Review of Colombia Jake's Place
[QUOTE=Exoticspirit;1782176]What if I don't want to go to a fancy restaurant (although I'm sure the girls do) [/QUOTE]These girls are poor. Taking them out to a "normal" restaurant for hamburgers would be a treat for them, assuming they haven't been ruined by other gringos. These girls might work all day long at a market or cafe somewhere, a 12-hour shift, and make 25-30 k pesos. If you give them 150 k for an evening, that's a week's wages at a normal job. That said, take them where you want. You have to be assertive without being an ass; do not for one minute let them think they control anything, or they will eat you alive.
I have seen one honest review of Colombia Jake's place, where the guy said it is an old apartment. If you see any reviews of Jake's calling it a "hotel", you are in for a surprise when you visit. It is fascinating that a person can log on as a regular forum user, advertise his own business (falsely), log in with fake accounts to promote it, and barely get called out on it by other users familiar with the Medellin scene.
Jake's is an old apartment in Poblado. It is dirty, and your "maid service" is Jake himself. Not exactly the kind of place many of us would go on vacation. While he does have a couple large rooms, the "small room" with a full bath is a maid's quarters, and if you have seen these in Colombia, you know they are barely big enough for a bed. Think jail cell. There is another narrow room he rents out right next to the balcony that looks like it's just been partitioned off from the living room. Bottom line: if you are dead set on going to Jake's, make sure to ask how many people will be there during your stay- if it's more than 2, I'd pass.
On the upside, his girls are hot and with his service, they are not "on the clock". When you figure out the hourly rate, it's a good deal.
Cultural activities with the girls?
[QUOTE=Exoticspirit;1782176]What if I don't want to go to a fancy restaurant (although I'm sure the girls do) and instead, would rather explore local markets that have authentic, local food? I don't know if any such markets are open during the evenings there but as a cultural tourist as well, I would be much more interested in these. Would the girls be kind of put off by these as being a bit too downscale and therefore result in a lacklustre vibe?[/QUOTE]Like any good monger you seem to be trying to compare Medellin to other places you have hobbied, which is usually a good idea. However the Mansion and Jake's place are in Poblado, which is the nicest / richest neighborhod in Medellin and it is pretty built up with offices, condos, malls, bars, clubs, food places, etc. I am not aware of any night markets or other local cultural activities that are open in the evenings in this area. So if you are with a girl and want to take her for food after your business is done, Park LLeres is only a $4 cab ride away and there are lots of places to grab a drink and some food (local Colombian food is always available) and it shouldn't cost more than $25 unless you and the girl have a lot of drinks.
Honestly Jake's girls come from poorer neighborhoods and if you buy them a meal they are not snobby about where it comes from. The issue I had is that a lot of the nice places close up around 10 pm on a weeknight, so even when I wanted to take the girl for a good meal, I was stuck going to the row of fast food places nearby that are open a bit later as I wanted to hang out in the room before eating. The girls were more than happy with fast food.
For cultural activities, its probably better to explore Medellin during the day. Also there are a number of good hostels near the Mansion and Jakes. The front desk people at each hostel can tell you about tours and other activites and can sell you tickets. I took a Medellin bike tour that was excellent and there are other well known tours, like the Pablo Escobar tour. AS far as asking a girl to be your tour guide, remember that these girls don't speak English so communication can be tough. Also Medellin is a city that is very spread out, so a good tour would require a car and driver. A tour from a hostel is going to be cheaper and more organized, but the guide will obviously be less attractive.