Jungle Palace, El Panchan, Palenque, Mexico

Visit our Deals page for hotel and deals on accommodations in the Palenque, Mexico and other areas, since this place did not have a site of it's own at the time of writing. For accommodations in El Panchan, it seems you have to show up and ask around for what's available as booking over the phone is a challenge and Internet an impossibility.

Overall Comments:

We ended up staying in the "Platano" room at this place for the day only because I was suffering from food poisoning and Margarita & Ed Cabañas wouldn't let us extend the room we had there, (read the details for that incident at our Margarita & Ed Cabañas review). Although we paid for the full night at Jungle Palace, we only stayed till about 6PM as we had a night bus to Tulum pre-booked. Unfortunately, we weren't able to explain to them that we only wanted the room till 6PM when we booked it because we didn't speak Spanish and they didn't speak English. We think they would have offered us a discount if they understood what we were asking, but that's an assumption we are making because of the confused look they gave us when we left at 6PM. Nevertheless, at 250 pesos/night for a semi-detached hut with private bathroom and hot water, it's not a bad value. There is a also a good chance that we overpaid for the room since we were desperate and were in no position to negotiate our room rate at the time of booking. This was the closest place to Margarita & Ed Cabañas and I really just needed to lie down. We can only compare this room to the one at Margarita & Ed Cabañas and it wasn't much worse. The basic room was spacious, the bathroom was big and the beds were comfortable enough for the time I spent lying on it while feeling weak and sick. If you aren't expecting a "jungle palace" than this place might just be good enough if you can get it at a good price, i.e., less than what we paid.

Location:

Jungle Palace is located in the isolated area of El Panchan, just outside of the Palenque park entrance. The cost for a taxi from Palanque town to El Panchan is 40 pesos, if you are good at negotiating. Otherwise, a collectivo to/from Palenque costs about 10 pesos per person, but  they stop driving to this area after about 6PM. Getting out of this area after about 5:30-6PM can be problematic, unless you arrive with your own car since taxis or collectivos typically aren't around.

This area is a bit isolated but despite it's isolation from town, it didn't really feel like being in the "jungle", especially since the small area of El Panchan has so many people in that area and the places play loud music. That was a bit disappointing. Maybe if you've never been to the Brazilian, Guatemalan, Thai, Costa Rican or any other  rainforest, this might feel like a jungle, but because we have stayed in real rainforests/jungles this certainly didn't measure up. Furthermore, the Palenque ruins are still 2km from this area which is a long walk in the heat. Palanque town isn't within walking distance but most visitors will want to visit it at some point during their stay in this area. Other than Don Muchos restaurant, there really isn't much else in El Panchan, so we'd probably stay at a place closer to the ruins or in town if we were to visit this area again.

The one positive was that the "Platano" room that we stayed in was a bit more isolated and felt more "natural" than our location at Margarita & Ed Cabañas because it was located by the river. It was also the furthest from the "main" street in El Panchan.

Room Comfort:

The basic rooms were large enough to spend a night or two. At 250 pesos/night, it's not a bad value but not great either. There was a hole in the ceiling in the shower that we can pretend was a small, unplanned sky-light. There was hot water, which was a bonus. The mosquito nets on the windows were good and kept bugs out of the room. The fan provided was as effective as the one at Margarita & Ed Cabañas in spreading hot, humid air around the room. We didn't spend the night so can't really say much else.

Cleanliness:

The sheets were a bit worn, but the room wasn't dirty.

Service:

We didn't really have much interaction with the owners, nor did we request much of them. We were happy to be able to book a room where I could recover from my food poisoning.

Food:

There aren't any meal options available at this place, but Don Muchos restaurant is nearby.

Other Notes:

Stay away from the chicken tacos at Mr. Taco in town. The reason we ate there was because we wanted something quick to eat so that we could attempt to catch a collectivo back to El Panchan and it backfired. Not only did we not get a collectivo, I also got food poisoning.  

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