Colombia Travel Guide
Colombia Hotels / Kimberly Murgatroyd / Beach Hotels / Hotel Spas / → All Tags
Chancing the Beaches of Colombia at The Karmairi Hotel Spa (and Loving It)
Once again, Jet Set Life's Kimberly Murgatroyd returns with another VIP Hotel Review. You may recall her last visit to the XV Beacon Hotel in Boston. This time she headed to Colombia to relax at the Karmairi Hotel Spa. Enjoy.
When the average American thinks of Colombia, they probably think of the drug cartel and Pablo Escobar. This is changing, and as Americans, it's time to realize that we have a unspoiled Caribbean paradise just hours away!
Cartagena is only a short two hour flight from Miami International Airport and does not require an additional Visa or permit for Americans. The old-city of Cartagena offers a mix of Latin cultures and a complicated history that rivals many European cities. Inside the protective walls of the old-city, you'll find superior restaurants offering menus filled with fresh ceviche, local beef and freshly caught fish all cooked with a Latin flair.
The old-city itself is walkable and if you use the same common sense you would use in any large city, it's very safe. The narrow, cobble stone streets are lined with colorfully painted homes, boutiques, restaurants and salsa clubs. Street vendors offer fresh coconut, sliced local fruit and an incredible selection of Cuban hats.
Fashion Hotels / Colombia Hotels / Hotel Openings / → All Tags
The Little Fashion Hotel That Could: Tcherassi Opens In Colombia
This year, Fashion Hotels have been very much...well, in fashion as it seems. Missoni debute the first edition of their hotel brand in Edinburgh, and Armani is still awaiting the opening of his first in the Burj tower in Dubai, and now designer Silvia Tcherassi has renovated a mansion in Colombia to become her own fashion hotel.
The 7-suite property sits in the UNESCO site of Cartegena de Indias, Colombia and is your typical retreat from the city, although with a true designer's touch as each room is uniquely decorated and sporting an open layout—yes, this means peekaboo bathrooms. Our favorite part of flipping through the gallery of images after the jump has got to be the vertical garden dominating a side of the pool courtyard; that's some very nature-conscious landscaping, if you ask us. Talk about maximizing space and bringing the outdoors in.
Hotel Openings / Sneak Peek / HotelChatter Reviews / Hotel Video Tours / Cartagena Hotels / → All Tags
Sneak Peek at The Cartagena de Indias Boutique Hotel
Jaunted correspondent, Courtney Scott, was one of the very first guests to stay the night at Cartagena’s newest luxury boutique hotel, the Cartagena de Indias. Watch the video above as she takes you on a guided tour.
The six floors and 32 rooms of the Cartagena de Indias are sitting on prime real estate -- centered on a quiet street between Cartagena’s three bustling plazas and a five minute walk to some of the sexiest restaurants in the old city, including Oh La La, Don Juan and La Perla.
Although typical hotel amenities will not be fully operational until the November 11th grand opening nears, the rooftop infinity pool and Jacuzzi are both open and boast surreal 360 degree views that more than compensate for the lack of room service and WiFi.
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Bill Marriott Opens The Bogota Marriott Hotel
It's been a while since we checked in on Bill Marriott but thanks to the Marriott Twitter feed, we know exactly where he is.
Marriott on Twitter has been buzzing with updates on the opening day festivities at the new Bogota Marriott in Colombia. President Alvaro Uribe, Bill Marriott and developers Ricardo Poma and Fernando Poma were all on hand to inaugurate the hotel today.
The hotel is located 10 minutes from the El Dorado International Airport and sound proofed rooms feature a modern art concept along with techy amenities like high-speed internet, work desks with plug panels and 37" LCD TVs. On site there's a lap pool, an Italian restaurant and a sushi and tapas bar. Just outside are two shopping malls and the Chamber of Commerce.
And it looks like the Marriott will soon be joined by a sister property soon. A JW Marriott is planned to open in Bogota this May.
The Bogota Marriott is a Marriott Rewards category 3 hotel and room rates start at $215 a night.
Cubicle Dreamin' / Colombia Hotels / Remote Hotels / → All Tags
Tough Choice: Office Desk or a Hammock on a Remote Colombian Island?
Cubicle Dreamin' is a feature in which we ask the hotel mavens to take some time out of their busy work day, surf the Internet, and tell us what hotel they wish they could beam themselves to right that very second--all on the slave driving companies dime, of course. Oh, like these people aren't surfing aimlessly anyway--at least now their purposeless clicking will be cobbled together into useful hotel stories--we hope. Have a destination hotel you are just dying to leave your cube for? Send the story our way.
In this episode, Hotel Maven Amanda K skips off to Providencia Island...in her mind. Enjoy.
After reading the UK Guardian's weekend piece on Providencia Island in Colombia – they raved – that's the new destination on my wishlist. They describe it as a tiny hidden island which is not quite Spanish at all – in fact, they say you get a "do-it-yourself Caribbean experience" on Providencia. Which sounds just like the relaxing, laidback kind of vacation I could do with.
Fashion Hotels / Colombia Hotels / Hotel News / Luxe Hotels / → All Tags
Newest Fashion Hotel On The Block: Tcherassi In Colombia
It's official: 2009 is the year of fashion designer hotels. Missoni just debuted their first in Scotland, Palazzo Versace continue to proliferate, Diesel's creative director opened a Brazil retreat in spring, and Armani will have his first in Dubai on December 2. We can't just look at the biggest names as the only creators of boutique properties, however, as Colombian designer Silvia Tcherassi steps up to open her own tropical resort in fall.
