During my recent 10 Day Colombia Itinerary, I stayed at the Hyatt Regency Cartagena while in the Caribbean city of Cartagena. A primary reason to stay at the Hyatt Regency Cartagena is the ability to stay for free using points. For more information on where to stay while traveling in Colombia, see our post on Points Hotels in Colombia. Read this post for the review of the Hyatt Regency Cartagena.
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Location
Cartagena is a fairly compact city with only a few central areas. The best places for tourists to stay in Cartagena are the Centro, Getsemani, and Bocagrande neighborhoods. The Hyatt Regency Cartagena is located on the Bocagrande peninsula. While the Bocagrande peninsula is not the most historic or central area of Cartagena, it still makes a good base for experiencing the city. Almost anything in the Centro neighborhood is no more than a 10-minute cab ride away (even in traffic). You will become familiar with this cab ride as it is worth the expense to not walk the distance and most of the attractions are in the city center.
Hotels in the Bocagrande area tend to be larger and more modern. This often leads to them being cheaper options as well as having more contemporary amenities. On the flip side, if you prefer historical charm, you are unlikely to find it in Bocagrande. There are a number of shops, restaurants, bars, and beaches along the Bocagrande peninsula. However, the vast majority of these reside in hotels, shopping centers, and strip malls. Therefore, it is better to take a cab to Getsemani or Centro to experience the historical center of the city. If you need a local restaurant for travelers, several options in the area will do in a pinch, but the best experiences await in the city center.
Finally, while there are several main roads that run through Bocagrande, the hotels in this area are often multi-story buildings. In Hyatt’s case, there are over 30 floors for guests and several more floors dedicated to residents in the building. For this reason, guests don’t have to worry about any of the noise around the hotel. The views are also really good from the hotel.
Guest Rooms
The Hyatt Regency Cartagena offers a few different types of guest rooms to visitors. These include one king bed and two double bed variants. The hotel offers both bay view and ocean view rooms. Finally, the Hyatt Regency Cartagena offers a Club Lounge where access is included with some room types. The base room is either one king or two double bay view rooms without club lounge access. Other combinations of room traits are more expensive. A point redemption gets visitors one of the base room options. In addition to the base room types, the Hyatt offers several different suite options as well as the opportunity to book the residences that are located above the main hotel floors for those who want to splurge.
The following is the review of the base One King Bay View room. This room was an appropriate size for the three nights that we stayed at the property. All of the standard rooms are a respectable 410 square feet. In order to get more square footage, guests will need to book suites (which start around 750 sq. feet). The larger suites and residences provide even more space than this.
Bathroom
Upon entering the room, a hallway leads guests past the bathroom and closet areas. These are both nice sizes for a standard hotel room. The bathroom unfortunately had a single sink. While I generally prefer double sinks (as I travel with my wife), the large amount of countertop space helped make up for it. The other side of the bathroom has a large glass shower with a rainfall showerhead. This shower had plenty of room to enjoy. Lastly, there was a closed-off section for the toilet in the corner of the bathroom. Overall, the bathroom was very functional. No one would call it a marble-covered bathroom like that of the five-star Sofitel Victoria Regia in Bogotá, however, it was more than sufficient for the stay.
As is becoming more common in modern times, the separation between the bathroom and bedroom isn’t a full door. Instead, sliding shutters formed the dividers between the bathroom and the sleeping areas. While this is certainly more substantial than other dividers I have seen in my travels, it still lets light through. So if the people who share a room have different schedules, this light could be annoying to those still sleeping.
Finally, the closet area outside of the bathroom was large. It provided more than enough space for a couple of weeks worth of hanging clothes. The closet area also includes shelves for folded clothes and the in-room safe.
Bedroom
Moving into the main sleeping area shows off the sweeping views that are unique to this high-rise hotel. A king bed anchors the center of the room. It’s standard but adequately comfortable. The furnishings throughout the room are simple yet stately (as appropriate for this business-travel-focused brand).
In addition to the bed, the room contains a corner chair with a side table appropriate for reading. Opposite the corner chair is a glass desk and chair. This is a great spot for doing work with a laptop if that is necessary during the trip. The desk is also reversible if you prefer the views out the window while you work.
Finally, there is a television on the wall opposite the bed. There is a reasonable combination of channels from both local markets and the United States. An armoire under the television has a coffee maker on top and a mini-fridge inside. The fridge is not stocked with anything, but if you have water bottles for the day this is a great place to keep them cold.
