El Arca de Noe Cali Cristo Rey

The place looked abandoned in person, despite the nice pictures. I went there to reserve a week ahead because the phone number didn't work, and I wanted the massage and dinner package. I paid half, but when I came to check in, they said neither the massage nor dinner was on the reservation. They also couldn't refund me without the paper receipt. Very bad.

We found this restaurant while driving toward Christo Rey around noon on a Saints holiday in Cali, after passing several places that were closed. It's on the top floor of a hotel built on a hill, at parking-lot level, so we could walk in without going through the hotel. There were seven of us, and we got a nice table overlooking the city. It wasn't busy, and they were happy to turn down the music so we could talk. We ordered a mix of dishes: tilapia and trucha, baked chicken with mushroom sauce, and chicken cordon blue. Each came with salad and either fried or mashed potatoes. The food was tasty, filling, and very good. The kitchen sent it out in batches: the three chicken and mushroom dishes first, trucha eight or nine minutes later, chicken cordon blue five minutes after that, and tilapia another seven or eight minutes later. The people whose meals arrived first started eating once it was clear the others were delayed, so everyone got hot food. It wasn't a big problem, and we enjoyed the meal while talking and laughing. The view deserves another mention: it's spectacular, with much of Cali spread out below, from the football stadium south to Jamundí and east toward the distant farmland.

I didn't stay in a room, just stopped by to see the place after hearing good things and being nearby. I had a delicious drink and looked around the restaurant, where they were setting up for a birthday party. It looked amazing. There's a spectacular view, a pool, music, and people enjoying the weather and having a good time by the pool. I wasn't ready for all that, but I wished I had been. It looked like they could offer a wonderful experience. Check it out and let me know!

The food and cocktails were great, and the views over the city are amazing. Our stay was let down by very slow check-in and check-out, and there was no system for checking reservations. The final room bill was wrong, which took a long time to sort out and affected the whole experience. We were in rooms down the hill near a noisy public road, and there was a strong sewage smell by the room entrance.