Hostal El Jaguar
Old Bank 50m East From The Main Plaza, Isla Bastimentos 0101 Panama
Lowest prices for your stay
Lock in the lowest price from these sites
FindHotel$29
Priceline$32
Agoda.com$29
eDreams$29
Etrip$29
Prices above are provided by partners for one room, with variable occupancy rules as provided by the property, and do not include all taxes and fees. Please see our partners for full details.
Full view
View all photos (94)94
Traveler (74)
Dining (8)
Room & Suite (7)
About
#8 of 25 Specialty lodging in Isla Bastimentos
Location
4.3
Cleanliness
3.9
Service
4.1
Value
4.4
The Jaguar Hostel is a comfortable, clean and affordable choice for those who want to stay in Bastimentos, at a suitable distance from the noise and movement of the capital of the province, Bocas del Toro, but without ignoring valid options for your holiday such as excellent places to visit, typical restaurants and the most beautiful views of the archipelago. At short distance of the village are some of the best beaches, surfing spots, trails and more attractions that you will discover as your days are spent in the kind attention of our hostel.
Read more
Suggest edits to improve what we show.Improve this listing
Property amenities
Public wifi
Concierge
Room features
Kitchenette
Room types
Non-smoking rooms
Family rooms
Good to know
HOTEL STYLE
Budget
Languages Spoken
English, Spanish
Location
Full view
41Car recommended
Grade: 41 out of 100
89Restaurantswithin 5 miles
13Attractionswithin 5 miles
Contact
Old Bank 50m East From The Main Plaza, Isla Bastimentos 0101 Panama
Getting there
Rental CarsSee all Isla Bastimentos rental cars
83Reviews4Q+A8Room tips
Reviews
Traveler rating
- 31
- 38
- 11
- 3
- 0
Time of year
Traveler type
Language
More
Selected filters
- Filter
- English
Popular mentions
Sort by:
Most Recent
My boyfriend and I stayed here for two nights and we really liked it! The hostal is simpel and has everything you need. We loved the authentic vibe, the staff was extremely friendly and helpful and the location is perfect for hiking and kayaking! Would absolutely recommend this is you are looking for a local place to stay and you are on a budget :)
Read more
Date of stay: July 2022Trip type: Traveled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
Helpful
Bastimentos itself is a horrible filthy litter strewn hovel with everything way overpriced and totally not worth visiting the only thing that made it bearable was the accommodation. After reading great reviews about the island we booked 4 nights (3 too many) the hostal has a great communal area, wifi was good and 2 well equipped kitchens and your right on the sea front. We thought we could walk everywhere but, most trails are unsafe to do because of crime (so all the locals tell you) so every trip involves overpriced water taxis, I would recommend the hostal, its great, not the island its awful
Read more
Date of stay: April 2022
Location
Cleanliness
Service
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
Helpful
+1
I think other reviewers might live in an altered reality. Our room was really grim with water coming up from the floor boards and noone emptying the crap bin next to the loo. Our neighbours' shared toilet wasn't working and the staff did nothing. Crabs came up thru their floorboards. Litter greeted us floating round entrance, would have taken little effort to have cleaned it up. $45 per night for comfort room (!) Whereas lovely place next door was $33 for equivalent. The owner is lazy. He simply doesn't care. His son is indolent and rude. The shared kitchens have a filthy broken selection of crockery utensils and cutlery and not enough to go round. The lightbulbs weren't working. The chairs were broken. Really not recommended.
Read more
Date of stay: January 2020Trip type: Traveled with family
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
2 Helpful votes
Helpful
We had a great time here. Very nice people attending you. Comfortable beds. Isn't too polish but the ambient is cool. I liked its little pier for taking pictures and I recommend boat services to visit other islands. Don't go with kids, too much water around!
