Hotel Cartagena Plaza

What I noticed, this hotel books a lot of students groups, children and teenagers. Other groups as well. A little bit noisy and not too much space to walk in the lobby while people checkin in and out.
They dont have elevators for people coming from the beach, sometimes it's very messy. Too many people in the elevators and too long waiting for one.
In the restaurant, they should introduce more grain salads and introduce more cuttlery to handle foods. I saw kids and people taking food with bare hands. Maybe staff should serve? Variety of fruits and juices were available.
I give 3 and a half butterflies for hotel and food. 5 butterflies for staff. [Details]

Experience was just "ok". if you are looking for a resort feel this is not the place. this is a hotel with all inclusive options.
Room was very clean, we booked a dpuble room with two beds but ended up with three beds. bathroom was clean, large shower. beds and pillows werent comfortable for me. small bar fridge with a bottle of water and a safe, ironing board and iron. they do offer laundry service. we had a nice view on the 6th floor of the Old City in the distance. No balconies in this hotel!

Buffet was limited, long lines at the grill at breakfast and dinner. more of the same food each night (meat, rice, veggies and some other side) small buffet of fruit veggues, bread cheese and deli meats. there is a resraurant on site that you pay for as well.

pool and snack bar area was kept cleaned and organized. pool is small, about the side of a residental pool. 6 cabanas and about 40 loungers available, so arrive when it opens at 9am. Not much music played at all or any activities offered at the pool. Nice view of the ocean, beach, skyline

beach across the street is disgusting. its dirty and full of garbage. if you're expecting clear blue water...you wont find it there. loads of locals constantly bothering you for services. activities do happen on the beach though.

check in/out took longer then it needed to. no one speaks english which made it more difficult. most if the staff were friendly regardless

hotel entertainment was okay...they had a disco and event board available

the hotel is located in a good place of shopping, local eateries and strips. Mall is a short walk down the road. [Details]

Everything was well worth the money here. I have been to Havana 7 times, Varadero 3 times, Costa Rica 4 times,Domican Republic 2 times and the food here , drinks and location of this hotel all win. If you are going expecting the Hilton on this budget this is not the place for you. The hotel is a $6.00 cab ride from the old city ...great restaurants!! Awesome culture!! Fantastic trip!! [Details]

When I arrived at Hotel Cartagena Plaza, my initial impression of the outside of the building was that it was an older, but maintained building. It was located right in front of the beach. All you would need to do it walk across the street to get to the beach. The lobby was beautifully designed, spacious, but old looking. That didn't bother me too much, since I don't spend time in the lobby on vacation.

My room was very spacious. I was travelling solo and I got a large room with 2 queen beds. It was nice to be able to spread out my items after a hard day of shopping haha.

The floor of the bedroom was a little dirty. Not too big of a deal again, it's not as if there were bugs or anything like that, it was just dusty. I could feel it on my feet. Again, not a big deal for me since I spent minimal time in my room.

The staff at the counter were friendly. The only issue I had was one of my lights in my room burnt out about 3 days into my stay and I asked for it to be replaced. In the additional 4 days that I was there, it was never replaced. I asked twice and nothing was done about it. Also, there weren't too many staff working during the weekdays, so I found myself waiting between 10-15 minutes to speak to someone if I had a question or needed assistance. There were a handful of people that spoke English at the counter. My Spanish is pretty non-existent, but I managed to get by. All of the bell boys spoke English, so that was very helpful.

When I went to the beach, I was bombarded by women that were offering salt scrub massages, tons of beach vendors and people that would just come and talk. It was very annoying since I wanted to sit by myself and relax. There were other beaches in the city that were close by and I had been told by other visitors that I wouldn't be bothered by vendors or anyone on those beaches. I'll keep that in mind for next time.

I went on an all-inclusive deal. I found the food to be very good in the main restaurant of the hotel. There was a lot of selection. I didn't like the fact that dinner service started at 7:00pm. I usually eat at 6/6:30 and I was always hungry. It was harder to plan things in the evening when you lose that one hour. I bought snacks to tide me over every time I had dinner in the hotel restaurant.

I'm not vegetarian, so I was good to go with any type of food. There was one girl I knew there that was vegetarian and she found it a little hard, but not impossible, to eat at the hotel restaurant all the time.

The location from "The old city" (downtown) was great. It was a short cab ride which came out to about roughly $6 CAD one way. Not bad at all.

I would stay at this hotel again. The staff were friendly, location in the city was great. If I do come here again, I'll be staying away from the beach. [Details]

Very clean, just steps to beach, tent and chairs supply by hotel, tips optional, overall very nice place. [Details]

This is the least all-inclusive lowest quality hotel I have ever stayed in. The only positive is that it was clean. [Details]

If you are travelling to Cartagena, this hotel is useful as a room only.
Avoid the all inclusive food. There are many excellent restaurants within a short 5-10 minute walk. The pool on the roof was unique, and the only place where the drinks are availble.
Do not get a room on the 18th floor (beside pool). Very noisy until it shuts down at 11. The beach across the street from the hotel was passable, if you don't mind the constant (and I mean constant) beach vendors around you every minute of the day.
There is some excellent shopping within a 5-15 minute walk of the hotel. Taxis to the old city are inexpensive 5,000 pesos (about $3 one way) and it is time well spent wandering the old streets.
Safety did not seem to be an issue, as there is a noticable police presence in the area.
If you are a beach lover, I would look for another destination. If you are a lover of culture and history, then this is the place for you.
I would definitely go back to Cartagena, but would try alternate accomodations. [Details]

I read all those negative experiences prior to leaving for Cartagena and was a bit worried. Good thing I chose to have my own experience and it was great! Hotel was nice and clean, the food was great, lots of variety and the service was as one would expect from a 4* hotel. Experiences are what we make of them!!!! [Details]

not a 4 star - this hotel does not understand the concept of all-inclusive [Details]