Sonesta Hotel Cartagena

“Great Stay with Excellent Service!”

We stayed at the Sonesta Hotel in Cartagena on May 27th and had a wonderful experience. The hotel is nice and well-maintained, offering a comfortable and relaxing atmosphere. What stood out the most during our stay was the exceptional service at the restaurant during lunch. Carlos and Alberto were … more

We stayed at the Sonesta Hotel in Cartagena on May 27th and had a wonderful experience. The hotel is nice and well-maintained, offering a comfortable and relaxing atmosphere. What stood out the most during our stay was the exceptional service at the restaurant during lunch. Carlos and Alberto were incredibly attentive and made our dining experience memorable with their professionalism and friendly demeanor. Overall, I highly recommend the Sonesta Hotel for anyone visiting Cartagena!

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“Great customer service.”

The service was good. I spent most of my time outside doing tours but my last night was spent in the restaurant and despite the language barrier my server Julio made sure I was okay and had everything I needed. The place is clean and quiet. Very breezy once outside even with the heat. I look for… more

The service was good. I spent most of my time outside doing tours but my last night was spent in the restaurant and despite the language barrier my server Julio made sure I was okay and had everything I needed. The place is clean and quiet. Very breezy once outside even with the heat. I look forward to visiting again.

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“Amazing staff, property, not so much.”

I would give the staff a perfect 5. They are very helpful, nice and hardworking. The security is great, the front desk always has a smile in any weather and the bartenders are very nice. Shirleidis and her breakfast crew are always courteous and helpful. The reason for the low rating is the overa… more

I would give the staff a perfect 5. They are very helpful, nice and hardworking. The security is great, the front desk always has a smile in any weather and the bartenders are very nice. Shirleidis and her breakfast crew are always courteous and helpful. The reason for the low rating is the overall infrastructure. Maintenance is working very hard every day to renovate the grounds, but that was not advertised before booking. There is no private beach staffed by the hotel. Which was not advertised. It is clear that the staff is working as hard as they can while keeping a great attitude. The buildings are undergoing construction, the fountains are not functioning, and there is algae growing on the rocks in the fountains. Multiple towers need painting and there is furniture missing on the balconies of the rooms that have not been renovated. Not many areas look like the photos that are advertised. Again, the staff is doing everything that they can but it is apparent that this property is old and needs repair. The signs and font reminds me of a Holiday Inn Express.

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“Disappointing old hotel with a new logo slapped on”

Positive: The staff is very nice and friendly. They help you as much as they can. There’s a 24/7 convenient store attached and drivers waiting to take you wherever if you don’t want to use Uber. Con: Very disappointed in this Sonesta, I have never seen a Sonesta this bad before. The buildings and… more

Positive: The staff is very nice and friendly. They help you as much as they can. There’s a 24/7 convenient store attached and drivers waiting to take you wherever if you don’t want to use Uber. Con: Very disappointed in this Sonesta, I have never seen a Sonesta this bad before. The buildings and grounds need a lot of work. When I first arrived I thought I was coming to a condemned building because of how bad it looks out the outside. You can tell the company bought an old Holiday Inn and just their logo on it. The paint is peeling, there’s outside repairs going on, the water fountain areas have old stagnant moldy water except for the ones at the check in counters and those could use work. There’s a lot of mis-matched furniture on the balconies as if they took what they could get. Some have just chairs, some table and chairs and maybe a picnic table. The sliding doors to the balcony doesn’t work well and gets stuck. Only one door works, they sealed the lock on the other doors and the handles are off, making it a hassle to even enjoy the balcony. The view to the side looks dirty and swampy. The beach access is very disappointing as it was the main reason we picked this place on top of the well known name of Sonesta. It’s not operated by the hotel and the people on the beach hassle you so much that you can’t even enjoy the beach. They charge service high fees that they don’t tell you about and don’t tell you they want cash only so there’s no record of their high transactions. It’s so bad that you don’t even want to go to the beach, so all you have is the decrepit grounds of the hotel I described. Check in was terrible. I arrived and I understand early check in depends on availability, but I had to wait 6.5 hours in the heat because they don’t have any indoor lobby waiting areas and the room aren’t all taken. The place seems understaffed and may not be able to keep up with the demand that they have because I checked on my room 15 minutes prior to the check in time and my room still wasn’t ready. There was a flood of people trying to check in and we didn’t get in our room until about 45 minutes after check in time. And you can tell the staff had just finished with our room moments before we came in. I don’t blame them I blame the company Overall: If it wasn’t for the nice staff here I wouldn’t haven’t given as high of a rating as I did. They are the only reason why this place is getting such a high rate. I don’t think I should’ve paid as much as I did for all the work that needs to be done to this place. You can still see remnants of the Holiday Inn, I’ve stayed at many for work, so I know what they look like. It seems as the company is just being greedy with making money and doesn’t care about their quality that they as advertised. It also appears as if they just bought the place and rushed to open up. I should’ve taken my money elsewhere. I don’t recommend coming to this place until they’re done with repairs.

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