Casa India Catalina

The hotel is right in the middle of the walled city, which is an amazingly good location. The rooms are cozy, and breakfast was really nice. The cleaning service left a lot to be desired. I didn’t use the pool because it’s very small, and it always looked dirty when I saw it. The nightlife around the hotel gets loud. Sounds from all the partying nearby can wake you up at night.

The room was in an unacceptable state, and I had to leave early on July 18, despite having booked from July 17 to July 21, 2025. I’m requesting a full refund or appropriate compensation for the serious inconvenience and extra costs of finding another hotel. When I arrived, the room wasn’t ready by the agreed 3:00 p.m. check-in time. Once I could get in, I found it extremely dirty. There was fecal matter and soiled toilet paper in the bathroom, the bed was badly made, and the hygiene was shocking. There was no air conditioning, the temperature was unbearable, and the power went out. Worst of all, the room had roaches and mice. I was traveling with my child, who has special needs and requires air conditioning to sleep. The outage and lack of temperature control posed a serious health and safety risk to my family. This experience was completely unacceptable and didn’t match what the website advertised. I sincerely hope urgent action is taken so this doesn’t happen to future guests.

You can walk to just about everything from here, including convenience stores, pharmacies, restaurants, and attractions. The location is awesome, and an Uber taxi from the airport was only $6. The staff were all super friendly, the breakfast was delicious, and the price is excellent for what you get. I’d stay again. A couple of things to know: there’s no guest elevator, only one for luggage. Bring earplugs too. Even from our interior room we could hear taxis beeping at night, so I imagine the balcony rooms may be louder.

Donovan deserves special credit. He was thoughtful, knew the city well, gave us great suggestions, and even checked in the next day to see how they went. You can tell he cares about his work, and I hope he gets recognized for it. The front desk staff were helpful and happy to organize tours. The hotel is in a fantastic spot in the historic center, making it easy to explore on foot. The colonial architecture, wooden ceilings, and cozy feel give you a sense of old Cartagena. It looks even better in person than in the online pictures. Our room, 203, was spacious, with a cute balcony over the street. Street-facing rooms can get noisy at night from car horns, though the double windows block most of it. We were lucky to have a second-floor room, since there are four floors and no elevator. We enjoyed the super soft, almost satin-like sheets, but the bed was two mattresses pushed together and the gap was noticeable. A topper would help. Renovations were underway during our stay, and we hadn’t been told in advance. The pool was closed and the construction noise was a letdown. A free bottle of water in the room on arrival would be a nice touch in Cartagena’s heat. Breakfast was okay, not great. The menu is small and the choices are limited. With no music, the kitchen machines were all we could hear. The toaster was broken, and nobody mentioned it, so I ate plain bread throughout our stay.