I am a young, successful business owner from the United States and one of my passions in life is traveling internationally. Whenever I travel, I enjoy staying in new hotels.
I have stayed in the IBIS Medellin hotel and thoroughly enjoyed myself and the awesome staff there. The IBIS Barranquilla hotel opened in February 2018, presumably to accommodate the MANY tourists who travelled to Barranquilla for Carnaval 2018.
PROS of IBIS Barranquilla:
--LOCATION: The hotel is located in a very popular area surrounded by other popular hotels. Also, it is within a 5 minute walk to one of the largest malls in Barranquilla so you can easily go shopping as well as eat in a variety of very good restaurants.
--STAFF: This hotel has some of the most awesome and friendly staff! JHON PARRA is one of the best front desk clerks as part of the IBIS team. He is a true asset to his boss and to the entire hotel team! Jhon went above and beyond to ensure my stay was satisfactory--he can multi-task brilliantly by seeking answers to guests' questions, returning their calls, and resolve conflicts effortlessly. The best part of having Jhon assist me is his English-speaking ability so can interact with guests from all over the world without hesitation! THANK YOU FOR EVERYTHING, JHON!
--SECURITY: The hotel is designed where you will meet the security staff prior to accessing the lobby. The hotel entrance with security, who look unfriendly but are friendly, is located on level P1. You'll take the elevators to the lobby located on level L. The lobby, restaurant, and bar are located on level L. Guest rooms are only accessible via keycard in the elevators. No one can access a guest room without a keycard scanned in the elevators.
--WIFI: WiFi is very fast and strong in the room and lobby!
--BAR: I ordered two very good mojitos at the bar! My bartender/waitress Karina was THE BEST--ask for her!
--ROOM: THE SHOWERS HAVE HOT WATER and the toilet flush normally with toilet paper.
--PRICE: The hotel is priced reasonably.
CONS:
--SMALL ROOMS: Unfortunately, I am accustomed to large hotel rooms in the U.S. and other parts of the world. IBIS hotels have the smallest hotel rooms I have visited worldwide but their pros outweigh their cons and for a solo traveler, it is OK. They are all created the same standard size--no suite upgrades here!
--KINKS TO WORK OUT: Since it is a new hotel, there were some issues they were working on such as...one of the elevators only able to take guests up but not down...
--ADDITIONAL DETAILS TO BE MINDFUL OF: --(1) minimum 2 bath towels AND 2 hand towels should be provided in the bathroom (hand towels were not available in my room)...(2) no mini bar/fridge to store cold drinks (Barranquilla is very hot) but I understand because the room isn't large enough to accommodate...(3) the bed was slightly hard (probably because it is new and haven't been broken into yet) but I slept fine regardless...
OVERALL:
If you are a solo traveler who like modern decor with minimalistic room space and value amazing staff who truly care about your stay, this is a great choice in Barranquilla. I highly recommend! :-)
