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Reviews of Balcones de Alheli Hotel

3 out of 5
Balcones de Alheli Hotel
Calle del Porvenir, con calle Vicente Garcia #6-17, Cartagena, Bolivar

Reviews

7.6

Good

Rating 10 - Excellent. 32 out of 100 reviews" "
Rating 8 - Good. 41 out of 100 reviews" "
Rating 6 - Okay. 11 out of 100 reviews" "
Rating 4 - Poor. 11 out of 100 reviews" "
Rating 2 - Terrible. 5 out of 100 reviews" "

8.0/10

Cleanliness

8.0/10

Staff & service

7.4/10

Amenities

7.2/10

Property conditions & facilities

Reviews

8/10 Good

SteveUrq, Orlando, Florida

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
The location of this hotel in the heart of the Old City is unbeatable. The staff are attentive and very friendly, and all in all we really enjoyed our stay.
Stayed 7 nights in Mar 2020

8/10 Good

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed 1 night in Mar 2020
Response from Balcones de Alhelí on 12 Mar,2020
¡Gracias por su valoración!

8/10 Good

Verified traveller

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Great overall but hard to sleep with all the noise from the street below. Band noises till 330am
Stayed 4 nights in Feb 2020
Response from Balcones de Alhelí on 12 Mar,2020
Thank you for your review, your opinion it is important to us, let improve our service. Was a pleasure having you as a guest. See you soon!

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Travelled with group
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Location was great . Balcony view was beautiful. Breakfast was good. Can’t complaint. Affordable place to Stay .
Stayed 1 night in Feb 2020
Response from Balcones de Alhelí on 12 Mar,2020
Thank you so much. Your review is so important, let us improve our service. Till a next visit.

10/10 Excellent

Osiris

Travelled with group
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Very Clean, Modern, Tall Ceilings, & Confortable
I loved my stay at this hotel, is conveniently placed in the tourist part of Cartagena. the breakfast is good and the rooms are even better. Modern style comfortable beds, Cold and Hot Water, air conditioner plus ceiling fan. Nice size TV and closet space. My room had a great balcony with view of the city. The pool on the rooftop is perfect for sitting and talking. I highly recommend this place to stay. Next door is good cafe and restaurant. Ask for the security safe key at the reception so you can safely store your stuff.
Stayed 1 night in Feb 2020
Response from Balcones de Alhelí on 12 Mar,2020
Thank you for your review, your opinion it is important to us, let improve our service. Was a pleasure having you as a guest. See you soon!

8/10 Good

Cindi

Liked: Room comfort
Quaint place
Nice little place. Clean, comfortable bed. A/C worked well. Nothing fancy but would stay here again. Good location...block from Clock Tower, so you are a little further from the noise. Check in was easy. They have a hot breakfast on the roof top that was very good!
Stayed 1 night in Jan 2020
Response from Balcones de Alhelí on 12 Mar,2020
Thank you for your review, your opinion it is important to us, let improve our service. Was a pleasure having you as a guest. See you soon!

6/10 Okay

Carolina

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service
Disliked: Room comfort
Comfortable but noisy
Too noisy, we couldn’t sleep!!
Stayed 2 nights in Nov 2019

