Hotel MadreSierra Parque Tayrona

The natural setting is stunning, and the spacious rooms have very large, comfortable beds. There's a pool, direct river access, and nature all around. If all you want is a couple of days away from everything, you might enjoy the scenery. But poor management, safety concerns, and weak value for money took away from our stay. Getting there involves a 20-minute 4x4 ride from Calabazo on a dirt road. Each trip costs 80,000 COP, or 160,000 COP round trip, and booking sites don't make this clear. There's a 'courtesy' ride out at 3 pm, but they wouldn't adjust it even though I was the only guest leaving. Instead, they encouraged me to pay for a private transfer run by the same person who handles the courtesy service. Some staff were friendly, especially the young man with the luggage and one waitress. But reception gave me misleading transport advice. They told me to leave four hours before my flight, even though the whole trip takes about an hour. Leaving at their suggested time meant missing the free ride, and I ended up paying an excessive price for the hotel-to-airport transfer. It's the feeling of being taken advantage of that bothered me, more than the cost itself. The food didn't live up to the prices of the meals or the room. Dinner was decent, but we waited an hour and a half with only two tables occupied. The starter arrived after the main course, and they wouldn't open a bottle of wine to serve by the glass. Breakfast was especially poor: day-old waffles, three small fruit slices, and scrambled eggs. The property also felt dated and badly maintained. The shower head leaked heavily, and some wooden boards on the walkways were broken. The worst part was the unstable wooden bridge over the river. It had loose planks and steps without anti-slip strips, and my partner slipped there, suffering a sprain and a contusion. It could have been much worse. You can only get to activities by booking tours through the hotel, at very high prices. For example, they charged 400,000 COP per person for a five-hour round-trip hike to Bunkuany, which isn't far from the property. I did enjoy being surrounded by nature, and the location is beautiful. Still, the lack of transparency, questionable management, poor value, and safety problems make it hard to recommend. If your expectations are very low and you simply want two isolated days, perhaps. There are more accessible and fairly priced options where guests are treated with more respect.