Monkey Lodge Panama

Monkey Lodge is remote, with no nearby food options. The owner was rude on arrival, the room was basic with a dirty shower, and the pool was filthy—with dogs swimming in it. No WiFi or phone signal, so don’t expect to stay connected. You won’t see monkeys unless you pay $250 for a tour. Totally disappointing.

Everything was absolutely good. We had a room with a view of the monkeys. The atmosphere was pleasant from the first moment I contacted the owner. Pleasant lodge environment in the middle of the jungle. They gave us recommendations for trips around the area. The breakfast was very good.

Outstanding site, private villas in jungle setting. Pool, yoga studio with experienced, skilled India trained instructor.. Fantastic food. Every meal was superb. (Daily dinners, not a menu restaurant) Nice villas with AC. Good bed, (I think I'll buy a new mattress when I get home.) Daily excursions all around the central Panama area. Wifi all over the lodge. I was traveling alone, and everyone really took me under their wing and made me feel welcome. This is a jungle lodge, no 5 Star poshness, which is want I wanted! Perfect to just be yourself and relax. I intend to return!

This was my favorite spot on during our trip to Panama! I love a good adventure! We stayed in one of their cabins (they have cabins, which is great for bigger families) and they make all of your meals for you. It’s good, home cooked food that we all enjoyed. They offer all kinds of amazing tours in the jungle and ocean. we had the best time. They made a real effort to accommodate our kids! (X4). We went fishing, caving, river, floating, went to an indigenous village, hike to a waterfall, swam in the river, cliff jumping… this is a completely family run lodge and all of them are amazing. They were able to cater our tours and experiences to the needs of your family perfectly.

The finca is located on a hill just outside Chilibre. There are individual cabins around a pool and a nice garden. When we arrived, we were asked, if we wanted to have dinner that day. We said, we'd rather go to a restaurant. The host told us, the closest restaurants were in Albrook, and there was nothing at all in Chilibre. When we said we would think about it, he said, we would have to decide this very moment, because otherwise there would be no food in the evening. Even though we realized he was playing us, we were tired and concurred. In the evening we were served Arroz con Pollo - something every fonda sells for $4-5 p.p. incl. VAT, and even in nice restaurants you hardly pay more than $10 anywhere. Here they charged a whooping $19.80 p.p. Of course it was a blatant lie, that there are no restaurants in Chilibre: the closest one is like 300m away next to the supermarket, and alongside the Carretera Transistmica there are around 10 over the next 2 kms. I get that they are desperate: in the three days we stayed there, we were the only guest, and maintaining the lodge certainly is not cheap. However I guess maximizing your income by playing such tricks, is pretty shortsighted. If you decide to eat there nonetheless, you have to love dogs: there are 3 or 4 roaming around the kitchen and the dining deck. One.of them even laid its face on our table while we were eating...

The Monkey Lodge was a great place to relax and take in a few excursions! Mia was very professional and friendly , taking care of booking our 2 excursions. Both the Village/Waterfall and Gatun Lake were excellent, definitely worth seeing. The lodge is peaceful with lots of little outdoor areas too choose from and well maintained gardens ! The breakfast was good, fresh fruit, pancakes, toast and omelette. Our stay was 3 days so a variety in the breakfast menu would have been appreciated. The evening meal was also very good, great variety but not enough on the plates. We only gave a rating of 3 as the rooms were not as what the photos show, at least not the Papaye. Just to say that the Papaye cabin, in our opinion, would have needed a complete renovation on the inside.