Review: Four Seasons Bogota Casa Medina (Charming Historic Hotel)

We recently spent a night at the 62-room Four Seasons Bogota Casa Medina. We were just in town for a night, in order to fly the Emirates inaugural flight between Miami and Bogota (which was super fun).

Given how little time we had in Bogota, we wanted to make the most of our visit, and be in a walkable area. We had heard that the Four Seasons Bogota Casa Medina has the ideal location for those purposes. Best of all, this is one of the more reasonably priced Four Seasons properties out there, so it’s a good way to experience the brand without spending a fortune (which isn’t to say that it’s cheap, but…).

Personally I liked the Four Seasons Bogota Casa Medina, but there were a few areas for improvement. On the plus side, the property is incredibly charming and has a phenomenal sense of place, much more so than many other Four Seasons properties. The service was also really friendly, and I thought the restaurant was good.

However, the hotel didn’t otherwise have any amazing “wow” factor, and I could just as easily see this being branded as a Marriott Luxury Collection property, for example. Let’s get into the review…

Booking the Four Seasons Bogota Casa Medina

Ford booked our one night stay through the Four Seasons Preferred Partner program, which offers extra perks for select travel advisors. The rate for our one night stay was ~$450. Obviously that’s not cheap, but I’d note that the hotel often has a third night free promotion, so if you’re staying longer, you might be able to get an even better deal (since it would lower the average nightly rate significantly).

For what it’s worth, the other hotel we were considering was the Grand Hyatt Bogota, which was going for ~$350 per night. While it’s a well regarded Grand Hyatt, the hotel definitely doesn’t have charm, and I also heard the location isn’t ideal.

Anyway, by booking through Preferred Partner, we paid the same rate as available on the Four Seasons website, and received the following additional perks:

• A room upgrade, subject to availability
• Complimentary daily breakfast
• A hotel credit to use during your stay

Four Seasons Preferred Partner is generally combinable with promotions being offered directly through Four Seasons, including advance purchase rates, free night offers, and more. Ford is happy to help book Four Seasons properties through Preferred Partner, and can be reached at [email protected].

Note that booking Four Seasons properties through Preferred Partner is usually better than booking through programs like Amex Fine Hotels + Resorts®. Why?

• With Preferred Partner, you have the option of room service breakfast in place of restaurant breakfast
• Upgrades are prioritized for Preferred Partner bookings, given that it’s Four Seasons’ own proprietary program (and the value of an upgrade can be significant)
• You can combine Preferred Partner perks with virtually any rate on Four Seasons’ website (other programs don’t allow you to stack promotions in the same way)

You can’t beat getting all of these extra perks just for booking through an eligible travel advisor.

Four Seasons Bogota Casa Medina location

The Four Seasons Bogota Casa Medina is located near Bogota’s financial district, and in Zona G, which is known for having great restaurants (the “G” apparently stands for “gourmet”). Not only is the location great, but you can’t beat the charm of the building that the hotel is in.

The landmark building that the hotel is in was first constructed in 1946, and was designed by Colombian-born architect Santiago Medina Mejía. As it’s described, the building was designed to combine architectural trends from both Spain and France.

This was initially built as a luxury home with apartments to let. In 1980, there were plans to demolish the building, but in 1984, the government declared it a heritage site. The property was then eventually turned into a hotel named Casa Medina, before Four Seasons eventually took it over in 2015, to make it what it is today (while maintaining the Casa Medina name).

While it was hard to get a great picture of the exterior (due to the amount of traffic in Bogota), it’s a pretty cool building, no?

As far as getting to and from the airport goes, Bogota El Dorado International Airport (BOG) is around a 45-minute drive from the hotel, though that can vary based on traffic. Taxis and Ubers are super cheap in Bogota.

Four Seasons Bogota Casa Medina lobby & check-in

Upon pulling up to the hotel, we were welcomed by the friendly bellmen, and escorted to reception. As you enter the hotel, you definitely don’t feel like you’re walking into your average Four Seasons property, as it really does feel more like some sort of a grand residence.

Inside the entrance there’s the staircase and many of the property’s amenities straight ahead, reception to the left, and more lobby seating to the right. The whole setup is super cozy, especially with the fireplaces in the lobby.

Our check-in process was efficient yet detailed, as the front office associate went over all the property’s amenities. Within minutes, we were escorted to our room.

Four Seasons Bogota Casa Medina room

Four Seasons Bogota Casa Medina has five floors, and we were assigned room 322, on the third floor. Given how historic the property is, and how it grew over the years, it’s a bit of an adventure to get between the entrance and the elevators leading to many of the guest rooms. I found that to be part of the charm, but for those with mobility considerations, this hotel probably isn’t ideal.

In parts of the hallway, you almost feel like you’re in a fancy grandmother’s home, or something.

We were assigned a grand premier room with fireplace, marketed as being 475 square feet (or 44 square meters). I found the room to be spacious and beautifully appointed, and to nicely blend modern comfort with historic design.

The room featured an entryway with the closet and safe straight ahead, the bathroom to the right, and the rest of the room to the left.

The room had the typical Four Seasons signature bed, which I find to be extremely comfortable. I was disappointed to find no conveniently placed outlets near the bed. I understand it can be tough to rewire older buildings, but you do typically expect that you’ll easily be able to charge your electronics next to your bed at a Four Seasons.

On one side of the room was a desk with a chair, plus a more comfortable seat with a coffee table.

In the rest of the room was a loveseat, a TV, and the fireplace. Note that the fireplace is an old school one, so if you want it turned on, the hotel will send someone to bring wood and light it. While the air conditioning unit wasn’t the most aesthetically pleasing, at least it worked really well.

Waiting on the living room table was a welcome amenity, with two bottles of water and a fruit plate.

