Hotel Balcones de Venecia — Hotel in Cartagena

For a modern, safe and well run bed and breakfast in a good location and at a reasonable price, the Balcones de Venecia is a great choice. ||||During Spanish colonial times Cartagena was an island surrounded by a wall, which could be approached by land only through a bridge from another island to the south. That island, called Getsemani, was also surrounded by a wall and could only be entered by land through a bridge to the east. A very large fortress on top of a hill stood guard over that entrance. While Cartagena proper was inhabited by the rich and powerful, Getsemani was the quarter for the rest of the population. Through the years the bay which separated Cartagena proper and Getemani was filled with land, to give rise to the quarter of La Matuna - the modern commercial center of Cartagena. ||||All this history is evident if you stay in Balcones de Venecia. The hotel is at the northern edge of Getsemani, almost across the street from La Matuna, and a 10 minute walk from the Clock Tower, the ancient gate of the Walled City. If you stay here you are close to all three major areas of the city - the walled city with its monuments, Getsemani with its charming alleys and La Matuna with its modern facilities, supermarket, shops, restaurants and street vendors - a snapshot of modern Colombia. ||||The hotel is really a bed and breakfast on the second floor of what probably had been a large apartment. You have to go up the steps to the second floor (no elevator) in order to get to the reception. Security is tight - there is a gate at the bottom of the stairs which is controlled by the receptionist on the second floor. The reception seems to be open 24 hour a day, and the room in which I stayed had a safe. ||||In contrast to the slightly run down appearance of the street, the hotel itself is charming, modern and well maintained. The room in which I stayed had a window (which did not open by design), great air conditioning, a small but clean toilet/shower combination, modern tile floors and a great bed. As is common in such places, the shower did not have hot water - the water is usually not cold, since the climate is tropical, so I did not find it to be a problem. The wifi was reliably strong and fast. There was a daily room service, to tidy up the room.||||Breakfast, which was included in the price, was served in a small patio. It was made to order and slightly varied each morning. It always included a nice cut fruit plate (papaya, watermelon, mango, pineapple), a fruit juice (oranges, mora berries) and unlimited coffee. The main dish could be a large omelet, a toasted sandwich or fried eggs with corn arepas (a type of biscuit) on the side. ||||There is an upper floor with a small terrace, which includes a small jacuzzi tub and a massage table. The jacuzzi was empty, but they were ready to fill it up and prepare it for me upon request. The massage service is by reservation, and the therapist seems to be professional and wears a uniform. I did not use this service since I got sunburnt, but it could be nice to have a professional massage in the open air. ||||The staff was always friendly. Marius, who prepares breakfast and runs the morning shift, is a great source of information. The night receptionist helped me print my boarding pass next door since their printer was down. The hotel will book any type of tour for you, with a pickup from the lobby, and will order a taxi to the airport if you need one. Overall, highly recommended for a budget...

I stayed 5 nights at Casa Venecia from December 30th to January 3rd 2020. Hostel is not modern and polished but was colourful and kept clean. The staff were all friendly but only spoke Spanish. I expect that being in Colombia but just letting others know not to expect English speakers here. Most of the guests were also only Spanish speaking. The pool is small but nice to cool down in during Cartagena’s daily heat. I had a private room beside the pool. Could hear people talking at night outside but not too late. For me hearing people talking in the morning was more of an issue as I like to sleep in. The windows on the private room are just glass shutters so noise can easily come in. My room didn’t have A/C but did have two fans which weren’t overly effective against 30 degree plus weather. Breakfast consisted of eggs, bread, fruit and coffee. Nothing special but was acceptable. Didn’t find there to be much social activity at this hostel which was disappointing but perhaps it was just the group there at the time or the fact my Spanish isn’t very good. All in all it was an...

The good: |price,location, friendly staff, breakfast is included juice and eggs w toast, breezy, safety boxes, clean.||The not-so-good:| if reception isnt around to stop them, anyone can get in off the street(but this seems typical for hostals), staff is friendly but not necessarily helpful (they couldn't tell me how to get to Santa Marta. They asked me to clear my bed before checkout the day I was leaving), water pressure is spotty (water literally stops and then comes back), there are street cats that may sleep on your bed when you aren't around.||Finally:|DO NOT BOOK A TOUR WITH THIS HOSTAL: I booked the "lancha" trip to Islas Rosarios y Playa Blanca, and it left around 915 instead of 8 as described by hotel staff. Then the company, Ocean & Land Tours, left me behind on the docks after having lied to me about where to wait and who would call my name to board!!!! They put me on a different tour boat to compensate, and by then it was 945. I speak Spanish, so language was not the issue here!||Overall- nice breezy place to stay, but see my little warnings and have...