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Hotel Portal de San Diego by HMC

3.5 star property

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Photo gallery for Hotel Portal de San Diego by HMC

Hallway
Exterior
Reception
32-inch flat-screen TV with satellite channels, TV
Reception

Reviews

7.8 out of 10
Good

Popular amenities

  • Breakfast included
  • Free Wi-Fi
  • Air-conditioning
  • Laundry room
  • Room service
  • Housekeeping

Explore the area

View in a map
Calle 2 de Badillo # 36 - 17, Centro Historico, Cartagena, Bolivar, 130001
  • Place, Clock Tower
    ‪3 min walk‬
  • Place, Walls of Cartagena
    ‪3 min walk‬
  • Place, Cartagena de Indias Convention Center
    ‪6 min walk‬
  • Airport, Cartagena (CTG-Rafael Núñez Intl.)
    ‪12 min drive‬

Room options

View all photos for Standard Double Room

Standard Double Room | Minibar, in-room safe, free WiFi

Standard Double Room

  • Sleeps 2
  • 1 Double Bed

View all photos for Deluxe Double or Twin Room

Deluxe Double or Twin Room | Minibar, in-room safe, free WiFi

Deluxe Double or Twin Room

  • Sleeps 2
  • 1 King Bed OR 2 Single Beds

View all photos for Family Room

Family Room | Minibar, in-room safe, free WiFi

Family Room

  • City view
  • Sleeps 4
  • 2 Queen Beds

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About this property

Hotel Portal de San Diego by HMC

Along with concierge services, this bed & breakfast has dry cleaning and laundry facilities. Free cooked-to-order breakfast and free WiFi in public areas are also provided. Additionally, a 24-hour front desk, tour/ticket assistance and a garden are on-site.
Hotel Portal de San Diego by HMC offers 11 accommodations with minibars and a safe. 32-inch flat-screen televisions come with satellite channels.

Bathrooms include a shower and complimentary toiletries. Guests can surf the web using complimentary wireless Internet access. Housekeeping is offered on a daily basis and hairdryers can be requested.

During your stay at Hotel Portal de San Diego by HMC, you're just a quick walk from Clock Tower. Features include free breakfast and free WiFi in public areas, plus dry cleaning service.
  • Free cooked-to-order breakfast served daily
  • Free WiFi
  • Services include dry cleaning/laundry, a concierge and tour or ticket assistance
  • Just a 3-minute walk from Clock Tower and 10 minutes on foot from Cartagena de Indias Convention Center
  • Airport shuttle service available for a fee
Free breakfast is served daily. WiFi is free in public spaces. Hotel Portal de San Diego by HMC also features tour/ticket assistance, a garden, and concierge services.
Guests are served a free cooked-to-order breakfast daily from 7 AM to 10 AM.
Room service (during limited hours) is available.

Property amenities

Internet

  • Available in all rooms: Free WiFi
  • Available in some public areas: Free WiFi

Parking and transport

  • Return airport shuttle (surcharge)

Food and drink

  • Free cooked-to-order breakfast available daily 7 AM to 10 AM

Family friendly

  • Laundry facilities

Conveniences

  • 24-hour front desk
  • Laundry facilities
  • Luggage storage

Guest services

  • Concierge services
  • Dry cleaning/laundry service
  • Housekeeping (daily)
  • Tour and ticket assistance

Outdoors

  • Garden

Room amenities

Bathroom

  • Free toiletries
  • Hair dryer (on request)
  • Private bathroom
  • Shower
  • Towels provided

Entertainment

  • 32-inch flat-screen TV with satellite channels

Food and drink

  • Limited room service
  • Minibar

More

  • Air conditioning (climate-controlled)
  • Phone
  • Safe

Policies

Check-in

Check-in time starts at 3 PM
Minimum check-in age - 18

Check-out

Check-out before 1 PM

Special check-in instructions

Front desk staff will greet guests on arrival at the property
Information provided by the property may be translated using automated translation tools

Access methods

Staffed front desk

Pets

  • No pets allowed

Children and extra beds

  • Children are welcome.
  • Rollaway/extra beds are not available.

Payment types at the property

Important information

Fees

Guests will be asked to pay the following charges at the property:

  • You may be required to pay the following charge at the property: Colombia value-added tax (VAT) at 19%. A VAT exemption is available to travellers who present a valid passport and tourist visa showing that they are not a resident of Colombia and who pay using a foreign card or via a bank transfer from outside Colombia. This exemption only applies to tourist package bookings (accommodation plus other travel services).

We've listed all charges provided to us by the property.

Optional extras

The fees and deposits listed below will be charged at the time of service, check-in, or check-out.

