Anima 64 By Ahead

We left halfway through our stay because the place was uninhabitable: dirty, noisy, and uncomfortable. There’s no reception desk, and we saw other guests stuck outside on the street, unable to check in. The advertised common areas were disappointing too: a terrace with tables beside large rubbish bins, and a tiny “coworking” room with just a couple of cheap tables and chairs. They advertise a washing machine, but it costs extra to use, and you have to buy your own detergent. Hot water only worked in the shower, not the bathroom sink or kitchen. Water, hot and cold, also got shut off at random. The owners warned about some city-mandated cuts, which apparently don't happen in better hotels, but there were other unannounced outages too. The walls are paper-thin, so you hear everything on the stairs and in neighbouring rooms. The window looked out onto a wall topped with broken glass. The kitchen was dirty, with a sticky substance on the surfaces. The sheets were the cheapest kind and made electric sparks when they touched. I wouldn't have believed that was possible if I hadn't seen it myself. Stay away.

Watch out for the extra charges. They draw you in with a competitive price, then add cleaning fees and taxes. This is the only accommodation in Colombia that has charged me IVA, and when I complained, they didn't care. When we asked to extend our stay, they offered a different room but wanted to charge cleaning and taxes all over again. All the rooms seemed to be the same standard, so they could have put new guests in another one. They were stubborn about it and lost us as customers for more nights and future bookings.

We booked for two weeks but had to leave halfway through because the living conditions were unbearable. I suspect the glowing Google reviews about friendly staff and cleanliness are fake. There is no staff on site: check-in is automated, and employees are only reachable by messenger. One night we saw a distressed guest with luggage outside, trying to contact reception using the number provided and getting nowhere. The apartment was filthy. Every kitchen surface was sticky and dirty, so I couldn't use the kitchen items or even the microwave. The bathroom was just as bad, with cupboard shelves falling apart, something I haven't seen even in the cheapest rental apartments. The bed linen was made of cheap synthetic material and sparked at night. Anima64 gave me another first: waking up to see the sheet sparkling from friction. The walls and doors are so thin you can hear every outside noise. From the yard, you look at dilapidated walls topped with broken glass. The so-called terrace is a tiny area with cheap plastic chairs next to huge bins. The washing machine isn't in the apartment; it's in a shared space, costs money to use, and you need to bring your own detergent. Water cuts happen suddenly, beyond the ones the city administration warns about. The last straw was coming back from a weekend away at 10:30 p.m. to find no hot or cold water, with no message about it.

The space and location are great, and the shower has wonderful heat and pressure. Ahead’s service was a letdown, though. They said we could leave our bags early and check in between 3 and 10 p.m., but nobody was actually available to take or return the bags, and reaching them was difficult. Staff arrived 30 minutes after the time they said I could drop mine off. When I tried to get them back, replies came every 30 minutes to an hour, and I waited more than an hour and a half. They also gave little help when my husband asked for suggestions because I was going to travel on my own.