Casa Pestagua

The Hotel

Casa Pestagua occupies the former palace of Don Antonio de Pestagua y Mendoza, Conde de Pestagua and Marqués de Santa Coa — the 18th-century Spanish-Cartagenian aristocrat who served as Governor of Cartagena de Indias under King Carlos III. The palace was built between 1738 and 1745 in the late-Baroque-meets-mudéjar Spanish-American style typical of the Cartagena nobility's principal residences, and is widely regarded as the most architecturally significant private palace surviving in the historic city. The palace stood as a private residence through the colonial and Republican periods, then as commercial space through the late 19th and 20th centuries before its 2010-2014 restoration to a hotel by the Bogotá-based Promotora Inmobiliaria Cartagena. The restoration preserved the original 18th-century cloister, the central courtyard with its colonial jicaro tree, the original chapel, the marble staircase, the original cellars, and the multiple original-frescoed ceilings in the salon spaces. Casa Pestagua opened on 1 December 2014 and remains the only working palace-hotel in central Cartagena that is open to the public for non-resident dining and bar use.

The 11 suites are deliberately small in number — each occupying a different original room of the palace. Standard categories at 30 square metres include the original 18th-century ceiling preservation programme; the named Marqués Suite at 65 sqm in the original noble bedroom is the milestone unit, with the original 1740s frescoed ceiling and a private balcony overlooking the central courtyard. Bathrooms are travertine and brass; bath products are local Bogotá-made Aroma Real botanicals.

Pestagua Restaurant is the principal dining room — opened with the hotel in the original 1745 noble dining hall, with the original frescoed ceiling preserved and a contemporary Colombian-Caribbean register from chef Andrés Daza. The Wine Cellar — accessible by descending the original stone staircase to the colonial cellars — runs the country's most extensive Colombian-natural-wine programme. The original chapel — a deliberately preserved interior space, with the original 1740s altar — operates as the property's principal lounge and as private events space. The 12-metre courtyard pool sits in the central cloister surrounded by the original colonial column-and-arcade. There is no spa, the principal limitation of the offer relative to the larger five-stars; the in-suite massage programme handles the wellness register.

The Calle Santo Domingo address is the booking proposition. From the front door it is 60 seconds to Plaza Santo Domingo, two minutes to Plaza Bolívar, three minutes to Plaza San Diego, six minutes to Las Murallas, and 18 minutes by car to Rafael Núñez Airport. The most central palace-hotel position in Cartagena. For travellers wanting the smallest, most architecturally significant palace boutique with the central walking-Cartagena brief, Casa Pestagua is unambiguous.

Best Occasion Fit

Practical Information

Also Great in Cartagena