Península de Azuero
One of the city’s first hotels, Santa Rita is basic and overpriced for what it offers. The 19 high-ceilinged rooms over three floors are rough around the…
Must-see hotels in Central America
Eastern El Salvador
Manuel and his wife Corina oversee this converted lumber mill tucked away 500m south of town. The rooms are fairly unappealing, but there is hot water and…
Comarca de Guna Yala
The affable (and eponymous) owner has a three-bed dormitory on the 2nd floor of his wooden village house. Breakfast (only) is available for US$5 and tours…
Southern Caribbean
This spotless, no-frills guesthouse is the place to crash before or after an early or late Panamanian border crossing. There are 17 simple, brightly…
Southern Costa Rica & Península de Osa
Attached to La Perla del Sur, this riverside motel is a place to lay your head before or after your boat trip. You'll find dusty rooms with wooden floors,…
Caribbean Coast
Situated right next to the airstrip, this is Barra's budget option. The rooms are worn but come with hot water and TV. The attached restaurant-bar is a…
Montezuma
This beachside pensión is popular with shoestring travelers, thanks to the hammocks on shared terraces overlooking a rocky beach. Rooms are small and drab…
Ambergris Caye
There are no views from this 2nd-story, streetside hostelry, but you might catch the breeze from the balcony. Relatively spacious rooms have two or three…
Flores & Santa Elena
This low-key shoreline property features an interior patio and an upper sundeck overlooking the lake. Compact, low-lit rooms have ceiling fans and good…
Veraguas Province
Uninspiring and hard by the noisy Interamericana, the brick-and-tile Galería nonetheless attracts with its generous-sized pool out the back. It has 69…
Southern Caribbean
Cabinas Sanchez offers five spotless cabins but no hot water. From the border, head north along the lower road and walk about 100m to the tunnel on the…
Northern Belize
This centrally located hotel looks a bit like a white wedding cake. Simple, clean rooms have all the basics covered but are distinctly lacking in…
Caribbean Coast
If you've got an early boat (or express bus) this is where you want to be. It's right by the dock and offers clean rooms with fans and cable TV. Don't…
Central El Salvador
The double and dorm rooms at this small hostel are no-frills but OK value, with plenty of greenery outside your window. The guest kitchen is very basic,…
The Río San Juan & Islas Solentiname
Rooms in this wooden home are basic but clean. Pay the extra for the better rooms upstairs with private bathrooms. Its beef, chicken and pork plate…
Isla de Ometepe
This beachfront hotel is overdue for renovations, but it'll work in a pinch. The on-site restaurant is a good place to break for lunch, but the staff won…
Flores & Santa Elena
The first hotel you reach coming off the causeway has bright and spacious rooms with cut-rate furniture and a terrace for lake-gazing. The steady flow of…
Western Highlands
This echoey older hotel has a cafe on the ground floor. Though drably furnished, rooms do have comfy beds and large tiled bathrooms. At least one – No 310…
Darién Province
Hospedaje Tortí has 29 squat cinderblock rooms, each with bathroom, air conditioning, a decent mattress and clean towels for cold-water showers. Not all…
Puerto Limón
The ’60s-style modernist building is in a ramshackle state, but the place is generally clean. The 39 rooms are basic: bare linoleum floors, aged wooden…
Central Valley & Highlands
Though unspectacular in design, this centrally located chain hotel is clean and comfortable. Tile-floor rooms come equipped with solar hot water, plus…
Darién Province
Bleach-scented with clean concrete rooms, this place has friendly service and flowery gardens. When choosing from among the 29 rooms, avoid the ones…
The Río San Juan & Islas Solentiname
Don't expect a single frill in this original San Carlos flophouse, but it's cheap and just a block from the malecón. The rooms are tiny wooden boxes but…
Bocas del Toro Province
Basic but good, Hawaii has 20 plain rooms with clean bathrooms equipped with spigot showers, but some rooms don't have windows. Rooms 17 and 21 do, but…
Hopkins
You can pitch a tent on this bit of beach in front of a private residence between Hopkins and Sittee Point. Shared bathrooms and canoes available. Parties…
Western El Salvador
One of the few places in town to offer dorm beds is the Meson de San Fernando. Service is satisfactory but the walls are thin and the rooms crowded with…
Punta Gorda
There are just four basic fan rooms with shared bath here above the PG Tours office. It's only steps away from the ferry dock so is a popular crash pad…
Central El Salvador
In a town notoriously low on sleeping options, Renacer just squeaks into the upper ranks. Its seven rooms with private bathrooms are popular with long…
Darién Province
The waterfront La Paila del Pueblo has thin walls and mattresses, and 10 none-too-salubrious rooms but good sea views. Staff here can arrange visits to…
Caribbean Coast
Professionally run hotel offering small but comfortable rooms with cable TV in a quiet location. If you are going for air-con, shoot for a street-side…
Darién Province
At this shady campsite you can either pitch a tent or string up a jungle hammock. Pay the Ministerio de Ambiente in Panama City directly.
Caribbean Coast
At this simple place in the center of town, six basic tiled rooms with fans surround a garden lined with hammocks. The open-air bar is a nice place for an…
The Río San Juan & Islas Solentiname
This budget favorite half-a-block from the Parque Central has a selection of rather shabby rooms in need of a lick of paint, but with cable TV and private…
Antigua
The bright blue exterior of this hotel just north of La Merced hides spacious if rather charmless rooms lined up alongside arched hallways with heavy…
Central El Salvador
Oldest of the old school, Sunzal Point is a basic backpacker joint catering predominantly to the surfer crew. The sprawling garden property is its…
Ambergris Caye
Rooms here are equipped with TV and minifridge. The comfy little balcony out back sports a wonderful view of the building next door. Bit pricey for the…
San Ignacio
Rosa's is a little nondescript but it's friendly, central and decent value, especially if you value air-con. Close to a nightclub that gets loud on…
Sarapiquí Valley
Set off the main highway, 1km south of town, the little square houses here have basic rooms with cold-water bathrooms, fans, tiles and colorful curtains.
Cayo District
Just north of San Antonio village, the García Sisters offer rooms behind their Maya gallery and spots to pitch a tent. Traditional meals are BZ$15.
Península de Azuero
Above the Farmacia Pinzón on the main road through town, Pensión Lorena has eight spartan rooms with cold-water showers that will do in a pinch.