Breakfast & Restaurant
The Hyatt Regency does not include breakfast in the standard room rate. If you book a room with Club Lounge access you will be provided a breakfast spread in the lounge; otherwise, the breakfast will cost extra. The hotel does offer a “Bed and Breakfast” rate; however, it is a significant upcharge. A sampling of dates over the next year showed that the Bed and Breakfast rate was $63 above the lowest member rate when there are two guests in the room. There are significantly nicer breakfast options in Cartagena for much less than the $63 Hyatt charges. I recommend trying breakfast elsewhere; however, sometimes the convenience of eating at the hotel is worth it. If you do want to eat at the hotel restaurant, purchase the buffet or from the menu as it will be cheaper than the pre-booked inclusive rate.
In addition to breakfast, the onsite restaurant (Kokaú) serves a full lunch and dinner menu. The vast majority of the time, visitors should go out to the Centro or Getsemani areas to try the wonderful food options that are available in these areas. The atmosphere and culture immersion are much superior in these areas of Cartagena than at the hotel restaurant. However, sometimes a simple in-hotel option is nice. Kokaú will fill this role when required.
Amenities
In addition to the restaurant, the Hyatt Regency Cartagena offers a number of other amenities to its guests. First, the hotel offers an expansive gym. This gym has a large amount of cardio equipment including treadmills, stationary bikes, and ellipticals. With four or more of each of these, guests shouldn’t have to wait to use cardio equipment in the gym. The opposite side of the gym includes a good amount of strength equipment and free weights. While there is generally only one of each machine, there is a good variety. The strength equipment includes a dumbbell rack (up to 50 lb weights), a smith machine, and several targeted weight machines.
Next to the gym is a large locker room and spa. The locker room comes complete with over 40 lockers that guests can use. The locker room also features multiple showers and changing areas. Access to all these areas is still allowed after checkout on the day of the guest’s departure. This is nice for itineraries that leave Cartagena in the late afternoon or evening.
Finally, located just outside the locker rooms are the hotel pools. There are actually three pools at the hotel. One of these pools is specifically reserved for adults only. This pool is located on the same level as the gym. The other two pools are open to anyone. The pool on the lobby level is the largest and nicest of the three in my opinion. It is co-located with a nice courtyard and a drinks/snack bar. There are plenty of lounging chairs and tables in this area. Most importantly, there are plentiful umbrellas on this level. The adult-only pool conversely does not provide any shade. Think about this when planning when to go to the pool and what pool to go to.
Both the adults-only pool and the main level pool are infinity pools. These pools look off into the Caribbean from the 11th and 13th floors providing great views on beautiful days. To satisfy guests’ hunger and thirst, each of the pools has waiters who will come around to offer food and drinks. These pools are a great way to get a little Caribbean relaxation while in Cartagena.
Cost
Colombian hotels are generally inexpensive by US standards. Due to Hyatt being a business-centered US brand, the savings aren’t as significant as some other hotels in Cartagena; however, it’s still a good price for what you get.
A random sampling of days showed rates averaging between $100 and $113 per night. There was little variation in the price by day of the week or season. All of these rates were Hyatt member rates which require a free Hyatt rewards account; however, they are completely refundable/cancellable.
Another way to book the Hyatt Regency Cartagena is with World of Hyatt points of Free Night Awards (see this post for a primer on Hyatt Free Night Awards). I used a combination of these to pay for my recent stay at the Hyatt Regency Cartagena. This hotel is a Category 3 Hyatt meaning that it requires between 9,000 and 15,000 points based on the season. The overwhelming majority of the year’s prices are 12,000 points a night.
In addition, many of the Free Night Award certificates are good up to a Category 4 hotel. Therefore, this hotel is also bookable with these. As the hotel is pretty cheap normally, it’s worth considering if using points. Plus, free night awards are the best value. In my case, I had a couple of awards that were expiring soon so it made sense to get some value out of them. However, if I had other opportunities to use them (as described here), I probably would have paid the cash rate.
Bottom Line
The Hyatt Regency Cartagena is a nice option for staying in Cartagena. While the hotel covers all the necessities, it does lack the central location and cultural immersion that other options could provide. The business focus of the Hyatt Regency brand also diminishes the foreign country vacation atmosphere a little. However, the ability to use points and free night awards are a big positive to those wanting to stay in Cartagena on a small budget. The hotel also provides some really nice amenities to those who are spending a little more time at the hotel to relax. Overall, I would be happy to stay at the Hyatt Regency Cartagena again if the chance arose.
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