Hacienda Venecia Coffee Farm Experience — Hotel in Manizales

I decided to splurge and spend way over my budget for two nights at the Hacienda Venecia. It’s a charming place, with lots of nice walks and bird watching. If you arrive by public transportation, as I did, they give instructions about where to get off the bus, and a driver will come pick you up free of charge. As there was a mixup on their part and the room I’d reserved at the Coffee Lodge wasn’t available, they offered to let me stay the first night at the Main House, which was nearly double the price, but said I could pay the rate of the Coffee Lodge. I was happy to have the experience since the Main House has lovely architecture, brightly painted in red, decorated with traditional artifacts, photos, and antiques. The grounds were gorgeous, with many peacocks strutting around, lush plants and flowers everywhere, birds chirping away, an iguana on the roof, and a pool to enjoy. There are various attractive places for guests to sit inside or outside on the porches all around the house, as well as hammocks. All the rooms are different and though they are the same price, have different facilities. My room, for example, had neither a fan nor a TV. There were accidental spills of red paint on the pretty tiled floor, electric sockets carelessly installed, doors and windows that were difficult to open and close, and paint peeling on the walls. Surprising, since these rooms go for 550,000 Colombian pesos (or more, depending on the season) which is around €130 per night. The dinner, which I discovered the next night, is exactly the same as what is served at the much cheaper Coffee Lodge, but they charge 9,000 pesos more per meal for some reason. The dinner was fine and the breakfast buffet was varied and more than sufficient. The staff were extremely friendly and attentive to the guests. Though check-in time starts at 3pm, check-out is at 11 am. So I had to pack my luggage early and the staff kindly moved it to the Coffee Lodge building the following morning, though I had no access to the room until 3:00.||||At 9:30 I joined the “coffee tour” that I’d signed up for (65,000 pesos = €15). Johan was an excellent guide, explaining the whole process of growing and producing coffee with lots of enthusiasm and humor, in very good English. I think everyone learned a lot. Afterwards, we could taste a jigger of rum, distilled by a staff member (Pedro?), who is happy to sell small bottles to the guests. Instead of having lunch, I took a walk past the Hostel to the living quarters of one farm worker’s family and used my very basic Spanish to communicate with Rosa and her two sons. The whole coffee estate is extremely picturesque and is a great way to spend a few relaxing days. Both the Main House and the Coffee Lodge offer guests unlimited coffee which, I must admit, was some of the best coffee I’d ever tasted! The dinner the second night was identical to the first night in the Main House: pumpkin (or carrot?) soup, chicken, and even the same cake for dessert. It tasted fine, but I expected that there’d be more variety. There’s also a pool here, however the weather was cloudy and cool by the time I had access to my room and luggage, so I didn’t take advantage of the pool. My room at the Coffee Lodge was attractive. The view from there was very pretty, the bed was even more comfortable than at the Main House, and there was a small fan to get a bit of ventilation once the windows were closed. No TV. WiFi worked OK. I think I actually liked the atmosphere and comfort at the Coffee Lodge more than at the Main House.||||I checked out before 11am and although I’d been planning to hang around and relax there for a couple more hours, I was told that there were other guests who were getting dropped off in 15 minutes at the main road and I was encouraged to go at the same time. The reception phoned the bus company to book a seat to Armenia and alert the driver to pick me up at that point by the highway. Lucky I checked the bill before leaving, as I saw I’d been charged for a lunch (though I hadn’t eaten any lunch there) as well as the dinner supplement at the Main House, which they deducted after I complained.||||All in all, I was glad I went to Hacienda Venecia. Despite the high cost (for me), having to change rooms the second day, and the uninspiring weather, it was a unique experience in beautiful surroundings. You don’t have to stay at their accommodations in order to take the coffee tour. But I was glad to have slept there two nights and recommend it to...

