Hotel Casa Magnolia Inn Panama

This is a great hostal. Well equipped kitchens, plenty of bathrooms and showers large lounge and dining area super friendly staff. They make a real effort to keep everything clean and working. It’s in the heart of the old city and there’s a bus two blocks away.

Vibe is weird. Police hanging around in the common area & staff seems like they'd rather be anywhere but here. Also weird rules, that make you feel like you can't hangout & relax. Kitchen is awesome, location is really good, price is alright & the rooms are fine. We didn't get real beds though, it was just mattresses laid on couch pieces? (everyone else had real beds in the dorm) It was okay to sleep on, but it felt uncaring and was obviously not what we expected to pay for. :/ If you're a solo traveler wanting to connect with people, this place isn't it in my opinion, if you just need a short stay with a great location, it's fine.

This is a great property for travelers who like to meet other travelers as it is a hotel and hostel blended into one. ||As such, it has a large shared living area and dining room with full kitchen.

We had a very enjoyable stay at this hotel. Staff was very friendly and helpful. Location is very good - close to everything but quiet at night. Room was clean and beds were comfortable. I would definitely stay here again.

Pros: 1. Super good and central location in the historic centre 2. Offers an air-conditioned communal living room and kitchen on first floor 3. Beds are super comfortable 4. You can store your luggage here if you are leaving after check out and use the communal area 5. Offers toiletries eg shower gel Cons: 1. Our room was on the GF and the windows were facing the street. There was SO much noise caused by a person shouting in a microphone all night, we couldn’t sleep 2. The fan of the A/C in the room was broken so cold air was directed at my face while in bed I would suggest you ask for a room on the first floor.

I have been to this place several times before. The rooms are very good, and the staff friendly. The combined hotel and hostel concept makes it a lovely place — but the standard of the private rooms is indeed solid for a three star hotel (though this is technically just two). There are other Casco hotels with similar prices and a bit more fancy. But the great advantage of this one is that it’s quiet — unlike some hotels that have rooftop open till late. The reason I am giving it two stars is that I experienced serious lack of honesty and transparency when I checked in during my last visit. As I arrived, the receptionist said I got an upgrade. I found that suspicious, and something was off. Indeed I was right: I had booked a room on the ground floor (where I stayed before), but those rooms were full and I was being sent to a room on the second floor with no elevator. They helped me with the baggage so that was ok, but I found the lack of honesty really shocking! What a receptionist should do is to say “sorry Sir, we have a problem and we apologise. The room you booked on the ground floor is not available. We have a room on the second floor, it’s even bigger, and we can help you with baggage. Is that ok ? We are so sorry”. And of course any guest would reply sure, ok, no problem. But what the receptionist did, which was to try and make a problem seem an “upgrade”, was seriously distasteful.

Great experience! The front desk was super warm and helpful. Definitely do the walking tour if you have time for it as well :)

Probably the worst hostel ive ever stayed in. The location is the only good thing- it’s in a lovely area lots of shops and places to eat around and it’s very safe. The hostel however- the staff are so incredibly rude and stuck up, they are very unwilling to help & they watch you on the cameras in the common area and make sure that you are sat with your feet on the floor? The sofas aren’t nice, which I would understand this rule more if they were, but they are very old and it feels like a prison, often with police in there too which is very uncomfortable in the mornings when potentially in pyjamas. I was spoken to by one of the staff in a way I have never been spoken to before- he told me that I must go into my dorm room now because I can’t be the first sight that guests see in the morning (it was 7am so I wasn’t able to check in yet), so he hurried me into a dorm room. I felt treated like someone who’d walked in off the street. I also asked about leaving my bag in the hostel for a night whilst I went to the San blas, I was told it was 5 dollars, the next morning at 5am, the staff at reception told me it was 10 dollars, I queried why the price had changed, he made no attempt to apologise or explain the misunderstanding, and very very rudely just repeated ‘its 10 dollars’, which is the same price nearly as a dorm room?! I would have found elsewhere to leave my bag if I’d have known it was 10 dollars. The hostel itself is very unsociable. The big dorm room has no curtains and windows surrounding so it’s very bright and no privacy at all, and gets quite smelly as no air circulation. I hope that a new hostel opens up in the area because it’d be a shame for people to not be able to stay in Casco Viejo at an affordable price, but I can’t recommend this hostel LESS.