Hotel review: La Casa Azul, Cali, Colombia

Value
Location
Cleanliness
Rooms
Service
Breakfast included: Yes

The first impression of walking in to the courtyard of this homely hotel was a ‘wow!’; and with it’s blue-white walls and large, spacious rooms anyone would be amazed at how low-priced this place is. Located in the heart of northern Cali, close to the old city, this is a great place to stay (read below for more!) with restaurants and cafes just walking distance from the hotel. The front gate is always locked which ensures safety of the guests.

Breakfast of eggs, bread/jam/butter, coffee and orange juice is served everyday and included in the price. Being there on Christmas night in 2014, we had an opportunity to share a home-cooked meal prepared by the owner of the hotel, that included a three course dinner and wine for COP 25,000 per person (approx USD 10).

We got room number 5 which is a two bed room with AC and a private bathroom with all the modern amenities and vanities. The 24-hour hot water was an added bonus. The windows are large and separated by panels that can be individually opened or closed. But the problem was that the AC wasn’t working for the time we were there!

With no fan and no cross-ventilation, the room got really hot in the night, which led us to leaving the windows open. And this was a huge mistake because the room got filled with the mosquitoes from the central courtyard’s plants! After complaining to the owner, he got a table fan for us because no one was working during the Christmas days (Dec 24, 25). Although the fan helped a little bit in keeping the room cool, it didn’t help much with the heat and the mosquitoes.

This was a bummer in our stay at La Casa Azul and hence it gets a fewer stars from us. But all in all, this is a great place to stay with value for money.