Read more
Date of stay: December 2018Trip type: Traveled with family
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
Helpful
El Jaguar is a great place, especially if you are travelling on a budget and if you want to experience the authentic feel of Isla Bastimentos on its Old Bank friendly neighbourhood. The Jaguar - the host - is very wellcoming man and allways checked-in with us if we have everything we need and also he seemed very hands on his bussiness always being around, improoving and fixing what needed to be fixed around the place. Staff was also friendly and very helpfull from the beginning to the end of our stay and always with a smile on their faces - especially the locals. There are catalogues by the bar with the restaurants and activities available on the island. Also the room was very clean, there were no buggs, we even had towels, soap and a closet and the air fan did its job so we did not miss not booking a room with AC. Be mindfull there is a water shortage on the island during dry season which means you won’t be able to take long and hot showers at any hour but this does not mean you won’t be able to shower and clean more than properly daily. Water is provided on a schedule - just ask about it and you will be fine! I was very sorry to see such horrible previous reviews of this great place of people who lacked compassion for those for whom water becomes a luxury independently of their will. This is a local bussiness, not a big franchise so I think they are worth all the praise for their great job and their eagerness to always improove. Also good supermarket just out the door and lots of great locally owned restaurants with the yummiest caribean cuisine and hospitality walking distance from El Jaguar. Happy hours daily from 18:00 to 19:30 and a great deck to enjoy the bay! Just keep an open mind, people! …
Read more
Date of stay: February 2019Trip type: Traveled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
Helpful
Based over the waterfront, El Jaguar is a laid back hostel with ideal social area and many hammocks. Had a private double with shared bathroom for $22 a night. Kitchen is well equipped (even has a working oven!! - would benefit from oven gloves). Stayed for 4 nights and would definitely return. Happy hour 6-7 for cheap beers/ drinks and they have kayaks for hire to paddle across bay. Staff friendly and it’s clean also 🙂 Thanks gang x
Read more
Date of stay: May 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
Helpful
Response from Arnulfo A, Gerente at Hostal El Jaguar
Responded Aug 2, 2018
Hi there! Thank you so much for your kind words. We really appreciated having you stay with us and we are elated that you enjoyed your stay here on Bastimentos. Thanks for the recommendation about the oven gloves, we will definitely have them here before you return for your next visit.
Read more
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
Maybe the upstairs rooms are comfortable but number 7 on the lower level was decidedly basic, with thin wooden walls and a view only of the next door hostel wall a couple of feet away. Water from the shower runs directly into the Caribbean. I wouldn't like to think what happens to the sewage but I wouldn't recommend a swim off the front platform, inviting though this may look. Number 7 wasn't dirty but not a room I would want to spend much time in. There was a suspicious smell on the wooden walkway leading into the hostel and some of the lighting in the front communal area didn't work. When I reported this, the girl just said she knew about it---end of. Having said that, I found the Brazilian couple who help to run El Jaguar were friendly and helpful but if I go back to Old Bank I would try somewhere else.…
Read more
Date of stay: March 2018Trip type: Traveled solo
Value
Cleanliness
Service
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
Helpful
Ok so lets start off with the good. They have a personal boat driver who is able to take you on tours or to different islands and he is a very good driver. It felt like a much safer ride than some of the other ones we went on even when the water was rough. They offer some tours, but they're not so much tours as just being driven around in a boat to different locations. There is some information that you are given along the way but not very much. We did the Zapatilla tour, which pretty much was $30 to go to the beach. They quickly stop by to look at starfish in the water for about one minute and spend about 5 minutes looking for sloths as well. Then we went snorkeling once for about 15 minutes at the end of the tour. From the description I thought we would be stopping to snorkel in multiple locations. The majority of the time was spent at Zapatilla beach (2 hours). We did stop at blue coconut for lunch/dinner at the end which was nice. Bring lots of sunscreen! We got burnt and it lasted for about a week! And we even had put sunscreen on that day. The hostel is right on the water, like literally right on the water. So I would recommend bringing ear plugs as the waves are extremely noisy and inconsistent. We had the fan room, I think next time I would go with A/C. The main area has 5 hammocks that are often occupied. It says no smoking but people often would, and no one would tell them otherwise. So if you're hoping to spend your days relaxing in the hammock with nice clean air you may be disappointed. They had a kitchen area for use which was helpful though stocked with pans/utensils in pretty bad shape. We found one pan that was good for pancakes but it mysteriously disappeared on the 3rd day. The water is not drinkable. The water is also not good for swimming in as it is brown and filled with dirt and garbage. But if you don't care about that you can go in the water. We also never got confirmation as to whether some sewage gets dumped directly into the water on the island. The rooms/bathrooms are super basic. If you have anything that is smaller than 1cm in width, be very careful with it. The floors have gaps between the boards that lead directly to the ocean, so