Lucy_lu0123
February 27, 2024
We found the Ananda Hotel a nice base for our two night stay and exploration of Cartagena. It’s well located smack dab in the middle of the old, walled city. The bed was comfortable and the room clean. While not the best we had in Colombia, the breakfast was perfectly satisfactory and you could order eggs in addition to the buffet. We ate a small, tasty meal at the restaurant on our first night. The room has a comfy bed, room safe, good HD flatscreen. The bathroom area is spacious with a single large sink and a lot of counter space. Shower has both a rain shower and a handheld option. The vibe was nice with lots of wood. A/C worked very well. Housekeeping did a fine job of making up the room. Nice small pool area for relaxing outside. Nevertheless, we encountered some issues that might or might not matter to some. The shower didn’t get above warm tepid but honestly who needs hot in Cartagena’s heat and strong sun? There was a step up to the bathroom area that you need to remember if you get up at night. More strangely, a shaft adjoining the shower allows you to hear all conversations in the bathroom area in other rooms loud and clear. You can also clearly hear the music playing in the hotel central courtyard until around 9 or 9:30. While the welcome on arrival was very nice, departure was less friendly. Most disturbingly, despite having prepaid all for a complete tour with our travel agent, they tried to tack on a “seguridad hotelero”. After I asked, I was told this was to cover the room safe (!) and security but the charge was removed when challenged. This almost got me to downgrade the hotel to 3*. I hate when hotels add these bogus charges. I still wonder if one other charge was inflated or random but called it a day after getting the security charge removed. When calling for help with our luggage on departure, we discovered the internal phone battery was dead (i.e., would not charge) but a nice housekeeper called down for us. In short, we liked the place despite some hiccups. A solid and very well-located option for your visit to Cartagena.