Reviews of Casa Acuario Boutique Hotel

This place is fabulous! 10 out of 10. Owners and staff are super friendly and helpfull. The set up and design of the place are created with passion and love. Perfectly done. Swimming around the location is super. We felt seriously sad to leave the place. Hope to return once.

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We loved casa acuario! The breakfast and the attention!

This is a lovely quirky place and we loved the space and the veranda. Staff were super friendly and great choice of breakfasts available to buy. Our room was a good size with a nice veranda to relax on, or watch the fish below. The location is good for ease of water taxi transport, pick up for excursions and a short stroll to a couple of nice bars, and there was always something to watch. The hotel had an honesty bar which was a nice touch.

The location's downfall is that there is a lot of noise especially at night as it's directly opposite Bocas town. Thank goodness for the white noise app provided which helped us sleep. In hindsight, the transfer we booked via the hotel to collect us from the airport was expensive - we'd have been better just arranging this ourselves.

We were greeted initially and treated as family the entire visit. No detail was overlooked. We had all the necessities - including white noise machines - in our room. The onsite cafe offered delicious and convenient breakfast. Our hosts were always available to answer questions and to make sure that we had everything we required. Our stay felt luxurious and peaceful. Scenery and snorkeling were amazing.

Everything was great! I had a split second of concern when I arrived at a foreign owned accomodation however, the owners are present, highly invested in the community (it's their home too!) and doing great things such as heading up an island wide trash and recyling initiative. And, they employe several locals.

everything! the house owner Mandy was very helpful in every aspect, very friendly, very attentive, etc. We had a great time while staying there, and the location is paramount to do things in a short time window. I went there with a pregnant wife so that was important for us. The noise of the boats wasn't an issue at all by the way! Hope you guys are doing great!

The owner Mandy and JP are fantastic and have built a dream on water. The overall location and view are awesome.

We had a wonderful room facing the sea, at times the water taxis have been passing by in full speed giving us a feeling being next to a highway. But this is not the owners fault or disturbing too much. Perhaps the Island mayor is putting at one point a speed limit in place when passing by hotels or respectively to ensure a minimum distance.

The hosts and the staff are amazing. Breakfast was excellent. Location is very central, easy to take a water taxi to Bocas. We are travelling with smaller kids (4y/6y), room was perfect for travelling with kids.

LOVE to walk out my door and jump into the water!

Water taxis drive close to the property.

All. The confort and great location

The noise but we are in bocas and with a lot of boat traffic

Breakfast is delicious. Location is perfect and the staff is super friendly.

Right on the water with snorkeling - I saw stingray, barracuda, starfish and other variety of fish! The coffee is delish! Ariel and the staff were amazing!

As you will read with all the reviews, the sand flies are relentless and nothing will prevent getting bit. It’s worth it though!

I loved everything about our stay. The hosts and staff were so helpful and friendly, the hotel is beautiful and relaxing, the breakfast was great. I loved the honor system fridge, all the dogs hanging out, and general atmosphere.

I liked everything, so not applicable.

Excelente

Nothing

We loved everything about our stay. The island is beautiful and the hotel is clean and comfortable and charming and our family loved sleeping over the water. We saw dolphins, pelicans and pufferfish (and lots of other fish) right off the deck - amazing. Breakfasts were delicious and Mandy, JP and Ariel went the extra mile to ensure we had a perfect vacation including suggesting things to do and where to eat and organizing a boat for us. Our kids loved the very well behaved dogs and the extra touches like the snorkels, kayaks, paddle boards and board games!

Nothing - everything was perfect!

We loved this boutique hotel. We never had the breakfast but the freedom allowed at the hotel was great. Coffee was available in the mornings, free of charge. In the evening, we were able to help ourselves to ice or glasses that we needed to make our own cocktails. The staff, specifically Ariel, and his dog Lobo, was great. He was very friendly and helpful. We loved that the hotel was so laid back, so close to Bocas Town, and yet had restaurants nearby that we could easily walk to. The view from the deck of our hotel room was great. And the owner, Mandy, was very helpful even though she was not at the hotel during our stay. If we ever come back we will stay at this hotel again.

Sand fleas, although the hotel had some bug screens made of oil that helped. If you go, make sure you put a lot of the oil on your body if you are near the beach especially.

My family and I stayed in six different hotels across Panama over a two week period and the consensus at the end was that Casa Acuario was the favourite. And by quite a distance. First of all, it’s just a cool place to stay. On stilts, over clear warm water, perfect for the kids (and adults) to snorkel, we got to see shawls of small fish along with a few big ones and the odd ray within seconds of our arrival. We were a two minute boat-taxi away from Bocas town and its modest number of good bars and restaurants, but staying at Casa Acuario meant we got the peace and quiet which the mainland didn’t look like it easily provided. The room we were in (upstairs) was easily big enough for two adults and the kids (aged 13 and 10), nicely decorated and with really comfortable beds and a hammock from which you could overlook the sea. As dog lovers, my children were over the moon that there were three (clean, friendly and well behaved) dogs on site. There were a couple of good places to eat and drink on the small island which we could get to on foot from Casa Acuario, and a nice beach about 15mins walk from the hotel. The fridge full of beer on the decking was also a nice touch! But alongside all of these positives, the main thing that gave Casa Acuario the ‘X Factor’ were the owners, Mandy and JP. We were made to feel welcome from minute one, they could not have been more helpful and they made a real impression on the whole family in our three days with them. And just to provide a little context, after Casa Acuario were went to the nearby, and much more expensive, Eclypse de Mar Acqua Lodge for two nights which, before arriving, I thought was going to be the highlight of the Bocas itinerary. Take nothing away from The Eclypse which was seriously nice, but I wish I’d stayed at Casa Acuario for the full duration. Definitely in the top 5 favourite hotels I’ve stayed in across six continents.

Genuinely, nothing to report. If you held a gun to my head and told me to find fault I'd say the water-taxis were sometimes a bit noisy during the night, but this was mitigated by a sound bar in each of the hotel's rooms gently playing white noise* so it didn't affect me personally. *Another nice touch from Mandy and JP.

The setting, the people, the view…

Because of its proximity to Bocas there is some noise at night. The white noise machine helps a lot. And the other aspects of the place will make up plenty for it…

This is an amazing hotel that stands out as one of the best that we ever stayed at all over the world. The location is amazing right on water and in an area that is quieter than bocas town yet close enough by water taxi. Snorkeling can be done right at the hotel where you can see a lot of beautiful fish and even starfish. The owners are amazing and so helpful in figuring out the best activities. Breakfast is delicious. Rooms are updated and very beautifully decorated.

Loved everything. The hosts,the breakfasts,the room,the atmosphere ..all Good

JP & Mandy are incredible hosts. Breakfast was great. Always friendly, attentive, helpful service. Room was very clean and comfortable. Great sunset views. Even had a mini-fridge, hot plate and microwave so you could cook your own meals. Short, $1 water taxi ride to Bocas Town where there are more restaurants.

The property is located across from Bocas Town and at night there is loud music across the water. Also, for 16 hours a day water taxi's fly through the channel in front of the hotel. Mandy and JP do the best they can with noise machines to cover the noise, but strongly recommend ear plugs. Mandy is working to get the town to enforce their noise ordinance.

Amazing location, hosts, and rooms. Impeccable attention to detail.

Nothing.