Holiday Inn Express Cartagena Bocagrande

Walking into the Holiday Inn Express Cartagena Bocagrande feels like taking a breath of fresh air. The sleek lobby feels like a respite from Bocagrande’s bustling streets — and we won’t lie, the blast of freezing cold air-conditioning always feels good after a day spent enduring the city’s sultry temperatures. Midcentury sofas are arranged beneath globular light fixtures and three singular white cubes act as front desks. Natural light floods the space, thanks to a front wall of windows. Much of the front desk staff speaks English and Spanish, so travelers needn’t worry about a language barrier when checking in. The majority of guests at the Holiday Inn Express are business travelers. Because of its modern event space, the hotel hosts a lot of conferences and business functions. During our visit, a local film crew was using all five of the hotel’s meeting rooms while they were in Cartagena shooting scenes for a movie.  

The Holiday Inn Express Cartagena Bocagrande is located in Bocagrande (shocker), Cartagena’s Miami-like neighborhood with lively beaches and a vibrant nightlife scene. The hotel is located on Avenida San Martin (Carrera 2), one block from the beach and within walking distance of multiple shops, restaurants, bars, malls, and casinos. The Holiday Inn Express is about a 10-minute drive from Cartagena’s historic walled city, and about a 20-minute drive from Rafael Nunez International Airport.  

If you didn’t know you were staying in a Holiday Inn Express, you might think the hotel’s rooms belonged to a more upscale chain hotel, like a Marriott or a Hilton. Trendy gray laminate flooring is nicely paired with chocolate furniture and lime green accents, giving rooms a contemporary, but inviting feel. Beds are topped with white duvets, and both soft and firm pillows. Thoughtful bedside amenities include reading lights, iPod docks, and tons of usable outlets. Each room is equipped with a desk and ergonomic desk chair, a wall-mounted flat screen TV, and more storage space than a New York City apartment. Mini-fridges are loaded with drinks and snacks, but you’ll have to pay for anything you consume. However, the single cup coffeemakers are free to use. Bathrooms are tiny and tight on space but, like the rest of the room, decor is top-notch. The vanity area features travertine counters and a round vessel sink. A floating mirror hangs in front of textured green tile, which, along with the glass enclosed shower, gives the tiny bathrooms an ultra contemporary feel. The hotel provides guests with Bath & Body Works toiletries and hairdryers, and more towels than you’ll probably know what to do with. Hot water and great water pressure are givens here. There aren’t many room types at the Holiday Inn Express, but guests have a few options. Twin Rooms and Queen Bed Rooms are the entry-level options, and as you may have guessed, they’re equipped with either two twin beds or one queen-size bed. King Superior rooms are sort of like upgrading to a suite — they’re a bit larger and have an additional chaise lounge and seating area. Decor and amenities are the same throughout. 

The Holiday Inn Express is packed with nice amenities. The hotel’s rooftop alone is home to a breakfast room, an outdoor pool, a fitness center, and even a small spa. Additional amenities include five meeting and event spaces, an on-site mini-market, and a business center in the lobby. Breakfast and Wi-Fi are free for all guests. The Wi-Fi is excellent and works well across the property.   Located on the roof, the hotel’s breakfast room has great views of the city below. Guests can choose to eat their breakfast indoors, or beneath a covered patio. The room is bright and airy, and filled with modern high-top tables. Breakfast is served buffet style, and typically includes eggs, Colombian rice, fresh fruit, and a selection of breads. Some guests complain that breakfast selections can be repetitive, but for a free breakfast, we’d say the spread is pretty decent. Just beyond the breakfast room is the hotel’s rooftop pool. In a city where daily temperatures usually rise above 90 degrees Fahrenheit, the pool gets a lot of use. There’s even a tiny kids' pool for the little ones. The pool area is surrounded by a few lounge chairs and tables, but there aren’t any umbrellas — which can be torturous in Cartagena’s brutal sun. Also on the rooftop are the hotel’s small spa and fitness center. The spa has two tiny massage rooms — one for singles and one for couples — but that’s about it. Don’t expect a hair and nail salon or a hydrotherapy room at this place. The fitness center is also small, but is equipped with everything you might need for a quick workout. There are a few treadmills, ellipticals, and bikes, as well as free weights and a weight machine.  The hotel’s five meeting and event spaces are located on the second floor mezzanine, just above the lobby, and can host large-scale functions for up to 140 people. Rooms can be opened up and closed off as necessary, and all rooms have modern audio-visual equipment. Downstairs in the lobby there’s a small business center and a mini-market. The business center is really just a communal desk with a few computers and printers, but it's handy for printing boarding passes or tickets to local events. The mini-market is stocked with snacks and drinks, beer, wine, coffee, and even a few local souvenirs.