Mamallena Panama City — Hotel in Calidonia

I was physically assaulted here by two older Russian(?) guests. So... Experience could have been better. It's a long story that I won't get too deep into. Really just want to give feedback on how the situation was handled.

This older couple accused my partner and me of stealing their beer from the public fridge. They were irrationally upset and didn't speak any English or Spanish. I tried to de-escalate the situation but the language barrier was an issue and the man threw a beer at me.

After that happened, I went to the front desk and let them know what was happening and told the staff that I felt those guests needed to leave. It was a safety issue at that point- these people were unhinged and demonstrated a willingness to be violent.

The staff did listen and tried to de escalate the situation but they also couldn't communicate with the guests. After this conversation with the staff, the man attacked me and his wife attacked my girlfriend.

The staff broke it up quickly and told the couple they had to leave. We then went back to the pool. Shortly thereafter, the Russian couple came back to gather their belongings, but they were completely unaccompanied by staff and could have easily attacked us again.

When we checked out, we were asked to pay full price (3 nights), which we did.

A couple things could have been done differently...

1. when I approached the front desk and told them I had just been assaulted by another guest, they should have kicked them out. They shouldn't have had another opportunity to attack us. This was 7 days ago and my leg still hurts from his kick. My girlfriend was scratched in multiple places.

2. someone should have escorted the guests back to their room to gather their belongings. It was a tense situation that could have escalated even further.

3. they should have cancelled our remaining balance on the reservation or offered some other type of compensation for our...

Spent two nights here as a couple in one of the private rooms.||PROS| - VALUE - Although its advertised as 40USD per night for a private room at reception we got ours for 29USD through booking(dot)com. This is ridiculously cheap compared to its competitors.||- WIFI - Worked and reached the room||- AIR CONDITIONING - Worked well.||- ROOM - Definitely on the basic side but large enough to safely house everything you need. Small window. Towel rack. Small set of shelves. Bin, etc. Bed and pillows were comfortable although would’ve loved a blanket.|| - SECURITY - 24 hour reception. Two steel doors which you need to be buzzed in through. Deadlocks on the private rooms. Electric fence surrounding the property.||- STAFF - Friendly. Lots of helpful information covering the walls of the property.||- NOISE - not noisy.||- SHARED FACILITIES - One of the real highlights. Small pool was kept clean. Pool bar which was staffed from 4 -11pm (even when no one was in the bar). 24 hour reception. Shared kitchen with all the necessities. Bottled water for sale. Coin laundry around the corner (we did a load for total 3.25 USD). 2 resident dogs and 2 resident cats. They also have secure luggage storage available if needed. ||CONS|- HOT WATER - Nil||- LOCATION - definitely a bit of a grittier location. Strangely enough though if you walk two streets towards the water there is like a invisible metaphorical train track and the neighbourhood seems to appear a lot better. I didn’t personally feel unsafe walking these streets although I wouldn’t be going out after dark. Luckily Ubers in Panama City are criminally cheap so you can get anywhere and the security measures (above) made me feel very safe. We walked to old town from here - just go 5 blocks to the water and walk along the malecon.||Overall we were really pleased with our stay here. For the price you pay you make significant savings, which you can invest on other...

We stayed at Mamallena before starting our San Blas trip as a recommended hostel from San Blas Adventures. We really enjoyed our stay here - we arrived at a very unsocial hour but reception let us in and let us rest there before a room was available for us, letting us use the WiFi, breakfast and coffee facilities before we’d officially checked in. Our private room was good - nice bed, enough space for us and decent air conditioning. The pool was great to cool off in at the end of a hot day and we also cooked numerous times and have no complaints about the cooking facilities. All the staff are very friendly - always smiling and swapping a greeting when we saw them. They’re always at hand to provide information and give recommendations too. We also fell in love with Choco the hostel dog (and the hostel cat, although we didn’t catch his/her name). Showers were powerful but cold, which we didn’t mind due to the heat in Panama and the pancake breakfast is good with fruit on offer too! We were told by a tour guide that the area could be quite unsafe, however we didn’t have any problems and didn’t feel at risk while in the area - the hostel’s security measures and regular police presence was all very reassuring. We walked to the business district and the old town each day along the waterfront which was nice - just to note it was about a 30 min walk to the old town in case you wanted to be closer. It’s also easy to get an Uber into town too which are quite cheap. Top tip - make sure you head to the HUGE supermarket (turn left out of the hostel then turn right down the main road) - it’s great if you’re planning to cook for yourself and has so much...