Hotel Santa Barbara Boutique

Unicentro mall is about a five-minute walk away, and there's a drugstore, a convenience shop with fresh fruit, a place to eat in or take food away, and a BBC (BOGOTA BEER COMPANY) sports bar right next door. The hotel is in a good area, and the staff were professional, helpful, and courteous. My room was clean and comfortable.

The biggest problem was how badly the front desk handled our rooms. I'd paid for one, but after being told it was still being cleaned, I found out another family had been put in it. The hotel had apparently oversold, and the receptionist made several mistakes that caused embarrassment and a lot of stress. She charged both me and my guests. I was trying to arrange a surprise, and my guests felt too awkward to refuse paying. They were split between rooms, then told the next day to move again without warning, into a room unlike the one I'd booked. It felt like management inconvenienced them to suit its own pockets and didn't care how we felt. We left for another hotel for the other ten days of our trip back in Bogotá, even though moving from overseas was far from ideal. A three-day party went on between the two rooms we'd booked, and sleep wasn't an option. The front desk was open 24 hours, but either couldn't or wouldn't get the party stopped or call the authorities, which was awful for weary long-haul travelers. The newly refurbished hotel does have very comfortable beds, is very clean, and has friendly kitchen staff. Breakfast is a small buffet, with delicious eggs made how you like them. Rooms 206, 207, and 208 are spacious doubles, but they face inward, have no windows and only a small light well. There's air conditioning but no fresh air, so the rooms got stale quickly, especially with the open glass-walled bathroom and no extractor fan. The toilet is right in view when you enter. Would I recommend it? Only for a couple or someone traveling alone, and only if you can get a high room on the third or fourth floor. Even that isn't guaranteed.

The safe wouldn't work, and a broken window latch meant the windows couldn't be locked. Someone could have climbed in from the terrace or roof. The staff couldn't fix these problems during my stay. The hotel itself is pretty nice and modern, though, and the staff are friendly and speak English.

We booked four days but left the next morning because of all the problems. We got some money back, but they charged us a fee equal to one night's stay. When the noise from the OXXO right outside went on all night, with people drinking, screaming, and fighting, the front desk did nothing at first. After several complaints and calls, the guy finally moved us at about 3:45 a.m. The new room was decent, but had mold almost everywhere. On arrival, the front desk guy had no clue about anything and said there was no manager, supervisor, or anyone we could complain to. He said we had to pay IVA taxes. We explained we weren't Colombian residents and showed him our American passports, but he didn't care. The first room's sheets were all stained and nasty, and the second room was the same. We finally got a better one, then had that noisy night. This hotel may have been great when it first opened, but I can't describe how bad everything is now. Avoid it, or find out for yourselves.