remote place and feel its magic, then this is IT!

Bambuda is the PERFECT place to stay

Great place, unique hostel with a unique history - and the crazy idea of the slide which I was told (and made me decide to evenrually tick Bocas off my bucket list when I first heard of it months before).
The scenery is really something and you gotta enjoy nature (and wildlife - sloths, snakes...) there. There's a guided hike to make you discover a part of Solarte from the inside, and some snorkelling (BYO gear?) to do a little outside the hostel.

However, apart from that, the pool and the slide (be sure it's well wet before riding it!), there's not much to do than relaxing (and socialising) there, and kitchen costs may quickly get expensive. So plan accordingly as riding to main Bocas can get sorta expensive - get your scuba diving day or island tour there, maybe (a staff member knows well a good scuba instructor), it'll entertain you one day, give the opportunity to get cheaper food at Bocas before relaxing back!

Anyway, honestly, this place is not to be missed, its difference makes it a place to visit, it's defo UNIQUE!

What a location! (and what a slide :)

We stayed in private rooms.Excellent in terms of cleanliness, price, amenities, comfort and staff care.Breakfast and dinner are quite good, as are the mixed drinks they prepare in the hostel's bar.

Excellent place to stay.

He's very handsome, pure in nature, all the staff very kind, especially Shary, the maid who was very kind and attentive, although in general everyone was proud of him except a barmaid who spoke ill of me for no reason, a guy with an afro collection, was rude and impertinent to ask for an ashtray.

Recommended 100%

Hotel super nice!!! Ideal for relaxing and relaxing. La Habitación la cueva is beautiful with unbeatable views. The staff the best of all!!! We have been treated very well. Very pleasant and attentive. We would definitely repeat again.

What a wonderful experience!

Very nice eco-friendly hostel in an unbeatable location. The care of staff and volunteers is excellent. The place where the hostel is located is a dream. The facilities are simple, but they have everything you might need for your vacation. Incredible terrace that integrates the pool with the common spaces. Insuperable view. The food they offer is very rich. The rooms are very beautiful, the bed very comfortable. Literally one sleeps connected with nature. I recommend this hostel without a doubt. We will return on our next trip to Panama.

Bambuda Lodge

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