Hotel Cartagena Dubai — Hotel in Cartagena

My name is Emmanuel Almonte I’ve been traveling for the past 12 years around the world making Buisness and working on promoting my music. This week we decided to come to Cartagena, Colombia to enjoy their beautiful warm weather and beaches with a group of 10 people including myself we arrived Tuesday October 5th at 730am. During our check in process we were told that we could use the facilities since I made the payment for 5 rooms and that we could have breakfast since it was included. Our luggage were put in a room in the lobby in the meanwhile our rooms were ready due to the personnel of the hotel. We continue to proceed to the breakfast buffet and when we finish we had to pay 30,000 COL pesos because we didn’t have our rooms yet and that was not communicated to us. 2nd we were giving 5 bracelets not 10 and I questioned that and they stated that is 1 bracelet per room. That same night we arrived from a tour and one of guys of the group was stopped by hotel clerk and he had to pay 10,000 pesos because he didn’t had a bracelet. During the checked out Oct 7th, I handed the room cards (5) to front desk and they start to questioned me about how many people were in the rooms I said “10, 2 per room husband and wife” They wanted to charge me almost 300 dollars in addition to what I already paid because they were 2 per room! I requested to talked to a supervisor and they handed me a cellphone and i start to explained the story again and the lady front desk start to follow me around and I couldn’t explained basically anything I ask her to give me space so I could speak and she snatch the phone from my ear having a physical contact with me in which it was a total disrespect. I ask why they were giving me a hard time, why wait to checkout to tell me this. I felt that I was being harassed by the hotel personnel. I told the front desk that this was crazy and That I’m not going to pay anything. The personnel called the police and the hotel security I continued to explain everything to the hotel personnel and they completely ignored me. The police Came and we talked and they understood my side and stated that this was not the first issue with this hotel that they will take the report. Constantino -Owner of Live Dubai Cartagena approached me a said- pay $100 dollars and done I explained to him that it wasn’t a problem paying the money the Issues is that I wasn’t told in the beginning all this when I provided the information to front desk and they seen me arriving the lobby with a group of 10. By this time our transportation was outside waiting for us. So I had to make a decision and pay the $100 dollars so I won’t lose our ride to the airport, flights back, etc. That was my experience in this hotel.. And there’s more...

My significant other booked us here as surprise. When I looked at the reviews I was nervous and beyond anxious. Now that I have actually experienced a week staying here I feel like these reviews are unfair. Our week stay here was beyond amazing. Yes there is construction on the beach directly infront of this hotel. However getting to the beach is only a few blocks.. we walked there almost daily. If walking few blocks is your biggest concern I feel sorry for you. However because the construction the views were absolutely amazing. We captured the most amazing memories with lack of crowds, noise and pan handling. While the first floor bathroom definitely discouraged me our room with ocean views was best I've ever experienced and I'm from Florida. When they say the windows are dirty yes the lower 4 floors maybe. I was 18th floor and could see absolutely everything clearly. I even visited every floor that had a balcony and it's just breathtaking. The cleaning service was amazing and not only cleaned our room also organized a few of our items. And this was daily unless we asked to be not disturbed. We asked for extra blankets and got them immediately. The pool bar and service is not only amazing but above and beyond. The bar top was somewhat quiet but attentive. We had breakfast and dinner included and everyday it was something new but great options and foods. I'm a picky American and was very pleased with the numerous options. Most of the hotel is painted white so yes if you consider some wear and tear from hands maybe I'd agree on a touch up. By no means was this hotel dirty under any circumstances. There are a few places that may need a little bit of maintenance because wear but not from a lack of cleaning. You rub 500 hands a day on white paint and see if it looks dirty after. We also accidentally got locked out our room and skipped about 20 people to get noticed and they helped us immediately not questioning and no problems. Immediately had access to our room after. Overall one of the best experiences I've ever had. There is so much that this hotel went above and beyond for that I haven't mentioned. They deserve every star given. Don't listen to all these horrible...

The pool was great. The glass-floor walkway up on floor 29 was fun. The rooftop bar was a nice space with great views. The laundry service was good, albeit at a cost.

But....

They only take cash in the pool/roof bars & refuse to change high denomination notes (the only ones you get given at ATMs). We found this absurdly annoying, why can't they give their staff a till-float everyday, or get some card machines? We were given gold wristbands upon arrival & not once received an explanation as to what they meant. On 3 occasions our room key stopped working & we had to go back to reception for them to sort it back out. On one day the cleaners didn't bother calling. On another they took our towels & didn't replace them, causing us to go back to reception in dripping swimwear during the busy check-in period to ask for new ones. The walls in the rooms are paper-thin. Our pillows were literally the other side of the wall from our neighbours TV and we couldn't sleep with it on, especially when they were watching sport & talking loudly at gone 1am. You can also hear the ping of lifts loud & clear, which woke us at around 6am-ish every morning. They still boast on their website that it's seconds from the beach! This is a lie. The beach is all fenced off for construction work so you can't access it. There's a small stretch open 10mins walk away, but thanks to your hotel wristbands you will be targeted & besieged by aggressive hawkers selling all manner of rubbish. English is barely spoken here (not a problem for me as I don't expect it when I visit a non-English speaking country), so bear this in mind if it's a requirement for you.

Overall this is place represents terrible value for money. We had a premium room so the above should not have been our experience (except the bit about language). We came here to get refreshed and we left absolutely shattered. This hotel needs a serious overhaul. Stay...