Medellin, like other cities around the world have a plethora of accomodation choices, from hostels, apartments, hotels, motels and apart-hotels. I originally booked Provenza Lofts but felt it’d be too isolating being in an apartment that I wanted to look into other options. The Charlee Hotel is their 5 star hotel, all the bells and whistles of a fancy luxury hotel. Marquee is a close second.
If you’re staying in Parque Lleras in El Poblado near Calle 10 a good budget option is Epic Boutique Hotel. It’s definitely not fancy but it’s nice, clean, and most importantly the front desk staff – Franco, Mateo, Nicole and Kevin are a delight. For about $50-$60 USD a night, not a bad choice.
A lot of review will complain about the noise, but that’s a common theme for this area – any hotel you stay at, including the luxury hotel, you’ll hear a lot of music at night – this area is basically party central. It doesn’t make a difference whehter it’s Saturday night or a Tuesday night, music is played loudly in every hotel / bar / club / rooftop. They will provide you with earplugs at the front desk if you like – they’ll also mention the noise when you check in. However, that being said – the room does a good job of isolating most of it so I didn’t have an issue getting any sleep, and I didn’t use any ear plugs.
PROs:
- Staff: As mentioned, Franco, Mateo, Nicole and Kevin are great. They speak English and are super helpful when asking about tours, booking covid tests for the return home and suggestions around the neighborhood.
- Location: If this is your first time in Medellin, you’d want to stay in this are for at least a night to get a feel for the craziness. It’s also foreigner central, a lot of restaurants around and you’ll find more people speaking at least a little English here than other areas.
- Room: The room isn’t large by any means, they do have a suite with a jacuzzi if you’d like but big enough for me. You got your standard, bed and table. TV is on the wall and there’s a safety locker in the closet, doesn’t fit a laptop but it’s fine. The bed was comfortable. Body wash / Shampoo / Conditioner are in bottles attached to the tile, there is a rainshower though. Just as important there is an elevator.
- Rooftop is a bar that’s open every night and has great views. It’s open during the day if you want to just hang out and work or check out the view.
- Tip: Ask for a room on a higher level – better overall noise protection.
Things to Consider
(not really Cons though but might be important to some people)
- Water: Nothing that would prevent me from staying again but you get a replacement glass bottle of water everyday – when I asked for more, they suggested to go to the store and buy it since they don’t have a kitchen. Not a big deal except it was around 2-3am and I was a bit parched.
- Food: As above, no kitchen – so no food / breakfast. Not a con for me but some people may prefer breakfast included in the room rate.
- Lobby: No real lobby area, they have space and apparently had a bar or breakfast at one point and the owners are deciding what to do with it. I have a bunch of suggestions but it would be nice to have an area where people can hang out, relax and work without it looking like a construction site.
- Noise, again – not a big deal for me, I slept well every night but in addition to music, there are a few other properties going up so you might get some construction noise.
