Reviews of Refugio del Río Hostel

25 January 2012

Liked: The hostile is located on spacious ground that included garden and picnic areas where you can hangout and read.

Disliked: The staff wasn't pleasant to deal with and appeared to speak little English. Don't expect a pleasant reception when you arrive nor giving them your money when you checkout.

15 July 2011 Customer would recommend this property

Liked: me and my gf arrived at the hostel before the check-in time, so the room we had booked was not yet available. We therefore got upgraded to another room for no extra charge for our whole stay. The room was spotless and equipped with big sliding doors that made it seem as the beautiful garden and sound of the nearby stream were inside the room. Also equipped with netting in front of windows, so the bugs stayed on the outside. Adding to this, the communal kitchen and dining areas within the main building were very clean and inviting to make meals at the venue if preferred.

Disliked: If anything, the TV signal in our room was somewhat off. But who goes to Boquete to watch TV anyway?

23 May 2011 Joanna would recommend this property

Liked: Great big house with a wonderful garden. A very peaceful place with a great kitchen. Good sized rooms which were very clean - hotel standard.

Disliked: mosquito screen had a few holes in it

09 May 2011

Liked: The river was nice. As well as the grounds.

Disliked: I can only guess that the front dresk is run by the owner or a family member. We had made reservations before coming here. We took a bus from Panama city and got in at 7:30pm to the hostel. The woman at the front was on Facebook and took in "real time" 5 mins. to get off. When she did, we told her that we had reservations for 3 nights. She in turn told us that we didn't call before 400pm to keep them. ( We had not only made reservations but put a deposit on our room and gave a credit card for them to charge if we did not show up. On thier web page It does not in any place tell you to call in before a specific time. So we ended up taking the Treehouse room...A fort near the river with no bathroom near and so many areas without screens, we were attacked by mosquitoes. The woman at the reception no longer gave us a discount because we were now not going to stay for the 3 nights we had planed to stay. So on day two we asked if they had a room with a bath and the woman (different from the lady on duty at night) said " we had a couple that did not show up yesterday and we have been trying to call them." They never tryed to call us and gave our room away within a few hours of the so called 4:00pm call in time. Anyway.....This "hostel" is like a house when you're in someone's living room area. For all the rooms and dorms they ONLY have one 1/2 bathroom and one bathroom with shower. There better hostels in town. They also have very few kitchen items to use. No hammocks, as there on line site states or as in the photos. The place is clean but if you show up right now the woman at the reception is on Facebook again.....

05 May 2011 Customer would recommend this property

Liked: Great common area, nice loungeroom and well equipped kitchen. It's a lovely location right by the river. Private rooms are overpriced.

Disliked: This is a nice hostel, just don't book into the tree house! It is a cramped, dodgy construction with big gaps at the tops of the walls and gaping spaces where the mosquito screens don't fit the spaces properly. And with no mosquito net covering the bed, it was a total bugfest. The rooms inside are much nicer but a complete ripoff. Staff are indifferent bordering on rude.

17 July 2009 Customer would recommend this property

Liked: The property was clean for the most part, except for the kitchen. I enjoyed the little side yard with the brook running through it. While the stay was pleasent, it is extremely difficult to communicate with the staff, unless you speak Spanish. They did not speak any english, but a couple of the guests were able to help us communicate.

Disliked: Customer left no negative feedback.

02 May 2009 Nicholas would recommend this property

Liked: Very good clean hostel, in good location with comfortable mattresses, spacious kitchen and lounge.

Disliked: Nicholas left no negative feedback.

10 November 2008 Customer would recommend this property

Liked: There was a full kitchen we could use, it was very quiet and close to town but off the main street away from any traffic

Disliked: Customer left no negative feedback.

23 June 2008 Steven would recommend this property

Liked: Not like a hostel, more like staying at a friends houseHuge bedrooms, hot water showersBeautiful gardens with the river flowing through itExcellent kitchen facilities so you can cook your own foodOnly criticism is lack of advertising within the town - it took us an hour to find the hostel and none of the locals had heard of it, very frustrating!

Disliked: Steven left no negative feedback.