Colombia (Lonely Planet, 5th Edition) - Jens Porup [114]
Hotel Marlin ( 664 3507; www.hotelmarlincartagenacol.com; Calle de la Media Luna No 10-35, Getsemaní; s/d with fan COP$25,000/35,000, with air-con COP$40,000/50,000; ) Tall folks won’t be happy here (nor will interior designers with those faux brick walls), but this basic haunt has nice common areas, a laundry and kitchen facilities. Some travelers have reported it’s damp.
Hostal La Casona ( 664 1301; Calle Tripita y Media No 31-32, Getsemaní; s/d without air-con COP$28,000/42,000, with air-con COP$33,000/49,000; ) This good-value hotel has a wonderful lush courtyard to compensate for its basic but perfectly decent rooms. Very gaudy art, though.
Hotel Las Vegas ( 664 5619; Calle San Agustín No 6-08, El Centro; s/d without air-con COP$40,000/50,000, r with air-con COP$60,000; ) Cramped but clean, this totally unremarkable hotel offers a good location-to-value ratio. The doubles with balconies are best, but also the noisiest.
Hotel El Viajero ( 664 3289; Calle del Porvenir No 35-68, El Centro; s/d without air-con COP$40,000/60,000, with air-con COP$50,000/70,000; ) The beds are noticeably stiff, but this is otherwise a perfectly decent place with a nice courtyard and a kitchen for guest use.
MIDRANGE
Casa Villa Colonial ( 664 5421; Calle de la Media Luna No 10-89, Getsemaní; s/d with air-con COP$60,000/80,000; ) Run by the same family that runs the cheaper Hotel Villa Colonial around the corner, this newer and nicer option offers small touches – like colorful bedspreads and plenty of exposed brick –not often seen in Cartagena hotels under COP$100,000. There is a small kitchen for guest use.
Hostal Santo Domingo ( 664 2268; Calle Santo Domingo No 33-46, El Centro; r without/with air-con COP$76,700/96,700; ) On a lovely street in El Centro, this place offers slightly more color and pizzazz over some of the ubiquitous basic choices (and we do mean slightly).
Centro Hotel ( 664 0461; www.centrohotelcartagena.com; Calle del Arzobispado No 34-80, El Centro; s/d incl breakfast from COP$107,000/134,000; ) The simple but clean Centro Hotel is perfectly located just steps from Plaza de Bolívar. Well-maintained rooms are arranged around an open courtyard and some offer balcony-type windows that open out onto a narrow ledge over the street.
Casa Relax ( 664 1117; Calle del Pozo No 29B-119, Getsemaní; r incl breakfast from COP$130,000; ) A good spot to soak up some restored colonial atmosphere without taking out a second mortgage. Run by a pipe-smoking French gentleman, this is Getsemaní’s best, with a large pool and colorful rooms with arched bathrooms. Breakfast is excellent. There are charming parrots as well, one of which likes to take a dip in the pool!
Hostal Tres Banderas ( 660 0160; www.hotel3banderas.com; Calle Cochera del Hobo No 38-66, San Diego; r incl breakfast from COP$139,000; ) This French-Canadian hotel offers pleasant common areas with a relaxing faux waterfall and scattered coconut trees. For an extra COP$10,000, higher floor rooms offer nice balconies but smaller bathrooms; rooms on the ground floor have larger bathrooms but obviously no balcony.
TOP END
Casa La Fe ( 664 0306; www.casalafe.com; Calle Segunda de Badillo No 36-125, San Diego; r incl breakfast from COP$200,000; ) A British-Colombian tag team run this discerning boutique B&B decorated with (tasteful) religious art. Breakfast can be taken in the jungly interior courtyard and the rooftop Jacuzzi is quaint. Higher price rooms offer balconies overlooking Plaza Fernandez de Madrid.
Bantú ( 664 3362; www.bantuhotel.com; Calle de la Tablada No 7-62, San Diego; s/d incl breakfast from COP$220,000/265,000; ) Two wonderfully restored 15th-century homes make up this lovely 22-room, open-air boutique hotel, rife with exposed brick archways, original stone walls and lush vegetation. Smartly-appointed rooms are full of local artistic touches and were built with mucho respect for the historical structure at large. There’s a rooftop pool, shower and Jacuzzi as well.
Hotel Sofitel Santa Clara ( 664 6070; www.hotelsantaclara.com; Plaza de San Diego,