Cartagena Reports

[QUOTE=Trojan22;2405784]Thanks for responding. How much are the love motels? And are they generally pretty safe?[/QUOTE]There is a big distinction to make between 1) "love HOTELS" in Centro, including inside the walls, Getsemani and Bocagrande, and 2) the "love MOTELS" in Crespo. I see often confusion here between "motel" and "hotel", but remember what is a "motel": a "motor hotel".

1) They are everywhere. Do not bother to find them in advance. The girl will take you there. Warning: they are for short time (what girls call "1 hour") meaning wham-bam-thankyoumadame. Go there if you are NOT looking for a girlfriend experience, but just fucking.
I believe that the main driver to go to CTG, and afford the expensive nightlife of CTG, should be pretending to have a GF for a while, even few hours on a night, and therefore I seldom patronized these cheap short time places. They cost from 15 k up to maybe 40 k-50 k (those rooms available for 5 k are a memory of 10 years ago).

2) This is a totally different story. Most famous are 3: La Jaiba, Las Dunas, La Cangreja (I have been many times to La Jaiba). I remember prices of 10 years ago, but even now a room should be from from maybe 40k up (minimum 2 hours). Definitely cheap for what is provided: a room typically includes a pole for dancing, love chair, etc. Do not neglect the jacuzzi. It's a GREAT place. Las Dunas is even better.
The taxi drives inside and leaves you at the door, in full privacy. At the gate, they do not even request an ID, or at least they did not when I was a frequent guest there, say from 5 to 10 years ago.
I would go there only if I stay in a good hotel in Centro or Bocagrande (not girl friendly by definition) instead of an apartment, and the girl is more than a simple "1 shot" experience.
Taxi should charge less than 20 k, maybe more to go back (how you go back if you reject the taxi?

P.S.: why don't you read the Cartagena List?

[QUOTE=MojoBandit;2406956]I stayed in Marin and I was a little surprised by the fact that the apartment was actually a little nicer than the photos made it look, these apartments are dated looking and in the past were probably described as really nice but now they are just showing their age a little but still clean and the one I stayed had great AC, great hot water, and a washer and dryer. In the past I had stayed at Playa which is just next door, but I was surprised that from Marin there is a better view out to the open sea. The coast of Laguito faces a large island. Tierra Bomba but you still also get a view of the open sea to your left from you balcony. I have a Google Pixel phone that has "Night View" camera option but they still may not look as good posted here because they get compressed.

Like Xpartan said the building itself is not nice at all but no problem bringing in guests, and once inside the apartment I would say it is nice enough. Its certainly not luxury and not "posh" but not that bad either.[/QUOTE]Just got back from staying in the Palmetto elliptic apts. Rules are no unregistered guests after 10 pm but a quiet talk with the night guard and 50 k took care of the problem. Best to arrange before you head off to the clock tower. Be aware that the owner said the building rules were all quests welcome no rules when I asked before booking. Some will tell you what you want to hear to get you to book so be aware. Have used Juan's and they are okay but are very dated and don't compare with the elliptic which was nice. Maybe someone out there has names of other buildings that are cooperative.

[QUOTE=IamElvis;2407237]Just got back from staying in the Palmetto elliptic apts. Rules are no unregistered guests after 10 pm but a quiet talk with the night guard and 50 k took care of the problem. Best to arrange before you head off to the clock tower. Be aware that the owner said the building rules were all quests welcome no rules when I asked before booking. Some will tell you what you want to hear to get you to book so be aware. Have used Juan's and they are okay but are very dated and don't compare with the elliptic which was nice. Maybe someone out there has names of other buildings that are cooperative.[/QUOTE]Palmetto Elliptic did change to this no unregistered guest after 10 pm rule recently, which is very unfortunate since this further reduces the choices of chica friendly places to stay in Cartagena.

[QUOTE=Ggekko2009;2407304]Palmetto Elliptic did change to this no unregistered guest after 10 pm rule recently, which is very unfortunate since this further reduces the choices of chica friendly places to stay in Cartagena.[/QUOTE]That happened because someone did something crazy and people complained. Another reason not to post building names here or you'll just ruin them.

[QUOTE=AmorPorFavor;2406892]I'm headed to Cartagena in January. This is my first trip to Colombia. The forum has been a great source of info, thanks guys. Can anybody help me out with which bank ATM's charge the lowest transaction fees to get cash?[/QUOTE]This is a little different but one night I was looking for the best exchange rates outside of the airport and found out that my bank, Bank of America actually can get you just about any foreign currency you need at a much better rate than any of the airport kiosk. Since then I always get my foreign cash before I set foot in any country and never have to go to the ATM. I'm good at budgeting so I always end up with money at the end of my trip. I'm not sure you're interested in that or if you bank at a bank that does this, but that could be the way to go and not have to worry about going to the ATM. There are plenty around if you do. Can't remember the transaction fees though. Have fun.

