Hotel Zocalo Campestre

I had an excellent stay! The location was perfect, making it easy to explore the area. The service was outstanding, with staff going above and beyond to ensure everything was perfect. The facilities were well-maintained and offered everything I needed for a comfortable and relaxing stay. I couldn’t be happier with the experience—highly recommend this hotel!

I arrived in Medellin from the UK, very early in the morning and was met by my pre-arranged driver from the hotel. My bag had unfortunately not arrived with me. Check-in time was 3pm but I was handed a coffee & shown to my cabin straight away to allow me to sleep. The cabin was charming, spacious and very clean with a very comfortable bed. I don’t speak Spanish and the staff don’t speak English but we communicated well with the help of Google translate and assistance was provided in charging all my failing devices! Breakfast was tasty and plentiful with good coffee and the views over-looking Guatapé were superb (in the evening with a glass of wine), and in the morning. The hotel is situated very close to the rock so I had a ten minute walk down the steep drive from the hotel and then up the steep road to the rock itself. I recommend taking the steps to the top as views are even more amazing if that’s possible.

This hotel is a reasonable and average 3-star option, that (minus the helicopter issue) would be a slight step up from a hostel experience under normal circumstances. However, it has several things letting it down. First and foremost, the hotel is situated either on top of, or extremely close to, the helicopter launching pad from which touristic helicopter tours operate. Ostensibly, these tours only operate between 1pm-5pm. However, "transportation" (non-tour) helicopters appear to operate sporadically at other hours. In any case, the assault on the senses between the hours of 1pm and 5pm is absolutely extraordinary. I cannot overstate this. It is simply impossible to think of anything else except the helicopters in the immediate vicinity. The helicopters are so loud that you must raise your voice in order to be heard; it is also very difficult to hear others. This, of course, makes understanding Spanish very hard if it is your second language. I could almost bear the noise if it was, say, once an hour, but the helicopters leave back-to-back, one after the other, at all times between 1pm-5pm. It is so severe that I would say, as a lawyer (please note this is not legal advice, and I have no qualifications recognised under Colombian law), that, if the helicopter business commenced operation after the hotel businesses in the area, that the hotel businesses probably have a cause of action against both the authorities that approved the helicopter business, as well as potentially the helicopter business itself. Nevertheless, note that this is not legal advice, and I am only qualified under a common law system, not a civil law system. Whilst I genuinely feel sorry for the hotels impacted by this noise, my sympathy is somewhat tempered by the fact that the hotel appears to be run (or at least reception is run) by three rather grumpy and sullen young women. While I do feel sorry for these people, as the noise is truly insufferable and must surely impact their mood, their demeanours were nevertheless sincerely unwelcoming and cold. And whilst I realise as a woman myself that it is out of vogue to ask women to smile, at some point, surely being horrible to recently-arrived and polite guests is not a cool thing to do. I was further offended when one of them followed us to the room, then proceeded to count each duvet/doona/comforter, each towel, each blanket and each sheet, and asked me to sign a form certifying that there were a certain number of each item in the room. While I am normally exceedingly polite to a fault, I could not help but tell the woman: "no somos ladrones" - we are not thieves. Thankfully, she advised me that it was just in case I "accidentally" took home a doona, or a sheet, or a towel. I was too humble to mention that I could buy a Target store full of doonas if I wanted, thereby obviating any immediate need for me to steal a doona from a third-rate hotel in Colombia, but I kept my mouth shut. Another issue with this property i

This place is really beautiful and Nice with a Great view over the Lake and very close to La piedra / the rock. The bungalows are colourful and Well eqiuped. You Can have Breakfast with a view ind the morning or a beer at Night and Play pool too. To go to El Pueblo / Guatape take a Tuk Tuk. Its a funny Way to go there and its a beautiful Little villige.

We have stayed there last night, this place is out of this world, the views on the rock (la piedra) is amazing and the terrace on the water are incredible, the atmosphere is so relaxing, we played pool, experienced the hammocks room, the bar where we can play this very Colombian game "La Rana". We stayed in a little cabin, it is super warm during the day but can be quite cold at night. There is no wifi in the cabins but a very good one in the reception building. Staff is super friendly and helpful. I think one girl might even speak French (I heard a French couple communicating in French with her). Wonderful place to stay!

Nice little cabins right next to La Piedra. We stayed in cabin 11. It is the highest cabin on the property. That means it has the best views of the lake and the rock and also the most steps to climb. The staff is incredibly nice. We ate at the restaurant and went to their bar. We had a great time. I would recommend this place.