  • Airport shuttle fee: COP 45000 per vehicle (one way)

This may not be a comprehensive list. Fees and deposits are subject to change and might not include tax.

You need to know

This property is managed by a professional host. The provision of housing is linked to their trade, business or profession.
Extra-person charges may apply and vary depending on property policy
Government-issued photo identification and a credit card, debit card or cash deposit may be required at check-in for incidental charges
Special requests are subject to availability upon check-in and may incur additional charges; special requests cannot be guaranteed
This property accepts credit cards
Front desk staff will greet guests on arrival at the property.
If you cancel your booking, you'll be subject to the host's cancellation policy. In accordance with EU regulations about consumer rights, property booking services are not subject to the right of withdrawal.

We should mention

  • Visitors travelling with a child may be required by the property to present the following documents: at check-in, parents travelling into Colombia with a child under 18 may be obligated to present the child's birth certificate and photo ID (passport for non-Colombian citizens). If a relative or legal guardian is travelling into Colombia with the child, that relative or legal guardian may be obligated to present a notarised consent of travel signed by both parents, along with a copy of both parents' ID. If only one parent is travelling into Colombia with the child, that parent may be required to present a notarised consent of travel signed by the other parent. Visitors planning to travel with children should consult a Colombian consulate office in advance of travel for additional guidance.

Property is also known as

Hotel Portal de San Diego
Hotel Portal de San Diego Cartagena
Portal de San Diego
Portal de San Diego Cartagena
Portal San Diego
Portal De San Diego Hotel Cartagena
Hotel Portal San Diego HMC Cartagena
Hotel Portal San Diego HMC
Portal San Diego HMC Cartagena
Portal San Diego HMC
Portal Diego By Hmc Cartagena
Hotel Portal de San Diego by HMC Cartagena
Hotel Portal de San Diego by HMC Bed & breakfast
Hotel Portal de San Diego by HMC Bed & breakfast Cartagena

Hotel Portal de San Diego by HMC Reviews

Reviews

7.8

Good

Rating 10 - Excellent. 20 out of 75 reviews
Rating 8 - Good. 33 out of 75 reviews
Rating 6 - Okay. 17 out of 75 reviews
Rating 4 - Poor. 4 out of 75 reviews
Rating 2 - Terrible. 1 out of 75 reviews

8.2/10

Cleanliness

8.6/10

Staff & service

7.6/10

Property conditions & facilities

Reviews

8/10 Good

Kal, Atlanta

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

Old Town Gem

Very nice and small hotel located in old time. I will definitely stay here again.
Stayed 1 night in Oct 2017

4/10 Poor

Verified traveller

Liked: Staff & service
Disliked: Cleanliness, room comfort

Good Location for the price and friendly staff

This hotel has a good location in the walled city and a helpful staff, but the rest is disappointing. Towels and sheets had holes and stains. Room didn't have a closet, safe, or a working iron. The air conditioner worked, just took a long time to cool down the room and housekeeping would shut it off after cleaning the room. The staff was great and very helpful but the actual room was bad.

8/10 Good

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Our bedroom was on the front of the hotel and was so noisy at night. Good situation and beautiful place, excellent staff

6/10 Okay

Maria

The problem was Hotel.com.

The big problem was that when we arrived, they said they never received our reservation from Hotel.com. So, the problem here is Hotel.com. And it is the second time that we have a problem with our reservation with Hotel.com. The people from Hotel Portal de San Diego was very nice and helpful, and they found another hotel for us. We stayed one night there and next day we had to move to another hotel.......Not something that we had planned.....

8/10 Good

Jackie, New York

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

Simple & good low cost hotel with perfect location

I stayed here for one night. I would recommend this hotel for anyone looking for something low cost with a great central location in the old city. There were lots of great shops on the same street where you could buy gifts, food, water, etc. and all the attractions in the old city were just a short walk away. They keep the front door of the hotel locked and you have to ring the doorbell to get in, which I liked because I felt very safe traveling on my own. The hotel and location felt safe and the staff was nice. I didn't ask for much but they watched my bags for me when I got there very early and couldn't check in yet so that I walked around and did some siteseeing without having to worry about my luggage. And they helped me get a taxi back to the airport quickly when I asked. The room was small but I wasn't expecting it to be big. There was a window with a view of some rooftops, which was pretty, the shower had hot water, there was an air conditioner that worked great, and the wifi was amazing from my room. The breakfast was good too - nothing fancy but they had coffee, juice, fruit, eggs, which seems to be the typical thing at most places I stayed in Colombia (some hotels did eggs without the fruit). I had no issues and I would definitely stay here again if I was looking to stay somewhere simple and save some money with a great location and all the amenities I need without anything fancy or extravagant.

