Hotel Caribe By Faranda Grand

Though its Spanish Colonial facade looks much like it did in 1945, Hotel Caribe immediately feels like a 21st-century hotel. There’s a sushi bar in the lobby, guests connect to Wi-Fi on their smartphones, and the decor offers a fresh take on Cartagena’s vibrant colonial style. The lobby combines beautiful original features, like ornate chandeliers, coffered ceilings, and tall archways, with modern pieces like wicker wing-back chairs and patterned area rugs. The best part? The ice cold air-conditioning offers immediate relief from the city’s sweltering temperatures. Take a walk through Hotel Caribe’s lush, beautifully landscaped property, and it becomes apparent how popular this hotel is with travelers. Guests run the gamut, from multi-generational families, to business travelers, to couples and adult friend groups. During our visit, we encountered a good mix of domestic and international travelers. Don’t be surprised if you see wildlife during your visit to Hotel Caribe. Tiny wild deer (if you can imagine wild deer in a big city), often quietly roam the resort’s lush grounds. Guests can also spot wild sloths in the trees, or parrots and toucans flying overhead. 

Amidst Bocagrande’s soaring high rises and chaotic traffic, it’s hard to imagine Hotel Caribe at it once was: the lone hotel in a quiet neighborhood. Times have changed, but Hotel Caribe’s grande dame appearance hasn’t. The Spanish Colonial facade stands out in a sea of modern architecture -- its outstretched lawns and beautiful gardens are unlike anywhere else in the busy city. The property actually straddles two popular Cartagena neighborhoods, the nightlife heavy Bocagrande and the residential El Laguito. Bocagrande is Cartagena’s Miami-like strip of bustling hotels, restaurants, bars, shopping malls, and casinos. It’s known for its nightlife and miles long beach. Bocagrande is situated on a peninsula that extends from the city into the Caribbean Sea. El Laguito sits on the southwestern tip of this peninsula, almost like a hat on the top of Bocagrande’s long, skinny body. El Laguito is more residential than Bocagrande, and gets much quieter at night. Also, because it’s located at the tip of Bocagrande, the beach is much quieter and less crowded than those in the center of the city. Hotel Caribe is within walking distance of shops and restaurants, but it might be easier to take a cab to some of its malls and shopping plazas. The property is about a 10- to 15-minute drive to the historic walled city and the trendy Getsamani neighborhood. It’s about a 20- to 25-minute drive to Rafael Nunez International Airport.

Hotel Caribe’s 363 rooms are dispersed across three buildings: Colonial, Lagomar, and Laguito. Colonial is the hotel’s original five-story building. It sits in the middle of the property, and is the most central building to all of the resort’s amenities. Guests can access the Colonial building’s rooms by taking one of the resort’s antique elevators, where an operator manually opens and closes the lattice doors. Ironically, rooms in the Colonial building are the resort’s most modern. Thanks to a 21st century refurbishment, the Colonial building’s Classic and Deluxe Rooms feature sleek gray tones, textured headboards, white furniture, and updated bathrooms with glass enclosed showers. In-room amenities include flat-screen TVs, refrigerated minibars, electronic safes, and terrycloth bathrobes and slippers. The Colonial building is also home to the hotel’s Presidential Suite -- a massive Art Deco suite with a full living room and a clawfoot bathtub in the bedroom.The Lagomar building is located at the front of the resort, and is the only building to offer direct ocean views. Guests will find an array of room types including Superior Rooms and Junior Suites, but the decor is a bit more dated. Think: plain wood furniture, pale blue bed runners, thick drapery, and shower/tub combos. The Laguito building is located towards the back of the property, and gets its name from the adjacent neighborhood. Rooms here are also slightly dated, but ongoing renovations mean some rooms and suites have upgraded decor and amenities, like deep soaking tubs and rainfall shower heads.  

Hotel Caribe is a large resort with tons of on-site amenities. For starters, the semi-Olympic swimming pool is one of the largest in Bocagrande. The pool sits in the center of the property and is the hotel’s hub of activity. It’s surrounded by cushioned lounge chairs and upscale days beds; many guests choose to spend their days relaxing in the Cartagena sunshine. Behind the main pool, there’s a small shallow pool for little ones. Guests who’d rather hang by the beach can head across the street to the hotel’s private beach club. All beaches in Colombia are public spaces that can be accessed by anyone, but Hotel Caribe has its own beach club that can only be used by hotel guests. The beach club is home to a casual bar and restaurant called Oh Caribe, which is located beneath a giant tent-like structure. Additionally, the hotel sets up lounge chairs and umbrellas on the beach for guests. Cartagena’s beaches have a mud-brown hue and the water isn’t exactly the crystal clear Caribbean blue you might be picturing. But, the beaches are always crowded and great for people watching. In addition to Oh Caribe at the beach club, Hotel Caribe has three other restaurants on-site. Karibukai, Caribe’s sushi bar, is a casual spot for grab-and-go sushi. India Catalina, the poolside restaurant, is an excellent outdoor option for lunch an dinner. India Catalina’s brick pizza oven is a wildly popular with guests, and the restaurant also hosts buffet theme nights, with rotating menu selections like barbecue and seafood. Pedro de Heredia is Caribe’s signature restaurant. It can seat up to 150 people, so it’s often used for private banquets or parties. Pedro de Heredia serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Its menus feature upscale Colombian specialities as well as a wide variety of international options. The restaurant’s daily breakfast buffet is free, plentiful, and delicious -- likely one of the best free breakfast buffets in Cartagena. The buffet features international favorites like pancakes, eggs, waffles, and fresh fruit, but also has lots of Colombian breakfast options like freshly prepared arepas con huevo and buñuelos.  Hotel Caribe is a premier destination for events in Cartagena. The hotel has nine meeting rooms that vary in size from grand ballrooms to intimate conference spaces. The largest room, the Arcos Salon, can hold up to 280 people. Additionally, Hotel Caribe has a small business center, with several desktop computers, a printer, and fax machine. Wi-Fi is free throughout. The hotel has a small spa and fitness center, but both were in the process of being renovated during our visit. 

Hotel Caribe is one of the most family-friendly hotels in Cartagena. Many boutiques in the walled city do not allow children, and many high rises in Bocagrande are a little too nightlife oriented for little ones with loud street noise in the wee hours. Hotel Caribe strikes the perfect balance. It’s still close to the action, but the large property is secluded from big city annoyances. Plus, the hotel has tons of on-site activities for kids. Besides the hotel’s massive swimming pool, there’s an outdoor playground, a mini-golf course, and an indoor kids' club with a regular schedule of activities.