A Wonderful Experience Traveling in Columbia

Colombia | Jan 16 - Feb 1, 2024

Beautiful hotel, great location, outstanding service. Clearly lots of thought put into the design of the hotel to make it not only lovely, but comfortable for guests.

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.

Absolute highlight. The guide was excellent, and really helped us understand Medellin's unique history, and all that has been accomplished in the last 15 years. Loved taking the authentic experience of taking the metro system and the gondolas around town.

Great day. We really enjoyed and learned a lot at the flower farm (the gentleman who hosted us there was delightful!). We were a bit surprised (honestly disappointed) at how commercial Guatape was, but very much enjoyed the drive and the view from the top. The walk through the town afterwards was fun as well.

We enjoyed going to the market, and trying the fresh Arepas con Chocolo (literally right off the grill). Otherwise, we're not big juice drinkers, and perhaps we are just not big fans of street food in Columbia.

We didn't really understand what this was until we arrived that evening. While the food was okay (honestly, it might just be that we don't love traditional Columbian food, which doesn't use very many spices), we really enjoyed the young woman who hosts this experience. She was a fascinating person with great ideas and observations about food, culture, and Columbia.