The hotel is located a couple of blocks from the public beaches and beach beer shacks. Buses to the old city travel in front of the hotel on a very regular basis and cost less than a dollar for the fifteen minute or so ride to the old walled city.

Staff at the hotel were very helpful and friendly.

The room was good with a efficient AC system. Each room has an in-room safe. Beds are firm....very firm....

Included breakfast is adequate and the Italian restaurants in the neighborhood are good if a bit pricey.

If you speak Italian this hotel is perfect as most of the guests are from Italy.

My partner and I read a review of another hotel in Panama where two men from Quebec were refused a room with one bed because the hotel had a policy against allowing two men share a bed and we changed our plans and stayed elsewhere. I am hoping this review will have the same effect on future travelers.

Because I know not everyone reads these reviews to the end, let me start by saying that our experience at this hotel ended with the owner shouting at us with a very hateful expression on her face that we were "not normal" over and over again.

My partner and I (he is a man and so am I) registered at the Hotel Pietro on Monday, September 15th, 2008. Later in the evening we left the hotel to meet a friend of ours who lives in Cartagena and who had agreed to be our guide while we were in town. After walking around for a while, we decided to return to the hotel to have a drink and to chat more about our plans. Upon returning to the hotel we were informed that we could not take an unregistered guest up to our room. Having been travelling around South America, this was not a complete surprise to us, and as we have in other locations, we offered to register and pay for a third person in our room.

The first version of this review was WAY too long, but suffice it to say that in the course of our conversation with the hotel, we were told that hotel policy was that three men were not allowed to share a room and that two men were not allowed to share a bed (our room had a double and a single). After a lengthy discussion we decided we could not stay in a hotel that discriminated against gay men and left for another hotel (where, by the way, we had no problems whatsoever.) I was told I would have to return the following day to receive a refund.

When I returned the next day to the Hotel Pietro, we asked to speak with the owner. Without detailing everything that was said, let me assure you that this was one of the most disagreeable, hateful, insulting and infuriating experiences of my life. At first the woman denied that the hotel had a problem with us and tried to say that our friend had been refused entry because he did not have identification, which was blatantly false. When we pointed out that he had never been asked for his ID the night before, her version of events changed to accusing him of being a prostitute. Happily, he was not with us at the time to hear this. When we argued against this, she started insisting that he was not only a prostitute but that he was under 18 (which is false by SEVERAL years and moves beyond the offensive into the false accusation of criminal activity.) Let me assure you that no one from the hotel ever spoke at all to my friend (we were never able to get that far with the clerk) and that any indication from the hotel that my friend is a prostitute or underage is hugely offensive and blatantly false.

This was most upsetting as we really did enjoy the hotel upon check-in. The staff was extremely courteous and we were, frankly, quite happy to be there. In all honesty, I have nothing else bad to say about this hotel. So if you do not mind supporting an establishment that discriminates against people based on their sexual orientation, buy all means stay here. But I would hope that there are people out there, not just gays and lesbians, who will feel that supporting such a business is not something they can do.

I fell in love with Cartagena and with this hotel which is great! It's very well located in Bocagrande (the best part of the city) and the service is very good too. Its cost is cheap compared with so many other hotels in the area, and breakfast is included. They serve it every morning and they offer a good variety of food for you to choose. Their restaurant serves delicious Italian and Colombian food. The staff is very helpful whenever you need any kind of information, and they speak Spanish, English and Italian. It's absolutely save and clean. I'm going to visit Cartagena again and no doubt, i'm staying at Da Pietro. Visit it and experience it.
Almost I forget, the beach is only 2 blocks from the hotel.

My wife and I stayed at this hotel in Cartagena and we were very happy with the choice we made. The staff were very attentive and friendly. We enjoyed the breakfast, which by the way is included in the price, every morning in the patio - there was plenty of food all the time. The room was nice and spacious enough for 2 people. We were never bothered by the room service and neither by the 2 parrots. This hotel has an excellent rate; we were charge around $75 dollars a night and considering the service and the location - this hotel was an excellent choice. The hotel is 2 blocks away from the beach and if you prefer to visit the historic center, there are plenty of buses just in front of the hotel that will take you there for $.50 cents as opposed to a taxi $3.00 dollars. Most of the Hotel's guests were from Europe and the USA. If we ever come back to Cartagena, we know for sure where to stay.