Casa El Carretero is beautiful 3 bedroom guesthouse that feels much like your own Cartagena home. The main floor has a nice sitting area and a large kitchen with high ceilings. Greeting us daily was Luis, the live-in caretaker, who was very helpful to provide us with whatever we needed. The second floor includes three guest rooms and the top floor, a lovely open air outdoor space with a little pool, two sitting areas and a nice little stereo where you can plug your ipod in and listen to tunes while taking a break from the day's activities. While I'm no expert, the style of the house is clearly in the traditional Spanish architecture of the Old Town without being located in Centro and San Diego. It's only a short walk to the Old Town and we felt very safe. The rooms are good overall. My friends and I had two of the three rooms. One included a double/queen with a little balcony, large screen TV and large bathroom with a good shower. The second room was smaller, including two single beds and a small bath. For the time of the year (just after New Years), the value for money was good to very good. In short, this is a very good option with the added bonus that you can rent the entire house. If you don't, you will still feel that you are the only ones in the home and you have a place to yourself.

My mother and I stayed at Casa El Carretero for four nights in December 2011. On our first day, we arrived, unpacked and went out for lunch. Upon our return four hours later, we noticed that the white sheets of the bed were covered with small bugs - really disgusting! At first we worried that the taxi in which we'd arrived had had bugs and they had come into the hotel with our luggage, so we cleaned the bed before going out for dinner. Upon coming back from dinner, the bed was again covered with bugs and we could see them falling from the ceiling fan! One of the staff members came and said that we could move to another room for the night and see what happened in the morning. When we returned in the morning the bed was once again covered with bugs, so he cleaned the fan and ceiling. The problem was mostly resolved but while we were there a few more bugs fell onto the bed and I highly doubt that the problem has been resolved permanently - really disappointing for a hotel of this price and supposed quality. Other disappointing notes included the holes in the towels and noise from the street outside.
One great point that should be highlighted was the service - Maria and Luis are the two staff members who were there for our entire stay, and both were happy to help us find out way around the city. The service is very personalised - for example, on the first morning, we asked for yoghurt with our breakfast, and they did not have any. At the next morning's breakfast, we found that they had bought yoghurt just for us, and they kept enough for us to have it each day during our stay.
Unfortunately, the great service does not compensate for the disgusting bugs falling from the ceiling onto the bed. For a hotel that claims to be one of the best in Cartagena, this was a real disappointment.

This tiny hotel in the Getsamani district, a 10-15 minute walk from the 'official' old town of Cartagena is an excellent choice. Although there are plenty of hostels, bars and restaurants round about it does not suffer from the all-pervading touristy feel of its close neighbour. The area is very old and characterful, nonetheless, with the nearby plaza constantly occupied by local people enjoying the night air, playing chess, guitars, whatever.
While making a reservation is easy, the owners communicate in excellent English, the staff looking after the hotel speak only Spanish. Nonetheless, they are delightful people and very welcoming - it's easy to make yourself understood even if you speak very little of the language. The rooftop pool area is a marvellous refuge from the afternoon heat and humidity.
Breakfasts (Colombian or 'continental') are huge. One restaurant we liked very much was La Cocina de Pepina a short walk away on Callejon Vargas - freshly cooked local food, changing blackboard menu and very welcoming young staff. At ALL COSTS avoid the nearby gringo haunt, Casade Socorro on the main Calle Largo. The food was adequate but the service the rudest we've experienced in years of foreign travel, it was almost as if our server was looking for an Olympic medal in disinterested discourtesy - her colleagues were little better.

Casa El Carretero is a beautiful hotel that has a relaxing ambiance. We loved the design and architecture of the hotel inside and out. Louis and Maria were very accommodating to our needs. We enjoyed the balcony from our room where we could people watch. The rooftop swimming pool was one of our favorite spots where we could listen to music and enjoy the night air.