The Orange House Santa Marta

I was at the hotel twice, before and after the trekking to the Lost City, and my evaluation is an average of the two times, good the first, terrible the second (I definitely slept better on the trek….). The hotel is in a very good location in the middle of the old town, close to the sea (not the beaches). There is a tiny pool, little more than a bath tub, not even good for a few strokes. I was supposed to be met at the airport but nobody showed up. There was a very nice lady at the reception, friendly and efficient, who apologized for the inconvenient and assured me she could reserve a bus to Cartagena when I would come back from the trek.The room was nice and clean, the bathroom big enough (no toiletries or hair dryer, but two towels). No complimentary water, of course you cannot drink tap water, but you have to buy it. When I came back from the trek there was a young lad who hadn’t the least idea on how to manage a reception. I was given a room that looked shabby and with a terrible noise, both from the air conditioner and from I don’t know what in the bathroom. I protested and I was moved to another one after over half an hour and a lot of to and fro to monitor what the guy was doing. Finally I had a room similar to the previous one, but unluckily with the air conditioning making noise when the temperature increased and it reactivated. Moreover the shower leaked and there was a drop going on falling all night. I wore ear plugs with some improvement but still I hadn’t a good sleep. The only towel in the bathroom had seen better days and it was now gray and scratchy. I asked the guy to reserve the bus to Cartagena but he had no clue and it took several hours and much pressure to have the thing done. Luckily the morning after the bus arrived and there was again nice staff who gave me breakfast even if it was earlier than standard hours. Breakfast is good and made express: fruit, delicious juice and eggs with toast, plus tea or coffee.