8/10 Good

Rockower, Washington, DC

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

Nice, affordable hotel in the heart of Cartagena

Nice, affordable hotel in the heart of Cartagena. All the modest comforts needed in a great location

6/10 Okay

ALBERTO, Montreal

Liked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities
Relatively small room but confortable. Bkfst contained the essentials. Very clean. Well man tainted. If you go to Cartagena is to walk around and you use the hotel room to wash and sleep. It does the job. For the price I consider it a very good deal. Yes I recommend it and I would return.

8/10 Good

Cindy, Washington, DC

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

Great B&B in the old section of Cartagena

This hotel was simply amazing- very secure, very easy to get to, very easy to be comfortable in. The inner courtyard was a great place for my friends and I to hang out, and a wonderful breakfast location in the mornings. The breakfast wasn't the best ever, but certainly was amazing to have included in the stay and very convenient. But my real review goes to the staff here- it seems like we ran into ever possible issue and they helped us out completely through everything! We arrived around midnight from the airport, and the desk is staffed 24/7, so there was no issue with checking in late. We ended up having one more person in our group than we thought we would when we booked the hotel, and they worked with us to accommodate the extra guest. And then we discovered we had accidentally booked only 2 nights instead of 3 (I know, we were terrible guests), but they shuffled some guests around to a sister hotel so that we could stay one more night in our same rooms. And that's on top of their usual duties, and helping to book an island tour for the day. I'm sure it isn't the best hotel in Cartagena, but it was clean and comfortable and just what my group needed for a few nights!

10/10 Excellent

carrie, Saint Paul, Minnesota

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

Quaint room in heart of Walled City

This room was the perfect size. I like a small, quaint, simple room though. There are no bells and whistles besides a free breakfast. There is a TV but who watches TV on a vacation? It is right in the walled city, but not right in middle of the noisiest nightlife part. 2 blocks away you can find cute restaurants. 10 minute $5 cab ride to airport

8/10 Good

jessica, Boston

Liked: Staff & service
Overall good stay. Staff was friendly and free breakfast is included. Rooms were basic, but clean. Location was close to many things, but a few blocks from some of the nicer streets. Recommend Kilo on the block for a great dinner (pricier side)!

6/10 Okay

George, Houston

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

Good price and location, but impossible to rest

Overall, the attention was great. If you want to rest, don't stay here. There is excessive noise, mostly coming from inside the hotel that is controllable but they don't attempt to fix. Loud door bell (imagine hearing that all night long. Why not a light that only the receptionist sees), drunks coming in, reggaeton blaring next door and front desk doing nothing about it, kitchen slamming dishes waking up ever guest at 7 and not apologizing.

6/10 Okay

Juan

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service

8/10 Good

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities, room comfort

Good Value with Great Central Location

Great central location right in the heart of old town Cartagena. Fairly basic accommodations but clean and has what you need. Air conditioning is only in each individual guest room; the common areas can be hot but are shaded. Front desk speaks English. Adequate fruit and eggs with bread breakfast. Satisfied with this place and think it provided good value.

2/10 Terrible

Verified traveller

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

Bad experience

We were offered the room behind the reception area. No privacy at all. It probably used to be their office. We declined to stay there. The only option was offered a very small space( I would not call it a room) with a bed for one person. Quality of breakfast just joke. Stuff- completely confused, no help at all. Minibar had an open bottle of wine. I am not sure if the room was cleaned, and checked. I would never recommended that place anyone. So many other options that pleasant.

6/10 Okay

Dave, Huntsville, AL

Liked: Staff & service
Disliked: Property conditions & facilities, room comfort

Acceptable, but Tiny

I think this is probably true of most hotels in the Old City, but the room was incredibly tiny--there wasn't even enough room for a chair, so the bed was the only place to sit. Cartagena is very hot and humid, but the window in the bathroom is open air--a kind of lattice frame, but no glass, allowing the outside air to come in--If you wanted the room to be cool, you had to keep the bathroom door closed. This open window resulted in a constant battle with ants. The staff, however, was extremely friendly and ready to help in any way they could.

8/10 Good

Dave, Huntsville, AL

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service
Disliked: Room comfort

Comfortable, no frills hotel in a good location

The rooms are quite small, but I had friends in another hotel in the old city and they said the same about theirs. Because it is so old, space is very limited--if you want a larger room, probably should opt for Bocagrande. The reason I gave it a 2 for room comfort is that there's not even enough room for a chair in this room. The location is good--close to a lot of things--and the staff was as helpful and courteous as they could possibly be. The construction is rather old--the place hasn't been remodeled in awhile, but there's nothing particularly wrong with it. Just be willing to tell the many street vendors, "No, gracias"--they will constantly bug you to buy stuff, and the initial price they quote is usually about double what they will really accept.