6/10 Okay

Tatiana

Liked: Staff & service
Disliked: Property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Cartagena Walled City Hotel
The hotel is in a good location, inside the Walled City of Cartagena - historical part of the city. This is just about all that is good about this hotel. The hotel itself is old and very tired, not a 3 star. There is a disco nearby and after our first night, we asked to change the room. The hotel is small though and they did not have another room available. The reception staff were nice and the guy at the desk offered another hotel nearby that we can move to (part of the same chain). The hotel was called The Ethnic Thematic Hotel, a newer hotel with themed rooms. The room we were offered was very cute - Carnaval de Baranquilla. So we moved and enjoyed the rest of our stay there. The Thematic hotel was even smaller than Balcones and there was not always a person in reception there and alsk we had to go to Balcones for breakfast as Thematic did not have a restaurant, but that was OK, as the hotels were close to one another. The breakfast was quite basic, but OK. I would have not expected more from it anyway. PS. Hotels.com says Check in at Balcones De Alheli is 2pm, but in fact it is 3pm as we had to go away for an hour when we arrived at 2pm and come back later. This needs to be corrected. I attached photos of the Ethnic Thematic Hotel as Balcones de Alheli did not look nice and nothing like the pictures I saw on Hotels.com, so was not worth taking any pics.
Ethnic Thematic Hotel
Ethnic Thematic Hotel
Ethnic Thematic Hotel
Ethnic Thematic Hotel
Stayed 4 nights in Nov 2019
Response from Hotel Balcones on 3 Dec,2019
Thank you for share your oppinion with us. We apologize for any inconvenience you had during your stay. We will investigate it to try to solve it.

6/10 Okay

Verified traveller

Business traveller, Travelled with partner
Liked: Staff & service
Disliked: Amenities, property conditions & facilities
For the price the hotel is not in its best shape. Staff its good and professional but hotel conditions are not the best. Rooms need more care. Bathroom is not good. The internet is horrible. Breakfast is ok.
Stayed 1 night in Oct 2019
Response from Hotel Balcones de Ahlelí on 3 Dec,2019
Thank you for share your oppinion with us. We apologize for any inconvenience you had during your stay. We will investigate it to try to solve it.

10/10 Excellent

Osiris

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Great, location, clean rooms and friendly staff
The hotel was very clean, the staff was also very accommodating and helpful. Location is perfect for statying right across the street from the wall city. El hotel stubo muy limpio, las attenciones fueron excelentes y acomodantes.
Stayed 1 night in Jul 2019

8/10 Good

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service
Stayed 1 night in Jun 2019

10/10 Excellent

Victoria

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
great hotel with an amazing rooftop view!
Stayed 2 nights in Dec 2018

4/10 Poor

William J

Disliked: Property conditions & facilities
overpriced, not romantic
At $119 it was overpriced, very convenient location but a small room and smallish bed with no frills. Breakfast fine, but not a good place for a couple and shouldn't cost more than $70
Stayed 1 night in Feb 2019

6/10 Okay

Verified traveller

Liked: Staff & service
Disliked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities
Spend a few extra bucks and stay somewhere else.
This is basically a glorified hostel. The bathrooms were dirty. Puddle of water around the toilet and main bathroom drain. Walls could use a paint job, no lock on the safe, no iron etc. Shower floors were dirty. Wore my flip flops to shower. The roof top pool was beautiful.
Stayed 1 night in Jan 2019

8/10 Good

Verified traveller

Travelled with group
Liked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities
Great location, walking distance to almost everything and easy to flag taxis when needed
Stayed 3 nights in Jan 2019

2/10 Terrible

Verified traveller

Disliked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
They oversold the rooms and move me to another hotel
Stayed 2 nights in Dec 2018

8/10 Good

Verified traveller

Business traveller, Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service
Its a good enough hotel to stay in the walled city. Price is ok. It’s clean with good staff. Its central to any place inside the walled city. Breakfast options are ok. Could be better.
Stayed 2 nights in Nov 2018

2/10 Terrible

JA

Disliked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Not worth it, you will pay for the location
This hotel was way below expectations. Indeed is in a great location but definitely not good. Bed is not good quality and very uncomfortable. The shower has no hot water. The roof top and breakfast are not as good as the pictures. I don’t recommend it.
Stayed 1 night in Aug 2018

