Apartahotel Montes la 70

Casa Mayor Like most places, it only takes one bad thing to sour an entire experience. This hotel is centrally located in the city of Medellin. I booked here because local tours started nearby. It is less than 100 metres from a metro station. The rooms are a good size, with a desk and very wide bed, though not overly long. There is an air conditioner and minifridge, big TV but strangely no hairdryer. The bathroom is small but modern, including a rainfall shower and the water pressure is decent. Breakfast is included and you can ask for freshly cooked eggs with different accompaniments. The internet works well if you find the right connection. In summary, the hotel has all one would need and the facilities are fine. You may want to turn the fridge off. Every time the compressor kicks in, it’s really loud and woke me up repeatedly through the night. Now the experience. Of course, most people don’t have problems, so you can judge the hotel by the review above. However, for me, I cannot forgive the treatment I received upon checking in. The taxi that was supposed to meet me at the airport (a long way out of town) did not turn up. After waiting 30 minutes and quite flustered, I opted for an airport taxi. I will say that pre-booking taxis in South America is not necessary. The airport taxis are reliable and as long as you get a quote before departure, you will not be swindled in any way. Lesson learned. The quote from the airport taxi ended up being the same as the pre-booked taxi anyway (which was about $US33). The drive down off the hill where the airport is and then through the peak hour city traffic took close to 50 minutes. When I arrived at the hotel, I was tired and ready for relaxing in my room. Then I met a crotchety elderly gentleman on reception. He had no record of my reservation apparently. I didn’t have a full copy of it, only the confirmation number through *******. He spoke basically no English so Google Translate had to be utilised. He asked what my rate quote was and I accidentally said $US110, instead of $110 Australian. Then he wouldn’t accept card and only cash. I handed over $US110 and then realised my error and tried to change the charge. No way he was returning any of my money. Right then and there, I was too agitated to argue so I went to my room. After resting I looked up the hotel online and saw the actual room charge was closer to $US40 per night. Not wanting to let it go, I contacted the owner of this hotel and a few under the same Casa Mayor name. She spoke no English, so the next hour was spent converting her words into English, then my responses into Spanish. It turns out the old man on the desk is her father. I explained what had happened and in the end, she said I would get my money back. The following morning, different people on the desk returned my $US110. At the end of the day, when I went to my room, the key wouldn’t work. The father was back on shift and he had to reprogram my key. Strange that happened. Abo