Hotel Laureles 70 — Hotel in Medellín

Three of us from the United States booked the Hotel Laureles 70 for two weeks at the end of June and early July 2017. We were tourists, but one of us was born in Medellin, and knew Laureles was a decent neighborhood, just off the busy street "70". We booked it as a combination fly/hotel package on CheapTickets ("cheap is good"). ||||We had a quite small "triple room" with three single beds, a night stand, a decent wall mounted TV, a bathroom, and a tiny closet with 4 coat hangers. Candidly, the room was too tiny, not even a chair. I would not recommend this room if you like your privacy! But we were friends, and "cheap is good", right?||||The room was sufficient for our needs, however, as we spent only sleeping time there. We were on the third floor. There is no elevator. Get used to 3 sets of 17 stairs each. The housekeeping staff was thorough and everything was quite clean. On some days we only needed new towels, so the "no molestar" doorknob hanger was sufficient to leave the room undisturbed. The beds were comfortable. The A/C worked so well, we asked for blankets. The shower (and tub) had lots of hot water. ||||The real pleasure of this hotel is its authenticity. This is not an American chain hotel in the sterile Poblado. Lots of Colombians and other nationalities stay here. The streets are alive. This is 100 feet off the 70 street, which has numerous small, lively cafes, bars, a bakery across the corner, the Jugosa (ice cream store next door), discos (even a "Viejosdisco"--for patrons over 60). The famous restaurant Mondongo is a block away. Like tripe soup? Music is everywhere (so bring ear plugs to sleep if you need them).||||Laureles 70 has a great staff. I enjoyed very much getting to know the front desk folks, Paula, Juliana, and Daniella. I especially enjoyed my interactions (with my pathetic Spanish skills) with the waiters in its restaurant. Breakfast--arepa (flat cornmeal bread), scrambled eggs, juice, coffee-- was included and pretty good, especially the Colombian coffee. If not included, the cost was 7000 pesos ($2.30 USD). Alejandro and Alex (brothers who speak excellent English) and Simon were the usual waiters; Mauricio usually had mornings. All were super friendly and polite. Suppers there in Hotel Laureles 70 are typical: fried pork or chicken, small salad, yucca. Very affordable, 11,000 pesos, perhaps $3.61 USD. Beer is about $1.25 a bottle. No craft beers; just local beer.||||The one quite odd and a bit irritating issue is the hotel's placement of a "basket" of various items such as peanuts, potato chips, some kind of chocolate, a toothbrush, toothpaste, which appeared our second day on the night stand. Turns out it was not complimentary, and as we had used the toothbrush, on check out the staff inventoried the room and the basket and we were charged about $2.00 USD for it. A disclosure paper of the costs of the items was under glass on the night stand, but because I don't read Spanish too well and I had placed brochures and papers on top of it, we never paid attention to it. The hotel needs to reevaluate this practice and either include the basket as complimentary or eliminate the practice. It was quite annoying to have the staff ask us to pay for the toothbrush. I mean, seriously, charging for a toothbrush?! Small detail, sure, but nevertheless it was a silly annoyance.||||Overall? This is a really good place to stay in a very interesting and safe part of Medellin. By calling one day before arrival to the hotel, it will arrange a safe taxi pickup at the...

As an American who doesn't speak hardly any Spanish at all I travel often around the globe and this hotel is a little gem in Laureles. ||I am checking out today and the value for what you receive is exceptional. ||The room was very clean and I stayed in the smallest room single standard they have. Basic accommodations with a beautiful new LG TV, great shower pressure, excellent air conditioner, a nice desk/chair, and a great breakfast.||The bed was also very comfortable unlike most I have experienced in South America. The location at Street 70 is hard to beat in Laureles and I would just ensure earplugs are utilized if a light sleeper but that is common most places in Medellin.||The real "Win" though is the staff. The front desk manager and John speak very good English and those employees who do not were most patient when using my google translator and always assist with a smile. ||I honestly can't say enough about how friendly and helpful every one was that I met in that hotel and look forward to coming back as soon as time permits.||Whether it's one night or a week this is an exceptional option and I am not one to write reviews on anything really but do so confidently...

Stayed at this hotel for 5 nights while attending an event in Medellin. The location of the hotel is great. In the middle of a very active and commercial area full of restaurants, stores and night life. This is also the first issue as it is very noisy until late at night and with most rooms facing the street, no isolation for noise, it is almost impossible to get a good night sleep. |Rooms are basic and just have enough to keep the visitors happy. In my case, a blind was missing and the room had plenty of light all night. It took two tries for the staff to get it right. |Service was hit and miss. Medellin is known for its people but it looks like some of the employees were not from the area and it showed. Even basic requests were not treated with the attitude you expect from the customer perspective. I’d say that some of the employees were rude. |Positive points are an acceptable restaurant on the premise and the free wi-fi. |Overall, not a great experience and lots of room for...