Bird Island Bungalows — Hotel in Bocas del Toro

What can I say to fully describe the experience? The location is remote and beautiful with amazing nearby beaches, flowers and gardens everywhere. The wildlife is awesome, you'll see howler monkeys, sloths, frogs, fish, hermit crabs, birds, lizards galore for the lizard freaks like me. The food and drinks are simply amazing. Thought they must have Chef Gordon Ramsey in the kitchen, but it's actually Chef Kevin and you can tell he puts care into every meal. Before booking we read about the food being great but weren't prepared for actually how fabulous it was. To make things even better everything is locally sourced and feels so healthy. Even the alcoholic beverages make you feel healthy. The Bartender Nico puts just as much devotion into his drinks as the Chef does the food. Hands down the best drinks(alcoholic and non) we've had in Panama. The atmosphere is very laid back and chill, not a party scene but a wonderful jungle get away to escape the city. They provide kayaks, canoes and snorkeling equipment and you can go all the way out to bird island and be on your own time instead of having to stay with a tour guide. The staff even cares enough to send people to check on you all the way out there. Celeste was very helpful and informative. The pool overlooking the ocean was very nice to hang out in and sip on some drinks. They offer shuttling to starfish beach included and daily yoga sessions. Honestly the only reason we left is because we already had reservations in another place for a few days. We even did consider letting those reservations go but decided to go on to the next adventure. This place is a paradise, they're doing great work and anytime we return to Isla Colòn we...

I think this review deserves 2 different parts given my overall experience with the hotel/staff that work at the hotel and the communication with the owner, kit. ||First off, the hotel is in a very beautiful location and has access to remote beaches. You can see some very interesting wildlife. The staff (Nico, Max, and others) go above and beyond to be helpful and make it a good experience to stay there. The food and drinks are excellent. As said on the website, there is no AC and the place mainly runs on solar energy. ||My problem lies with the last minute communication I received from the owner, Kit, who was not there at the hotel. Around 9pm, a night before leaving to the hotel, I received a message from Kit about very muddy roads based on construction and weather. It was offered that we could change hotels and they would assist us with no charge. I have booked this hotel over a month ago so I was baffled by this last minute message since it could easily be sent in advance. Talking to other guests, it seemed that they received a last minute message too. This appeared to be kinda a shady business practice. Also, the message saying that we may need to stop at the neighbors property and then walk a few hundred meters of the roads are too muddy. And he offered staff to carry our luggage. It is quite a walk to get to the hotel from the neighbors. The paths are slippery and I know I would not be comfortable having staff carry my suitcase for that distance ( given it would feel like a exploitative request). Also, I a bit confused why a hotel frames itself as having "volunteers" on their if page when it is really a work exchange. It's a business, not an...

I think this review deserves 2 different parts given my overall experience with the hotel/staff that work at the hotel and the communication with the owner, kit. ||First off, the hotel is in a very beautiful location and has access to remote beaches. You can see some very interesting wildlife. The staff (Nico, Max, and others) go above and beyond to be helpful and make it a good experience to stay there. The food and drinks are excellent. As said on the website, there is no AC and the place mainly runs on solar energy. ||My problem lies with the last minute communication I received from the owner, Kit, who was not there at the hotel. Around 9pm, a night before leaving to the hotel, I received a message from Kit about very muddy roads based on construction and weather. It was offered that we could change hotels and they would assist us with no charge. I have booked this hotel over a month ago so I was baffled by this last minute message since it could easily be sent in advance. Talking to other guests, it seemed that they received a last minute message too. This appeared to be kinda a shady business practice. Also, the message saying that we may need to stop at the neighbors property and then walk a few hundred meters of the roads are too muddy. And he offered staff to carry our luggage. It is quite a walk to get to the hotel from the neighbors. The paths are slippery and I know I would not be comfortable having staff carry my suitcase for that distance ( given it would feel like a exploitative request). Also, I a bit confused why a hotel frames itself as having "volunteers" on their if page when it is really a work exchange. It's a business, not an...