Name: Selina Casco Viejo Panama City - Hostel
Address: Esquina de Ave B y Calle 12, Panama, Panama, Panama, 0801, Panama
Rating: 8

Elevator/lift

Smoke-free property

Terrace

Reception desk

General

Concierge services

Luggage storage

Services and amenities

Breakfast

Common kitchen

Restaurant

Microwave oven

Meals

Free Wi-Fi

Internet

Spanish

English

Languages Spoken

Library

Billiards

Nightclub

Sun Deck

Recreation

Outdoor pool

Pool facilities

Pool and beach

Business center

Business

Table Tennis

Sports

First Aid Kit

Beauty and wellness

Pets allowed

Pets

Temperature control for staff

Personal protection equipment for staff

Extra decontamination measures

Temperature control for guests

Personal protection equipment for guests

Contactless check-in and/or check-out

Additional measures against COVID-19

Health and Safety Measures

Location

At the hostel

Panama Pacifico Airport

Tocumen International Airport

Marcos A. Gelabert International Airport

Enrique Adolfo Jimenez Airport

Selina Casco Viejo Panama City - Hostel

Panama

Great Hostel-txpe venue with lots of great affordable or free activities. I participated in a yoga class and a salsa class, and I may go to a bar crawl the next time I'm here.
Very clean and the staff is incredibly nice and helpful

loved it

The staff were kind. The place was really dirty. Room was not available at checkin.

PRE-CHECK-IN/CHECK-IN
I booked directly on the Selina site. As I wanted to extend my stay by1-day 3-4 days prior arrival/check-in, I followed the instructions via a manual online form. However, no-one responded and it seemed the receptionist didn't know of any such request either. Not an issue though she simply extended the reservation on the spot. 

STAY
The room is small, as expected, but also very damp. As a general perception the whole place needs some urgent TLC, it's really worn out. The water in then nearest shower to my room (5th floor), for instance, does not drain since the leveling is off creating a highly insanitary situation in the shower cubicle. 

WIFI
Given Selina is geared towards the Digital Natives/Nomads one would think Wifi installations should be a premier concern. Well, in my room (5th floor), the AP did would not maintain a lease. I advised the front-desk twice, in person on the day of arrival, as well as via WhatsApp on day 2. Other than “thanks for the information” nothing tangible was undertaken to rectify the issue. 

Shabby yet not chic. 

This was the best meal we had in Panama! It is beautiful with a gorgeous view of the city lighted up at night. The drinks and food were excellent! I had a trio of tacos. All of them were delicious especially the shrimp. The only miss was the chocolate cake. It was kind of dry. 

Best meal in Panama

Edgar gave us such a fun salsa lesson! He was such a helpful and patient teacher and I was so surprised how quickly I was able to pick up the steps. It is so cool that this hostel offers an activity like salsa lessons, I bet they could do great with bachata or other dance classes as well. Thanks so much Edgar! 

Salsa Lessons at Selina! 

Edgar was a really friendly selina worker, great dancing classes. I think he should continue with the salsa and bachata beginner steps for salsa/dance nights . Only feedback is lower music volume so his explanations are clearer, except for that he really made our stay

Edgar made my stay better

Fwiw reviews are pretty accurate. Enjoyed my stay, but def some issues. Solo male, working traveller, 30yo from US, in 8person room.Staff was great, security was great, the overall property was very esthetically pleasing including the library area full of real plants. Tacos La Neta on the rooftop was great and the main restaurant near lobby area was good but also tons of great places nearby, prices of things start to add up tho if you eat here/out a lot. Chair massage was nice & not too expensive. Views from the rootop areas, pools, bars are just as pictured. Small roaches were mostly in the bathrooms or kitchen from folks not properly cleaning dishes. Never saw them in my bed or general room area. 100% a party hostel from Wed-Sun. Rooftop plays music Wed-Sun until at least midnight-2am or beyond & can be heard all the way 3 floors down throughout entire rooming areas. Nightclub in basement is Fri-Sat & just as loud, so dont plan on getting much sleep those nights, even with earplugs, if you dont want to party. Lots of locals & other travelers come here to party so it gets packed! Had a situation where people in my room where so drunk i had to request an urgent roomchange @ 430am bc the person in the bunk above me peed themself & it seeped through to my bed. Staff helped me change right away, but idk if mattress was ever cleaned/replaced (just sheets) as heard from others in that old room. All in all: probably wouldnt stay here again unless smaller room Mon-Wed.

Nice looks & amenities but intense party hostel

I dont like to write bad review but roach infestation bothered us. We did not use the kitched beacause of it. It was pretty bad. One sign that effort was not there was that all the cutlery and cups was badly washed, not some , all of them, all had stains. We  rented a studio and a two bedroom apprtment for a week.The place is noisy because of clubs on rooftop and outside window. The noise doesnt bother me so much but some people might not like it.If not for the roaches plausibly we would have considered return on our followup event.

I've stayed here at this Selina many times and am never disappointed.  It is beautifully decorated and the service this time especially was beyond expected.  I would recommend for someone who wants to be in the center of the action in old town Panama.  It isn't the most peaceful location for sleep, but if you like music and parties, this is the place for you!

Selina Casco Viejo Panama City - Hostel

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Paid on the spot

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