Name: Golden Frog Hostels
Address: Paraiso Escondido, Isla Grande, Islas del Rosario, Isla Grande, Bolívar, Colombia, Bolivar, Bolivar, Bolivar, 130019, Colombia
Rating: 8

24-hour reception

Smoke-free property

Garden

Adults Only

General

Non-smoking rooms

Locker

Linens

Rooms

Luggage storage

Services and amenities

Common kitchen

Meals

Spanish

English

Languages Spoken

Fishing

Sun Deck

Recreation

No parking

Parking

Water park

Swimming pool

Outdoor pool

Private beach

Next to the beach

Pool and beach

Diving

Cycling

Snorkelling

Sports

Pets allowed

Pets

Location

At the hotel

Isla Grande Beach

Rafael Nunez International Airport

Golden Frog Hostels

Bolivar

child-bed

child-bed-fee

external-private-bathroom

private-bathroom

shared-bathroom

10-beds

11-beds

12-beds

13-beds

14-beds

15-beds

16-beds

17-beds

18-beds

19-beds

2-beds

20-beds

21-beds

22-beds

23-beds

24-beds

25-beds

26-beds

27-beds

28-beds

29-beds

3-beds

30-beds

31-beds

32-beds

33-beds

34-beds

35-beds

36-beds

37-beds

38-beds

39-beds

4-beds

40-beds

5-beds

6-beds

7-beds

8-beds

9-beds

king-bed

queen-bed

limited-time

lounge

treatment

no-window

bay-view

bosphorus-view

canal-view

city-view

courtyard-view

garden-view

golf-view

harbour-view

inland-view

lake-view

land-view

mountain-view

ocean-front

ocean-view

oceanside

panoramic-view

park-view

partial-ocean-view

partial-sea-view

partial-view

pool-view

river-view

sea-front

sea-view

street-view

sunrise-view

sunset-view

water-view

with-view

annex

basement

main-building

1-bedroom

2-bedrooms

3-bedrooms

4-bedrooms

5-bedrooms

6-bedrooms

not-guaranteed

wired-internet-access

smoking

sauna

duplex

safe

mini-bar

breakfast-for-1

breakfast-for-2

pets-allowed

wi-fi

kitchen

This boat tour was great! The host was super friendly and knowledgeable about the area and had lots of interesting facts along the way. We went for sunset and it was a beautiful experience. We stopped to swim, tasted water chestnuts and they even provided a little homemade snack and juice - a lovely touch. Couldn't recommend this tour enough, it was brilliant!

Wonderful

We spent a couple of nights here in late December before heading to Cartagena for NYE. The hostel is actually a group of hostels within a complex of 6 separate houses long since abandoned but still retaining their colonial beauty, each one of the hostels is managed by different people and our manager was Martine who couldn't have been more welcoming and informative, he knew the best tours to take and the best spots to eat. We wanted to do the enchanted lagoon tour at night to see the glowing plankton but he suggested that it would be a waste of money because of the full moon which prevents the plankton being visible.....very sincere and honest! 

The hostel itself shouldn't be thought of as a fashionable island getaway, its rustic and basic, but that's what adds to its charm, there's no glass in the windows and you can here the birds and other wildlife getting on with their lives just outside your room, being able to open the shutters on to the palm trees and letting the breeze drift in is idyllic......

Walking around the island around the island is the only option, there are no roads or streetlights so take a head torch if you want to venture out in the evening. The locals are incredibly friendly and you should take time to visit the small town of Okira where you get a feel of indigenous life.

The food at the restaurant was mediocre but this run as a separate entity from the hostels, head to La Pola restaurant for food of a higher quality at the same price.

Overall if you want a very chilled time in a cosy rustic setting you can do much worse than going to the Golden Frog.

Mucho gusto 

Away from the hustle and bustle 

The hostel in itself is very pretty, the room is clean and comfortable. The staff is also very kind and pleasant.
I can't say the same for the bar and restaurant, there is little air circulation making it very hot to stay in the hostel and the bar is constantly playing very loud music which makes it hard to relax. There is a little beach in the mangroves next to the hostel however it's not great for swimming. The next closest beach is about a half hour away which makes it inconvenient if you want to go for an early morning swim.

Loud music

First of all, warning, this place is not for everyone. If you are looking for a place like a hotel, with full service and a big beach with a service there, golden frog is not for you. The hostel is hidden between the sea and a lagoon, in the middle of the mangrove, in a community of hostel. The place is beautiful and it used to be the houses of the narcos !! Quite funny to sleep inside their houses .. There is a bar and a piscine and the place is great for backpacker. The personal is super friendly and the atmosphere is calm and slow. It is a good place to rest, with some music and cocktails. Here people listen to the music all the time. The food is ok, but if you want to experience the true carabian food, go to la Paola, it is a 5 min walk and the beach is beautiful there ! Enjoy, rest, connect, forget the past and the future, just live ! 

Hippie village

The hostel itself was really beautiful. The building had lots of lovely architectural features and was very open and airy. We had a great double room with a lovely balcony that overlooked the rest of the hostel.

When your buying your boat tickets to get to the island, make sure to specify the golden frog hostel. The boat we took took us to the other side of the island, and we had to trek about 20 minutes to get to the hostel - and we had to pay a local to take us there!

Isla Grande was so beautiful, white sand beaches and aqua blue sea. But just be warned, the island is very primitive and remote. There are 2 tiny "shops" which sell packaged food and water/soft drinks, and are expensive. Make sure you bring plenty of water and snacks from Cartagena!

When we arrived at the hostel we were greeted by a lovely man named Alejandro. He was so kind and actually let us pick our own room. However I can't really say the same about the rest of the staff at the hostel. I found them to be quite cliquey and almost rude at times. They just seemed to sit around the bar all day not doing a great deal. Another thing to mention is that the food at the hostel is pretty bad and really expensive. If you can, go and have lunch and dinner at la Pola restaurant on the beach, the food is amazing and the same price. Also make sure you take lots of cash as you can't pay for anything but the hostel food with card. All activities need to be paid for in cash.

When it's time to leave the island, you need to go and put your name down for the boat that leaves as 2pm every afternoon. There are only a certain amount of people that can get in the boat so make sure you get your name on the list. When the boat came it looked so tiny to fit everyone in! One thing to note was that there were lots of hostel guests waiting to get on the boat, one of that staff members pushed to the front and got a good seat in the middle of the boat which I thought was pretty rude to be honest. I was right at the front and got very wet!!

I would recommend this hostel purely to see the island, but just remember to take plenty of cash, and food/water from Cartagena.

Golden Frog Hostels

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