Hotel Casa El Mangle

Customer Ratings & Reviews

TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

56 reviews

• 

  Ugly and dangerous house

  The house need a good cleaning and maintenance, the ladies who live there ,if you don't pay to them for cook ,they get upset and be in the middle of everybody , fridge always full , bathrooms dont drain properly , neighborhood is very dangerous police came to guard us, and asked to better move to other safe area DANGEROUS

  Feb 12, 2019
• 

  Not the best place to stay

  We were here for 5 nights. We maded reservation because it looked very good. But this is not very good. The houde is in a very poor neighborough , about 500m outside the center, further away than the airport. I sended the day before information about our arival time. The dy we arrived, the driver called 2 times to know where the house is situated? But when we arrived, the woman who opened the gate after some times, did not know that we would arrive. There is the owner, and there is the cleaning lady who need to run the hotel. There is no communication between this 2. The cleaning lady is friendly but sh is cannot run the hotel. She speaks only spanish (on the information I saw: perfect speaking spanish and english). We speak some spanish. The lady does not understand what we ask, she doen not remember what she was telling, she has nothing te say, the owner has no confidence in her. The breakfast is very poor, there are only eggs and packed bread at home. No cheese, no marmelade. There is a kitchen, but she needed to cook water for making coffee, in a baking pan. There was only a little bit soluble coffee, 5 days nothing else. She did not find the key, we asked for another room, but that was not there. After 1 hour witing she found the key. There was no room reading for us, she did not know we were coming that day. And she was thinking that we would leave the hotel every morning. Even we telled her that we would stay five days. The house is not far from the sea, I think few people want to walk to the sea in this barrio. Even the taxidrivers at night (7 pm) did not feel very safe here. So, to go to the city, you need a taxi, since the distance is 7km. The cleaning lady called her taxi, noet a friendly man, always to late, asking 30% more than other taxidrivers. The cleaning lady ask him always because he give her good money (he telled us). On the booking websites you can see that it is possible to pay by credit card. The cleaning lady telled us that we needed to pay by cash. Because I telled her that on the websites is indicated that we could pay biy card, she called the office of the owner. Finnaly the owner called her. He said that we could pay by credit card, if we send by email all the information, a very unsafe system. So we decided to pay cash. The cleaning lady said to us that the owner would send us a recipie, but nothing of that. This is really a bad experience. We were in Colombia on 16 places, this was one of the worst.

  Apr 11, 2018
• 

  I'd Like to Give a 3.5

  OK, so if you have read any of my other reviews you will know I am honest and don't over or understate things. I'd love to be able to give a mid score of 3.5 for this converted house. The bedrooms are large and really clean, the bed was big, the breakfast was acceptable and the pool was lovely at the end of a hot day. Nadi, the house manager, was the perfect host. She arranged taxis, cooked for us and did all she could considering our limited Spanish and her zero English. So why not a 4 or 5 you might ask. Well here's the issue. The house is in a very unsafe area with no where to eat in the evening. Nadi advised us not to walk the village after dark as it's dangerous. We love to walk and trek so not feeling safe enough to walk into town was a little annoying and taxis for us are not only a rarity but a luxury also. We had to get taxis to and from the city at between $5 and $7 per journey adding anything up to $28 in one day when we headed back into town for dinner. Unfortunately had we had realised this we would have stayed in the city with the extra cost being offset by the taxi bulls In the end we completed our stay and moved closer to the city walls for a few more nights. Overall we would only recommend this hotel as long as you are aware of the safety issues and have made arrangements to eat dinner either at the house or in town before you are locked up for the night.

  Feb 25, 2018
• 

  Comfortable house

  My wife and I stayed for four nights in a double room in the main house. Everything is clean and new. The bed was very comfortable, as the hotel has only recently opened . There's a well equipped kitchen, and a pool. There is also aircon and cable TV included. The hotel is in a bad area, and you need a taxi to go anywhere. Only other issue was other guests coming home at 10pm and using the pool and playing music, waking everyone up. WiFi is OK in the rooms, best in the lounge.

  Jan 25, 2018
• 

  Great place at an unbeatable value!

  This is my second stay at Casa El Mangle and came back mainly for two reasons: The owner's great service and it's value. I'm a regular Cartagena visitor and usually have both business and pleasure trips, so I've stayed in a big number of places and hotel types; from the Hilton to this small boutique type, and this is still a very good option. It's not withing walking distance to the Old City (5-10 minute cab ride and U$4-5 investment), but just 3 blocks from the beach and some of the best hotels in town (Sonesta, Radisson, Las Americas...). On the upside, I have to give it a thumbs up, on: - Service! - Food Quality. The wonderful and friendly maid cooks delicious typical dishes, you can order for lunch or dinner at a small fee, besides the breakfast which is included in your night's stay. - Nice small pool - Simple though Cousy rooms (prefer the ones downstairs) - Easy to reach by Uber or cabs - The best... Walter's service (The owner). He even picked us up at the airport. I would say there aren't any unexpected downsides. I mean, you already know it's not downtown, it's not your regular fancy hotel and the location is not VIP. But having said all that, I'd say, you get a lot more than what you'd eventually pay for anywhere else. Would keep coming for sure. Give it a try.

  Oct 25, 2017