Island & Ocean View 1-Bedroom + Balcony

A RENOVATED APARTMENT ON THE 22ND FLOOR, LOOKING OUT OVER THE CARIBBEAN

You wake up, open the bedroom door, and the first thing you see through the living room window is water. From the 22nd floor the view runs out across the bay to the island of Tierra Bomba, and on a clear morning you can watch the boats crossing while the coffee is brewing. The balcony is where most of the day ends up happening - breakfast, a call, a drink at sunset.

This is a 50 m2 small apartment, and we have never pretended otherwise. It is built for one or two people who want somewhere genuinely comfortable rather than somewhere big. If that is you, we think you will like it here very much.

THE APARTMENT

Everything was recently renovated — floors, bathroom, kitchen, furniture. Nothing in here is left over from a previous decade.

The bedroom is a separate room with a door, not a curtained-off corner of the living area. On a two-night trip that hardly matters. On a three-week stay it changes everything: you can work, or watch something, or go to bed early without the two of you living on top of each other. The bed is a proper queen double, and the windows are thermo-acoustic- more on that further down.

The living room has a sofa, a smart TV, a small work surface by the window and air conditioning of its own. There is a second TV in the bedroom.

The kitchen is equipped for actual cooking — pots, pans, knives, plates, the things you need if you plan to make dinner rather than reheat something. After seven years of hosting here, we have learned which items guests actually reach for, and those are the ones we keep replacing.

The bathroom is new, with a walk-in shower, and the washing machine is in the corner. Not glamorous, but if you are staying three weeks it is the single most useful thing in the apartment.

IF YOU ARE STAYING LONGER

Most of our guests do not come for a weekend. They come for a few weeks, or a month, and a lot of what we have put into this apartment is aimed squarely at them.

There is a desk with a real office chair, not a dining chair pulled up to a table. The internet is fast enough to hold a video call without apologizing to the other end. The washing machine means you do not need to plan around a laundry service. The kitchen means you are not eating out twice a day for a month.

For monthly stays, the rate is all-inclusive: electricity, water, building administration fees and two cleanings per month are part of the price. Cartagena is hot, the air conditioning runs, and we would rather absorb that than send you a bill at the end. You will find no resort fee, no utility surcharge, no cleaning fee added at checkout.

THE BUILDING

El Conquistador is one of the largest residential buildings in Colombia, right next to the Hilton at the tip of El Laguito. It has 24-hour reception and security, and every person entering is registered — which is exactly the reason it feels safe to come home at night.

It is also a lively building, full of holidaymakers, many of them Colombian families who are here to enjoy themselves. That is part of its character, and we would rather tell you now than have you discover it on a Saturday night. Music from elsewhere in the building or from nearby can happen on a weekend. The thermo-acoustic windows in the bedroom deal with it — close them and the room is quiet. Building quiet hours run from 11 PM to 6 AM and are enforced.

EL LAGUITO

El Laguito sits at the very tip of the peninsula, with water on three sides. That is why we chose it.

You are never more than a few minutes from the sea, and there are three separate beaches within walking distance, each with its own character, so you pick one by mood rather than by convenience. It is noticeably greener than the rest of the tourist area — Bocagrande is high-rises and traffic; here there are trees, and the streets go quiet as soon as you step off the main road.

A few places we go ourselves. Intriga Tropical sits on the lagoon directly behind the building — about as close as a restaurant can reasonably be. Richissimo is unpretentious, with its dining area right by the sea. El Muelle is on the beach itself, built in the traditional style. And Wala is the beach club, for a day with a lounger and someone bringing you things. None of them are chains.

For everything else there are two small supermarkets, and a scattering of convenience stores and pharmacies that stay open late — so when you realize at 10 PM that you are out of coffee, or need something from a pharmacy, you walk around the corner instead of taking a taxi into town.

What we enjoy most is that it still feels like a neighborhood rather than a resort strip. The old walled city is a short taxi ride away when you want it, and then you come home to somewhere calm.

HOW WE HOST

Most apartments in Cartagena are rented out remotely by owners who live in another country and a cleaner who holds the keys. This one is different, and it is the part we are most proud of.

We manage it ourselves, and our team is in the building. You are met in person when you arrive, not handed a code and left to figure it out. Reception handles your registration, and we cover the registration fee ourselves rather than passing it on to you. If the air conditioning stops working on a Tuesday, someone is there on Tuesday.

We communicate by WhatsApp, which is how everything works in Colombia, and we answer quickly. Before you arrive you will get clear instructions, how to get here from the airport, how to get in, what to know about the building. Nothing is left for you to guess.

A FEW HONEST NOTES

We would rather you know these before you book than discover them after.

Occupancy: two people sleep in the apartment, including you. This is set by the size of the apartment and by the building, and it is not something we can flex.

Visitors: you are welcome to have people over. Every visitor registers at reception with a valid ID or passport and must be of legal age — without ID, building security will not let them up. Up to six people in total can be registered for your booking, including you. Registering a visitor is free and we arrange it. If you are staying 22 nights or longer and need more, just ask and we will sort it out with reception. Full details are in the house rules.

Air conditioning: the apartment has an energy-saving system, so the A/C switches off when you leave. It cools quickly when you come back. It is not designed to run all day in an empty apartment, and that is part of why the monthly rate can stay all-inclusive.

Check-in is from 8:00 AM and check-out is before 1:00 PM. Earlier or later is sometimes possible — ask us and we will do what we can.

If anything here is unclear, message us before you book. We would rather answer ten questions now than have you arrive expecting something different.