Hotel Bahia Taganga — Hotel in Magdalena

First, the good stuff: The views from the room, the restaurant and the pool were stunning. None of the staff spoke English, but they were all very patient with us using Google Translate and were very responsive to our requests, which included pre-ordering breakfast to be ready earlier than traditionally offered due to us having to be at the dive shop each day by 8am. Breakfast was hearty and filling. The staff also carried our two heavy bags up and down several flights of steep stairs, which would have been very difficult for us to do ourselves.||Now, the rest of the story. The room is VERY small. The bathroom was tiny, and had NO shelves to put anything on. There is a small closet in the room with a few hangers and shelves, and a TINY table and chairs, and only one tiny nightstand. I ended up needing to use one of the chairs as a nightstand so both my wife and I could have a bottle of water and a place to place our phones at night.||Also, there is NO HOT WATER. The sink and shower are FREEZING COLD. Apparently, this is common in hotels in different parts of the world, but I have have only run into this in a remote jungle camp in Belize and a remote diving outpost in Indonesia, NOT in a hotel in town with a restaurant, pool, WiFi, etc.||The pool is clean and beautiful, but oddly, also colder than expected, considering how strong the sun is there. There is indeed a large Jacuzzi which could seat at least 8 people and has jets, also COLD (are we detecting a theme here?).||Lastly, and I need to state that this is not the hotel’s fault, nor it it anything they can control, but Taganga is LOUD. For reference, I live in New York City so I am not accustomed to silence, but picture multiple establishments blasting music on speakers meant for a stadium-sized concert, concurrently playing their own music, starting around 10am and going ALL. NIGHT. LONG. Considering this hotel is up the mountain a bit and this was all coming from several blocks away, it still felt like I was trying to sleep in the middle of a parade.||So if you read, like I did, that Taganga is a chill fishing village, apparently that’s old news. The scuba diving there was great (highly recommend Poseidon Divers!) but it is arguably the LEAST relaxing place I...

My boyfriend and I weren't sure quite what to expect, but we ended up being extremely happy here. We intended on spending the long weekend seeing the sights during the day and partying in Santa Marta at night. Turns out we much preferred the vibe of Taganga and the tranquility of the Bahia Taganga Hotel.||||The gentleman who checked us in was extremely friendly and patient. We stupidity left our room key at a restaurant late on night. He made sure we left everything of value there and assured us that he'd make sure we made it back safely.||||The cute day shift clerk and the restaurant staff were also absolute sweethearts. They really seemed to enjoy the place and treated us like we were guests in their home.||||We were tickled with the view and the truly peaceful vibe of the place. It is positioned perfectly along the cliffside and watching the sunset is a real treat.||||We also really enjoyed the pool. Well-maintained and romantic. Certainly not "warm" but the climate made it easy to get acclimated even with on a windy night. The little night swim we did was a fond highlight.||||Be prepared for lots of stairs. Tap water is non-potable and is scarce, but that's townwide and certainly should be expected.||||The town itself is cozy, if a little rough around the edges. (I much prefer that to the constant harassment we got from street vendors in Santa Marta.) Food was very good and well-priced. We learned it's a popular spot for people in the international Jewish community and one restaurant we ate at had its big menu in Hebrew! You can easily get from one end of the beach to the hotel in a 15-minute walk.||||All in all, Hotel Bahia Taganga turned out to be the relaxing getaway we didn't know we wanted. We'll hopefully...

The hotel has a great location and also somehow a really nice vibe. But the management is just bad. When booking nothing was said about that there wouldn't be any warm water. We arrived and only then were told that. When I asked for an upgrade of the room or a discount since you pay the full price but don't get warm water for the paid 4 nights, it was declined.

Also the bathroom had a bad smell and when paying with credit card, they didn't ask me whether I want to make use of the option of paying in local currency. without warning they just used the conversion rate of the bank they work with and that option is always way more expensive.

So therefore I can't recommend the hotel even though it has a nice location at the bay and a nice vibe and friendly staff. Owner/Management needs to be replaced. Also they're not investing in renovation so it all looks a bit messy. So the price for what you get isn't worth it.

Also you have to be careful at night time cause the way to the hotel is pretty messy and dark and there is always some strange local...