Hello everyone!
I'm on my way down to Iquitos' Peru and will be stopping overnight in Panama city. Can anyone suggest a cool Backpacker hostel to stay in overnight? I've been staying in quality hotels the past month and would like something more fun.
Muchas Gracias!
Ben
This place is very popular on this forum but I dont know where in relation to airport it is, or if you even want to stay near airport, but here you go.
There are no "cool backpacker hostels" near the airport. End of story. There are cool backpacker hostels in town. Mamallena is one such.
There is a bland, boring, character-free hotel which claims to be a hostel within sight of the airport exit rotary. Unless something has changed drastically recently, it's a perfectly acceptable place to stay if you need to catch an early flight. I've done this a couple of times. As an indication of how little it represents the cool backpacker ethos, the closest meal options are in the airport itself.
Hope that's helpful.
Mark
Mamallena gets booked out a lot, but the folks there are friendly and will direct you to alternatives.
Contrary to one recent assertion, Mamallena is also fairly reliable when inquiring about boats to Colombia. Not foolproof, but reasonably close.
Mark
They are ok with the info, but they won't give you captains phone numbers, and this is unfair, I wanted to meet the captain before booking.
Yup, I assume they don't want you cutting them out of their commission. SOP. Doesn't stop you from finding captain's phone numbers, right?
Mamallena is a good option but far from the airport ($30 airport ride one way). I aslo stayed at Luna's Castle (in Casco Viejo, $30 to the airport too) and hated it, the rooms were small, dirty without windows and the same goes for the bathrooms but the neighborhood is more fun than Mamallena's.