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The Hotel Santa Clara is
one of the gems of the Sofitel brand. Located within the walls
of the World Heritage City of Cartagena des Indes, the exterior of
the property dates back to the time of the Spanish conquest of South
America - circa 16th century. In keeping with the requirements
of the World Heritage regulations, the exterior fabric of the hotel
could not be changed, but cleverly the architects of this delightful
hotel managed to utilize the old walls of what was an old hospitice
and and living quarters of the nursing order of nuns including the
outbuildings and chapel which take up one large city block of the
old town.
Basically they scooped
out the rotting interior of the old buildings and restored the
exterior walls then constructed within the perimeter a brand new,
extremely luxurious boutique style hotel in the indo-Caribbean
style.
The
hotel is very light and airy with many open spaces, interestingly as
one walks around the various areas, one can see that the builders
built within the existing structure as nowhere does the new hotel
touch the old walls except where some steel reinforcing supports
assist the old walls.
The rooms are
delightful, beautifully decorated and again light and open to the
outside, there is a large pool area and most of the rooms look into
this area. The main lobby opens into a large center area with
a large pond filled with tropical plants around this area are
located the restaurants, lounges, public rooms and lobby. Off
to one side is the original chapel which is still in use today, A
delightful venue for a wedding. There are some office /
meeting rooms in this general area of the lobby.
My first impression
upon entering from the street was one of amazement that this existed
in the center of the old town, a complete surprise in it style and
luxury amenities.
Part of the Sofitel
laid back luxury experience is located on a small resort island just
45 minutes off-shore where
 Sofitel
have a 16 luxury villa/bungalow resort which can be rented by the
day or week.
 It
would make an ideal extension to a program to start in the old city
and then move your group or the top producers to the island for a
couple of days.
Cartagena is a unique
city, there is a push to complete the restoration of the old city
and many of the streets, plaza and public building have already been
carefully restored. It is like stepping back in time to stroll
around the city.
Property values in the
city are the highest in the whole of Colombia and one can see why.
There are many delightfully restored small boutique hotels, a number
of quality restaurants with more of both being added, boutique
shopping with designer labels both international and local abound
both within the city walls and in the new section of the city.
The city walls, some
11km long are well restored and on some of the old gun emplacements
restaurants, bars and club have taken over the large platforms build
in many cases out over the water in strategic places around the
wall. The old city is basically a peninsular with sandy
beaches skirting one side and some of the newer city and the port
the remainder.
Cartagena boast a new
conventions center which is located just out side the city's main
gate right on the harbor. The old city is known locally as
"downtown" and the new resort area which is still undergoing major
construction of luxury hotels and condominium towers is a short walk
away.
Many people have asked
me how I felt about security... at the time of my visit (March 2007)
things where very settled. Cartagena has two rings of security
thrown around it, and being a peninsular it is pretty easy to
secure. Yes, I saw armed police and some military (mainly due
to their being major naval base in the harbor) - but I saw no
armored cars and massed military on street corners as I has seen on
my recent trip to Rio and Epenima - I walked around everywhere, even
at night and did not feel threatened once. I found the local people
to be warm, friendly and helpful. |
