Speciale Cartagena
Where to Stay in Cartagena: The New Four Seasons, Getsemani Boutiques or the Beach
The Four Seasons has reset the top end of Cartagena, but there are good new rooms inside the walls and out on the beach too. Which one you want depends on the trip you have planned.
Di Sanne VermeerWalls, courtyards and the slower Cartagena
The Four Seasons Hotel and Residences Cartagena opened in Getsemaní on 2 April 2026, in restored heritage buildings facing Parque Centenario and the Torre del Reloj. It took a Michelin Key within months, and so did a small hotel in the Centro Histórico. Two big beach hotels opened out on the sand in 2025. The choice now is the walls, Getsemaní or the beach.
The Four Seasons in Getsemaní
The hotel runs through the 1920s former Club Cartagena and the Veracruz cloister, just outside the walls, so the old city is a short walk away. Breakfast is included and served open-air in the courtyard, where you can eat arepas de huevo and boronía (mashed sweet plantain and aubergine). There are two rooftop pools, and the infinity one looks straight over the harbour and the Torre del Reloj.
The places to eat and drink on site run to The Grand Grill for steak and Pizzeria Della Chiesa, which is inside a deconsecrated church. El Aljibe is a speakeasy in an old water cistern. El Palmar, up on the roof, is open from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. with lunch from noon to 5 p.m., and takes no reservations. The spa fills the restored cloister and works with Colombian botanicals. The hotel will also put you in a salsa class or on a boat out to the Islas del Rosario.
The site spreads across several buildings, and some of the colonial rooms are dark by design. The airport is about 25 minutes away by car.
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Casa Carolina by the cathedral
Casa Carolina is on Calle del Arzobispado, directly across from the Santa Catalina de Alejandría cathedral. It is a 16th-century mansion that reopened as a hotel in February 2025. There is a medlar tree in the courtyard and a pool on the roof among the colonial domes.
The spa does ancestral and Ayurvedic treatments, including Abhyanga and Shirodhara, and the yoga shala runs classes through the day. Both take people who are not staying, as does the rooftop cocktail bar, which was put together with El Barón. Book the roof ahead. The café on site is all plant-based and free of gluten and dairy, so plan dinner elsewhere if that does not suit you. The wellness-day and all-inclusive packages bundle yoga, a 50-minute treatment and transport.
Small hotels inside the walls
Hotel Casa Don Luis by Faranda Boutique is the one to pick for old architecture. It is a Jesuit casona on Calle del Cuartel, built about four centuries ago, with carriage arches and a studded colonial door. The Torre del Reloj is a five-minute walk. Breakfast is included in the patio, and Sator Bar sits behind a discreet door, serving sushi with the cocktails. The pool is open to guests from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., massages have to be booked in advance and there is no parking. Some guests have reported damp and poor ventilation, so ask about the room you are given.
Cinco Quintas Hotel Boutique by Soho is on Carrera 6 in the Centro Histórico, three minutes' walk from the Torre del Reloj. It was one of the Colombian first-timers to take a Michelin Key in 2026. Guests rate the staff above the rooms. The roof has two plunge pools and a bar, and there is no gym. Breakfast is served at the restaurant next door, which the hotel does not own, so you can wait when that kitchen is busy. Check-in runs from 3 p.m. to 11 p.m.
Palmas de Alba Hotel Boutique is a tiny house on Calle 38 in San Diego, the quieter end of the walled city, remodelled in 2023. It has a pool in the courtyard and another on the roof, beside a jacuzzi and a backlit onyx bar. There is a spa with massages on site.
Bocagrande and the beach
OZ Hotel Collection is an 18-storey white tower on Avenida San Martín that opened in 2025. The pool and terrace sit high up and look down the length of the beach. The sand is a two-minute walk from the door and the airport about 9 km away. Buffet breakfast is included, from 6:30 a.m. to 10 a.m., and there are two restaurants and two bars in the building. Pool access runs from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., and guests have found the roof shut in the evening, so do your sunset drinks somewhere else. There is no colonial character here, and the old city is a taxi ride away.
