Excellent Value
Two Colombian friends from Bogota and I, an American from San Francisco, stayed at the Decameron in October 2008. My Colombian friends booked the hotel & I just went along with no expectations. I really liked the Decameron. It was the first time I ever stayed at an all inclusive place and was pleasantly surprised. All food and drink is free so that added up to a HUGE savings during our stay. There are 3 restaurants to choose from so one does not get bored with the food. The Decameron has a connection with a restaurant in the walled city and my companions and I enjoyed a lovely Teppan-yaki style dinner one evening - all included with our package. THIS IS NOT A LUXURY HOTEL. The rooms are basic, clean and comfortable. See the website photos. Everyone I encountered on the staff was professional, polite and helpful and most spoke English. (I speak fluent Spanish so spoke only Spanish during my stay out of courtesy. When in Rome....) Having cable TV with English language stations is nice for non Spanish-speaking guests. Security is very good so no riff raff gets into the hotel or the grounds. The Bocagrande neighborhood is swarming with street vendors trying to sell tourists trinkets, faux Rolex watches, jewelry, CDs, t-shirts, sunglasses, you name it. The hotel put on a different dance show at 9PM each night by the pool. One night the theme was African, another 1950s American with jitterbugging, and another night Argentine tango. Each show lasted about an hour and, yes, it was free as well. And the dancers were great. I would definitely stay there again. Regarding the comment on the air conditioning being too cold in the room, I just moved the louvers UP and the air did not blow on me directly. Before I did that, it was FREEZING.
For those who observed that there is no hot water: Colombian faucets are the reverse of American faucets. The left is cold; the right is hot.