GHL Bioxury Hotel — Hotel in Bogota, Capital District

I'm sitting in my house, in bed 12 hours after taking a shower at this hotel and I smell like jet fuel. Why? Their towels smell like burned jet fuel. That cannot be healthy.

That's said, we had an interesting experience here. We're grateful that they were tolerant of our reservation mess up; however; given the opportunity I'm not sure we'd stay here again.

The service was very inconsistent. Some of the people working here provided excellent service with an excellent demeanor. Others were less than professional. For example, we asked reception if they made copies since I didn't hear of a business center being located onsite. She said they would make copies. While she did make the copies; she said we only got 4 free copies before she'd charge us. We're not sure if this was a joke or not. Either way unprofessional and a luxury hotel shouldn't be charging for copies when I'm sure they comped a room or two that day. Not only that, she didn't copy what my wife had asked her to. This caused us an issue when we went to a US Immigrant medical exam when we didn't have the copies we needed. Luckily the doctor provided this service as well. The older man that brought us our cake and stood at the podium at the front however had an amazing demeanor and attitude for service -- one that's fit for a luxury hotel. He should be training everyone else.

The staff seemed to be too happy to enter the room. We were sitting in bed one day, naked and the staff entered our room asking if everything was alright. We heard them go down the line and ask other rooms. Everything was alright and they shouldn't be entering rooms. I don't care if they heard a gunshot; you don't invite yourself into someone's room.

While the lobby was beautiful. The room was small and some of the furnishings for the room were cheap such as the plastic table in the corner. The hallways are also dark and have energy saving lights that come on with motion. I understand this is apart of whatever sustainability promise this hotel has made but when the hallways are all black and gray this is a poor design decision. You have to walk a few meters out from the elevator in the dark before the lights come on. This isn't the most comfortable for women or downright dangerous for people with vision problems. Maybe they can trigger the lights with the elevator arriving at a floor.

The rooms also have an issue with the A/C. The AC doesn't overcome the increase the jolting in temperature at 2-3am from the building's lack of insulation.

The hotel has a noise problem. The rooftop bar can be heard on the 6th floor and the lobby can be heard below the 6th floor. The walls are also paper thin and we could hear an entire phone conversation that our neighbor had for around 45 minutes with crystal clarity at around 12am. I brought ear plugs and didn't have so much of an issue but if I didn't travel with earplugs it would have been hell.

The breakfast wasn't great. Fresh fruit, eggs a few different ways, sausages, chia puddings, breads and cereals and a soup native to Bogota that looks like cum soup. For a luxury hotel I'd expect more. My wife is vegan and couldn't eat anything other than fruit. They didn't even have almond or soy milk for her coffee which most restaurants in Medellin, Bogota and Cartagena do at this point. Even Manizales has vegan options.

That's said, the bathrooms were amazing, the beds for the most part we're comfortable and some of the staff were absolutely excellent and the location couldn't get better for Bogota. The mediterranean restaurant below was amazing (staff could be improved). Close to Zona T with restaurants and shopping and close-ish to Zona G (restaurants) it was a great location. The area felt safe and we didn't see any strange people on the street like we would have seen about 100 in an area the same size in Medellin's Zona Rosa.

I hope the general manager sees this comment and improves the hotel. Hotels are an endeavor where details matter. It didn't seem like the hotel implemented the details that mattered to keep the guest...

They asked for proof i was billed numerous times. I provided it. My bank sent them the statement as well in case they didn't believe the screenshots. Now they're saying they didn't do it and some random colombian bank i have never used did it. Don't stay here. If you do and they say the card didn't go through, it did. They just want to swipe it more times. I also provided travel proof showing my flight to bogota and my flight leaving bogota and numerous proof that i didn't stay 30 days. Only 3. There was no physical way i could have stayed 30 days in 3. Plus i paid for a suite and they gave me a basic room. I was willing to let that slide but not now. Be very careful if you're american. It seems they do this to Americans based on the reviews of others with the same issue. I would have given this place 5 stars if they didn't rob me.

Edit. My bank investigated the situation. I provided proof, travel itinerary etc. I left bogota to tunja via bus after 3 days (ticket was verified with the bus company and they scanned my passport so it was me) provided proof of transactions in tunja and paipa, again id/passport needs to be provided for hotels/ purchases with a card or cash over a certain amount. Then provided proof of a flight to cartagena (passport scanned to board) and hotel/shopping transactions in cartagena id scanned. The bank concluded the excess charges were fraudulent... because they were. It was a massive stress on my vacation and i needed to borrow money to continue my vacation after this hotel wiped my travel card out. They swiped my card over and over claiming it didn't go through at the counter. They even attempted to charge 500 something usd a week after arriving back in Miami (my immigration stamp on my passport is proof i was not there! ) now they're contacting me a few days after the bank finished their investigation (got the letter in the mail) so their response is likely due to that. Out of my control, i just wasnt paying for more than 3 nights. I was willing to work with the hotel about the excess charges, and contacted them numerous times (can post dozens of emails if anyone needs that proof) but they were not willing to make the situation right. I go to colombia many times each year for a long time and this is the only hotel that...

The place is gorgeous, the building looks very nice, there is green everywhere, looks just great.

The location is perfect! You can walk to restaurants, malls and a lot of shopping places. Everything that you need is a walking distance.

The personnel was very attentive and helpful although some of them did not look authentic about their intentions, if that makes sense.

There are 2 restaurants that you access from the hotel. The Gitane was my favorite. Very nice, the food was incredibly good and the place was gorgeous. Cucumber water was my favorite drink. The other restaurant was really good, and the service was extremely nice and they explained very detail the ingredients of every plate.

The Gitane is where they serve breakfast. It has a lot of options and is very well-presented. We had small sausages like chistorras, arepas, tequenos, empanadas, and more. Very good

The airport shuttle and taxi service are good, they have drivers right outside the hotel. We met Hugo, he was so kind and professional.

About the room, we loved the shower installed in the ceiling. Is like you are showering in a waterfall. This is a high-quality feature.

For a 5-star hotel, I noticed some things that thought were not 5-star.

Towels are not soft, are hard, and like they have been used a lot.

The mattress is kind of hard. We did not enjoy much sleeping there.

Cleaning is not a 10. We noticed black mold in the shower door and the sink. We also noticed that the toilet floor had spots of urine or something that was not cleaned properly.

Again, for a 5-star hotel, this seems something that should be a priority.

The smart lights with the card could be a feature for some but to us was a real pain.

Some of the personnel gave me this feeling when you go to buy a car from a dealership. You know they are going after your money and not just being kind.

The noise complaints are true. We were on the 7th floor and we could hear everything coming from the Salvaje restaurant. Just not enough to disturb our sleep.

The price for this 5-star hotel was double when compared to other 5-star hotels that were a bit more north. So I was expecting better. I think what people pay here is location. Everything else is offered by other...