Wonderful. Loved it! Great excursions, great food, happy dogs, helpful staff, beautiful setting. I wish we could have stayed longer. Yes, the minor complaints I've see are true...hot water is hard to get. BUT you're in the tropics and the shower water gets tepid. Good enough in my book. The beds are not the most comfortable but I have slept on WAY more un comfortable beds. This isn't the 4 seasons. It's a lodge and the only reason you should be in your room is to sleep....otherwise get out and about! Panama is beautiful!
We spent 15 days in Panama and our stay at the Monkey Lodge was easily the best part. Since it’s family run and only a few rooms, it has a very quaint feel and we felt really taken care of. My daughter loved the pool on site and the very friendly dogs as well. I really enjoyed the coconut mango chicken fingers they had, my wife really liked the chocolate pancakes for breakfast. We did three tours with Max and they were all great. We went to Monkey Island, Pirate Island, and to see a local indigenous group. At Monkey Island, several monkeys actually came on our boat and ate grapes. The Pirate Island tour had 2 stops at picturesque islands, and for the tour involving the indigenous people, we got to eat in their kitchen as well as dance with them. Max has ten years experience leading tours and it shows. He’s incredibly knowledgeable and passionate about his job. Mia was very friendly and attentive whenever we needed anything. She even gave us free drinks to celebrate after the World Cup final. The accommodations are a bit modest, but totally recommend here. What a great experience for us.…
Just came back from a 6 day visit to Panama with my family (wife, 18 yo son and 16 yo daughter). We spent our first 3 nights at the Monkey Lodge and really enjoyed ourselves. The visited started with Mr. Francisco picking us up at the airport. He is super nice and stopped at a grocery store for us on the way to the hotel. We then enjoyed three relaxing days on the beautiful property. The grounds are gorgeous- lush with all sorts of tropical plants and some extremely sweet dogs (including Aria, who will play fetch or tug of war all day long with you). On our first full day, the wonderful Mia took us on a jungle adventure- including a longboat ride down the river Chagres, a swim in the river, short hike to the waterfall and a visit to an Embera village. My son described this day as the best of the trip. On our second day, Max took us on a fun boat ride to visit the monkeys of Gatun Lake. The evening excursion ended with a beautiful sunset and great weather. The whole trip we enjoyed the fine cuisine of the French owners. There is a relatively small menu, but always some evening special (I say small, but the hotel only has four casitas, so how big should it really be?). The lasagna was delicious. And of course, getting to see the resident monkeys is always a treat.…
We had a wonderful stay at Monkey Lodge. We did two private tours, both with Mia as our guide. The hosts and Mia made every effort to give us our own personal experience. We loved our cabin, the dogs and lovely breakfast and home cooked dinner at their smale scaled lodge.
I had an amazing experience at Monkey Lodge, so much so that I actually cancelled another reservation to come back and spend more time there. Mia was central to my positive experience. Her correspondence leading up to the trip was prompt, kind, and helpful. This was my first international trip solo, and as soon as I met her I instantly felt safe and at ease. She let me practice my horrible Spanish, but effectively communicated with me in English to ensure I always felt comfortable, aware, and cared for. Whether I had a question about a tour or Panamanian culture, she was ready with information and positive energy. I was emboldened by her natural confidence and cannot thank her enough for giving me such an amazing week. The Lodge was cozy, lovely, and felt like home - thank you Mia! The rest of the family was always very kind and helpful too, I just primarily worked with Mia. Mia took me and another guest traveling solo on three tours: one to Gatun Lake, another to Panama City, and a third to meet the Embera. She could take our feedback and requests to accommodate each tour to what we most wanted to pursue. Me and the other guest loved that level of personalization and the uniqueness of our experience rather than something very touristy. The breakfasts were delicious and I LOVED the dogs and monkeys on site. Especially the dogs though who are all very friendly and well trained and welcome all visitors. I went during the rainy season but got very lucky and was only heavily rained on my first day. But I did not mind sitting in the Lodge's open air restaurant that day just listening to the rain and watching my beautiful surroundings. Mia also coordinated rides for me from the airport and from my brief stay in the city, which made my transportation needs so easy to manage. She also gave