Sofitel Baru Calablanca, Cartagena

Too big ,
not enough chairs at the pool or beach available in the shadow, people
reserve and then leave their towels for the day , this should be forbidden

We had an exceptional stay at the Sofitel Calablanca. The property is beautiful. All rooms are lovely, have spectacular Caribbean views, and are beautifully decorated. The food at all the restaurants was excellent. But, what makes this place truly exceptional is the service. Every member of the staff is well-trained, kind, friendly, and focused on the customer experience. We took the high speed boat from Cartegena to the hotel. Fun experience and so much faster than taking a car service back!

One note...while the beach at this hotel is lovely and quiet, it is not the "white sand" of Playa Blanca on Isla Baru, which was a slight disappointment. The beach is pretty gravelly--I'm guessing the jungle originally came right down to the beach (as it does on either side of the property), and when Sofitel developed the property, they dredged the coastline and brought in sand. We wanted to avoid crowds, so this did not diminish our enjoyment of the property, but if you are looking for soft white sand gently sloping into the ocean, that is not what this beach offers.

The hotel is expansive and lovely. However, for a 5-star property, it has a couple of issues. A beachfront hotel with 5 pools should never run out of towels. In the 3 days and two nights that we were there, they were constantly out of towels. It's a small but important detail. I also understand that service outside the US is often a bit slower but often the wait was quite a bit long for food and drinks. Last but not least we did run into an issue with the lobby shop. I understand that the lobby shop is contracted out to an outside vendor but the service there was unacceptable. I went there as they were closing to look for some medicine for my mom and was turned away quite rudely and told they could do nothing about it. The hotel staff eventually took care of my requests but an isolated property like this should have a 24-hour or late-night shop for sundries, toiletries, and first aid supplies. In a centrally located property, I would have simply left or taken a taxi to a nearby drug store but here there is nothing remotely close by. In addition, the night this occurred there was a huge rainstorm making it impossible even for the concierge to go to town on the dirt road. Overall, the hotel was lovely and the staff was friendly but these small details at a 5-star property make a huge difference.

Lovely beach resort. The swimming area is a bit small and they close both the beach and the pools right at sunset, a bit early for my taste. It can be a bit of a hike from your room to the lobby and restaurants, but for check in and check out they bring you and your luggage on a golf cart.

This is a wonderful place the staff and service are awesome had the best time will be visiting there again 😀

Fantastic Hotel, Beautiful location on the beach ⛱️🏖️. Wonderful food 🥑 and Drinks 😊 Wonderful rooms. Service and Staff were just wonderful and treated all very special.

Very nice place to get away

Incredible hotel. Super private, wonderful pools and access to the Caribbean, amazing food and spa.