Blue Mango Beach Hotel

We stayed here at the recommendation of a friend before a tour of Tayrona. We had to arrive very early due to a planned highway closure. Don't expect to check-in early. We were able to get food and hangout in the food/dining area while we waited for our room to be ready. Overall, the hotel seems nice albeit nicer in the photos than real life. The reception area is basically a table and chair with an empty cabinet labeled mini bar. Wifi was not good. I had to make a wifi call and the only area I could get a reliable signal was standing at the reception desk. Cell phone reception was spotty. If you're not a Spanish speaker, it might be a little challenging so be prepared to use Google Translate. We arrived the night before a rainstorm. There was no electricity or water because of it when we arrived. When the water came back on it had a brownish hue to it. We also ran out of water when we tried to shower before bed. I couldn't charge my phone because it was too much with the fan and AC on (which were great). The room itself was really nice, no complaints whatsoever. I'm not sure if the beach is normally like it, but there were red flags cautioning swimming and there was lots of driftwood on the beach. The pool and bar area is nice and the staff over there friendly. So why 2 stars? Shortly after arriving back to our hotel, I was bit by food poisoning/traveller's diarrhea. Within a few hours, it hit my husband too. It's a week later and our systems are still messed up. I wanted to like the hotel more and give it more stars. but the sickness really put a damper on the rest of our time in Colombia.

My fiance and I headed up to Blue Mango after a few days in Santa Marta and it was heaven. We literally did nothing for two days and loved it. This hotel is about an hour north of Santa Marta. It is on a stretch of beach that is mostly hostels and glamping. The hostels are like $10 a night in shared rooms with shared bathrooms. We chose Blue Mango because we wanted our own room and bathroom! We were in a suite that had AC which was heaven. It was still hot, but was bearable. The rooms were big with a patio overlooking the lush gardens. The bed is firm and comfortable and there is adequate water pressure. But honestly, we were only in a room to sleep. The staff is great! It's a small place with a small staff. We really loved our server Nancy! She was so fun and always attentive. There is plenty of seating within the resort to spend the whole day doing nothing. There are also chairs on the beach in front of the resort. It is the northern most property on the beach. So if you walk out and go right, there are miles of unspoiled beaches. If you go out and walk right, there are about 10 different properties you can visit to mix it up and try different food and drinks. The pool is large and refreshing. Great to use to cool off. Only one complaint is that they allow people to play their own music at the pool between 12pm and 10pm (when they close). It's rather distracting and not very relaxing to have multiple sources of music going at once. The food was great! They also seem to be open later than the other places on the ***** of beaches. They have a wood fire pizza oven that made some incredible pizzas. Strongly, the hummus was actually amazing as an appetizer! Oh, and the other stars of the show were the cats! There are three cats on the property we saw. The first stayed up at reception. But the other two, Pancake and Noah, hung around the pool and loved to be petted and played with. We saw Pancake playing with a small snake one night and it was adorable. It is true that the road to get here is tough and would highly recommend an SUV or taking a taxi from Santa Marta. We never left the property so maybe next time taking a taxi. There are some reviews that say the beach and ocean are rough. And they are, but if you are a good swimmer, you can definitely go in the water. It's warm. Oh, and there are these beach crabs at night that run in and out of the sand. We loved watching them and seeing their world. It is more expensive that a lot of places around, but still cheap compared to US rates.

On the beach … normally a good thing but currents and surf make swimming pretty much off the menu. Very friendly staff. Ok food. Great pool and seating areas. Wood-burning oven for pizza a plus for sure. BUT …… very erratic Wi-Fi most annoying.

We tried different hostels on our trip up there starting with costeño beach followed by la brisa tranquilla and los hermanos - I am telling you they are all better because your expectations will be either met or exceeded… …that’s not the case with blue mango - full service boutique hotel might be a catchy slogan but it’s just a marketing gag… it’s clearly another place where the owners are just seeking profit lacking proper management and customer service (although it seems to work) Price: we paid well above usd 100.- which is fairly high for colombia - you can charge that but then you should deliver the what you promise, also in colombia Rooms: the rooms were really decent and also pretty clean considering where it is Property itself incl amenities: Okayish, but clearly off from what we expected for the price - i mean when the HOSTELS i mentioned above are nicer it says all… also the beachside installations with sunbeds and stuff where kind of crappy and partially broken… if you look for a proper pool head to costeño Service/ customer satisfaction: that was clearly the worst part… - Reception: it started when we arrived, we didn’t feel welcome, receptionist had food next to her and was obviously not amused that we interrupted… - Restaurant: simply a joke. in the afternoon we were the only guests and waited 45 minutes! for the starter… 3 pieces of fried patacones… in the evening we were told it’s possible to order pizza until 2045, when we ordered at 1945 it was declined with a flimsy argument about raining… confronting the main waitress she was kinda rude and not helpful at all… - Checkout: we were not even asked how we liked it, neither thanked for our stay or anything - the waitress from the evening before happened to be there, didn’t even reply to our goodbye… Management: invisible, that’s obviously also the reason why there is no service and the employees do what they want when they want… Conclusio: don’t go to blue mango, especially not if you find place in the above mentioned hostels. believe us you rather order the food at the bar in a hostel and it works than having “full service” at blue mango that doesn’t…