Hotel Charleston Santa Teresa

The Hotel

The Convent of Santa Teresa was founded by the Discalced Carmelite Order in 1609 — the third Spanish-colonial convent established in Cartagena after Santa Clara (1621) and the Augustinians. The building stood as a working convent through the colonial period, then served as customs offices, a school, and a military barracks through the 19th and 20th centuries. The Charleston Hotels group of Colombia (the same Bogotá-based group that operates Hotel Charleston Bogotá) acquired the property in 1995 and completed a comprehensive restoration in 1999, opening as Hotel Santa Teresa, with the rebranding to Charleston Santa Teresa following the group's 2007 collection refresh. The architectural restoration preserved the original 1609 cloister, the central courtyard with the colonial-period jicaro tree, and the original chapel (now the El Capitán bar). A 2010-2012 expansion added the rooftop pool and the Olivos restaurant on the upper terrace facing Las Murallas.

The 91 rooms — including 18 suites — are arranged across three sections of the property. Convent Wing (38 Heritage rooms in the original 1609 cells) include restored stuccoed ceilings; Republican Wing (45 contemporary rooms in the 1999 architectural extension); and the named Murallas Suites (8 suites on the top floor with private balconies overlooking the city walls). Standard categories begin at 30 sqm; the Presidential Suite at 90 sqm is the milestone unit. Bathrooms are travertine; bath products are L'Occitane.

Olivos is the principal restaurant — opened 2010 on the rooftop terrace with direct views of Las Murallas — running a contemporary Mediterranean-Caribbean register. Quebracho is the all-day brasserie programme on the central courtyard. El Capitán bar — the property's most photographed interior, in the original 1609 chapel with the original altar preserved — runs the cocktail-and-aperitivo programme; the rum cellar is the country's largest hotel rum collection. The rooftop pool is the booking image — a 22-metre lap pool on the eastern terrace facing Las Murallas. The Spa runs four treatment rooms.

The Plaza Santa Teresa address is the booking decision relative to the San Diego barrio cluster. From the front door it is 30 seconds to Plaza Santa Teresa, two minutes to Plaza Santo Domingo, four minutes to Plaza de los Coches, three minutes to Las Murallas, and 18 minutes by car to Rafael Núñez Airport. The Plaza Santa Teresa address is closer to the city walls and the principal restaurant axis than Santa Clara's San Diego address; the trade-off is that the Plaza is more lively into the evening. For travellers wanting the heritage-convent register at the second-tier price point and the rooftop-pool-and-walls proposition, Charleston is the right Cartagena answer.

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