6/10 Okay

Eriana, Miami, FL

Liked: Staff & service
Disliked: Room comfort
The staff at this hotel was excellent very attentive and dedicated to the service but this hotel is located around the corner from two nightclubs and you can hear the music as if you were in the club yourself. We stayed in room 307 and out of the three nights we were not able to sleep throughout the night. We would wake up from the music around 2 o’clock and not go back to sleep until 6am when they turned down the music. I would not recommend this hotel if you are a light sleeper or like to rest overall. They provide you with ear plugs but they’re useless. The AC of the room works fine, the room’s floor is a little dirty and the towels are hard. The breakfast that’s included is good but you have to be there early as they run out of food. The hotel is very nicely decorated but we dreaded when the night came as we knew we were not able to get a fullnight sleep.
Stayed 3 nights in Aug 2018

8/10 Good

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Disliked: Staff & service
In the center of everything. Great breakfast. Great staff. Recommended.
Stayed 4 nights in Apr 2018
Response from hotel balcones de alheli on 30 Apr,2018
para nosotros es un gusto que nos haya escogido como empresa - estaremos siempre dispuesto a brindarles el mejor servicio

8/10 Good

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Great hotel, clean, close to everything, very convenient. I recommend.
Stayed 5 nights in Oct 2017

4/10 Poor

Verified traveller

Disliked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Not the place if you want to sleep between 9pm-5am
There is a disco next to the hotel that plays techno music at top volume starting at 9 pm and not ending until 5am EVERY night. Our walls shook from the bass vibrations and The noise making it difficult to sleep. Also, be sure you know exactly what you are being charged for the rooms and that you get the room type you reserved. We did not and when we tried to discuss the room charges we were referred to Expedia by the hotel staff. Expedia was wonderful and immediately called the hotel on our behalf to discuss our concerns. Unfortunately, contrary to the hotels representation -the hotel collects payment --not Expedia.
Stayed 4 nights in Jul 2017

10/10 Excellent

Carlos, Venezuela

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Loved it
No complaints... Had a great time. Better than i imagined it

4/10 Poor

Steven

Disliked: Staff & service
Keep track of the Mini Bar
This place charged me for a container of Pringles that I never opened. They charged me 10.000 pesos at checkout that I never agreed to. They never gave me the extra towels that I requested. The balcony door woul never open. I'd complain more but I am too busy stuffing my face with leftover Chinese food. I should have finished it last night but I just couldn't so here I am. The breakfast on the roof was fantastic. The shower worked great. The beds were mostly comfy. Oh, the club below the hotel is an illegal brothel. So don't go there. Even though the music from this brothel is the main complaint on reviews for this hotel. Weird. Oh well, #Colombia

10/10 Excellent

Lorena, USA

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Very happy and will return.
My birthday vacation with family.

6/10 Okay

Verified traveller

Liked: Staff & service
Good Hotel, But Horribley Noisey
Everything about the hotel was OK except the horrible sound. it was VERY loud. Especially from 1AM - 5AM. Even on a Sunday night. If you are a light sleeper, stay away from this hotel because you will not get any sleep.

8/10 Good

Edwin

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, room comfort

6/10 Okay

Paul, Bournemouth

Cartagena
Very Central location, ideal for sightseeing the the historic centre of Cartagena, the hotel is fairly basic and could do with updating, also the rooms facing the street are very noisy at night, you do get used to it or maybe i was just so tired after a few nights disturbed sleep. if your on a budget its a good choice.

2/10 Terrible

Ron

Disliked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Overbooking disaster
Despite prebooking at least 8 weeks in advance with confirmation on Expedia, we arrived on 12/25/15 to discover the hotel had no rooms for our family of 6. We were sent walking at night with our suitcases through the streets of Cartagena to another hotel ranked significantly lower than the Balcones de Alheli. This hotel should not be permitted to be on Expedia or other reputable sites if it continues to overbook. (See similar reviews on Tripadvisor from 12/29/15)

8/10 Good

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Nice hotel in central location
The hotel is centrally located within the Walled City. Museums, bars, restaurants, shopping, landmarks steps away. Rooms are OK but they do have AC so it's a plus. Staff is very helpful and so is the breakfast/cleaning crew. They do sell tours for anywhere you want to go at affordable prices. Great experience overall. They also have a sister location in Bocagrande called Playa Inn - you are allowed to use their pool and beach facilities at no additional charge.

