Palmetto

We liked this place for the spacious rooms, the nice pool and the private balconies with killer ocean views. The hotel is right across the street from the beach, so the location is awesome. They have security and front desk staff 24 hours a day, and they were good about guarding our luggage until we could check into our room later in the day. However, the apartments in the hotel are managed by other companies that you have to deal with for any issues. We were a little annoyed by late arrival of the management person for check in, but they were at least somewhat reachable on WhatsApp. We spoke enough Spanish to communicate with them, but you might be in trouble if you are expecting them to use English. Our apartment was sadly lacking as far as maintenance goes. For example, the hot water wasn't working, so it was cold showers the whole time and the in-room safe was broken. I suspect the state of your apartment depends on the company managing it and how much they feel like fixing. Our place did have a kitchen, but the dishes, utensils and cookware were a hodge-podge that looked like it came from a trip to a thrift store. We had to buy plastic forks, because they only provided 3 forks for our family of 5. Otherwise, nothing is provided, not even soap and toilet paper, so be prepared to do some shopping. The hotel does have a mini market with predictably high prices, but other options are only a few blocks from the hotel, including a Carrula Express and some bigger grocery stores a few blocks further. In spite of the obvious issues with the place, we felt like we got a good deal. We reserved on hotels.com and, even with the $COP 50,000 at check in and the $40,000 cleaning fee at check out, it still ended up being only $US 85 /night for a 2-bedroom suite, which is much cheaper than most places in the Bocagrande hotel zone. Anytime we were tempted to complain, we just stepped onto our balcony and basked in our awesome ocean view. If you're looking for true luxury, this isn't the place for you, but if you're a family with kids like ours, this place is a good deal for the money.