La Boquilla, out of town
Faranda Collection Cartagena, a member of Radisson Individuals is a large beachfront block on the La Boquilla tourist corridor, north of the city in the Zona Norte. It has been taking guests through 2026. There is an outdoor pool with a bar beside it and a rooftop terrace over open Caribbean water. The hotel also has a gym, a spa and free parking, with the Anillo Vial road right there. Breakfast comes with many rates, though guests are split on it. Check-in is from 3 p.m. and check-out at noon.
The catch is simple. The historic centre is a 10 to 15 minute drive each way, every time, and the airport about the same. Stay here if you want the beach and a car, and don't stay here if you planned to walk to dinner in the walls.
Central beds for less
Mood Matuna Hotel Cartagena has the best position of the mid-range rooms. It stands in La Matuna with the walled city on one side and Getsemaní on the other, four minutes' walk from the Torre del Reloj. Rooms are unusually large and have private balconies, there is a 24-hour gym, and breakfast is the thing guests mention most. The street outside is busy almost around the clock, so light sleepers should look elsewhere. Visitors are not allowed up to the rooms. An airport shuttle is $100.000 per vehicle for the return trip.
Hotel Voilá Pedregal by Huespedia opened in April 2026 on Avenida Pedregal, immediately beyond Getsemaní, and gets you a pool and a rooftop jacuzzi at mid-range money. Breakfast is included, the courtyards have pools set into them and the roof deck looks out over the city. Rooms start at a compact Petit Queen and run up to suites, some facing the pool. One warning: the same company runs another Pedregal hotel, Voilá Signature Casa Isabel, on the same avenue, so check the name on your booking.
Muramar 43 Hotel is nine plain rooms on Calle 43 in Torices, a residential barrio with no tourist strip. Singles start at $100.000 a night, doubles at $110.000 and a twin is $117.000. Breakfast comes from a café in the neighbourhood and is brought to your room between 7 a.m. and 9:30 a.m. There is no pool and no bar, reception is staffed around the clock and parking is free. The hotel runs a fixed $12.000 ride into the historic centre, which it puts five minutes away. You will be using that or a taxi every time you go out.
Booking and arrivals
Most of these hotels take you from 3 p.m. and want the room back at noon, so plan the first and last afternoon around that. Book the Casa Carolina rooftop before you travel if you are not sleeping there, and reserve a Casa Don Luis massage in advance.
See the Cartagena guide and the Cartagena hotel search.
Prima di partire
Is it better to stay inside the walled city or in Getsemaní?
Both leave you on foot in the old centre. Inside the walls are small colonial houses such as Casa Carolina, Casa Don Luis and Cinco Quintas, all a few minutes from the Torre del Reloj. Getsemaní has the Four Seasons, a resort with eight places to eat and drink, a short walk outside the walls.
What is the new Four Seasons in Cartagena actually like?
It opened on 2 April 2026 in restored heritage buildings facing Parque Centenario. There are two rooftop pools, a spa in an old cloister and eight restaurants and bars. It is large rather than intimate, and some colonial rooms are deliberately dark, so ask which room you are getting before you book.
Where should I stay in Cartagena if I want the beach?
OZ Hotel Collection in Bocagrande is a two-minute walk from the sand, and still a taxi ride from the old city. Faranda Collection Cartagena is on the beach at La Boquilla, a 10 to 15 minute drive out, so you will need a car or taxis for everything.
Can I use the rooftops and spas if I am not staying?
At Casa Carolina, yes. The rooftop pool and cocktail bar, the spa treatments and the yoga classes all take outside visitors, though book the roof ahead. At the Four Seasons, El Palmar on the roof serves from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. and takes no reservations.
What is the cheapest decent new hotel in Cartagena?
Muramar 43 in Torices, where singles start at $100.000 a night. It is a nine-room house with no pool or bar, breakfast brought to the room and a fixed $12.000 transfer into the historic centre, which is five minutes away.