8/10 Good

Peter, La Habana

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Very helpful staff

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Hotel staff was very friendly, extremely helpful (explained everything in detail), and did their best to keep us satisfied. However, as one commentator stated, the hotel is near a bar/club so we had experienced a bit of music vertebrating through the walls. It wasn't too bad-Also, the hotel is close to everything in Cartegena, which made it convenient to explore the walled city. As an avid traveler, I wouldn't book any tours through the hotel as it's usually more expensive. Usually, you can just bargain with the street vendors.

2/10 Terrible

Verified traveller

Liked: Staff & service
Disliked: Property conditions & facilities, room comfort
After hour disco under the room!!!
The whole room vibrates and it's like being inside the bar. No one warned us about this.

4/10 Poor

Letti, las vegas

Disliked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
below average
Even though I had a email from someone at the property that confirmed changes to the reservation, the front desk still had no idea, thankfully I saved the email. The hotel is basic at best, no amenities in the bathroom besides soap. The buffet breakfast includes fruits, bread, and mystery meat. There were small ants in the shower, the floor is old and chipping, the beds comfortable. One day I asked the front desk to call a taxi for me, knowing that my spanish is less than adequate, I knew I would have trouble, he told me to just go get one on the street. Wifi is very good

8/10 Good

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort

8/10 Good

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Hurry before your disappointed
This is a new hotel, renovated fro mwhat was previously a hostel which suffered considerable abuse. Presently, the hotel is clean, because it is new. But soon, very soon, the veneer will crack and the paint will fade and the newness will give way to what will be considered an ordinary hotel in an ordinary location. The people who work at the hotel have no investment in the hotel; resulting in an absence of attention to detail, attention to service, attention to "caring". So hurry, by January this hotel will be needing new owners.

10/10 Excellent

Sonia, London

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Lovely hotel in Cartagena's Walled City
This hotel seemed to be much more affordable compared with others in the Walled City and was in a great location within walking distance of all the tourist sites. Lovely mix of old and new eg beautiful old tiled floors and a balcony overlooking the street and rooftops, but with a modern bathroom, aircon etc, and a very comfortable bed. We had a few problems with the hot water and a leak from the rain but the staff bent over backwards to resolve the situation and were so kind and helpful. Despite these hiccups we would still highly recommend this hotel and would stay here again. Breakfast was in a nice cafe/restaurant next door but they are renovating the rooftop to hold there own restaurant which will be lovely with the views.

6/10 Okay

KB, Hong Kong

Disliked: Room comfort
Good Location. Very loud Street Noise
Overall I was please with my stay. The location was great and the balcony was nice. I would caution that if you are a light sleeper, this might not be the place for you. The street noise from below kept me up until late at night (and up again early in the morning). The lack of quality sleep definitely took a toll on my trip.

10/10 Excellent

Hernan, Bogota

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Just a great weekend
Services was perfect, te room was clean, comfortable beds, tv, fridge, hot water. Breakfast is in a restaurant just besides the hotel door, and it was awesome. Just three blocks from Plaza de Santo Domingo, but pretty quiet to rest. Walk along the ancient city was perfect, close to many hot spots and night clubs. This is a great hotel to stay. No complains.

10/10 Excellent

Kenneth Carr, Chicago

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
A room with a great view @ third floor.
Some remodeling going on at the time of my stay, but I didn't mind.The hotel staff was very helpful and friendly. Location was great, I found it very easy to get around within old town. The restaurant next door breakfast was very good, friendly staff. I look forward to my next visit.
Response from Alfonso Penaranda on 17 May,2014
thanks for the review we appreciate your patience.

