Lunas Castle Hostel — Hotel in San Felipe

I accompanied a group of college students to Panama City for a three-week stay in country in June and July. We used Luna’s Castle as our home base between trips in and out of the city. This hostel is absolutely one of the best, especially for young adults. Located right in Casco Viejo, the students had a great time going out and enjoying the nightlife each weekend without needing to get a cab or an Uber. There are many restaurants and amenities nearby and you can walk to the Central Avenue pedestrian area easily. We certainly enjoyed having Relic Bar right below and getting the $1 shots during Happy Hour. The staff at Luna’s Castle is absolutely amazing. Dalia, Ivanna and Chris made the students’ first experience at a hostel as easy as could be. They are full of helpful information and Chris offers a popular hiking tour almost every day. They were very patient and willing to help with all issues we encountered. The location is also next to several night clubs and bars, which means you’ll hear the noise from that at night if you’re not participating in it. However, if you’re planning to stay in Casco Viejo, there are few places that won’t have the same issue. There are private bathrooms and stalls on both floors. We stayed in the shared dorm rooms. I have only two minor suggestions, which probably don’t apply to the majority of people who stay there because they stay for shorter periods of time: First, the top bunks are very high off the ground and the ladders can be a little difficult when you are tired and/or drunk and/or older. Second, we loved having pancakes for breakfast, but it would be great to get a little variety once in a while. (Of course, we went and bought food to cook, but I think it would have been great for the visitors to be exposed to more traditional Panamanian breakfasts.) Again, I highly recommend this hostel. They know what they’re doing and serve their main...

This past trip was my first time staying at hostels. Out of the three I stayed at, this was by far the best experience. The bathrooms were consistently clean (though I still wore sandals around), the security/front desk were helpful, and most importantly it fostered a good community of travelers! The hostel is directly connected to a lumpia/adobo shop, a bar upstairs, and then a "club" downstairs. During happy hour there were like $0.50 beers, which definitely kept night time interesting.

The rooms were small, but air conditioned. I'm not aware of any sort of housecleaning service, at least not on a daily basis, so once we got in it was our job to keep things clean (which is fine).

There are shared common areas with couches, a hammock, some musical instruments, and plenty of electrical outlets. At night I got to meet a lot of people in the dining area. The kitchen was used respectably by all the guests, and the hostel provided coffee/tea/pancake batter in the morning.

The location is AWESOME. You can walk around Casco Viejo, or you can go out to the water in minutes. Along the water is the Cinto Costera, where you can walk to the other end of the city. It's also a convenient spot to call an Uber. I do not recommend driving in...

I had a great stay here a few months ago but I feel someone should talk about their bedbug problem. I was moved from one bed to another after finding SEVERAL bedbugs in my bunk. The hostel staff cleaned my things but were honestly a little bitchy about it--this wasn't just one or two bedbugs but more like a dozen. Later, I met someone else who switched hostels altogether, due to finding bedbugs in her bunk at Luna's. Once I was switched, I didn't seem to have a problem but as I was leaving a local woman chatted me up and asked if I was going home. I wasn't, I was just switching hostels in an attempt to find something a bit more remote and quiet. I didn't explain, just told her I was switching hostels. She then knowingly said, in spanish, "they have a bedbug problem." Apparently Luna's has a really bad bedbug problem and has had this problem for YEARS. I understand that this is an inherent risk with any type of housing, and that hostels, due to their volume and turnover, tend to be the worst places, but honestly I've never had bedbugs at any other hostel that I know of. Again, it wasn't one bedbug I saw but about a dozen. Really gross. Other than that, it's a very cool hostel, beautiful and...