[QUOTE=YippieKayay;2407346]That happened because someone did something crazy and people complained. Another reason not to post building names here or you'll just ruin them.[/QUOTE]You stated an obvious truth. I lost hope however. No way to convince people to stop. I just hope that "my" places will not be ruined by some asshole behaving as a barbarian.

Thanks to responders re the Marin apt.

Actually I'm not too bothered about luxury, I don't really care about gold taps or whatever the definition of luxury is.

I'm looking for safety, I don't want "walks of shame", want a good location, and "sufficient" facilities. No craaazy parties next door, no shootings or bodies in the lobby (I'm looking at you Johannesburg).

On the monger front my plan is to hit the beach daytime, buy some drinks, spread some love and take back a cash starved chica for some afternoon fun.

Later in the day, after a sound steak meal and 10 MG cialis I'll hit the square in the old town, a couple of bars and try and repeat this trick.

I need a good selection of chicas to choose from, my favorite type being early twenties, stacked, can be "curvy" (or woman shaped as I prefer to understand it) and for me a 2 hour relationship is akin to marriage. I'm not really looking for a pretend girlfriend, happy to sleep alone after the event.

In 2005 Cartagena was heaven for this. Hoping to repeat that experience.

[QUOTE=Drf1987;2407369]This is a little different but one night I was looking for the best exchange rates outside of the airport and found out that my bank, Bank of America actually can get you just about any foreign currency you need at a much better rate than any of the airport kiosk. Since then I always get my foreign cash before I set foot in any country and never have to go to the ATM. I'm good at budgeting so I always end up with money at the end of my trip. I'm not sure you're interested in that or if you bank at a bank that does this, but that could be the way to go and not have to worry about going to the ATM. There are plenty around if you do. Can't remember the transaction fees though. Have fun.[/QUOTE]Most banks offer this service. Rates vary widely. It looks like Bank of America's rate is about 8% under current rates. That's much better than airport currency exchange rates, but not as good as ATM rates with a no fee card. It's about comparable with currency exchange places located away from the airport.

[QUOTE=YippieKayay;2407346]That happened because someone did something crazy and people complained. Another reason not to post building names here or you'll just ruin them.[/QUOTE]I agree there are plenty of knuckleheads out there that ruin things. Don't think that putting the name out of a building described as practically a brothel is going to change things.

[QUOTE=IamElvis;2407581]I agree there are plenty of knuckleheads out there that ruin things. Don't think that putting the name out of a building described as practically a brothel is going to change things.[/QUOTE]Well there are several that allow all night guests. You just need to ask what the rules are before renting. Those rules change so I don't post building names.

It's a little bit of leg work. I did the same when I went to Medellin. No big deal.

There is no way out just to post and ask for response, it's just important to book at the right place. Have stayed in the past in MDL (Mirador Del Laguito), is it still GF? What about other Laguito buildings: Playa, Marin and Torres and others? Any suggestion and recent examples are welcome; I know it's boring but essential. Thank you.

[QUOTE=IamElvis;2407237]Just got back from staying in the Palmetto elliptic apts. Rules are no unregistered guests after 10 pm but a quiet talk with the night guard and 50 k took care of the problem. Best to arrange before you head off to the clock tower. Be aware that the owner said the building rules were all quests welcome no rules when I asked before booking. Some will tell you what you want to hear to get you to book so be aware. Have used Juan's and they are okay but are very dated and don't compare with the elliptic which was nice. Maybe someone out there has names of other buildings that are cooperative.[/QUOTE]I can easily live with 10 PM cutout -- in fact, I do prefer spending the night alone and am not crazy about having a girl overnight. The problem is, though, that the Clock Tower is my preferred way of getting laid in CTG, and it doesn't "open" that early. As such, 200 K for a girl, 50 K "propina", plus cab fares (that surely will skyrocket now that Uber's been outlawed) all add up to the already overpriced scene.

From what I've experienced in my 6 times to Cartagena, there is no truly hard and fast no guest policy for AirBnB. The doormen do not make very much money and can be easily bribed. When I stayed in a building in El Centro that my AirBnB host told me was specifically not guest friendly, I slipped each of the door men who worked there 50 k cop each, and they didn't ask to register any girl I brought back. I had chicas running in and out of a nice building for the duration of each of my stays (typically 1 month).

Long story short, build even the smallest rapport with the doorman and slip him some cash. They will gladly turn the other way.

Is Mery Salence is still in rental business? I rented from her in the past too, just can't recall what has been since.

Curious to know how the Uber ban has affected cab fares from someone who's visited after the ban went into effect.

I know some Spanish but not a fluent speaker so using Uber and having the destination already entered on the app before pick up was pretty sweet when I visited Medellin.