Review: Four Seasons Casa Medina, Bogota, Colombia – a homely heritage stay
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This is our review of the Four Seasons Casa Medina, Bogota, hotel.
You may or may not know that Bogota is home to not just one but two Four Seasons Hotels. A few weeks ago, I was able to stay at both of them following my trip on Iberia’s new A350 ‘Next’ business class seat – review here.
My review of the Four Seasons Bogota is here. As I note in the conclusion, it’s a perfectly good hotel but one which left me wondering why it was a Four Seasons.
In this review, I’ll be taking a look at the Four Seasons Casa Medina – the more historic and more iconic of the two properties.
Built in 1946 by Colombian artist-architect Santiago Medina Mejia, the Four Seasons Casa Medina features the same red brick exterior as many of Bogota’s gorgeous historic buildings.
Originally an apartment complex, the property was converted into a hotel in the eighties after it was declared a heritage site by Colombian President Belisario Betancur Cuartas. 95% of the historic wood panelling was preserved. It was later further expanded as a Four Seasons and now houses 62 rooms including 19 suites.
Four Seasons provided my room at both hotels for review purposes.
Where is Four Seasons Casa Medina?
Casa Medina is very well located in the city in Zona G. This is an upmarket, largely residential area of the city, close to the financial district and home to many of Bogota’s award-winning restaurants.
The area immediately surrounding the hotel is relatively low-rise and there are plenty of historic villas surrounding the property, with many cafes and restaurants to pick from. I felt perfectly safe walking around and exploring.
You can walk to Chapinero (it takes about 20-30 minutes) where you’ll find plenty of bars and nightlife, including Teatron, the biggest gay club in the world, which I highly recommend. I didn’t expect to find that in Bogota but there you go!
From the airport, it’s about 30-40 minutes drive depending on the traffic, whilst it’s a 20 minute taxi or so into the city centre and Plaza de Bolívar.
Inside the Four Seasons Casa Medina hotel
The main entrance is on the relatively busy Carrera 7 street:
Inside is the main lobby – a small but beautiful space with a staircase as its centrepiece.
To the left, you’ll find the reception desks whilst, on the right, a small lobby lounge:
Check-in was quick and easy. I had arranged for my luggage to be transferred from the Four Seasons Bogota whilst I was out on a day trip, and it was already in my room when I arrived.
Rooms at the Four Seasons Casa Medina hotel
I was surprised to find I had been upgraded to one of the top rooms at the hotel – a “Grand Premier Room with Fireplace”. There are suites available above this as well, but this is the top category room.
I visited one of the standard rooms and, to be perfectly honest, the difference (apart from the fireplace) is small. It’s worth noting that as the hotel is a heritage building, each of the rooms is unique.
Here is a standard, entry-level room on the third (top) floor, with lovely exposed timber beams and high ceilings:
Here, meanwhile, is my Grand Premier room:
There is substantially more space and a sofa area, but the standard room is by no means small and features lots of space around the bed for luggage etc. The bathrooms are virtually identical.
Back to my room. The desk and mini bar are in a dark-sort of entry hallway:
I would have preferred the desk somewhere brighter, in the main bedroom, because I don’t particularly like working in the dark!
The mini bar featured a Nespresso coffee machine and kettle. Tea and coffee were free, but the fully stocked fridge below and the snacks on offer were charged for.
The room itself is big. Too big? I often find myself a bit lost in hotel rooms of this size. There’s just so much unused space:
Immediately in front is the sofa and coffee table in front of the stunning fireplace:
and
This is the first time I’ve stayed at a hotel with a working fireplace, and I have to say I loved it. The hotel staff will come and start it for you and clean it out the following morning. It was so cosy in the cool Bogota evening – the perfect place to nurse myself back to health following a heavy Saturday night at Teatron!
The bed is opposite the fireplace and features a huge (American?) king-size, with plenty of pillows to choose from:
Bedside tables are on both sides and feature nifty US-style plug sockets in the drawers themselves.
To get to the bathroom you walk through a large walk-in wardrobe:
Again, this space felt underused. Why not put in a dressing table at the end for people to get ready?
The granite bathroom is next door and relatively spacious, although like the other Four Seasons in Bogota only features a shower and single basin. I’m told baths are rare in Bogota, but the room is certainly large enough to add one.
and
Toiletries are the same as the other Four Seasons, Acacia del Amazonas by Loto Del Sur:
Spa and gym at the Four Seasons Casa Medina hotel
Again, amenities are limited here. There is a small spa and gym in the basement. I did have a look at the spa menu but prices were toppy, even for a luxury hotel. The gym was decent, with cardio machines recessed into the floor to give people a bit more space when running etc:
Breakfast at Four Seasons Casa Medina
Unlike the Four Seasons Bogota, Casa Medina does offer a full breakfast buffet. This is served in the stunning glazed courtyard:
There are few places better to enjoy breakfast than in a stylish, light-filled room such as this. It costs approximately £25.
The buffet was small but good:
Fresh fruits, fruit juices, yoghurts and more were available:
Cold cuts including Iberian ham, smoked salmon, cheese etc:
Some local things including arepas as well as bacon and sausages were available at the hot station, but eggs were all made to order from the eggs station. They were able to make excellent omelettes, poached eggs etc.
Overall the buffet was not huge but it felt high quality.
Conclusion
In many ways, the Four Seasons Bogota and the Four Seasons Casa Medina are not that dissimilar. They’re roughly the same size, are managed (I believe) by the same GM, feature similar bathrooms and have identical toiletries.
But what the Four Seasons Casa Medina brings is a sense of heritage and homeliness. The hotel genuinely feels like it could have been someone’s home. There is a sense of place and history, with beautiful original interiors and genuine open fireplaces.
Price-wise, the two hotels seem to offer similar rates, with rooms as low as £300. Given that, I’d always choose Casa Medina – it’s an excellent city hotel. You can find out more, and book, on the hotel website here.
How to book Four Seasons Casa Medina
Four Seasons does not run a loyalty scheme so there is no option to redeem free nights.
Since 2017 we have partnered 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 including breakfast, credits and upgrades.
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, so it is well worth booking with him.
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