We developed microsatellites for the bromeliads Tillandsia fasciculata and Guzmania monostachya, epiphytes of Central‐American montane rain forests. Fragments obtained using amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) pre‐amplification were enriched by hybridization with biotin‐labelled repeat sequences, and subsequently cloned and sequenced. Primers were designed for 15 loci; seven produced interpretable and repeatable amplification products and five were polymorphic in one or both species. We will use these primers to study the population structure of Bromeliaceae in relation to their breeding system as well as to their role in (re‐)colonization of secondary rain forests.