Hotel Cartagena Plaza / vista al mar — Hotel in Cartagena

The all inclusive package included access to level 5, “Lucia restaurante,” we found that this restaurant was peaceful and had an amazing view, it had an outdoor area, with some shaded areas, and an indoor dining area. A special mention to Benjamin, as he was a fantastic waiter and accomodated to our needs! The food was good. We dined at the restaurant several times and all of the waiters were polite and respectful. The all inclusive package also provided a “business lounge,” only available for premium clients, which was a quiet small room to have breakfast, if you did not want to attend the buffet. We also dined at Kazabe restaurant, the service was slow, though the food was good. Please note that the “all inclusive package,” does not necessarily mean this! As you are not allowed to have the premium spirits, as you have to pay for this seperately, though “house spirits,” wine and beer were included. Also as a premium service the mini bar and some spirits were included and provided in the room accomodation. We stayed in the “Tech room,” which basically has a google mini to activate the tv, lights and play music, unfortunately the automatic blinds were broken. Not all jet’s in shower worked, though still had good water pressure. The bed was big and comfortable and the room clean, neat and tidy. The pool area lacked comfortable seating and needed more shaded areas. As it’s family oriented be prepared for lots of children. The hotel would benefit with an addition, and dedicated space for adults, including as adult pool. Though the area on level 5 was perfect to relax. Also our “butlers,” (César, Andrés, Luís, Fabián y Alfredo) were also extremely helpful in answering any questions and attending to our needs. Thank you Hotel...

We came here 5 years ago and it was GREAT. This time, it was HORRIBLE. We got 2 rooms, they separated us by 3 floors when we asked to be on the same floor as last time. The way they changed the elevators, you needed your room card to go to your floor, so we had to take the stairs to meet with family. The AC didn't work in our room, and the door didn't lock in the other room. We spoke to the supervisor, Jason. After a while, he agreed to change our room to a new room where the AC works and on the same floor as the rest of our family. They rushed us to move everything. We get to our new room and guess what, the AC isn't working, they sent maintenance and they said its broken and needs to be fixed. I went to complain after the supervisor lied saying the new room AC works. I asked for fans for the mean time until they fixed the AC. They said they would give us 2 fans but only gave us 1. They ended up changing our room AGAIN. I ended up forgetting my wedding band in the last room, and when I asked the supervisor if I could go back to the room to check the safe for my ring, he said no, "I don't know what to tell you". The new room, the AC, worked a little, and they let us keep the 1 fan, we were getting tired of moving rooms that we didn't bother to complain about it. Our kids slept in my mother-in law room since their AC worked. The location is in front of the beach BUT beware these people are like Hawks and try to charge you for everything - we spent 1 day at the beach, had 4 plates of food, 12 alcohol beverages and they charged us a little over 3 million pesos which is around $750/$800. ...

I was there for a week and truly loved my experience! We seemed to be the only Canadian /non-Spanish speaking patrons, as this hotel is usually catering to local Colombians from neighbouring cities or areas, but we felt just as welcomed!

The staff is the biggest strength of this hotel; they are very helpful, proactive, friendly and welcoming. Though our Spanish isn’t the best, we could easily communicate with the staff whenever we had questions and needs.

The beach entry being right in front of the hotel made it very easy for us to have a swim (beware of very annoying merchants who tend to harass you when they know you are not a local). There is also access to a pool on the rooftop!

Though a bit bland at times, the buffet offered a wide variety of food and allowed us to discover many of the local traditional meals while also having foods from all over the globe! The waiters were phenomenal all of our seven-day stay. The hotel being located on the main street also allowed easy access to all the restaurants and shops around.

There are always drivers willing to take you where you need to go for a reasonable price (we did a two hour drive to Palenque with one of them).

If you plan on visiting Cartagena for the first time this is an ideal place to stay at.

Thank you again to the entire team of Cartagena Plaza Hotel for giving us a sweet taste of Colombian...