Casanovas Hotel Boutique

My Friends…mi amigas. If I could give ten stars for service, I would do it here in a heartbeat. The gals at Casanovas Hotel Boutique, although they don’t speak English, took me in like family. For three days we smiled, laughed, and improvised. We made it work. For the remaining two weeks, with a Spanish speaking compadre at my side, we talked. And talked. And talked. All of us. At breakfast. At the check in desk. Day and Night. And we laughed. A lot. Never, never, have I so looked forward to waking up and heading down to breakfast just to see the folks behind the hotel desk. The property is charming. Everything about Casanovas is tasteful, kind of regal. Certainly quaint. The red carpet that greets you upon entering a thick wooden front door, extends directly up a set of creaky stairs to a graceful and simple hallway. Where carpet gives way to space, dark wood floors and traditionally black and white patterned ceramic tile peak out. Large colorful and intriguing, modernistic paintings of people in love, hang tastefully on white stucco walls, and usher you through an arched shaped hall to your room. Here and there a vase or ethnic mask sits quiet and tasteful. At the end of the hall is a small square courtyard, with one tiny table and chair. In kind of an indoor/outdoor space, its ceiling hovers three floors up to the sky. The second floor hallway hangs overhead. Raindrops serenade the rooms on the transparent roof at night. Nine decent sized rooms, each unique, with high ceilings and simple decor, get tidied daily with care. No heat; not needed. Big white quilts muffle the Bogotanian night chill. A downstairs common room, its overstuffed chairs, and travel library lead into a sweet three tiered dining space. The first shielded from the outside by a clean and silent glass door, opens to a second stage where two large wooden tables sit protected from the rain, but are open to the outdoors. And finally an extended patio garden, with thick leafy vines, a lovely tree, and a bench sit under glimpsing sunshine. Quite possibly rain. Maybe a chill. Or the patches of blue that is Bogota. A perfectly pleasant place for heavos perrico, fruit, and cafe every morning (free with a room), served so graciously by Miriam. The neighborhood is pleasant; lovely homes intermixed with cafes and tiny stores. The road out front can get a bit noisy in the AM, but its worth the breeze through a creaky open bedroom window at night. And the location is perfecto, four blocks from Carrera Septima at 36th and 17th Transverse. It’s an easy twenty minute walk down Seventh to Museum Nationale and the start of Bogota’s pedestrian walkway, and another half hour to the overcrowded and overrated, backpacker stuffed center, that is La Candaleria. If you want to taxi to La Candaleria, its a few bucks. But if you want to breathe away from all that mess, don't go. You don't need to. ParkWay, Bogota’s pleasant hipster neighborhood, with its quaint cafes and ethnic food, leafy boulevard and families walking their dogs at night, is but a five minute stroll to the West. I’m not sure there’s better barrio to hang in, in all of Bogota. Casanovas is one of my favorite little hotels in all the world. All sorts of good things to talk about - but most of all - its those pleasant gals who greeted me every morning with “Buenos Dias Mr. Bob…Como Estas?” Gracias Leina. Gracias Jessica. Gracias Miriam. Thank you for taking me into your home. Into your life.