Rosario de Mar Ecohotel

Rosario de mar Ecohotel was the highlight of my trip to Colombia! Once we were on the boat from Cartagena, we could feel our troubles melt away. On arrival, we enjoyed both beaches which are located on a point of the Isla Grande, and drinks were brought to us. We had room 202, which has a fantastic view and an excellent air conditioner that cooled the room down quickly when we returned briefly or to sleep. Everyone working at Rosario de mar were knowledgeable about activities and the menu at the restaurant and the food was very delicious! I can't give more than 5 stars but I would if I could!

I only give it 4 stars due to one factor, transportation is badly organised! Otherwise it definitely would be a five star rating. It really is a paradise hotel, and everyone is so helpful and friendly. The food is good and reasonably priced. I just felt they charged too much for the water. The management needs to take full responsibility for guests getting to and from their hotel.

The experience staying 2 nights at this hotel includes both a highlight and a lowlight of our 1 week trip to Columbia. Arriving early afternoon on a Tuesday we were greeted by a pleasant team of staff members. The 2 beaches, restaurant area and our room did not disappoint. Overall, the quality of accommodations, food and service were very good if not great. The most appealing feature on that first day was the pleasant atmosphere, gentle island pace & vibe and lack of crowds compared to busy Cartagena. What was not appealing was having the property overrun with ~450 US college students from about 10am to at least 3pm of our first full day there. Complete with loud (and sometimes shockingly explicit) music, crowds and mayhem associated with “open bars” for the day trippers. The second day saw a much more reasonably sized group (100-150). On the day we left, we understood a group of ~550 were expected. We get that day trippers help pay the bills but we honestly felt abandoned by the hotel. We were not given any heads up about the huge group. It was difficult to find beach chairs and get service, let alone find any semblance of a peaceful island vibe while the large group was onsite. Having said all of this, we’d likely go back given the opportunity. We’d just make a point to research the expected volume of day trippers before making the commitment.

Good option to spend the day at Isla Grande (pasadia). Two beaches available with good chairs/beds. One of them have less rocks than the other, so it’s easier to enter the sea. Both have a special element to take pictures as a frame on the first one and a double swing at the other one. Food is ok, they offer chicken as well if you don’t want to eat fish (fried). They provide towels and chairs/beds at no extra cost. Trip start at 7:30-8h at muelle de la Bodeguita, gate 4. Return to Cartagena start around 14:30-15h, trip takes around 45-50min.

As lovely as the location and beaches were unfortunately quite a few things let this hotel down. - There was one day that the hotel hosted a ‘private event’ on one of the beaches for around 40/50 people off the island failing to let the guests of the hotel know this was happening. They also still allowed the day boats over (which is a usual thing) but it meant both beaches where then full leaving a few loungers in the corner for hotel guests. If you’re staying a few days, that’s a total waste on one of your days and disrecptpful to the guests paying to stay. - We found when settling our bill on check out that service charge is applied on every single thing at a rate of 12.5 percent. For meals that’s ok I guess but it was added for example when we went and got water throughout the day and also when we went and got our own drinks in the evening. There was no ‘service’ involved in delivering drinks to justify this. - The menu was fairly limited (75 percent seafood) and it’s no different for lunch so it gets quite repetitive. It’s a shame there’s not a lighter lunch menu. There was also no flexibility at all. - The bar closed every night at 9pm which we were told was a new rule as in December it was open until 12pm but they didn’t want to stay up for only a few guests. Past 9pm there is nowhere to even sit and relax as no lounge/bar area which is a shame. - There’s only in sheltered outdoor seating for dinner. It’s pretty in the day but it gets really windy at night so there definitely needs to be a sheltered area to eat instead of the current situation. We went to other hotels on the island that had shelters over their restaurants and it was much nicer to eat there. One final point - please don’t get a boat to isla grande in the afternoon, it’s so dangerous on the sea in the small old boats. We learnt the hard way. Always go in the morning! These aren’t things that ruined our trip but overall they do impact your experience. I think the hotel needs to improve and it’s just small tweaks to make it really good.

The hotel canceled my reservation a few days before my stay. It was our first wedding anniversary, which I had already told them. They still appeared available on ***********. When I contacted them by phone, they asked me to make the reservation again, which I did, and then they canceled it again. When contacted again, all they said was "we have no availability". No explanations, no apologies. I had to pay more for another hotel (not a better one, but more expensive due to flexible rates) and engage in a customer service-reimbursement trip with booking. Thank you Gente de Mar for complicating my Hollidays!!!