EcoHotel Las Palmeras — Hotel in Bolívar

DON'T GO (IN LOW SEASON). Another Colombian bluff in which you pay Western-like rates (240.000COP, about 80€/night!!) for an alleged "ecolochic" experience that is actually just a very basic "resort" with no more than rustic cabanas and a bar area. Desolated in January, just after high season. This place wasn't originally built with an eye on sustainability: all cabanas have water taps, but... no pipes. Showering will mean throw at yourself some cold water collected with a dodgy coconut shell from two huge dark buckets in the bathroom: one to shower, the other to flush the toilet. That would be great, if you were paying less than a half. Meals are terribly repetitive and parsimonious - every day, was the same: fish and rice, and that's it. Anti-ecologically, they do not have any system to provide free drinkable water, but of course sell you water bottles in plastic that, if you wander in the island, you'll see gathered in growing waste heaps - a real shame. To reach the Island we had to pay a rather expensive and very very dodgy boat trip, bought in the confusing harbour of Cartagena. The timings and plan for return were of course not the same we agreed: we had to stop for a no-lunch 3 hour horror trip with other Colombian tourists at Tierra Bomba, a ghastly poor and uninteresting island between Isla Grande and Cartagena. The sea in January was very very agitated: we had to wait a day more than prevented in Cartagena cause there was a red flag. Boats were really scary: the outbound one was cracked inside and I really counted the seconds to arrive (at least 30 mins). The sea on Isla Grande must be nice in High season when the water is calm, but definitely not in low season when the water is agitated; you can't see where you are walking and the shore it's full of seaweed and sharp dead corals. Isla Grande has basically nothing interesting to be seen (maybe a quick trip to the Laguna). Just don't go, or ask for a better money value. Written by an experienced backpacker, not by a funky girl travelling...

DON'T GO (IN LOW SEASON). Another Colombian bluff in which you pay Western-like rates (240.000COP, about 80€/night!!) for an alleged "ecolochic" experience that is actually just a very basic "resort" with no more than rustic cabanas and a bar area. Desolated in January, just after high season. This place wasn't originally built with an eye on sustainability: all cabanas have water taps, but... no pipes. Showering will mean throw at yourself some cold water collected with a dodgy coconut shell from two huge dark buckets in the bathroom: one to shower, the other to flush the toilet. That would be great, if you were paying less than a half. Meals are terribly repetitive and parsimonious - every day, was the same: fish and rice, and that's it. Anti-ecologically, they do not have any system to provide free drinkable water, but of course sell you water bottles in plastic that, if you wander in the island, you'll see gathered in growing waste heaps - a real shame. To reach the Island we had to pay a rather expensive and very very dodgy boat trip, bought in the confusing harbour of Cartagena. The timings and plan for return were of course not the same we agreed: we had to stop for a no-lunch 3 hour horror trip with other Colombian tourists at Tierra Bomba, a ghastly poor and uninteresting island between Isla Grande and Cartagena. The sea in January was very very agitated: we had to wait a day more than prevented in Cartagena cause there was a red flag. Boats were really scary: the outbound one was cracked inside and I really counted the seconds to arrive (at least 30 mins). The sea on Isla Grande must be nice in High season when the water is calm, but definitely not in low season when the water is agitated; you can't see where you are walking and the shore it's full of seaweed and sharp dead corals. Isla Grande has basically nothing interesting to be seen (maybe a quick trip to the Laguna). Just don't go, or ask for a better deal. Written by an experienced backpacker, not by a funky girl travelling...

Avoid this place!!! I was truly looking forward to spend an amazing time with my husband there, but these two days at this so-called Eco-Hotel were a disappointment. As soon as we arrive, we had a speech in Spanish about how the "hotel" works. Given that our Spanish is not good, all we could understand was that we had to pay extra for everything, including a walk around the island. Our host even refused to give us a map, telling us that they didn't have any copies - which wasn't true as we found some the day after on the "bar". ||I have to say that the food was good, but the portions of the sides (rice and salad) were small. When I asked for a bit more rice, surprise upon my departure that I had to pay extra for that. We also had to pay extra for beverage (which was juice), and never offered water. We also had to pay for bottles of water if wanted to drink some during our meal or at night... Moreover, the times allocated to eat are too constrictive (breakfast: 7 to 8.30am - lunch 1 to 1:30pm - dinner: 7 to 7.30pm). Plus we never had the choice on what to eat... When I asked to speak to the owner to find a certain compromise - I was told she was in England, therefore unavailable.||My husband and I also got bitten alive all night there by bedbugs and 4 days later we are still itchy. That was the last drop for me. It was even more frustrating that no one ever asked us if everything was okay, if we needed anything...||We left the 'ECO Hotel' feeling ripped off. It was overpriced, with barely any services. We paid nearly 200$ USD for two nights (when you include the boat ride to the island)! And we didn't even pay for any activities. For that price, I advise people to not bother and go elsewhere. I have travelled quite a bit in my life and I must say that this was one of the worst...