Sofitel Baru Cartagena

We received great attention since before our stay and were extremely happy from the moment we arrived until the moment we left. Sara and Lila from guest service, Camilo from bell service, Alondra from banquets, Andrés from Calablanca restaurant, Estefani from kids club, and many others, thank you for your attention during our stay. All food and beverage outlets including room service were great, breakfast buffet was tasty and varied, Humo was exceptionally good with great surprises. Ask for the dinner at the beach for a great couples' touch, if your budget allows it then definitely go for it. The facilities are well maintained in general and the beach was beautiful. There were a couple of small details which I communicated to the hotel, but they didn't affect our stay in any way. Overall 10/10 and would happily go back if the opportunity presents itself.

Lovely beach hotel. Comfortable clean rooms wonderful choice at breakfast attentive staff. Andres Ramos on the concierge desk in particular helped make our stay very pleasant.

very nice resort at the carabean coast of columbia, a resort away for the hazzle of Cartagena ideal for a relaxing moment at the end of an exicting trip. rooms are spacious with mostly seafront view, very friendly and helpfull staff what can be improved: we made an online check in and ended up in a queue like all other guest who have not done so. Secound queue when handing over the keys as they were not ready for getting to the room at 15.00 h one negative aspect: we left our chairs at the beach for a lunch break, leaving some personal items behind to signal we might come back. when we come back our chairs were given away to other persons as there were a lack of chairs. Which is fair, we do not complain about this. But it was not OK to take away our personal things. my shorts were gone for good. A complain to the guest relation manager ended up in an endles email conversation where in the end i was granted EUR 100 for the loss of my shorts. I would rather have had a chat in person with the manager for a quick and non burocratic solotion.

The Sofitel Baru is a decent hotel. Its very similar to what you can find across the Mediterranean e.g. Mallorca, Crete. The complex only makes sense if the beach is priority for you or you're not in a capacity to enjoy Cartagena bc it's one or the other given the distance. This one is very secluded. I did both sequentially and will share my point of view with the lens of a traveler that came from Europe (i.e. overseas). Pros: - Nice and modern complex. It looks recent and fresh - Nice amenities e.g. Nice gym, pool areas - Nice beach. The water is warm, with great turquoise colour - Decent size and modern rooms, favour the ocean facing ones - Good food if you're careful where to go and close an eye on the highway robbery prices Cons: - Breakfast buffet: there is variety and choice but its just not satisfactory. The room is crowded, noisy, the staff is lost (i'll go back to service) - Restaurants: avoid Cala Blanca (the breakfast restaurant) its just poor. The Peruvian/Asian restaurant is ok but the prices are exaggerated. The best value is the "Bahia" both for food and atmosphere - Service: Like i said, though its a 5 star Sofitel, the service is no better than what you get in the Mediterranean mega hotels. It may just be hospitality standards. Few examples: at restaurants: service is chaotic, nonchalant, English proficiency insufficient (it is an international/French hotel) - at the beach: service can just be absent e.g. towels or water - Vendors on the beach: trinket / massage / water sports vendors on the beach are relentless. They're not aggressive unlike for ex. in the city but they do break your peace and its a real shame the hotel does not do anything against it - Airport transfers: the hotel is in the middle of nowhere so they take advantage. You could opt for a boat transfer which is the fastest and cost an arm. However, during my stay, the sea was not always calm and saw a boat returning to shore. I would not trust the guys driving the boat to take good care of my family. Alternatively, i would recommend booking a Van, also not cheap, but comfy and no surprise. It takes 1h30 to the airport. From the city, you may (?) be able to catch an uber but you can forget about it from Baru. Also the last bit is on a dirt road and you go through some rough areas where you wouldn't want to stop, for all these reasons it does make sense to book with the hotel -Wifi is sketchy and not always reliable All in all, its a decent hotel. Not sure I would recommend it to overseas travelers unless the beach is a priority or you want to get away from the city with young kids. My suggestion would rather be to stay in the city where you have a lot more restaurant/bar options, the sister hotel is for example a very good option, and spend the day at one of those beach clubs is you really wanted to.

Amazing atmosphere. Very family friendly and couple oriented . Beach is absolutely stunning . Breakfast is vibrant. Staff is friendly . Highly recommend