I stayed at La 34 Hostal in the neighborhood of El Poblado (Medellin, Colombia) in early February 2007 with my husband and two other couples. We traveled to Medellin for vacation and a local contact arranged the hotel for us. The hotel is relatively new and the staff seemed a little inexperienced but they were extremely eager to please us. The hotel is small (only about 7 rooms) and we were the only the guests they had most of the nights we were there. The hotel was very clean. Rooms had two beds (generally, one queen size bed and one twin size bed), a TV with cable, a night stand with a lamp, and a bathroom with sink, toilet, and shower stall. Most of the rooms had a patio or balcony which was nice for drying hand-washed clothes or for enjoying the warm sunshine. Two out of five nights we stayed, our beds were turned down and we got candies on our pillows and a carafe of water. Each morning, a continental breakfast (cereal, breads, coffee, juice, and fruit) was served in the small dining room. Fresh fruit (papaya and mango) were cut and served for us when we came out for breakfast each day. A couple of mornings, the maid was in the dining room during breakfast to serve us - she made sure we were well fed. Coffee was available all day. There was a computer with internet access available for guest use in the lobby/office. The entrance to the hotel was locked at all times but staff were always available to let us in - this security measure was reassuring. Hotel staff were more than happy to call cabs for us anytime we needed one.

Three amenities that we were not available that would have been nice were: (1) a clothes iron, (2) an alarm clock, and (3) an on-site safe. The staff was so eager to please us that they probably would have gone out and purchased alarm clocks for us if had requested them. As for the safe, the owner took our passports to her home and locked them up in her personal safe and brought them back at the end of our stay, but we would have been more comfortable knowing they were safe at the hotel.

The hotel was in a nice location. There were a couple of parks and lots of nice restaurants and shops within walking distance. It was too far to walk to the metro but it was easy to get a bus just a few blocks from the hotel which took us straight there. In addition, cabs are very inexpensive in Medellin so we didn’t have a problem getting around.