Hotel Colonial Plaza — Hotel in Bucaramanga

The Hotel = Barely noticeable from the outside but once you enter, you are welcomed by a knight in shining armour.The hotel is a typical Latin American house design with an inner court yard at it's center and rooms centered around it. Much old antique objects and furnishings decorate the hall ways and public areas giving it a museum feel. Our room was large and basic but spacious with air conditioning that worked very well in the Bucaramangan heat. The bed was a little hard but ok and I did sleep well. The water for the shower was hot and powerful. Free Internet is included but the signal would only reach the rooms nearer to the lobby and reception area. Breakfast was included in our room rate and was a typical Santanderian dish of caldo, arepa, eggs the way you like them. The hotel only a had a few minor imperfections (a few cracked tiles on floor, no prices / quantities of drinks for the mini bar, etc.) but despite of this the hotel was clean and all staff I encountered were friendly and happy. I generally believe the owners were are honest people trying their best to run and operate an efficient business to the best of their abilities and I feel the hotel deserves a nice review and would definitely stay there again because of the central location to everything you would like to see in the city and the fantastic value the place offered (7 people + 3 rooms + 7 breakfasts for 3 nights = £201 = $312 = Euro 256) compared to the big hotels in town. ||||LOCATION = The hotel is located in the city center and is a 15 minute walk to the main attractions.||||SAFETY = Bucaramanga is a city that seems rough everywhere you go, but for Colombian standards it seems more friendlier than the other major cities so enjoy a walk during daylight but be careful of a night time in darker and quieter remote streets.||||GETTING TO HOTEL = From the airport the best option is by taxi about 35,000 Peso's = £10 = Euro 12 = $15 because the bus goes to the bus station which is over 2km away from the hotel, so you would need to get another bus also. (By the time you have done the mathematics and you are travelling with others and you don't speak Spanish the cost is probably the same and definately easier).||||Enjoy the region, the hotel recommended a tour company that have 12 hour excursions around Santander department and they were...

This may have once been a distinguished place, but it is in a marginally unsafe commercial district. The building is in disrepair and based on earlier reviews, under eternal unfinished renovations rendering the lobby and common areas useless. There is no elevator and my son bumped his head on a low ceiling in the stairwell. Leaky toilet and sink, skimpy sheets & blankets. Window unit AC worked ok and hot water in the shower was a nice surprise- though water drained slowly. Owner and attendant were helpful. If you need to stay in town, try to stay in the Cabacera neighborhood, otherwise Giron or Floridablanca. We also stayed the the Ramada in Giron...

Sparklingly clean, friendly staff, and economical were the key things that caught our attention. The rooms were standard size, but very clean and had what we needed.||It was a welcome stopover on our roadtrip through Colombia. The only drawback was very slow service for breakfast. it took a long time and there was only one other family in the dining area. I would recommend just finding someplace else for breakfast especially if you have time to explore. The local market is nearby as are several parks for which Bucaramanga is...