Kevin Condos — Hotel in Bocas del Toro

We stayed at Kevin Condos for 5 nights. Really pleasant staff that appear to work very hard. Property is well maintained.||||Booked a 1 bedroom and requested not to be on the ground floor. When we arrived for check-in, we were told all 1 bedroom units are on ground floor. We paid more for a 2nd floor (2 bedroom) unit (glad it was available, or I'm not sure we would have stayed). We had a great view from the unit and spent much time on the generous size patio (although we needed bug spray for the sand fleas, especially in the early AM & dusk). ||||Units are adequately equipped with dishes, pots (we had 1 small frying pan, so could only cook breakfast for 1 person at a time), strainer, toaster, drip coffee maker, knives (scissors would have been handy), microwave, 4 burner stove top & fridge with freezer. Plenty of cupboard space. Dish soap, dish cloth & towel provided. There was no hot water in the kitchen, so we boiled water to do dishes (no trouble to do this). A broom & dust pan would be nice (even though there is daily housekeeping).||||Living room had 1 small, terrible couch (it really needs to be replaced) and a large flat screen TV with plenty of stations. Ceiling fan helped to keep the room a little cool. It would be nice to have a ceiling fan over the kitchen table (as opposed to just a light). The unit also had plenty of windows that opened. A screen door to the patio would have been nice.||||Both bedrooms had AC and ceiling fans. The AC in the smaller bedroom seemed much cooler than in the larger bedroom. The larger bedroom had a small, not very comfortable double bed (the other room had 2 single beds). Bed linen was actually changed once during our 5 nights. Both rooms had tons of beautiful, wood storage.||||Bathroom towels were changed daily. Soap & shampoo not provided. Shower had nice hot water.||||Missing from the unit was a lock box/safe to store valuables. ||||Kevin Condo was a 5-10 minute walk to the market (if there is rain, it's not a very pleasant trip, as the walkways get washed out). The market has pretty much everything you need including lots of bottled water and some fruit. ||||Go the other way, and a 5 minute walk takes you to Bibi's on the beach (happy hour 4-7 with really good $3 frozen margaritas that you can get "to go"!), and if you continue past there you will find a beautiful, sandy beach/cove where there is good swimming. You can watch the surfers from here too.||||$1 water taxi to Bocas town (so close, but far enough away not be bothered by it). There are a few hostels close by, but no need to worry about being disturbed).||||It's too bad the island/area has so much trash - a real shame to see such a beautiful area with so much garbage lying around & piled up. ||||Like in Bocas Town, you will find dogs running around. They didn't bother us; all seemed pretty docile.||||We didn't swim or snorkel here, as there was quite a bit of rain so the water was murky and didn't look too inviting.||||We enjoyed staying here, would recommend it and...

We booked this place because we wanted a place we could hang out for kids naps and while my husband worked. It advertised a/c and family friendly with a nice beach. Our room was a 3 story walk up and the a/c was only in the bedrooms. The beach was about 5ft x 5ft and had dog poop on it.||||When we arrived in the condo, it was so hot you could barely breathe. The guy opened all the doors and windows but there was no breeze and the patio door had no screen. I have an 18month old who could climb the railing and it was way too dangerous. 10 minutes in one of the a/c units died. We went down to tell the office person and then went for a walk. The island is not a pleasant place to be. The walk to the store was literally filled with trash (not the hotel's fault) and the beaches were not nice. We returned after an afternoon out as my husband had a 5pm conference call. I had to leave island with the kids as there was nothing open and it was too hot. My husband had to use the a/c room for his zoom call. The guy came up at 5:30 to check the a/c (not sure why it took 3.5 hours to do so) and he reset a breaker. After returning to the island for bedtime and realizing that it was still pretty hot, there was no way we were going to be able to stay in the apartment due to safety issues with the fall off a balcony or a barely functioning a/c in one room. I asked if we could pay for the one night and get a refund for the rest of the days or if there was a safer option. After back and forth (they said they would look at the a/c the next day but that wasn't going to cool the main living area or solve the balcony) they said they would refund for the remaining nights if we checked out by 11. We left at 9am. This is all documented in the messages back and forth on the booking site and after two weeks I asked about the refund. They said they are not giving the refund now. We ran into people staying in the "lighthouse" and they said their a/c didn't work either. I've never actually dealt with someone this shady. Not sure if its the owner...

We had a two bedroom condo on the first floor overlooking the ocean - really wonderful view. There is everything required in the kitchen and we rustled up a few gourmet meals while we were there (9 nights). I agree with other reviewers that it does get hot in the living areas as there is only one fan and it's impossible to open the patio doors or the sandflies are in. The hot water in the shower was spasmodic but it was so hot it didn't really matter. Plenty of storage space and coat hangers in the bedrooms. The location can't be beaten as it is steps away from the water taxi stop, a few minutes from a supermarket to the right and a few minutes to a lovely beach on the left. Also minutes away from Bibi's on the Beach - a lovely over water restaurant - with a great cocktail happy hour. We walked all around to the Surf Beach one of the days - it's not for swimming but very scenic. And another day we walked past the supermarket, through the village which is pretty squalid to be honest, but once past there are the most amazing houses which are very well cared for with beautiful gardens. We felt this was a perfect spot - the staff were lovely and very friendly and the apartment was cleaned every day. Washing up liquid and sponge provided in the kitchen by the way. An in room safe would have been appreciated. We mixed up a perfect cocktail of coconut oil and citronella oil to combat the sandflies - might not smell brilliant but certainly worked. I also have to agree with other reviewers about the rubbish everywhere - it is so sad that the locals have no idea of "taking your rubbish home". We were there during festival (Mardi Gras) and the local beach was absolutely packed as it was a holiday and the locals just leave their rubbish...