The first red flag was when I emailed them in mid-January of 2019, about 2 months prior to our arrival. I wanted to set up transportation to the Hacienda from the bus station and also transport to the airport when we checked out. On my booking confirmation email the prices were listed as 60,000 COP from the bus terminal and 75,000 COP to the airport terminal. However, when I emailed them and asked about these prices that had been sent to me in their confirmation email they told me they were their 2018 rates and for 2019 both costs were now at 100,000 each. The rate increase for a new year I can understand, but an increase of 66% and 33% respectively is absolutely absurd for a ride in a vehicle! What means of transportation has that high of an inflation rate? During this process of emailing them to figure out our transportation, I was trying to figure out how to get their most efficiently since they are a little bit outside of Manizales. I explained that we were taking a bus from Jardin and they were aware of this. What they neglected to inform us of, and we felt like they lied to us by omission, was that the bus from Jardin has to literally pass by Hacienda Venecia on the main roadway. Instead, they did not take the time to either think about our situation and help us out or just did not care to inform us because we were going to pay 100,000 COP for a private transport from the bus terminal. Needless to say I was quite upset realizing that all we had to do was tell the bus driver to let us off at the turn in to the Hacienda (there were signs right there) and we would have gotten picked up for free from that location. At this point my wife and I are very disappointed with the lack of support and communication that we had been receiving and felt as if we should be reimbursed for the transportation from the bus terminal. When we checked in my wife explained our entire situation in Spanish. They were more defensive then anything and instead of displaying quality customer service and saying they should have been better, they said that this was a miscommunication by both parties and that they don't think they will be able to reimburse anything. After an hour or two I received a text on WhatApp from the front-desk saying they would reimburse us for the transportation. So this was good, however, it was too little too late after the negative discussion we had to first have with them concerning this and also they TEXTED us this! Nobody bothered to come to us and talk face-to-face with us. My wife and I decided we would stay the night and have dinner on the grounds but we decided it was best we move on from our experience with Hacienda and cancel our coffee tour and second night stay there. My wife spoke with the front desk in Spanish and explained to them that we were canceling our second night (this was at 4-5pm). Unfortunately the saga continued when at night the staff serving dinner informed us that the front desk told them they had to charge us for the second night when we left in the morning. This was hidden from us but the very kind staff serving our dinner gave us a heads up. Concerning canceling a reservation, their policy does NOT state a timeframe to cancel, it only says: "Please let us know if you cannot honour your booking. Thank you for your consideration in this matter." The next morning my wife had to literally speak with the owner of the Hacienda and he demanded we pay for the full two nights after we explained we just wanted to be done with them and leave that morning. The owner was adversarial on the phone and explained how nobody has ever canceled a night (how dare us!). This was again a glaring example of the horrible customer service Hacienda provides. We agreed to pay half of the price of the second night just so we could get out of the situation. Ironically, we were the ones that had to suggest coming to a middle ground. We felt like our experience could easily have been completely opposite had management staff taken very small and simple steps to assure a quality...

There are three options on this property... hostel, coffee lodge, main house. Supposedly the coffee lodge is the mid-range option, but I really think it is the best!||||The main house is in the "bed and breakfast" style of a family house, ornately decorated with more touches of family history, whereas the coffee lodge is minimalist but still with lots of cute touches. The coffee lodge to me was more comfortable for just hanging out, with casual indoor and outdoor common areas. Plus, in the coffee lodge each room has a private bathroom attached - whereas this is not the case for the main house (casa principal) given its history as an actual family home.||||The food was excellent, and it's a good thing it's provided since this place is out in the country down a long, bumpy road to get to it. Not the kind of place you can head out to a restaurant nearby for dinner—but with delicious home-cooked meals served family style, you don't need to!||||The place was a little echoey and not the most soundproof, with tile floors throughout, but fortunately this didn't turn out to be an issue for sleeping. I can't speak for the hostel, but the coffee lodge at least attracted a slightly older (30s and up) crowd who were mostly asleep (or in their rooms at least) by 10-11.||||The staff are very kind and considerate and think of everything. Super proactive and helpful. They go above and beyond to make you feel at home.||||The rooms have character, with local photography on the walls and small touches so no two rooms are the same. Even the smaller rooms feel spacious because of the floor-to-ceiling wooden doors you can fling wide open. ||||Fortunately the bugs weren't too much of a problem. They do come into the building a bit when you have the windows and doors open (no screens) but for anyone who's traveled in the tropics before, you'll be used to this and the bug level is about a 3 on a scale of 1 to 10 here, I'd say. I did get a few bites, but not many at all considering that I was outside after dark and didn't wear bug spray.||||Last but not least, don't miss the coffee tour!! It was among the best of this type of tour I've taken at coffee farms, breweries, or wineries. Lots of detail about the coffee industry, growing and roasting methods, and what gives coffee different flavor notes—and plenty for us to taste!||||The coffee tour takes 3 hours. Hotel staff can also set up other excursions nearby for you. Highly recommend visiting one or more thermal baths (there are multiple nearby). We saw quite a few people staying at Hacienda Venecia for only one night and that just doesn't make sense to me!! Come for at least two, but I can honestly see spending a whole week here and not getting bored. It would be so extremely relaxing and there's plenty to do in the area to take 3-4 excursions during a...