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Tropical Suites is a modern oceanfront hotel located in the heart of Bocas del Toro. Resting on a tranquil Caribbean shoreline, the property is close to many over the water restaurants, shops and attractions. The hotel's comfortable and spacious suites feature a panoramic view of the Caribbean waters or the island's tropical landscape. Amenities include private balconies, air conditioning, 24 hour front desk and water access from the hotel's private dock. Nearby attractions include beaches, snorkeling, dolphin watching, zip-lining, diving and surfing. Tours and activities may be arranged through the hotel's front reception. Guests may choose to include breakfast with their room rate. The property is a 15 minute walk or short taxi ride from the Bocas Town island airport.
Star ratings are intended to indicate the general level of features, amenities, and services to expect. This property is classified according to Giata.
HOTEL STYLE
Quiet
Family
Languages Spoken
English, Spanish
Location
First Street, Bocas Town, Isla Colon 0000 Panama
Tropical Suites Hotel
687 reviews
Getting there
Great for walkers
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I actually stayed here in July of 2023 but there seems to be no option to write that- But I have always meant to review this place! We absolutely loved it here when we went- it has a beautiful view of the sea from the pool. We stayed in the starfish room (the only issue is it is on floor 1 so it's a bit noisy at night) and we loved the outdoor pool and swim up bar. Breakfast was also great! The location is perfect- a short walk from tours leaving and if you're a sabbath observant or kosher keeping Jew, chabad is just a few minutes away (as is their restaurant). Would stay here again!
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Date of stay: January 2024
Value
Rooms
Location
Cleanliness
Service
Sleep Quality
Trip type: Travelled with friends
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Tom Oman, Owner at Tropical Suites Hotel
Responded 15 Dec 2024
Thank you so much for taking the time to share your experience with us! We’re thrilled to hear that you loved your stay at our hotel and enjoyed the beautiful sea views from the pool, the swim-up bar, and the convenience of our location. It’s wonderful to know that the Starfish Room and breakfast added to your positive experience as well! We appreciate your feedback regarding the noise in the Starfish Room and will keep that in mind to improve the experience for future guests. It’s also great to hear that our proximity to Chabad and kosher-friendly options was helpful during your visit. We’re so glad you would stay with us again, and we would love to welcome you back in the future for another amazing stay in Bocas! Enrique Iglesias Miranda Operations Manager
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This hotel is like an oasis in Bocas. It is wonderful to have a swimming pool to dip in on hot days. Every morning I witnessed the pool being cleaned from one morning two people wearing snorkel masks with scrub brushes to the vacuum. The food is delicious. I ate breakfast and dinner here. I highly recommend signing up for the breakfast option; the presentation, quality of food, and variety is excellent. Breakfast options include an omelette of spinach and turkey bacon on fresh focaccia bread, Salmon with poached eggs on fresh focaccia with an avocado puree , Chocolate pancakes with blueberry granola compote with a side of bananas on Nutella. All served with fresh fruit. The rooms were spacious and clean . If feasible, I would highly recommend an ocean view. It is delightful to sit out on the patio with an overhead fan. There is air-conditioning that you can control in your room and works very well. The hotel has an eco-focus with a spot in the lobby to fill up your water bottle with safe drinkable water to reduce plastic use. There is a large smart TV. Wi-Fi works very well. The staff is very friendly and kind. They speak English but are also patient to help you if you want to learn some Spanish. This hotel is well situated if you want to go diving, take a water taxi, go to Spanish class, go to the grocery store, the airport, etc. My opinion is this is the number one spot to stay in Bocas town!
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Date of stay: September 2024Trip type: Travelled solo
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Katherine Morales, Owner at Tropical Suites Hotel
Responded 29 Sept 2024
Hola! What an amazing comment! It’s so nice to hear that our guests enjoy their experience with us. We will pass your words to our staff to keep them motivated and continue doing the excellent work they do.
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We have been staying at Tropical Suites every time we visit Bocas for years. This last year however, has seen some amazing additions. The fabulous Meren, poolside restaurant, opened while we were there. Wonderful food and setting, without ever leaving the hotel! The freshwater pool itself is also a delight, with a swim up bar, beautiful decking and a view of the Caribbean Sea. A couple other new additions to Tropical Suites already spacious, quiet, clean, and comfortable rooms are new AC units and frosted plexiglass dividers between the balconies( makes for much more private & quiet balcony seating) All in all, Tropical Suites staff, amenities, and location in Bocas Town, make it the only place for us!
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Date of stay: July 2022Trip type: Travelled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Katherine Morales, Owner at Tropical Suites Hotel
Responded 29 Sept 2024
Thank you Tybee! We hope you can visit us again soon!
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We stayed at tropical suites (where meren is) fit 6 days. The food is decent but unfortunately it’s completely overshadowed by the worst service I have ever seen. The servers simply don’t care. I made the mistake of adding breakfast daily as part of my hotel package. After day 1 I asked if I can cancel it and they said no… so I felt like I was stuck eating there for breakfast all week. That said, 3 out of 6 days I went elsewhere even though I already paid for it for my wife and I. That should tell you something. They simply do not know what they’re doing. We stayed away for lunch and dinner so maybe service is better then but I can tell you, breakfast service is awful. The hotel itself was decent though.
