Mamallena Backpackers Reviews

The hostel was excellent. They were friendly (staff and backpackers). The place was always clean, and secure. Nobody touched my stuff without asking. They have a great tv room with hundreds of movies available.

The private rooms are over priced for sure. This is an old run down hostel in a run down and somewhat dangerous neighborhood. Its in the middle of everything, but near nothing. This one may be a good value for the low end backpacker crowd only...dont expect anything better than that.

Great place to stay! Super helpful staff who help with anything/everything you need. Would stay again!!!

We stayed over Easter so the surrounding area was empty of all life. It wasnt until we left that we saw the streets full of the locals and fruit carts etc. I would probably have preferred to stay in the old town. The resident dog "Choco" and his new sister Suki are adoreable and really help the place feel like home. Other guests werent very friendly and didnt clean up after themselves properly dispite many signs!!

We stayed here for the second time. The private room is good value, well worth it. They had changed their pancake mix, it wasn't as good, but still tasty. We tried following their directions from the bus terminal but the public bus driver insisted he didn't go by the University. We took a cab instead, and it was $5. Had we known it was that cheap, we wouldn't have tried the bus. We bough a bus card for nothing.

The bare minimum of what you'd expect from a hostel, and nothing more. It's in a working-class neighborhood, away from both the old town and downtown. Block is safe, quiet, with cheap food nearby. Good: Easy to book trips to San Blas with good transportation. Bad: Staff seem uninterested in sharing info. It's unbearably hot in the rooms; A/C is very weak. The bed sheets don't fit the mattresses. They advertise "free breakfast," but it's just coffee and pancake batter (must cook it yourself).

The beds at this place are amazing,breakfast was good and all other quailities you want in a hostel. The only thing we found very wrong was the transfer we got to Porobello from a tour company they use ended up being double the original agreed price.Plus because they promote the boats from panama to colombia,i felt they realy didnt care because they get asked the same questions everyday,suck it up lads its what your business is about!!

We were in a private room and it was worth the upgrade. Good breakfast, well organized hostel. WiFi a bit slow and doesn't reach the privates. Loads of showers & toilets, never had to wait. Location is alright, there are some restaurants around but nothing fancy. On the bus line to the bus terminal. Would stay there again.

Great hostel with a good atmosphere and great staff! The hostel has plenty of common areas, offers a great deal ogf information about the area and things to do. There are enough showers and toilets and the beds are comfortable. I can really recommend this hostel!

Good private rooms (bathrooms shared, nearby).

AMAZING! Great location, an equal mix of hang out areas to party and for quiet, and Luke and the staff were incredibly helpful in booking trips all over the country. Thanks guys!

This is a well-organized hostel with a lot of character. Plenty of bathrooms and showers (albeit without hot water). Staff was very helpful and accessible. Garden area with hammocks was nice.

What a wonderful place! Definitly will return!

This hostel was absolutely sensational, for both the experienced backpacker or just traveler on a budget. I stayed in a private room, everything was super clean, staff was very friendly and helpful, and the pancake mix made for a fantastic addition to knock a decent meal off our list of expenditures. I would highly, highly recommend Mamallena to anyone going to or through Panama.

The location is ok, there are restaurants nearby and it is close to Avenida Balboa which is a very main avenue. It is very close to Casco Antigua and downtown, but a bit further away from Panama Viejo, which is good because we went there once to check it out and that was all we needed. The best part of this place is the day trips - we went to Portobello and Isla Grande for $25 and whereas we spent $30 just cabbing around the city the day before going to Panama Viejo, Casco Antigua and Causeway

Overall, this is a good little base. I stayed for ten nights. Of particular note is the clean, functional and well-equipped kitchen. Security is also very good and the staff are polite and helpful. The dorm was very hot and stuffy over night and the showers could use updating! The atmosphere is very homely, not too many people, plenty of space, and there are a number of communal spaces to eat, relax, watch TV etc. There are a lot of old people though - which is a bit unusual for a youth hostel!

An awesome place to stay in a not so awesome city. The atmosphere is great, plenty of hammocks and spots to hang out. Air conditioning at night is really nice and needed. Free pancakes in the morning are yummy. Very helpful staff but I would like to make one correction... The direct morning bus to Almirante (Bocas) is only offered on Sundays, not daily. We ended up having to transfer in David and did not make it to Almirante in time to catch a water taxi over to Bocas. But over all a great stay!

Very helpful staff - there was a great information book in our room full of local info and info on other popular destinations in Panama. This was easily the best bit about the hostel for us as being in a new city can be tricky when you only have the lonely planet to rely on. The garden was relaxing and quiet to sit in despite being in the middle of the city. The free internet was really handy and you could help yourself to breakfast any time you liked. Would definately recommend to a friend.

staff was uncooperative when asked to turn-down air conditioning unit

A good place to start a journey in panama and my first adresses when i m heading to panama city