Amarla Boutique Hotel
Nestled in the heart of Cartagena’s bustling Old City in an old 17th Century mansion you could easily walk straight past Amarla, one of the city’s most exciting (and still relatively unknown) new hotels. Unassuming from the street, aside from the tasteful palm tree sign, Amarla is an oasis of calm on Calle Ayos and the ideal base for a weekend of exploring Cartagena’s historic streets.
On entering this boutique hotel (which is only accessible by private buzzer), you’ll be swept from the heat into a beautiful shady courtyard. As soon as the door closes you’ll be struck by the sense of quiet, punctuated only by the rustle of palm leaves and the trickling of a small water fountain. This is the perfect spot for tomorrow’s breakfast of fresh fruit and the local coffee Colombia is famed for.
Every inch of this seven-room sanctuary has been carefully considered by owners Asher Warr and Robin Faulkner, and the attention to detail is telling. Each bedroom is decorated with original Colombian artisanal crafts and antiques and takes inspiration from an indigenous bird. Silk kimonos are provided for guests in each room and toiletries are all from the local plant-based brand Loto del Sur. There is no single-use plastic on the property and the team works with several local social enterprise projects to provide training opportunities and support local communities across the city and surrounding islands.
Like many of the bars and hotels in Cartagena, Amarla boasts an incredible rooftop space where guests can lounge by the pool, enjoy lunch (the catch of the day and coconut rice is the winner here), or while away long, languid afternoons. Grab one of the hotel’s signature mojitos before watching the sunset behind the candy-coloured dome of Cartagena cathedral and getting sucked into the busy streets below by the promise of a night of salsa dancing.
The hotel is a perfect base to explore Cartagena, the bohemian Gethsamani district and the surrounding Rosario Islands and Tierra Bomba. For those seeking a slow trip, and looking to stay in a hotel that feels more like a private home, albeit a beautifully curated one, Amarla is the ideal base.
