Bonita Bay Concept Hotel by Xarm Hotels — Hotel in Santa Marta

This hotel is absolutely HORRIBLE. To start, the checkin is perfectly located at the far end of a bowling alley - where the pins fall and cycle, so good luck having a conversation with the “reception staff”. The rooms are ok, a view is a view if you get the right room. The staff, is unhelpful, and rude. I called for weeks trying to get my dates changed and they repeatedly told me my reservation did not exist. Expedia and I tried to reach out via multiple emails - with no reply. Then I was charged for the full rate, before I checked in - while Bonita Bay still had “no record” of my reservation. The hotel reception gave us the number of Diane (accounting for Xarm hotels) to deal with a refund. She did not answer messages, or phone calls. The hotel staff said they cannot do anything as the “administration” is reviewing the case. Then they said that in order to refund, it can only be done by bank, which requires a certificate. They WILL NOT REFUND THE CARD ON FILE….. and said it will take weeks. As a frequent traveler, this is the worst experience with hotel management I have ever experienced.

STAY AWAY FROM THIS HOTEL AND ANY XARM HOTEL...

Pros:

Excellent location in between downtown and one block from the beach.

The service was uniformly excellent, from reception to the daily (included) breakfast to the cleaning staff.

The water pressure / temperature, and air conditioning were all great.

There’s a ton of storage for your bags, purchases, etc. in the room (room 6).

Although there’s bowling one level below, I never heard it and, also on the 3rd floor, that’s where they have their morning breakfasts, which feature spectacular views of the beach!

Cons:

Since you’re next to a busy beach, it can get a little loud in the early evenings, especially when those drums come out!

The shower, at least in room 6, doesn’t have a complete seal to prevent shower water from flowing somewhat into the main part of the bathroom when the door is open (and when the shower is off).

The reception area is hot at times.

Recommendation: Since the closest, “real” coffee place does not open until 7 am (Tostao, two blocks away), a coffee machine or well kept, drip brew machine near reception would be nice.

All in all, BBCH is a great hotel,...

I do not recommend this hotel. Will never come back again. Nice view and everything, but when my neighbor opened the door of his balkony the wind ( and it’s constantly windy out there ) was making a horrible noise because of that. And I mean really horrible! The staff knew it and they still are renting out this room 12. The young guy from the reception even lied to me that somebody will come today and repair it, well it was 2 day’s ago and still nothing happened. Be careful with the people who have the bar on the left when you exit. Bad people with the only intention to screw you up for money, very abusive. I later on didn’t feel safe at all because everytime i went out they started to harassing me. On booking it shows 4 stars i would probably give it max 2 or even 1.5. Plus the breakfast is only from 7-9...