Hotel Hype / Desires Hotels / → All Tags
Desires Hotels Announces 'The Charlee' in the City of Eternal Spring
Desires Hotels — the folks behind the quirky-boutiquey MAve, Iron Horse and Betsy — are bringin' the personality to a totally new scene. As in, um, they're going international. Yesterday, the company announced the opening of The Charlee in Medellin, Colombia, slated to be up and running by 2010. And yes, we know: the name makes it sound like a Room Mate hotel.
This 44-room property is notable for having the "first rooftop pool bar and VIP Ultra Lounge" in the country (er, okay), and the hotel's going to be able to boast a five-star restaurant, a 2,150 square-foot health club, 24-hour room service, and a pretty sizable spa.
Location specs: the property will be located in "the fashionable Parque Lleras, and it marks the entry of Desires into an international city — with, according to the press release, follow-up cameos in Portugal, Belize, Dominican Republic, Cape Verde Islands, Montenegro and Argentina.
Colombia Hotel Scene / Hotel Video Tours / HotelChatter Reviews / Colombia Hotels / Hotel WiFi / → All Tags
The Hotel Bahia Blanca Is Not Luxury But You're Treated Like Family
Last month, Amanda Pressner gave Jaunted a report on her jaunt down to Colombia. This week, she is giving HotelChatter reviews of the hotels she checked into during her trip. Any questions or suggestions about the Colombia Hotel Scene? Let us know. Enjoy.
Provided you’re willing to shell out the bucks, it’s never that difficult to find a decent night’s sleep, no matter where on the planet you go. But once you put the term “budget” before your title of traveler, well, that’s when you start playing the game of hotel room roulette
Unable to assess the quality of the backpacker lodging in the seaside Colombian city of Santa Marta simply from the web, my guy Jeff and I waited until we’d been dropped off in the city, at dusk, to choose our hotel. After immediately rejecting the so-called best waterfront lodging (we wonder—do the Lonely Planet people actually enter the asylum-like places they recommend so fervently?) we opted for the Hotel Bahía Blanca, a quaint ground-level property with about a dozen rooms flanking a small, but pleasant interior courtyard.
It appeared that we were only two a few guests in residence at the time, but in theory, that meant more personalized attention from the staff.
Colombia Hotel Scene / Hotel Video Tours / HotelChatter Reviews / Colombia Hotels / Hotel WiFi / → All Tags
The Hotel Caribe Cartagena Looks Grand But Really Isn't
Last month, Amanda Pressner gave Jaunted a report on her jaunt down to Colombia. This week, she is giving HotelChatter reviews of the hotels she checked into during her trip. Any questions or suggestions about the Colombia Hotel Scene? Let us know. Enjoy.
In the Bocagrande section of Cartagena, a crook-armed, sea-level stretch of beach primed to sink under the weight of so many tightly-packed, modern high rises, you’ll find the Hotel Caribe, a pastel wedding cake of property that appears left over from another era, a earlier time when the wealthiest Colombians escaped the chill of Bogotá and Medellin to winter along the coast.
Colombia Hotel Scene / Hotel Video Tours / Sofitel Hotels / HotelChatter Reviews / Colombia Hotels / Hotel WiFi / → All Tags
A Holy Night's Stay at the Sofitel Cartagena Santa Clara
Last month, Amanda Pressner gave Jaunted a report on her jaunt down to Colombia. This week, she is giving HotelChatter reviews of the hotels she checked into during her trip. Any questions or suggestions about the Colombia Hotel Scene? Let us know. Enjoy.
There’s something a touch naughty about shacking up for the night in a 400-year-old former convent that once housed an order Clarisian nuns. You wonder, as you prepare to spend a weekend living in sin in a room transformed from the women's spartan sleeping quarters into a sexy, 500-thread count love den—what would the sisters say if they could see you now?
Fortunately, while staying at the Sofitel Cartagena Santa Clara may qualify as a religious experience (it’s widely considered the most luxurious hotel in the old city) there’s no need to act discrete or be on your best behavior.
What was once a nunnery in the 1600s, and then a charity hospital in the mid 19th century was painstakingly restored in 1994 and eventually turned into a five-star 121-room property that’s has hosted everyone from the King of Spain, Bill Gates and Mel Gibson to Jasser Arafat, Fidel Castro and Mick Jagger.
We can bet that no matter what kind of bad behavior you’ve got cooked up for your stay, you’ve already been trumped by one of these guys—so have at it.
Bogota Hotel Reviews / Intercontinental Hotels / Hotel Hell / → All Tags
A Few Hotel Tips For Bogota
Yesterday we posted news that Hilton Hotels would be expanding in Bogota, Colombia. Since the first thing we think of when we hear Colombia is Romancing the Stone and the second thing we think of is Medellin and Entourage, we put out a call for hotel recommendations in Bogota. Obviously our Hollywood reference won't help you dear readers.
Luckily for us HotelChatter Maven Tom Barnes gave us his thoughts on a few places to check out and a place to avoid.
See his recommendations after the jump.
Hilton Hotels / Hotel Construction / Hotel News / Hotel Hype / → All Tags
Snapshot: Hilton Hotels Starts Work on Bogota Hotel
Construction has begun on the new Hilton Hotel in Bogota, Colombia. On October 9th, the groundbreaking was held in the city's financial district for the $27-million, 245-room hotel which will be Hilton's third property in Colombia.
The place won't be open until sometime in 2009 (that's a rendering above) but when it does, the hotel will feature a a signature restaurant, a lobby bar, a fitness center and 10,000 sq. ft of meeting space.
Hilton already has a hotel in Cartagena as well as an Embassy Suites in Bogota.
Have any hotel recommendations for Bogota? Let us know
Related Stories:
· Hilton Hotels [HotelChatter]
· Hotels in Bogota [HotelChatter]
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