Hotel Boutique Casona del Colegio

We spent about 3 nights at the Casona, booked a double room and a "suite." The room advertised as "suite" lacked any attributes of a suite, except for the exorbitant price charged for it - would even have been a very high price if it were a *real* suite in Cartagena! As almost all rooms in the Casona are small (some do not even have windows!), the size of the room called "suite" is way too small to be called as such; it also lacks any of the amenities of a suite (very basic amenities, eg 1 sink!), and lacks the service you would expect for a suite. The room itself has fallen in disrepair and is not well maintained: broken outlets, missing knobs, electric gizmos (eg shades) not working, etc. The hotel staff (incl mgr) is generally clueless, with a "can't do" attitude and a standard "No" answer. One evening, we tried to get a drink at the bar and they were "out" of about the first three choices for a drink (like beers, wines, etc!). Not sure where the 5* reviews for this hotel come from since we must have visited a different hotel! Maybe those are just paid or biased. One bright spot is the lady at the front desk (asst mgr? Carolina?) who desperately does her best to keep the place running all by herself. We were part of a big group; all others had lodging nearby (within 50-100m) with reasonable prices and rooms much better and cleaner than the ones we were assigned at the Casona. It was not a good experience (oh, did I mention our money went missing also? no surprise ...)

We spent about 3 nights at the Casona, booked a double room and a "suite." The room advertised as "suite" lacked any attributes of a suite, except for the exorbitant price charged for it - would even have been a very high price if it were a *real* suite in Cartagena! As almost all rooms in the Casona are small (some do not even have windows!), the size of the room called "suite" is way too small to be called as such; it also lacks any of the amenities of a suite (very basic amenities, eg 1 sink!), and lacks the service you would expect for a suite. The room itself has fallen in disrepair and is not well maintained: broken outlets, missing knobs, electric gizmos (eg shades) not working, etc. The hotel staff (incl mgr) is generally clueles, with a "can't do" attitude and a standard "No" answer. One evening, we tried to get a drink at the bar and they were "out" of about the first three choices for a drink (like beers, wines, etc!). Not sure where the 5* reviews for this hotel come from since we must have visited a different hotel! Maybe those are just paid or biased. One bright spot is the lady at the front desk (asst mgr? Carolina?) who desperately does her best to keep the place running all by herself. We were part of a big group; all others had lodging nearby (within 50-100m) with reasonable prices and rooms much better and cleaner than the ones we were assigned at the Casona. It was not a good experience (oh, did I mention our money went missing also? no surprise ...)

We spent about 3 nights at the Casona, booked a double room and a "suite." The room advertised as "suite" lacked any attributes of a suite, except for the exorbitant price charged for it - would even have been a very high price if it were a *real* suite in Cartagena! As almost all rooms in the Casona are small (some do not even have windows!), the size of the room called "suite" is way too small to be called as such; it also lacks any of the amenities of a suite (very basic amenities, eg 1 sink!), and lacks the service you would expect for a suite. The room itself has fallen in disrepair and is not well maintained: broken outlets, missing knobs, electric gizmos (eg shades) not working, etc. The hotel staff (incl mgr) is generally clueless, with a "can't do" attitude and a standard "No" answer. One evening, we tried to get a drink at the bar and they were "out" of about the first three choices for a drink (like beers, wines, etc!). Not sure where the 5* reviews for this hotel come from since we must have visited a different hotel! Maybe those are just paid or biased. Would only recommend to travelers looking for a Fawlty Towers experience in real life. One bright spot is the lady at the front desk (asst mgr? Carolina?) who desperately does her best to keep the place running all by herself. We were part of a big group; all others had lodging nearby (within 50-100m) with reasonable prices and rooms much better and cleaner than the ones we were assigned at the Casona. It was not a good experience (oh, did I mention our money went missing also? no surprise ...)

There are many hotels in Cartagena, but very few that truly provide a comfortable, private and fully accommodating experience like Casona del Colegio. Mr. Rojas and his staff went above and beyond to add special touches to our stay. The front desk staff was so helpful and genuinely kind, and the restaurant had very delicious food. Also, the rooftop has great views and is perfect for sunset, and the spa is also fantastic. We will be back!

I love this hotel , I would definitely book again . The property is beautiful and super clean. The staff is helpful and friendly. Not to mention it’s in the heart of everything and a 10 min walk to Getsmani. Oh yea and the food is great. Plus there’s a guard at the door and they put a code in to let you in after hours so no complaints.

The location cannot be better. Right in the heart of the old city. The hotel is beautiful and is equally matched by the staff. Always smiling, always happy to help. They made us feel welcome in the boutique hotel with only 13 rooms. We stayed i Room 1 - it’s a beautiful suite. Spacious, comfy and great rain shower.

This is a long one, so summary in the end. I have to be fair here and write an honest review. The experiece overall was great but started bittersweet. So I will list all the good and bad. The hotel is beautiful and very well located within the walled city. The room is large but there is only one bed, dispite having told us via telephone there would be two. So if you don’t want to share a bed this is not for you. It is noisy, so if you want a silent experience ask to be put in an internal room, the sound proof windows are not sufficient if you are a light sleeper or an early riser who wants to sleep early. It is HOT in here (of course you know that) and the air conditioning is good but for some reason the minimum temperature in our room is set to 23c (around 74F). Breakfsst is not a buffet but the option are fancy and very well made. DO NOT USE THE SAFE. It is not attached to anything and light so anyone can take it or exchange it for a empty one The pool is terrible, it is not the feature of this hotel, but it is a common thing within the walled city, it is small (but the hotel is too, so it doesn’t seem to get crowded). This is the down season, so that might be partially the problem. The service is the biggest pro, even though my party was VERY frustrated with the experience on the first day they made everything within their power to accomodate and make us satisfied with the overall experience, so kudos to all the wole staff, specially Sheik, the manager and all of the maids (whom I don’t remember the names unfortunately). So I do recommend, just remember the caveats. Summary: Pros: - beautiful -great service and food - good location Cons: - only one bed per room - air conditioning if you like colder temps - very noisy street -non attached safe,