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Response from Tom Oman, Owner at Tropical Suites Hotel
Responded 2 weeks ago
Dear Dale G, Thank you for taking the time to share your feedback. We sincerely appreciate your kind words about our food and hotel, but we are truly sorry to hear that your experience with our service did not meet expectations. Providing attentive and exceptional service is a priority for us, and it’s disappointing to learn that we fell short during your visit. We understand how important a pleasant dining experience is, and we regret that breakfast service did not reflect the standards we aim to uphold. Your feedback is incredibly valuable, and we will be addressing these concerns with our team to ensure improvements are made. We truly appreciate your visit and hope that, if you decide to stay with us again in the future, we will have the opportunity to provide you with a much better experience. If there’s anything further we can do, please feel free to reach out to us directly. Warm regards, Enrique Iglesias Miranda Operations Manager
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Our second stay at Tropical Suites, We were happy to be back enjoying the great location, friendly staff and comfortable rooms. Harbor view room is worth the extra money as you have a front row seat on the busy harbor scene and there is no street noise. The room was very spacious with a nice balcony and comfortable seating. There is no restaurant, but coffee is free near the dock downstairs and is ready early. Also there are a lot of choices for breakfast just outside the hotel. We understand the hotel is under new management and we have noticed improvements in the room and saw signs of other things being upgraded while we were there. The staff is very friendly and always willing to accommodate requests or give local advice, especially the night manager, Ricardo who is over the top helpful and friendly. We have stayed in other places in Bocas over the years but appreciate the location in town as you don't waste a lot of time or money waiting for or commuting with taxis. We will definitely stay at Tropical Suites again on our next trip to Bocas del Toro.
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Date of stay: January 2020
Rooms
Location
Service
Room Tip:Water view is worth it.
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
This is a scam. On booking.com their pool side cabin description stated it has bedroom and living room, but there is no living room, instead a super tiny bedroom where there is hardly any space around the bed. It’s filthy and stinks. It has attached terrace on top of the room with absolutely no shade. Their website says they have surf services and tours but they have nothing to do with surfing even close. On top of everything a friend of the owner wrote apparently unrelated to them blog with lots of wrong info about their amenities and services naming them one of the best places to stay for surfers. Their manager didn’t agree to talk to me to find a solution to all this scam.
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Date of stay: February 2023Trip type: Travelled solo
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Tom Oman, Owner at Tropical Suites Hotel
Responded 5 Mar 2023
We are truly sorry about your not fulfilling your expectations. It is true that unfortunately there was a mistake in description of booking.com that was offering something our new oceanview cabins don´t have as living room. We already updated the info, so it won´t happen again. As soon as we realized about this issue, we offer you free breakfast and the possibility to move you to another room starting on the third night as we didn´t have availability in the first nights. As you didn´t want another room and ask for a refund, we gave you the money back so you can look for another place to stay. Cabins have the right space for many travellers, you can even find online the size of each of our rooms in meters or square feet and also check the pictures we have available in internet that gives you a pretty good idea of how it is (including the exclusive seafront rooftop that each cabin has to enjoy the warm caribbean sun, the sunset or beautiful nights looking to the sky). We usually don´t have any complains about cleanliness or smells in any area of our hotel and we did´t get any comment about it from you during your stay. We don´t have surf activities directly, as many other tours and services we offer as massages, transfers and yoga lessons, we work with professional providers to ensure quality and safety during your experience. If there is a service we don´t provide, our staff at least will always try to help you with local contacts. Finally, we don´t understand your comment about "a friend of the owner". Don´t know where that is coming from and of course you will understand that normally people will write freely and it would be almost impossible for a hotel like to control this kind of things. During the dates of your stay, unfortunately the General Manager was out of the area having her days off. In her place, Rooms Supervisor and F&B Manager were always aware of your situation. Our team tried to make the best we could, but you decided to leave after the second night.
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Check In The check in was super friendly. I don’t there is a need to be shown the room however it was sweet. Just delays the whole check in process
Food The only place in Boca we had decent meal was at this hotel. Food is fantastic.
Bar Could do with larger selection of soft drinks to complement the spirits
Rooms Very spacious air con. Mattress slightly worn probably needs changing Rooms extremely clean.
Facilities The pool is tiny and pointless. What’s missing is some ladders so you can swim in the sea at the back of building like the other hotels and hostels. As there is no beach nearby this would really help
Laundry Efficient and good value for money
Staff Staff are wonderful. What makes this hotel a cut above the others. From reception to bar and restaurant they are so helpful and adorable.
I would so come back here again if you could swim from back of hotel
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Date of stay: September 2022Trip type: Travelled with friends
Room Tip:Rooms facing street can get noisy
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Tom Oman, Owner at Tropical Suites Hotel
Responded 7 Jan 2023
Thank you very much for his nice words, we are glad to know that you loved every corner of the hotel, and of course, we hope to see you again.
