La Ballena Azul Hotel

not the best place to stay in town, not the worst

We chose this hotel because we knew we would be getting to taganga late-ish in the afternoonand did not want to start looking for accommodation in the evening. It is supposed to be the best hotel in the village and we thought it would be OK for the first night, then we'd look for something else the following day.

Having taken a good look - and smell - at Taganga (read my general tips) we decided the hotel would do well for a second night... no point in looking for another cheaper place since we would just spend the last night there after visiting Tayrona national Park.

Unique Quality: According to the hotel website there are 27 rooms with air-conditioning and 4 suites with jacuzzi and sea-view. Reality is a bit different: the hotel is on two floors and "regular" rooms are on the second floor.

The first room we were shown had a fan on the ceiling but was badly run down - dilapidated I would say, and it had all smells of this world. Price: 160000 COP. basically a rip-off as it looked like we would be sleeping with cockroaces. The second room was much better and came at 200000 COP, again a rip off but it was the bext they had... freshly painted, clean and with seaview: no sign of the jacuzzi, though. Not that we cared. Breakfast was included.

On the ground floor you can find very basic rooms (no air-con, no ceiling-fans) sold to backpackers for about 30000 COP provided you are willing to share it with whoever turns up. The saddest rooms I have ever seen. Breakfast was not included.

4 Suites con jacuzzi en la terraza,
vista al mar y cocina

• Opinion of Price: more expensive than average

La Ballena Azul Hotel Photo: detail, our room

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