Decameron Cartagena — Hotel in Cartagena

I recently stayed at the Decameron Hotel for 3 nights, and overall, my experience was good. The employees were always attentive and made sure I was well taken care of throughout my stay. I really appreciated their professionalism during check-in — my flight was delayed, and I arrived around 2 a.m., yet they still received me warmly, explained all the services included, and made the process very smooth.

My room was clean for the most part (4/5). However, I did notice some hair in the shower, which was unpleasant, and there were two small leaks from the bathroom ceiling. Aside from that, everything else in the room was tidy and comfortable.

The food was just okay — I personally didn’t enjoy their pasta options, but there were other decent choices.

What really disappointed me — and what I’d like to emphasize — was how the staff handled my situation when my return flight was canceled. I needed to stay an additional night, and instead of offering understanding or flexible solutions, the front desk host immediately suggested I go to another hotel down the street for around $50 a night, saying Decameron would be “too expensive” without even giving me an actual quote. That comment felt dismissive and unprofessional.

When I later asked if I could stay in my cousin’s room (she still had one night left), they initially quoted me $120 for the extra guest fee, pending management approval. After waiting, they came back saying the new rate would actually be $170, claiming the system reflected “high season” pricing. The sudden $50 increase felt dishonest, and I sensed they were trying to take advantage of my situation — especially as they pressured me to decide quickly because they were “about to close.”

In the end, I chose to stay elsewhere and found a brand-new hotel just three blocks away — the OZ Hotel — where I paid only $70 a night with breakfast included. The room was spotless, modern, and had no leaks. I highly recommend the OZ Hotel 200% over Decameron if you want transparent pricing and genuine...

Our Decameron experience in Cartagena was a big improvement from San Andres. We were given a printed out, unique wifi code upon checkout in at 8am, a booklet and explanation of the activities and the app was actually kept up to date with what was going on which was a first for us!

By 10am waiting for the room to be available at 3pm, we were waiting by the pool and one of the men from our front remembered our names, came out to find us and told us our room was ready, then collected our bags and guided us there. Any other Decameron would have forgotten we existed and waited until we asked again, likely at 3pm.

We were given a room overlooking the ocean and beachfront of all Cartagena which was an amazing view. The night time entertainment was involving and there were activities by the pool all throughout the day.

Staff were friendly in the meal area and across the hotel.

On the downside, there was a lot of black mould on the mirror in the room, ceiling and the shower tap would fall off, also not generating hot water. There were maggots outside the room and it was not a clean place. The side elevator was old and felt unsafe too buttons not working.

We could loudly hear the music until 11pm in the room which would have been an issue with children and then from inside the hotel until 2am. It’s not a place to relax.

We were unlucky that the beach was closed, mugs had cracks in them unhygenically and there was less food variety than other places (we loved the self serve though). At a busy time of year we would not have been able to find a seat.

The bus driver to Baru at 1pm on 30/12/22 was extremely dangerous and aggressive, near missing several crashes and having his window open to yell at other drivers.

So it was a more friendly, well run place… but there’s significant things to...

We arrived at 3pm as that was check in. With only about 20 people waiting this took over 1 hour to get done and us to our room. We came with 2 small bags which we were going to carry to our room when we were told they would take them to our room. We inquired where to get something to eat and was told only had one option. We went there and the only food available was a hamburger or chicken sandwich. We ordered one of each and a drink. After 10 min and no drinks asked the waiter and he said he forgot. When the food arrived the hamburger which I am not sure was actually meat was cold and looked like it had been run over by a car. The chicken sandwich you could not find the chicken and when i did it was small and cold along with cold fries. The wait staff did not care. We arrived back to our room and no luggage. After multiple calls to the desk as to the location of our luggage and being told each time it will be there in 5 min. After 45 min of this and still no luggage now they hang up the phone and will not speak to us. Two and half hours to get our luggage 300 meters to our room. Now is too late to go to the pool as we had an assigned time for dinner which as many resorts we have stayed at never had this. Dinner was poor at best. Advance to the morning after breakfast we go to the pool which we could not the day before and are told pool does not open until 10. We go to the bar to get a drink and are told bar does not open until 10 and by the way you have to check out at 12. So for over $300 we got a cold sandwich, poor dinner, a bed to sleep, 2 drinks and 1 hour in the pool. When asked to speak to a manager or someone in charge to complain we were told they were not available. First and last time staying with...