if you drop it it'll be gone forever. We had a fan in our room, and one outlet that had 2 sockets. The sockets were very bad, it was very hard to get any plug to actually stay in. There was one tiny table and a narrow shelf to put our belongings. The bathroom's handle was rusted and broken, both locks were rusted, and one just barely was able to be closed. The shower is literally a hose coming out of the wall. But it did the trick. El Jaguar himself was very nice and willing to help with any of our questions. We saw a few ants in the kitchen area, but had no problem in our room. As far as other insects I often got bit on my legs when spending time in the shared area, but my husband didn't even get bit once. In general the hostel was pretty clean, just a bit rusted/broken in some parts. One thing I am a bit concerned about is they have a couple hummingbird feeders that are quite dirty and don't look like they get cleaned very often. These really should be cleaned every day. Also having lots of people smoking right next to these feeders can't be good for tiny lungs. We also booked the "shuttle/connection service" from Bastimentos to Panama City. This is probably the biggest mistake we've made in Panama. I'd say just know where you need to go and do it on your own. We booked it and got e-mail confirmation. We were up at 5:30am to take the boat to Bocas so we could take another boat from there at 6:00am we thought. When we got there the lady said our reservation was for 7:00am. So we waited over an hour, the next boat didn't end up coming until 7:30am which got us to the mainland at about 7:57am. No one had any idea about our "confirmation/reservation/booking" they told us to just get in the taxi. So we got in the taxi which got us to the bus terminal after our bus had already left at 8:00am. Luckily there was a non-direct bus that we were able to get on that left at about 8:25am. But had we known this we would have made sure to get on an earlier boat so we wouldn't miss the bus. That being said we made it to Panama city in one piece. The first bus was extremely crowded and 2 guys both over 6'3 had to stand with their head bent because it was so short and there weren't enough seats. After about 45 minutes they got seats as people got off. The 2nd bus was quite nice and made the 15 hour day a bit better.…
Read more
Date of stay: February 2018Trip type: Traveled as a couple
Location
Service
Sleep Quality
Room Tip: Get A/C, fan is not quite enough to make the room comfortable
See more room tips
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
Helpful
Spent Christmas week here with my family and had a fabulous time. Great hostel with friendly staff. Location was great with supermarkets and restaurants in close proximity. Ask about the day trips they offer which are well worth checking out. Thank you Jaguar Hostel for your hospitality!
Read more
Date of stay: December 2017Trip type: Traveled with family
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
1 Helpful vote
Helpful
Response from Arnulfo A, Propietario at Hostal El Jaguar
Responded Jan 23, 2018
Jerry was a plesure having you and your family here for chrismas, and see the girls enjoy their presents,hope you gays enjoy the time with us.Thanks for every thing.
Read more
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
Great value! Glad we stayed on Basti! Jaguar, Stephanie, and Andrew were absolutely amazing. They made us feel like family. The rooms are great, clean and very comfortable. The kitchen, and common area is well maintained and very easy and relaxing. We are a family of 4, including two kids and Bastimentos was a great fit. Lots of food options, restaurants and markets within minutes walking distance. Jaguar also offers cheap beers and cocktails, and they have their own dock. They can setup tours and transportation services. Heading to Panama City after Bocas? See our travel day and what we paid. Shuttle service setup through Jaguar. $40 per person. This includes the water taxi from Bocas, so you'll have to pay the $3 per person to get from Bastimentos to Bocas the morning of, it also includes the shuttle from the Almirante docks to the Almirante bus station, then finally it includes the long haul bus all the way to the Albrook station in Panama City. From there you can catch taxis or local buses to your final destination. The boat leaves Bocas at 7am. You will pay jaguar $3 per person as a deposit when you book with them at reception, you'll receive an email with all the details. Then when you arrive in Bocas someone from the shuttle company will collect the remaining $37 per person. All said and done we arrived in Panama City about 6:30pm. For us this was the easiest way to avoid staying in David for a night. And we would do it this way again. …
Read more
Date of stay: November 2017Trip type: Traveled with family
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
Helpful
Response from Arnulfo A, Director de Recepción at Hostal El Jaguar
Responded Jan 19, 2018
Gracias, por escribirnos es nuestro deber hacer q los huespedes se sientan como en casa, hacemos q su estadia sea agradable, para nosotros son como nuestra segunda familia.
Read more
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
PRICE RANGE
$20 - $29 (Based on Average Rates for a Standard Room)
LOCATION
PanamaBocas del Toro ProvinceIsla Bastimentos
NUMBER OF ROOMS
12
Is This Your Tripadvisor Listing?
Own or manage this property? Claim your listing for free to respond to reviews, update your profile and much more.
Claim Your Listing Frequently Asked Questions about Hostal El Jaguar
Which popular attractions are close to Hostal El Jaguar?
Nearby attractions include Gypsy Travel Panama (2.2 miles), Red Frog Beach (2.2 miles), and Up In The Hill (0.6 miles).
What are some restaurants close to Hostal El Jaguar?
Conveniently located restaurants include Arboloco, Leaf Eaters Cafe, and Up in the Hill - Coffee Shop & Organic Farm.
Which languages are spoken by the staff at Hostal El Jaguar?
The staff speaks multiple languages, including English and Spanish.