6/10 Okay

Lindsey , toronto

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service
Disliked: Room comfort

Good location but would not go back

The hotel was okay for the price but the Air Conditoner we so noisy that we couldn't sleep. We had to turn it off because of the noise but then the room was too hot. The bed was not that comfortable and the pillows were not comfortable. The staff were nice and the breakfast was good.

10/10 Excellent

George

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

I would book it again.

Excellent

10/10 Excellent

Katia , Salt lake city

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, room comfort

Good location, comfortable, great staff

This hotel was lovely and with the kindest staff--quiet and clean, not exactly spacious but enjoyable (like most boutique hotels).

8/10 Good

mati

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service

Just what we needed

My wife and I stayed in this hotel 2 nights in may, location was excellent we walked everywhere within the walled city and a short taxi ride to the airport. The staff was very helpful and polite they gave us a map upon arrival and told us the main tourist destinations. Our room was small, just a bed a cooler a small closet a desk and the bathroom, but very clean, free wifi worked better in the lobby area than in the rooms. The hotel does not have any other amenities but if you are not looking to stay in the room all day it will be perfect for you. They also served a yummy breakfast (eggs made to order, fresh fruit, juice and coffee)

4/10 Poor

seaNYC

Liked: Staff & service
Disliked: Cleanliness, room comfort

Doesn't quite reach "You get what you paid for" status

We were looking for a hotel in Cartagena's city center and this Hotel Portal de San Diego is ideally located. Originally we were going to pay up and stay at the Sofitel but were swayed by fairly good reviews and a much better price point (~$80). In hindsight we should have booked at Sofitel. San Diego has about 10-12 rooms, half of which are either behind the hotel lobby desk or in front of the dining area on the main floor. We stayed in the room directly behind the front desk. We could hear them and vice versa. Also, cleanliness was an issue: we found what looked to be bloodstains on the sheets after checking in. Aside from the good location, the staff was very friendly and helpful. In conclusion, I wouldn't recommend this hotel but if you are going to book, insist on an upper level room.

10/10 Excellent

melina, argentina

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

very nice

Great value for money Very charming, clean and perfectly located

8/10 Good

Bill, Williamsburg, VA, USA

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

Nice Place, Nice People

I was at Hotel Portal de San Diego for four nights on a business trip in October 2012. My room was on the 3rd floor. It was pretty basic but attractive and comfortable. Everything was very clean and the staff was friendly and helpful to me. The hotel is beautifully decorated inside. It is well-located in the historic center, only a few blocks from The Hard Rock Cafe and many shops and restaurants are nearby. A great hot al a carte breakfast was served and there was a stocked refrigerator ($1.00 beer) in the room. A few downside items were no desk or chair and a weak and unusable Wi-Fi signal (but a computer in the lobby). There was an air conditioning unit in the room but the very clean and modern bath was open to the weather through a concrete grille in the wall. That seemed strange to me. The lobby and public rooms were also open to the weather and were fairly warm. But I really liked the hotel, staf, and location and would definitely stay there again.

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

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

Everything was as good as you could ask for.

Small, quaint and beautiful hotel. An ideal location. Wonderful staff and service. Wonderful breakfasts. Very attentive and caring staff.

6/10 Okay

Danguole, Reno, NV

Liked: Staff & service
Disliked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities

Save some money and look elsewhere.

I traveled to Colombia and stayed in hostels most of the way, but with Cartagena being my last stop, I wanted to treat myself to a real hotel, and I kind of wish I would've just gotten a private room in a hostel. The good about Portal de San Diego: -The location is excellent: right in the heart of the walled city/historic center of Cartagena. There are bars, grocery stores and restaurants just yards away, too. -The staff are friendly and helpful. -I only ate breakfast here once, and it was good. -It's safe; you get buzzed into the building. The bad: -Terrible showers, considering the price. Poor water pressure, and lack of hot water at times. The temperature was also difficult to control. -Not spotlessly clean; my sheets and pillows had an odd smell the first night, until they were changed I suppose. There were also a couple small stains on my sheet that first night. -The wireless internet was fickle and would come off and on... Annoying. -The TV in the room is useless; basically static on all channels. I don't watch TV at all when traveling, but it bothers me that I probably paid for something unusable. -It's not very quiet; I had earplugs, so I slept fine, but without them I'd imagine it'd be difficult to get a good night's sleep. In sum, stay somewhere else and save some money. I stayed in cleaner hostels with better showers and more reliable internet for a fraction of the price.