Los Balcones Over The Sea Hotel

Too hard mattress/pillows. We had a bad sleep in this nice hotel over the sea, bocas town view. There's a disco nearby, with loud music until late at night, that makes the matress issue even worst. The hotel is nice and clean. Beautifully located. The receptionist looks preatty bored to be there. Owners, your place definetly miss you!! Per 45 dollars taxes included, this hotel would really worth the visit, if mattress would be changed into a comfortable one.

We spent 14 nights here recently and unfortunately I wouldn't recommend it. It's conviently located to the main island by one minute water taxi ride. The husband (Jerry) is very nice, friendly and very helpful but the wife is a bit moody and is known to give "attitude" The room was nicely decorated but it only had a bed, no dresser, no coffee maker or chairs. The bathroom has a small pedestal sink but no vanity so you're forced to store your toiletries on the floor. Outside the back door you're immediately in the local slums. The people you encounter while walking through this area (you are forced to if you want to get anywhere on the island) are nice but because they don't have a central sewer system the household "gray and brown water" drain under the shacks, it can get very smelly. There are a couple of good restaurants within a 15 minute walk (The Leaf Eater and Bibi's on the Beach), The local Hostel has good food for a reasonable price and the Cosmic Crab is also good but very over priced. There is a small grocery store 5 minutes away and is reasonably priced. I can't recommend this place unless you're younger, into partying and only need to stay for a couple of days. The constant blaring music (noise) from the bars on the main island goes until very late in the night (hint, they hotel supplies ear plugs in your room). This island (Isle Carenero) has a crazy amount of sand fleas and no seeums. This made it very uncomfortable for laying on the beach. Avoind this place if you're older, if you're younger and just want to party for a few days then it should be OK.

Our bathroom regularly stank of sewage gas and the wall next to the toilet had brown stains on it - the replacement room we were offered had no windows. No fridge in the room, so we asked to store some leftovers in the hotel kitchen fridge - when we got them back, a quarter of the food was missing. Upon asking the manager about this, the owner, who can usually be seen drinking sitting on the only chair with a cushion, confronted me, all but admitting he had taken the food "because he runs a hotel and not a hostel". He also said he'd "find out where I live and send me some chicken" - after which no longer felt safe there. If you cannot even trust the owner with some leftovers, can you trust him with your valuables? Also if you want to get out early for a tour or diving, forget about getting breakfast in time - we regularly waited more than half an hour for it to arrive. Room cleaning was spotty, one day not cleaning at all and once being left without any toilet paper. And the main door is locked after 9 p.m., and the only way to get in after that is by water taxi. Apparently they had problems with theft and instead of solving the problem with either a night guard or some lock the guests can open, they just shut you out. This place cuts corners and instead of investing in the upkeep of the existing infrastructure, which is in disrepair (loose skirting boards, constantly running toilet flush in spite of notice asking guests to conserve water), they appear to be expanding onto the floor above - so future guests can also look forward to building noise. The entrance to the village opens onto a very littered area.