OZ Hotel Luxury

We found a great rate for the week and were really glad we chose this hotel for our first visit to Cartagena, Colombia. Our room was comfortable and clean, and everyone on staff was friendly, professional, and quick to help. Breakfast was included and tasty. In Bocagrande, the location suited us well. Restaurants, the public beach, souvenir shops, and a 24-hour supermarket were all within walking distance. It was easy to get by Uber or taxi to the main tourist sights too. Highly recommend.

The beach is nearby, with a good choice of cafes and restaurants around the hotel. The breakfast was fine, though there was nothing remotely luxurious about it. I was there for a week and the rooftop bar stayed closed the entire time, despite looking great in the photos. Near the entrance, the cafe was usually empty, while the frontline staff spent much of their time looking bored and playing loud music there. The room was barely bigger than a Japanese capsule hotel. The bed took up most of it, and there was no way to open a suitcase without putting it on the bed. I managed to tuck one case away, but couples should expect at least one suitcase to sit beside the bed and be in the way. I’m not sure where the room photos were taken, but there was nothing “luxury” about my stay.

The room was small, as other reviewers have said, but that didn’t bother me. It’s just somewhere to sleep, and it worked well for that. The breakfast was top tier, and everyone was extremely friendly. I’ve traveled quite a bit, but this hotel really stuck with me. Right when we arrived, before I’d even gotten out of the taxi, a worker had our bags and was walking us inside. They upgraded us to a king-size room at no charge, gave us a complimentary drink before check-in was finished, then walked us to the room and made sure everything was set. Amazing service, 10/10.

Our shower flooded, and clumps of hair and other disgusting debris came up through the drain. At one point they even tried to send my sister and me to another hotel, away from our parents, in a foreign country we’d never visited. We were up until 3 a.m. trying to sort things out, and had to cancel an excursion booked for 5 a.m. the next morning. We had booked and paid for specific rooms in advance, but were told on arrival that they weren’t available. Instead, we got a tiny room where our luggage wouldn’t fit. When we complained, staff said we could “just leave and go to another hotel.” The second night and for several days after, we had no air conditioning because they put us in a room they admitted they never rent out. They said the hotel had been triple booked. For the next three days, each new guest was told they’d been “upgraded” to a room with two beds and a balcony, when they were actually being sent to a different hotel because this one had no space. This place is dishonest and unhygienic, with no respect for guests’ time or money. If you care about your vacation, comfort, and sanity, stay far away. I’d give zero stars if I could.