Hotel Portal de San Diego by HMC

This hotel is cozy , breakfast its ok however across the street they sell arepas and plantains delicious. This is about Location Location you could not ask for more....... Its more for couples than kids there is no pool...

The hotel is right in the center of Cartagena & everything is within walking distance. Very touristic area and overall felt very safe walking at any time during the day. The hotel itself has no elevator so just thought I'd mention, since I know my guy was relieved when I had decided not to bring extra luggage that he would have had to bring to our room on the third floor, passing one large staircase and two smaller ones. The rooms were very clean & had all the amenities. The wifi worked perfectly fine & the staff was so friendly and helpful. Ingrid was very helpful in booking the room & even arranged for us to check in earlier then expected since our flight came in earlier than usual. Dayan helped set up airport transportation which for us was a must since it was our first time alone in the city & were unfamiliar. The transportation is set up by the hotel when you send them your flight itinerary & the gentleman was already waiting for us on our way out from the airport. You have the option of paying that same day of pick up or on the day of your check out. It's a separate fee from your room at about 40,000 COP (~$12 USD). The breakfast comes complimentary too with fresh fruit bowl and fruit juices with your choice of eggs or a sandwich etc. I would highly recommend staying at this hotel. It's perfectly set up for a weekend getaway or longer if need be. I hope we have the opportunity to visit Cartagena again & we will be booking our stay here.

The hotel it self is beautiful in side and out . The location is ideal for downtown travels and restaurants. The staff is friendly and very polite. The not so good now the construction across the street goes on most of the night and gets very loud . The air in our first room didnt cool at all they moved us and then it was just a little better . The staff on our way out had a huge issue with paying the bill seeing they had no Internet and we had to leave to catch our flight . We almost missed it and this was not our issue it's there problem and they didn't understand this and were very rude ! If you stay here bring Pesos and ear plugs !

This place was very nice & clean and great location. You can walk all through the walled city from here. Staff was very nice too! It had air conditioning! Don't get a room facing the street or you will not sleep though!

Spent two nights at this property located roughly in the center of Cartegena's historic district. This is the area you want to be in if you are visiting this fascinating city. My brother-in-law and I each had our own very clean rooms. The hotel is located up a two story climb on a long flight of stairs from its security door on the street. The hotel receptionist will buzz you in and out of the building as well as assist in taking your luggage on the stairs. The hotel is small, with a small center courtyard open to the sky where breakfast is served. This was right outside our rooms but the hotel wasn't busy so noise was not a factor. Our interior rooms (no windows) were small and there is nowhere to put your suitcase to unpack (much less any sort of dresser to store your clothes). Rooms are air conditioned (a must for Cartagena) but my A/C was temperamental and I had to fiddle with the remote control to get it to work and once I did it was great. There is a small closet and a mini-refrigerator with bottled water for sale. Bathroom was small with no counter or shelving. Shower water pressure was good but hot water was not consistent. Shampoo and soap provided. King bed was comfortable. Hotel provided free WiFi with acceptable speed and no dropped service during our stay. Breakfast was off a simple menu: Fruit, eggs or cereal, toast and coffee or hot chocolate. We paid around US$70 per room per night including tax and breakfast. But it really is all about the location. This hotel, and other nearby properties, put you right in the midst of the historic district. There are countless shops, cafes and restaurants nearby, not to mention a wealth of interesting bars. The Museo de Cacao (Chocolate Museum) is on the same block as the hotel as is the notable KGB Bar. Plaza Fernandez de Madrid is a block away; this is where we met our guide to take a historic walking tour. The Inquisition Museum is within walking distance as is the Plaza de las Bovedas shopping arcade. The best way to get around is walking. While there are certainly sections of Cartagena best avoided by tourists, the historic district is safe to visit and full of tourists. There are horse-drawn carriages available for hire if you should tire of walking. There are public beaches on the Caribbean Sea in Cartagena but frankly they are not very good. The best beaches we were told are found on small islands 30 minutes away by boat. We didn't have time to check these out on this trip but if you are interested in spending a day at the beach you'll want to check into this. There are ATMs near the hotel as well as foreign exchange booths.There is a large Exito supermarket one block from the hotel - exit front door, turn right, go to corner, turn left and walk one long block. There are a lot of street vendors selling hats, t-shirts, sunglasses, water, sodas, fruit, etc. most of whom will take a firm "No gracias" and leave you alone if you aren't interested in whatever they are selling. There are groups of young men who perform Spanish rap on the fly with their portable beat box - they'll come up to your outdoor cafe table or follow you around rapping and expecting a "propina" (tip). If you aren't interested just do your best to ignore them and they'll eventually move on to another tourist. We took a taxi from the Cartagena airport to the hotel. They have a good system at the airport: Follow the signs and arrows to the taxi booth (turn left after exiting baggage claim). Give the person in the booth the name and address of your hotel. You'll be given a ticket with the proper fare amount printed on it to give to the driver. To return to the airport we had the hotel receptionist call us a radio cab. Fare each way, if I remember right, was around the equivalent of US$6 or so. The airport is about a 15 minute taxi ride away depending on traffic Cartagena turned out to be one of my favorite small cities I have visited around the world and I wouldn't mind coming back again some day. If I should return I would consider this hotel or one of its neighbors in the historic district.

We were informed the day of our arrival that the hotel would not honor our reservation. Instead, Hotel Portal de San Diego put us in a supposedly 'superior' hotel run by a friend of the manager, but we did not get a say in the matter. Rather than a room in the center of the historic district as we intended (and booked), Hotel Portal de San Diego relocated us to a 15-minute walk away from the city, on a busy street. In addition, San Diego's suggested replacement hotel was run by generally rude, inhospitable staff. Please honor your reservations.

This is a nice spot inside Historic Center of Cartagena. Is not a boutique hotel, is more a bed and breakfast, but no fancy or trendy expensive hotel. i fully recommend it. Its clean, includes breakfast. Is hard to find this kind of hotel at this price with POOL. And its only 2 blocks form Santa Clara luxury hotel! best located near to the most beautiful ammenities of Old Cartagena.

This hotel was a lovely boutique hotel in the heart of historic Cartagena. My mother and I went for a long weekend trip in September. Neither of us speak much Spanish so we were relieved that at check in at least one of the receptionists was able to speak English. In addition all of the other staff members are incredibly gracious and worked very hard to help is even though we could barely communicate. This hotel is inexpensive but very well kept with a nice breakfast served each morning. The air conditioning worked great and was a great relief to come back and take a break from the heat through out the day. At night, the rooms were very quiet (although we were in an interior room) and had black out curtains which made it great for sleeping.

We booked this hotel because of its location and price. Location was excellent! Inside the walled city and very close to the pier from where departures all boats to the beaches and islands. the hotel does not have air conditioning at common areas, only inside rooms and reception. Believe me: it's really hot! Breakfast was ok, but no much variety (eggs, bread, sandwich, coffee, milk, fruits and juice). I'd suggest them to offer some dessert or cake or some thing sweet too. There is no swimming nor gym and room was a little tight for 3 people, although comfortable....