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Great hotel. Clean, comfortable rooms with a/c that works well. Staff is friendly. The pool is lovely. Yes, people from the restaurant can use the pool, but I don’t know where you’re going to go without other people in the pool. It was never too crowded.
The food at this restaurant was some of the best on the island. I wish we had bought the breakfast package at check in, but we didn’t know what to expect. There are only a handful of places on the island that serve breakfast at all. Great selection of drinks as well, including fresh smoothies, sodas, and cocktails.
The view from our room was amazing, we were in the birdhouse (on the top floor).
The only downside is that several nights per week Aqua, a hostel/bar across the water has very loud music late into the night. It went until 3 or 4am. But there are nights they aren’t allowed to have the music.
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Date of stay: March 2023Trip type: Travelled with family
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Tom Oman, Owner at Tropical Suites Hotel
Responded 17 Mar 2023
Thank you Sara for sharing your positive review of the hotel! It's great to hear that you found the rooms clean and comfortable, with effective air conditioning, and that the staff were friendly and accommodating. I'm also pleased to hear that you enjoyed the lovely pool and the food at the restaurant, which you found to be some of the best on the island. It's a shame that you didn't purchase the breakfast package at check-in, but I'm glad you were still able to enjoy a great selection of drinks, including fresh smoothies, sodas, and cocktails. I'm also delighted to hear that you enjoyed the amazing view from your room. However, I'm sorry to hear that the loud music from the Aqua hostel/bar across the water was a downside to your stay. We are looking for a quick solution to this, which is something that is out of our hands. This music is more on weekends. Thank you for sharing your experience with us and providing valuable information for future guests. We hope to have the pleasure of welcoming you back to the hotel in the future! Enrique Iglesias Hotel Supervisor
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We loved this hotel and the people that work there were wonderful. The front desk, especially Luna, was very helpful with tour and restaurant suggestions. The hotel is super clean (housekeeping was outstanding) and the location is perfect for walking to restaurants, water taxi services, grocery stores,etc. The room (we were in 5) was big with lots of storage and a kitchenette and a nice balcony. There is great air conditioning as well as a fan so we were always comfortable.
We had originally booked a waterfront room a year ago on the lower floor but the hotel contacted us recently to let us know there was construction. They moved us to the second floor. The construction is supposed to completed by May. They are extending the overwater portion of the hotel and adding a pool. The construction wasn’t an issue for us, but you should ask before booking. There are also rooms that do not face the water that are not impacted.
We spent five nights here and loved it. Highly recommend!
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Date of stay: March 2022Trip type: Travelled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
We stayed at the hotel for 3 days and the visit was exceptional. The rooms are spacious, Air Conditioned, the views spectacular, and the location was close to a lot of restaurants, supermarket(s), and tour companies that allowed us to enjoy exploring the island and sorrounding beaches. They have coffee downtstairs at 7:00am right in front of the dock to enjoy the comings and goings of the boats near the hotel. The nearby restaurants serve a lot of traditional and international meals to please anyone. The prices are not only reasonable bu downright inexpensive. A bit of caution: If you are staying there, bring lots and lots of insect repellent. In the sorrounding area are really vicious! Other than that, it was a great stay at this wonderful hotel.
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Date of stay: November 2019
Rooms
Location
Service
Room Tip:Get a room with a balcony facing the water
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Hi,
I believe the room is called the "Sea Star" or "Starfish" room. I cannot remember, but it was on the ground floor to the right of the reception.
Good luck!
Dear Odessa, Thank you for your inquiry. Our hotel does not have a pool, however there are nearby beaches with swimming areas. Please contact us should you have any other questions.
Hello Ships99,
Thank you for your question, with the recent tragedy in Bocas, this is a great question to be addressed. As both Leon and Kimberly mentioned Bocas Town is very small and easily walkable with taxis available from the hotel if needed. As with James, I have also been travelling to or living in Bocas since 1999, and neither myself or my wife have ever felt in danger.
As with any new area that you are travelling and exploring it is best to be safe. At Tropical Suites, we have personal relationships with the companies or independent contractors that we use for water or land taxis and tours. We know which guest is at each locations and try to see each guest upon their return to the hotel to hear how the day's adventure went. Bocas is a place to explore beaches, coral, nature and the local restaurants, and as your host we strive to send you to the best of each for a safe and enjoyable adventure!
Safe Travels,
Chip
Tropical Suites
There are more places to choose from in the Bocas Town area.
PRICE RANGE
€94 - €192 (Based on Average Rates for a Standard Room)
ALSO KNOWN AS
tropical hotel bocas town
LOCATION
PanamaBocas del Toro ProvinceIsla ColonBocas Town
NUMBER OF ROOMS
19
Prices are provided by our partners, and reflect nightly room rates, including all taxes and fees known to our partners. Please see our partners for more details.
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