Back near the entrance is the minibar setup, with a complimentary Nespresso machine plus a selection of tea, and then other drinks and snacks for purchase.

I appreciated just how quiet our room was, as neither side of the room faced the main road. The views weren’t particularly inspiring, and just looked out over alleys and side streets.

As mentioned above, the bathroom was located inside the entrance and to the right, and was somewhat compact, yet functional. There was a sink, a toilet, and a walk-in shower.

Toiletries were in reusable containers from Acacias del Amazonas.

Wi-Fi in the room was fast and free, and turndown service was offered proactively.

All-in-all, I thought the room struck a nice balance between being historic and luxurious. As mentioned above, I just wasn’t a fan of the lack of outlets near the bed. One other annoyance is that one of the alarms or detectors on the ceiling near the bed had some pretty bright strobe light that was kind of distracting when trying to sleep. I should’ve probably just put on an eye mask, but it’s something to be aware of, if you’re a light sleeper.

Four Seasons Bogota Casa Medina spa & gym

The Four Seasons Bogota Casa Medina has a spa and gym on the basement level. There’s no pool, which is fair enough, given how small (and historic) this property is. The gym can be accessed by guests 24/7, while the spa is open daily from 9AM until 8:30PM.

Four Seasons properties are usually known for their excellent gyms, even at historic properties. So I found this gym to be quite disappointing, compared to other properties. The gym was on the small side, with a handful of cardio machines, plus one weight training machine.

I get that the hotel doesn’t have much space, but what I found most disappointing was that there wasn’t even a full set of free weights. The free weights were basically sitting on a bench in the corner of the gym, and there were big gaps between the weight increments. Maybe that’s something most people don’t care about, but we were trying to work out, and found the weight situation to be kind of limiting.

The Four Seasons Bogota Casa Medina also has a spa, right next to the gym. The spa feels more like a makeshift setup than a purpose-built facility, which isn’t much of surprise. There are a few treatment rooms, plus a sauna.

There was no easy way to get the prices for the spa treatments. There was a sign with a QR code at the spa reception, but it didn’t work. The associate then handed me the menu, to show me the available treatments. I asked if there was a price list, but he explained they didn’t have one, but he could tell me the cost for any treatment I was interested in. That all seems more complicated than it should be, no?

Four Seasons Bogota Casa Medina Castanyoles Restaurant

Castanyoles is the all-day dining restaurant at the Four Seasons Bogota Casa Medina, and it’s open daily from 6AM until 10PM, serving breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Physically the restaurant is stunning — it has a glass roof, and so much vegetation, so it’s a bright and airy space.

There’s also a bar and lounge area across the hall, in the main part of the hotel.

Lastly, there’s some outdoor seating, which is the best place to hang out, weather permitting.

We decided to have dinner at the restaurant for two reasons. For one, we had a $100 property credit to spend, given that we booked through Four Seasons Preferred Partner. Second of all, we were slightly hungover, given that we were just coming off an Emirates first class flight (hey, I’m just being honest!).

Oddly the restaurant’s lunch and dinner menu are identical. That’s not necessarily an issue, since the food is good, but I found that to be usual, especially since this seemed to be a “destination” restaurant that some (affluent) locals were visiting as well.

You can find the lunch and dinner menu, as well as the drink list, below. Prices are in Colombian Pesos, and one US Dollar is around 4,140 Colombian Pesos.

The meal started with a selection of freshly baked bread with three kinds of butter, plus an amuse bouche.

To start, we decided to split the Spanish tortilla (~$5.80), which was a potato and onion omelet.

For my main course, I ordered the veggie paella (~$16.20).

Ford ordered the peri peri chicken with pickled beets and a mixed green salad (~$18.10).

It was an excellent meal, in terms of food quality and service.

In the morning, we also had breakfast here, as it’s served daily from 6AM until 10:30AM. Interestingly the only breakfast choice in the restaurant is the buffet. We had asked if there was an a la carte option, and they brought over the room service menu and said we could order off of that we wanted. It wasn’t a big deal, but it’s just odd that there’s not a “standard” breakfast menu, as not everyone wants a buffet.

Fortunately the breakfast buffet was good quality, with a selection of Colombian and international options. I’ll let the pictures of the buffet speak for themselves.

As you can see, the selection was pretty extensive, and there was also a chef at the buffet to prepare custom egg dishes. I had a veggie omelet.

Drinks were available from the restaurant servers, and my cappuccino was pretty good.

For early risers, there’s also a coffee setup in the lobby, so that you can get a cup or two before breakfast. I love how Four Seasons properties consistently offer complimentary lobby coffee in the mornings.

Four Seasons Bogota Casa Medina Boulevardier Bar

Four Seasons Bogota Casa Medina also has Boulevardier, described as a speakeasy-style whiskey bar. It’s open from 5PM until 12AM on Tuesdays through Saturdays. Unfortunately we were staying on a Monday night, so we weren’t able to check this out. The pictures do look pretty snazzy, and you can find the drink menu here and find the food menu here.

Bottom line

The Four Seasons Bogota Casa Medina is one of the most charming and boutique Four Seasons properties I’ve stayed at. The historic property blends beautifully into the neighborhood, and I love that. On top of that, I found the service to be friendly across the board, and the hotel is also in a great area for walking.

There were a few minor areas where I didn’t find the stay quite as seamless as I usually do with Four Seasons, like the lackluster gym, the lack of outlets by the bed, no spa menu with a price list, etc. However, those aren’t a big deal in the scheme of things.

If you’re looking for a charming, luxury property in Bogota, I’d recommend the Four Seasons. Meanwhile if you’re looking for a hotel with lots of restaurants, a huge gym, a pool, etc., I’d look elsewhere.

What’s your take on the Four Seasons Bogota Casa Medina?

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