Highly recommend- Medellin, Santa Marta, & Cartagena for family of 12
Colombia
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Jun 20 - Jun 28, 2026
Margarita provided excellent assistance throughout the trip, beginning with the planning of the trip. She listened to our needs and planned a wonderful itinerary that accommodated a family of 12 ranging from 4 years old to 85 years old. Margarita, Oscar, and Wendy were all responsive during our trip. We just absolutely loved everything. The tours, hotels, and food were all wonderful; thank you! Juan Camillo, our guide in Medellin, was especially worth noting as we really bonded with him and wished he could have remained with us throughout the duration of our full trip. We stayed in Medellin (Wake Bio,) Santa Marta (Naio,) and Cartagena (Sofitel.) Highly recommend! Locals were all kind and thanking us for visiting as American tourists. We felt safe throughout the entirety of our trip.
Hotel Reviews
Stay here! We had a 2 bed, 3 bath, living room/kitchen suite on 8th floor. It was great. I also appreciated that the 1 day I did have housekeeping come in (I generally keep do not disturb on my door at all hotels and only get towels/toilet paper delivered) they did not mess up my stuff! They didn't reorganize any of my belongings which was MUCH appreciated and generally why I don't have anyone come clean my room during hotel stays! Food/drinks were good. Pool was small but we didn't even have an opportunity to use it due to touring so it didn't matter.
Stay here! It was on the beach. We have the playa beachfront rooms. It was a very nicely sized room. Lighting was dim but it was fine. The hot/cold on the shower, if I recall correctly, seemed opposite of 'normal' for us so we took a cold shower the 1st day but figured it out. There were 3 nice pools. We didn't go in ocean because it was very choppy and my 4 y/o couldn't even stand in ankle-deep water without being knocked over by waves. But, it was a cool vibe to have the beach there and overlook it from the pool. Plus, we didn't have to worry about sand everywhere ha! Food/drinks were good! We got 90 min massages- very good. They're in an open hut in the jungle so if others are getting massages in neighboring huts, you may not have the privacy you are used to. I went in the morning and was the only person there but others in my family (group of 12) went in the afternoon and could see eachother so that could be a bit uncomfortable.
Super nice and fancy! Our room wasn't huge here but it was a very nice and high end resort. Food and drinks were great. Pool was awesome! Staff was on top of everything!
Activity Reviews
Nice time enjoying this with Juan Camilo before our departure! Casual time in gardens enjoying some fruit and chatting about our past few days together!
Fun way to start the day in a canoe enjoying the mangroves!
Super cool trip highlight for our group. Nice boat, skilled driver. Thoroughly enjoyed by all!
Fun way to start our Medellin adventures getting out to enjoy and see the city!
Fun stop- definitely add! Good experience for our full family of 12 ranging from 4-85.
Juan Camilo was very knowledgeable and accommodating to our full group!
Must add for Medellin cultural experience!
Highlight in Medellin for our family. Chef/owner was wonderful and our family really enjoyed this. Nice, private homestead with ample space. Comfortable and food was amazing!
Much needed day of rest at the beautiful Naio Hotel!
Everyone enjoyed this! None of us left as salsa experts but we thoroughly enjoyed the class and it was private so was not embarrassing to dance in front of anyone!