Hotel Rosario de Mar by Tequendama

In general a great stay, the beaches off course are the highlight! And the ambience is very nice. The staff is wonderful and they try to attend all needs with a smile. However, I visited before when it was Gente Del Mar and had a much better experience. Back then, management made sure that guest were not affected by day visitors and gave us wrist bands at check in for the staff to be able to distinguish easily between guest and daily visitors. It felt like guest really were the priority. Now, daily visitors come and take the best seatings at the beach. The first day we found ourselves sitting in 4th row really far from the beach because they come at take all the good seating so while they pay a tiny fraction of your cost as a guest they can get a better day at the beach that you… which makes absolutely no sense. Management should reserve preferential seating ( front row ) closer to the beach for the guest that actually make a considerably larger investment in their experience that others that come just for a few hours. Also, visitors should be advise not to move or touch guest belongings from their seat to take a better space. This happened to us one day and it was very uncomfortable for us to come back to our seats and find our towels and visitors belongings in our chairs instead. This caused an undesirable confrontation and although the staff quickly came to settle the situation it was not a nice way to start our day. On another note, make sure you book your flight to Cartagena the day before so you can be at the port at 8am the morning of your checking because we didn’t know this was the only time available to come to the island with the hotel so we had to take a public boat and it was very small and scary as the sea is usually rough. We took the hotel transport from the island to Cartagena and the bigger boat really made a positive difference. I hope to be back to Rosario Del Mar and see management taking measure to improve the guest experience.

This resort is one of a kind!! The location is unmatched, you essentially have an island for you and the other guests. The staff is phenomenal- Jesus, Dayana and the rest of the staff takes such good care of you. Food is amazing too. Just bring bug spray - you are in NATURE and those mosquitoes are hungry. Thank you for a fabulous few days! 🌞

One really good thing about the place is theres wifi everywhere which I didn’t expect. Location, beach etc is obviously fabulous. Staff can’t speak english and aren’t always attentive. Food is pretty good but quite a few times they haven’t been able to make things on the menu because they don’t have it. I.e. Pancakes in the morning (no milk), no beef etc. Overall I would recommend but stayed in better. Sounds like this is definitely one of the better places to stay on Isla Grande.

I would highly recommend Rosario del Mar. Its located on one of the tips of Isla Grande which gives it an extremely private and wide beach area compared to other hotels that only have a tiny strip of water that sometimes doesnt even have a beach. The food was delicious, best coconut rice I tried the entire trip. The room was comfortable, clean, and just as stated in the booking platform. I would like to point out if you want to avoid paying a very high price to local men to get there, make sure to be there by 8 AM on your check in date, and ask the hotel to put you on the boat they use for guest transportation since its the cheapest option, plus you get to spend all day at the hotel. Same for the return, make sure you hop on the 2:30PM boat back to Cartagena. Great place, great food, amazing turquoise beaches. High recommended! Will be back for sure.