Review: Four Seasons Bogota – good hotel, wrong brand?

This is our review of the Four Seasons Bogota, Colombia, hotel.

When my recent trip to review Iberia’s new A350 ‘Next’ business class seat took me to Bogota, I saw the city had not one but two Four Seasons hotels:

• Four Seasons Hotel Bogota (the hotel I’m reviewing here)
• Four Seasons Hotel Casa Medina, Bogota (review to follow)

It’s been just over four years since I last stayed at a Four Seasons hotel, on my first long haul trip for Head for Points to Malaysia. That trip took me to the exceptional Four Seasons Langkawi (review) and the much newer Four Seasons Kuala Lumpur (review), both of which set the bar for me when it came to high-end luxury hotels.

There aren’t many cities that are home to two Four Seasons hotels. With just three nights in the city, it was the perfect opportunity to try them both. Four Seasons provided rooms at both hotels for review purposes.

Four Seasons Hotel Bogota location

Both of the Four Seasons hotels are within about 10 minutes’ taxi ride of each other, which by Bogota standards means they are practically neighbours. The city has a reputation for unholy traffic, although I didn’t have too much trouble during my stay.

(The city is building a metro that is massively delayed. A bus transit system exists but is not widely recommended for tourists and taxis / ubers are so cheap that it’s not necessary.)

My Iberia flight landed around 4:30am in the morning. The roads were clear and it took just 20-30 minutes to reach the Four Seasons Bogota in Zona Rosa / Zona T, next to the Chapinero district with its lively cafes, restaurants and bars.

The location is good – just 15 minutes or so from the city centre, where you’ll find the main museums and historic core. There are (I think) three shopping malls in the area, including a luxury mall as well as outlets for main western brands including H&M. The area is generally where wealthier Colombians come in to eat, drink and shop.

Inside the Four Seasons Bogota hotel

One of the things that surprised me about Bogota was the use of brick throughout the architecture. The Four Seasons Bogota is in one of these more modern brick buildings (photo above)

Inside is a tiny (and I mean tiny) lobby. The check-in desks are directly ahead, there’s a small seating area on the left:

…. and on the right is a small lobby bar.

This is it when it comes to public space in the hotel. Whilst it’s all perfectly well appointed, it does feel, erm, cosy, and the low ceilings don’t help. It certainly lacks the sense of drama or scale that you often find at other Four Seasons hotels. It actually made me feel quite uncomfortable taking photos!

The hotel was full during my stay and my room was understandably not ready when I arrived at dawn. However, they did say I could relax in the lounge and wait for my room. (I politely declined and gave my old housemate, who now lives in the city, an unwelcome 6am call instead.)

However, I was able to stay in touch with the hotel via Whatsapp and at 1:30pm received a text telling me my room was ready. Check-in was super speedy – I was offered a drink and I was given a suite on the top floor.

Unfortunately, as the hotel was totally full and I was only staying for one night, I wasn’t able to see a standard room.

Suites at Four Seasons Bogota

I was shown to my room by one of the staff and we jumped into the world’s tiniest lift. There was just enough space for two plus my bag.

My suite was one of four on my floor. I believe the hotel is split into three towers, each one with its own lift.

It was a ‘proper’ suite, with separate living space and bedroom. The living space was very big, with a sofa and coffee table set up facing a big TV:

On the right was a round glass dining table:

There are lots of mirrors in this room, as you can tell. In the middle, the desk and mini bar:

Coffee and teas were complimentary but everything else was chargeable.

The bedroom was roughly the same size, although half was taken up by the bathroom and walk-in wardrobe.

The bedroom was sleek, with a mostly monochrome colour scheme of greys and browns:

I particularly liked the lamp shades next to the bed:

US-style mains sockets were available on both sides as were USB-A chargers. A radio clock was also plugged in. The little doll / toy you can see to the right is used to indicate to staff if you want the sheets changed. Otherwise, sheets are only changed every few days.

There was another big TV facing the bed, with some unsightly access vents underneath it.

To the right is the bathroom / wardrobe combination, with a narrow walkway down the middle. There is a separate toilet on the left whilst an open wardrobe and luggage rack is on the right:

At the far end you’ll find the shower and wash basin – just a single in this case:

The shower features a rainfall shower head only, and it takes about five minutes for the hot water to run through. My first time using it I did wonder if it was broken, but it is just slow!

Toiletries are by Loto Del Sur in big reusable pump bottles:

Other amenities at the hotel include a small spa (with steam room) and gym. The spa is nice but it is literally just a steam room in the changing room – don’t expect a pool or anything else.

Breakfast at Four Seasons Bogota

Breakfast is served in the ground floor lobby, next to the wine bar. It’s a small room with a window overlooking a lovely tropically planted courtyard:

There is no buffet laid out. Instead, you can pick and choose from the ‘buffet’ in the menu. This includes:

• Juices, teas and coffees
• Bread basket of breads or pastries
• Seasonal fruit
• Yoghurt parfait
• Eggs any style with bacon/sausage and potato OR one of the hot a la carte items

The staff will curate things to your liking. For example, I requested local season fruit and was given a selection of mango (delicious), star fruit, dragon fruit and physalis.

I also opted for the ‘mandarina’ mandarin fruit juice – a local favourite – and the very filling Colombian “Calentado” hot breakfast:

Conclusion

The Four Seasons is a perfectly pleasant city hotel and if it were (virtually) any other brand it would be lovely.

But I couldn’t help but wonder, throughout my stay, why it was a Four Seasons. Four Seasons hotels are usually iconic, destination hotels with a sense of scale and drama. The Four Seasons Bogota isn’t, which makes me question where it fits into the portfolio.

That said, I can’t fault the hotel. The suite was lovely and well appointed and I didn’t have any problems during my stay.

If you are looking for something unique, then stay tuned for my review of the Four Seasons Casa Medina which ticks all of the boxes above.

Rates at the Four Seasons Bogota start as low as £300 per night. You can find out more, and book, on the hotel website here.

How to book Four Seasons Bogota

Four Seasons does not run a loyalty scheme so there is no option to redeem free nights.

We partner with Emyr Thomas who runs Bon Vivant, a London-based luxury travel agent. He works with Four Seasons (amongst others) as a Preferred Partner and is able to guarantee a range of additional benefits when you book with him. These include free breakfast, credits and upgrades similar to the other schemes like Hyatt Prive or Hilton Impresario.

Emyr can usually match any rate offered via the Four Seasons website and get you the above benefits added on.  There are no booking fees and you pay at check-out as usual. You can contact Emyr via our online form here.

Our partnership with Emyr has been going for many years now and you will regularly see readers praising his service in the comments. It is well worth asking for a quote.

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