me helpful recommendations for where to eat and what to do with my one night in the city. One thing to note: the internet didn't work on my phone in my cabin, only at the restaurant, so I was glad I had purchased roaming services from my phone company Verizon, and that perfectly supplemented for me. That covered me for most of the trip in general as well, only when deep in a rain forest or national park did I totally lose service. I have already started planning a trip back for this summer because I fell in love with Panama and that was primarily because of my incredible experience at the Monkey Lodge. Traveling alone as a woman can be scary and intimidating, but I felt so safe the entire time at the Lodge. Thank you all and hope to see you again soon! …
I have gone two times this year, the first one with my family and the other one with a group of friends and both experiences were AMAZING! everything in the menu is delicious, the staff seems to be always there to assist you in anything you need, it's really close from Panamá city but the ambience and natural surroundings make you feel disconnected! since the beginning Mia helped us with every detail and provide us with recommendations, The Embera's Tour with Max was outstanding, he made cocktails for us with fresh fruits at the moment and the Lodge cabins were extra cozy. I'll definitely recommend Monkey Lodge to EVERYONE! 🙌🏻
Choosing Monkey Lodge for our four night Panama stay was the best decision I could have made. I still can't believe we were able to see so much of Panama and experience so much in so little time. We stayed in the Lulu room mainly for the three beds it offered and the monkey viewing turned out to be just so much more fun then expected. We loved being able to swim at any hour and the grounds offer space for many. The staff is truly awesome. Sabrina makes the most delicious meals, a special is offered each night . They took care to offer peanut free choices for my son, which is huge. Mia was helpful right from my booking, answering all of my questions. She seemed to always be around with a smile making sure we had everything we needed. We did two tours with Max. He is without a doubt one of the best tour guides I have ever encountered. Being with Max is like being with a friend who loves and lives life to the fullest. We enjoyed the Chagres rainforest tour and the Pirates route tours. My sons passion is fishing and Max made sure he had plenty of opportunity. Max takes such care. Bringing a cooler filled with cold drinks and making us fresh squeezed juices, cutting up fresh pineapple , stopping so I could find grapenut icecream at a local store and even bringing a kayak which turned out to be such fun. Thank you Max and Mia for a truly wonderful Panama experience. I can't imagine a better trip.…
Our trip was in September 2022, considered to be the off-season. We stayed Tuesday-Friday. We arrived at Monkey Lodge via Uber after a stay on the San Blas Islands. As other reviewers mentioned, it was initially difficult to find, but a quick text to Mia fixed that! Upon arrival, we were treated like family. Mia, Max, Fabrice, and his wife were simply amazing. We were the only overnight guests there which made it even more peaceful and relaxing. We signed up for two tours with Max; the Panama Canal/Monkey Island tour and the Emberas Village/Chagre River tour. Both tours exceeded any expectations that we had. Max was simply amazing. Again, we were the ONLY people. We had two full days of private touring and absolutely loved every minute, including Max's company! Monkey Lodge itself was lovely. There are 4 cabinas and all are comfortable, well-appointed, and private. Breakfast was provided every morning and was good. We just ate what they fixed. No sense in cooking something different for just us! There are five rescue monkeys on site and they were fun to watch. And, they have several dogs on site too. The dogs were simply delightful. They were so well-behaved and quiet. We wanted to bring one of them home! If you are looking for a place that is quiet, off-the-beaten-path, and not touristy, then this is your place. We would go back in a heartbeat and were actually sad to leave. We felt like we made new friends!…
I had the most amazing experience in Monkey Lodge. I went on a tour to monkey island and it was so much fun, the owners were really kind. I also took a yoga class in the jungle deck and loved the experience. Highly recommended.
We had a blast spending 2 nights here at the start of our trip! Beautiful tropical setting with a sweet staff, monkeys, and friendly dogs. Mia was amazing throughout the whole trip and Max was both a great bar tender and tour guide. We had a great time doing a tour and relaxing by the pool to the sound of birds and monkeys in the trees. AC in the rooms was GREAT. Both of our Uber drivers had trouble finding the place...not sure how to avoid that but just a heads up!
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