KH Hotel Boutique

Outrageously overpriced 3-star property, which sells itself as a luxury boutique hotel. The supposedly posh decoration is of very bad taste and looks cheap. The receptionist and owner are extremely unpleasant and not flexible whatsoever. The location is below average, not overlooking the sea and with a ridiculously small pool. The finishings are inacceptable. There is no hot water in the bedrooms (only a malfunctioning "Colombian shower"). The so-called balcony is a placeholder for the external unit of the air conditioner. It is small and filthy. Breakfast is minimal. There isn't even a rooftop terrace.

The staff are the best part about this hotel. They were friendly and as helpful as they could be but the facilities are massively disappointing. I’d never go back. We were moved when nothing in the first room worked. So they did try their best but must have to do this all the time. No hot water for the shower which didn’t seem to surprise anybody, no live tv, the safe needed the override key as the lock wouldn’t work. even the phone in the room was dead! The second room was better but the drains were partly blocked so the bathroom floods when showering. The floors aren’t level so water just sits there until the cleaners come to mop it up. The hairdryer fused. I got a small shock when turning on the shower so there was an issue with the electrics in there too. Neither room had any views because in both the windows were screwed shut and the glass 100% covered with an opaque film and then a black out blind, and then a tv- clearly more important to deter petty crime from outside than to give a pleasant (and light) guest experience. It felt like a dungeon. The bathroom walls are clear glass- looks great at first but there’s very little privacy so you need to know each other well!! The fittings are random. Some beautiful pieces means it can be called a boutique hotel and the pool is lovely as a place to sit and relax although to small to swim. The food in the restaurant was delicious - we ate in our first night but for Colombia its overpriced. Bottles of wine double what we’d pay in the Uk- hello? The breakfast had limited options and ridiculously slow service for only a handful of guests. Although the food when it came was fresh and hot. The area was scruffy and as a tourist we had to get taxis to Santa Marta to see anything worthwhile. There’s nothing within walking distance to see or do without feeling uneasy. Even the beach is grubby and I wouldn’t swim there, It’s a bad location. I left feeling massively disappointed with this hotel and it tainted the whole visit to the Santa Marta region. Credit to the staff, lovely people but with a difficult job to do defending all these issues. I bet they don’t see many repeat bookings…