Sofitel Baru exceeded our expectations. We love to stay at Four Seasons or Fairmonts when we travel to Hawaii, and while nothing can beat the Hualalai on the big Island, this hotel is on par with the Maui Four Seasons (we even had an occasional little beach side treat brought by). Since it had just opened occupancy was low, but that was heavenly for us as we had our choice of beach chairs or pool side cabanas and the staff were incredibly attentive. We felt like we had a private resort almost to ourselves and LOVED that. The food was excellent at each of the restaurants, and the breakfast buffet was as well, a wide variety to choose from and beautifully layed out. We appreciated alternating between restaurants each evening, and finished off each night on the rooftop bar. The setting is heavenly, large white sand beach and so peaceful and quiet. The infinity pools looking over the beach are lovely. We appreciated the decor throughout, so much attention to detail, and the rooms were spacious and the beds very comfortable. Our rooms were in one of the buildings closest to the beach with unobstructed beach views. We took advantage of the scuba diving through the hotel activity center, we are all certified already. We loved diving the sunken boats and art installations, just a 5-7 minute boat ride from the hotel. For sure try to come and go by boat, we took taxis from the airport when we arrived and the ride was long and on gravel roads for the last half hour. The boat back to the city when we left was so much nicer! The other hotel we had looked at was Las Islas, and we swung by there another day when our dive boat picked up a diver there. Given we were traveling with two young adult children, we were so happy to have ended up at Sofitel rather than Las Islas which would have been too small and quiet for our family. Followed this with a few days in the old city and it was a perfect holiday!

All in all the service was excellent for a hotel that had only been open for a couple weeks, our areas for improvement are all very small things. Very little actual cell phone service, we relied on face time audio to make calls over the hotel wifi (which was good). There is not yet an ATM machine, so come with cash if you want it on hand for leaving tips at the end of your stay. And, not a problem at all, but cocktail menus would be nice for those times you want some fun poolside cocktail but don't know what off the top of your head.

Architecture is elegant, yet not overdone and marries perfectly with the surroundings. Restaurants variety is good and the views from everywhere in the hotel are breathtaking. Rooms are clean and with a beautiful view and very comfortable and modern. Playroom for kids is amazing. Pools are beautiful, so is the gym.

The hotel doesn't have any recycling bins anywhere in the hotel. The hotel gives away as courtesy small plastic water bottles yet no recycle bins are found anywhere inside the hotel. I wish that the Sofitel would be more environmentally responsible and maybe give away water bottles and have refill water stations or at least use recycle bins and treat its plastic waste.

All is super nice, and finally something there is luxury, from what you else see in Cartagena - There is a lot of 5 star hotel In Cartagena, but no one of them looks and feels like a hotel there should have 5 stars! The new Sofitel is REALLY a 5 star hotel !! Only minus is that not so many is speaking English, and no good vins to drink to all the good food!

Not so good English speaking workers in the bars and restaurants. No good Vins to drink to all the good food in all the restaurants!! But I guess in a few months it will be better, as it only have open since 1st December 2021

Excellent facilities, very friendly and helpful staff. Amazing location with beautiful sunsets. 6 pools and a private beach and bars everywhere.

The food wasnt as good as we thought it would be for a hotel of this calibre.

I wouldn’t advise the arrival by land. The construction site for the massive residences being built is very awful. 6 floors buildings times 10 or more being built behind the hotel. Not pleasant. ideal to arrive by boat from Cartagena. We had to downgrade from a Luxury more expensive room because the construction machines were closer and could be heard during day time in that building. we accepted the change for a more central smaller bedroom with no bathtub. There was no compensation for that inconvenience and when suggested to have a car from the boat else paid to leave for the airport it was denied. In a place that has the pretension to be special this is not acceptable and a flaw.

From the minute you arrive there are people waiting on you for everything. Their staff goes above and beyond at every turn. The rooms are amazing with wonderful views and balconies. The bathrooms are a good size and are exceptionally clean. They bring you water every day for the Nespresso machine that is provided in your room. I will say that I wish that the beds were more comfortable. They are quite hard, but that’s just my preference. There are three great restaurants and the cutest little food truck that is on the beach. They have six or seven pools and the whole beach is only for the hotel guests. It was a wonderful stay. We loved our stay and plan to go back with our kids!

The beds were a little hard for my liking.

I have spent a wonderful 4-day stay at Sofitel Calablanca and can’t recommend it enough. From the moment I arrived, the staff was incredibly attentive and kind, always willing to assist with a smile. The premises are beautifully maintained, and my room offered a breathtaking view of the pools and a pristine beach. My mornings were made special with early strolls along the beach, followed by delicious breakfasts at Cala Blanca restaurant. I must extend my heartfelt thanks to William and Juan for their impeccable service; they truly made me feel welcomed and at home. A special mention must go to Yuris Torreglosa from housekeeping, who ensured our lodging was neat and comfortable every day, she is no doubt a great asset for Sofitel. The thoughtful touch of red fruits tea each day was a delightful treat that added to the overall excellence of my stay. I leave Sofitel Calablanca with nothing but gratitude for their wonderful work. The warm hospitality and attention to detail made my journey a truly memorable one. Thank you to all the staff, and I look forward to my next visit.

The only thing I didn't like was there was no reasonable price for transportation from the hotel to Cartagena.

Sofitel Staff—- I wanted to give a huge shout out to all the staff at the Sofitel. We stayed Mar 6-10th for my husbands 45th birthday. It hit all our bucket list items. Relaxing, comfortable, clean, safe and beyond gorgeous. The first night, March 6th, we did the Mystic Beach dinner. It was such a magical night. Our waiter and private chef (I didn’t write their names down but they need a big shout out) they did a phenomenal job. The food was epic-able. Excellent choices with the wine selection. We’re still talking about the salmon, and beet rose salad. They made my husbands birthday dinner such a special evening. Thank you! We had so much fun with the music, food, and wine. They worked so hard in the wind to make it perfect, which it was. We had breakfast included with our stay. Our breakfast staff Osvaldo, Ana, Brenda, Said, and Orleans helped us every morning. Smiles on their faces. They helped explain the local fruits and foods, and offered good recommendations on how to eat the local food. Great customer service. We really loved our morning staff. They started the morning off right. Osvaldo asked every morning how our snorkel tour went, how the bike tour went, how we’re enjoying ourselves. He was so personable and we loved chatting with him every morning. We did the rooftop bar for cocktails and tapas. Emerson was knowledge and appreciated good food and cocktails as much as we did. He had great recommendations and was very personable. We enjoyed our evening because of his above and beyond service. For lunches we loved the Bahia cuisine. The ceviche and tar tar were so delicious. We loved the selection of the cocktails at that bar the best, especially for the pool. We loved the botanical with vodka. Victor, David, and Hernando went above and beyond making our lunches and drinks perfect for us. Hernando went above and beyond with service when he was busy and brought the drinks to us at the pool so I didn’t have to wait at the bar.

The location is amazing and the decoration is very nice. we had a room with a great view of the beach. The photos of the hotel in booking are not as good as the reality. The gym facility is great.

It seems that the hotel is still in running period. we had a very bad experience during dinner, we had to wait for the first container do 2 hours and than we just left without Waiting for the rest of our order. At the time no one came to apologize and after we left 2 more table did the same as we did. I must say that the management of the hotel come to us the next day to refund us for breakfast and late checkout.

The service

The service charge because no body is told that it is voluntary, and therefore illegal.People should be told ahead of time what it means, and that it is voluntary.