8/10 Good

Juan Jose

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, room comfort
Muy bien el hotelero no se puede descansar denoche
El hotel está muy bien situado, en pleno centro, a un paso de todo. El desayuno está bastante bien, fruta, zumos ,etc. Lo mejor, el personal, muy amable y atento a muestras necesidades. Sin embargo, tiene un gran problema, y es que está al lado de una discoteca, y de 12 de la noche a 3 de la mañana el ruido es terrible. No pudimos dormir las dos primeras noches y , aunque nos cambiaron a un piso más alto, se seguía escuchando, y es todos los días. No es culpa del hotel, pero no volvería a alojarme por rl ruido que impide descansar.
Stayed 4 nights in Feb 2020
Response from Balcones de Alhelí on 12 Mar,2020
Muchas gracias por su valiosa calificación. Sus valoraciones son muy importantes para nuestra continua mejora. Hasta una pronta ocasión.

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Er was wat lawaai in de nacht, vanwege de locatie. Verder was het personeel aan de receptie niet altijd even vriendelijk. De kamer zelf was heel goed
Stayed 7 nights in Feb 2020
Response from Gracias por su valoración on 12 Mar,2020
Thank you for your review, your opinion it is important to us, let improve our service. Was a pleasure having you as a guest. See you soon!

8/10 Good

Aleksandra

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Świetna lokalizacja, przytulne pokoje i miła obsługa. Śniadanie dobre, natomiast bardzo słaba organizacja podczas śniadania. O wszystko trzeba się upominać, bo nie jest wystawione : cukier, sól, masło, nawet małe łyżeczki i filiżanki. Śniadanie jest do godziny 10:00. Przed 9:00 były końcówki owoców i soków, których juz Panie nie dokładały.
Stayed 2 nights in Feb 2020
Response from Gracias, Equipo Balcones on 12 Mar,2020
Thank you for your review, your opinion it is important to us, let improve our service. Was a pleasure having you as a guest. See you soon!

10/10 Excellent

Teresa

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Satisfecha
Excelente ubicación, hermosa vista. Linda habitación. Muy serviciales.
Stayed 1 night in Jan 2020
Response from Balcones de Alhelí on 12 Mar,2020
Muy amable por su valoración, fue un placer haberle servido. Hasta una próxima estadía. Equipo Balcones de Alhelí

8/10 Good

Alexandre

Liked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities
Disliked: Room comfort
Bom, mas a balada vizinha atrapalha...
A localização é incrível, perto de tudo! Porém, um dos pontos mais negativos é que eles são vizinhos de uma balada que fica até de madrugada (a musica é MUITO ALTA). Tivemos um contratempo também no check-in - chegamos um pouco mais cedo, nos permitiram deixar nossas bagagens lá e fomos almoçar, já que o checkin era só 15h. Chegamos as 15h30 e o atendente nos informou que o quarto ainda não estava pronto... Este mesmo atendente no dia também não nos falou que tinha cafe da manhã no hotel, ou seja, só descobrimos que poderíamos tomar café da manhã lá no nosso último dia. A limpeza dos quartos é algo a se parabenizar, assim como o wi-fi que eles disponibilizam.
Stayed 5 nights in Nov 2019

8/10 Good

RAUL

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed 4 nights in Sep 2019

8/10 Good

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Buena ubicación en el cetro histórico
Excelente ubicación. La terraza es hermosa.
Stayed 1 night in Jul 2019

4/10 Poor

FABIO

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, room comfort
Disliked: Property conditions & facilities
No prestan atencion al cliente
Solicite en la reserva una habitación apartada del ruido ya que iba en viaje de negocios pero no, me dieron una donde se escuchaba ruido por todo lado, y auque insisti varias veces cambio no me prestaron arención.
Stayed 2 nights in Apr 2019

10/10 Excellent

Roberto

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
cortesia e atençao dos funcionarios, boa localizacçao no centro da cidade com facilidade para todo
Stayed 7 nights in Feb 2019

8/10 Good

Nayara

Liked: Staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed 3 nights in Nov 2018